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The Cracked Chimes






















The Cracked Chimes is my first actual solo release; I've mainly released pieces in collaboration with other people, mainly with Tom DePlonty and Charles Baker. These works represent the various directions I've been playing around with lately, including a darker ambient style and techno (of all things).

A few words about each piece:

1) Fluctuations. A "techno" piece, which swirls around a central idea, and never settles down, even for a second.
2) Caldera. This was a slow, imagined walk along the side of an inactive volcano to the summit, ending with looking down into the caldera.
3) Ivory. A small pun, because the sounds are piano samples. This is also a canon, with an underlying drone.
4) Bounce. Not the best title, I guess, but the sounds reminded me of sounds bouncing around the room.
5) Distant Forest. All the sounds are recordings of forest animals and birds, but amplified in various ways to create an eerie, not-quite-real forest.
6) Slowly through the World. a slow ambient work, presenting our lives as we move through the world.
7) The Cracked Chimes. The sounds are based on chimes and bells which are all manipulated.
8) The Good Soul. A constant percussive pattern with floating chords above, and below the sound of thunder and rain. Clichee, maybe, but it works.
9) Suspended Tempo. All the sounds enter at their own tempi, hence the title.
10) Momento. More filtered Bells, with a percussive undertone. I was thinking more of Momento Mori here,  as it was the idea of somebody considering the long string of life.
11) Fissure. A techno work, actually composed in collaboration with Tom DePlonty.

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