A Baneful Circle Of Light

Running Time: 3:52

Released On: "ANDREAS No.24 - Virus" - Various Artists (56 tracks)

Label: Fraction Studio

Release Date: Our track added 19th March 2020

Format: Download

Buy Link: Bandcamp

The name of M. Nomized is extremely well known and highly respected in the electro-experimental world, so Skit and I were very happy bunnies to have our offering accepted for this compilation. Aside from being a prolific musician and composer himself, Michel (his secret identity, sshhh!) engages in all sorts of other projects, including the Andreas series, which has been running for many years now. The brief for Volume 24 was straightforward; virus. If there's one thing that was utterly dominating life on Earth at this point in time, it was Covid-19. Historically, periods of great global crisis have also been periods of great creativity. Some absolute classics have been produced during these spells, along with the odd major scientific breakthrough; Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the 1606 plague in London; Sir Isaac Newton's realisation of gravity came 60 years later when plague returned; Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein during the long year of darkness in 1816, following a major volcanic eruption at Mount Tambora in Indonesia. Times like these make you think, obviously. Create and survive.

At the time Skit and I sat down to create this piece, we were still four days shy of the first lockdown in England, little was known about the virus and fear reigned supreme. We wanted to reproduce that sense of anxiety in sound, and there was one such sound I was familiar with that is guaranteed to chill you to the bone; the Aztec death whistle (pictured right). Although the exact use of this ancient resonator is not known with any degree of certainty, one of the most compelling and believable theories is that Aztec warriors would blow them en masse as they went into battle. Heard once, you can imagine how hundreds of them would indeed be an intimidating sonic weapon.

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We found some samples of its blood-curdling sound on the web and set about cutting and pitching them as we had envisaged. First, short intermittent screeches, and while the fear of the spreading virus intensifies, so do the frequencies of the soundbursts until it becomes pandemic. Then we added a bass drum sample with reverb and soft echo to imitate a heartbeat, the screeching sound of death bouncing from ear to ear (*track not recommended for playlisting at weddings, parties or bar mitzvahs), until ultimately, the heartbeat slows and comes to a halt, the piece concluding with a flatline tone. All it needed then was an appropriate title; the word 'baneful' seemed perfect, matching the historical images conjured up by great plagues, an archaic term that hasn't been common usage for centuries. And a circle of light? Well, nothing clever there, that's simply what a corona is. The track was conceived, recorded and released on the same day, and whilst we wouldn't put it in the same league with Shakespeare and Shelley, we hope it will send shivers to the very core of your immortal soul. Enjoy muchly...

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