Let Me Hear About You In Ambience
These tracks are alternative version of "Let Me Hear About You," released in March 2023 from the Boyhood Skies project.
"Let Me Hear About You In Ambience - [Stone Mix]"
"Let Me Hear About You In Ambience - [Stone Mix]"
Notes On "Let Me Hear About You In Ambience (Long Mix)"
TRACK DATA
Composition tool: Studio One 7 Pro
Recording tool (DAW): Studio One 7 Pro
Number of tracks: Pre Mix 57 , Master Mix 4
Sound source: Presence XT, Impact XT, Sample One, Maitai (All built-in sound sources of Studio One) , Sax and flute performance by The Windscale Blues Experiment
Composition and recording period: Sep 16 2024 - Oct 25 2024, Dec 6 - Dec 21
(TI writes:)
This version is a reworked long mix based on "Let Me Hear About You In Ambience," released in November 2024. (Please see the notes below.) The aim was to create a longer, more relaxed listening experience than the original, and I have added my own live recordings of environmental sounds of the sea and wind instruments from The Windscale Blues Experiment.
The music is in a chill-out style with less of a dance beat, similar to what you would find on Ibiza and Balearic music compilation albums from the 90s. It incorporates elements of reggae and dub, with a heavy bass processed from TR-808 samples, and a laid-back groove with a focus on Latin percussion. In addition, the soundscapes of the Strings and synth pads were slightly distorted, and dub-like delays were applied to the piano and rhythm parts to create a haze-like effect in the distance.
The sound of the waves was recorded for 10 minutes on the beach in Hayama, Shonan, using a smartphone, and the audio was extracted and used. No loops were used, but utilised a linear progression of the sound from the video.
This sound effect is also intended to contrast with the ‘mountain sound’ of ‘San-Kai’, which will be released at the same time. Unlike ‘San-Kai’, the processing of the wave sound does not shift the phase, but uses a simple method of distributing the mono track directly to the left and right.
(TI writes:)
About The Windscale Blues Experiment's performance
For this long mix, I gave The Windscale Blues Experiment a dub mix version (not yet released) with exactly the same structure as the original version and asked them to play it freely. The saxophone and flute interplay is excellent, and the original score was extended based on that performance, with changes made by removing and adding parts. All the performances are recorded and the mix balance is exactly as recorded.
Notes On "Let Me Hear About You In Ambience"
This is an alternative version of "Let Me Hear About You," released in March 2023 from the Boyhood Skies project.
TRACK DATA
Composition tool: MuseScore 4, Studio One 6.5 Professional, Studio One Pro 7
Recording tool (DAW): Studio One 6.5 Professional, Studio One Pro 7
Number of tracks: 53
Sound source: Musescore/MSFont, Presence XT, Maitai, Impact, Deep Flight One, Lead Architect (All built-in sound sources of Studio One)
Composition and recording period: Sep 16 2024 - Oct 25 2024
Exploring chill-out in atonal music
(TM writes:)
The original composition, "Let Me Hear About You," was created as a tribute to the late Yukihiro Takahashi. It reflects a City Pop interpretation in an FMT style. Structurally resembling pop music, the piece incorporates grooves inspired by Takahashi's style, along with sections resembling complex and captivating choruses and atonal, repetitive verses. It also includes elements that fans of Takahashi would immediately recognise, paying homage to his artistry.
For this version, "Let Me Hear About You In Ambience," I wanted to bring out its ambient elements by extending the verse-like sections and exploring chill-out atonal music. This approach was partly influenced by my personal circumstances—I was going through a busy period and felt a need to relax, lacking the inspiration to create music entirely from scratch.
As I’ve mentioned in other notes, I often feel drawn to creating chill-out or relaxation music—whatever you call it—with a modern complexity that transcends its typically sparse and simple musical structure. In our earlier release, "Le Rêve Restauré (Dream Restored)," I touched on the Purism of the fine art world as a theme. However, I often find that chill-out music, which arguably originates from such ideas, no longer resonates with the spirit of the times—at least in my view.
For this version, I rewrote the score entirely from scratch. I already had a fairly clear image of the phrases and tones, so it doesn’t adhere much to the original version. It reflects more of a "this is the kind of music I feel like listening to" mood. Alternatively, it might have been my way of neutralising myself after immersing deeply in our Cubism series called "Le Cube Dans Mon Rêve (The Cube In My Dream)" and completing that project.
Adapting the mix with Studio One 7 updates
(TI writes:)
This track may share its roots with one of our songs, but it was produced and mixed as an entirely new composition, with no intention of being a mere remake.
This version is almost a faithful reproduction of the score sent to me by TM.
The tones also essentially follow TM's specifications. However, after the update to Studio One version 7, new sound sources were introduced, which had a texture that complemented this song. As a result, I replaced the original sound source with the new one while preserving the atmosphere of the initial mix.
The strings part was slightly rearranged, and the octave was adjusted to align with the range of real instruments.
For the mix, a dreamy atmosphere was crafted. To enhance the brilliance of the instrumental parts, the high frequencies were accentuated (a feat that was challenging to achieve with MS tones, which typically have weaker high frequencies). For the lead notes, the LFO and vinyl effect of the sound source were applied to create a subtly unsteady pitch variation.
Additionally, to ensure the rhythm remained distinct within the dreamy atmosphere, frequencies below 100Hz in the instrumental parts were cut, creating space for the bass drum and bass.
Similarly, to highlight the high-frequency electronic sounds and the fine ticking of the hi-hat and snare drum, a dynamic equaliser was used to slightly suppress the same bandwidth (around 2kHz) in the instrumental parts when these sounds were present.
While mixing this track, I also came up with a few alternative arrangements and tones that I wanted to experiment with, leading me to produce several separate versions.
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