Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best in 2022!

Focus on 2022

Twenty-twenty-two will be dominated, from a studio perspective, by a new #ambient series.

Debuting on January 3rd, posting every other month & running into 2023 . . . it has all the makings of an ethereal barn-burner!

Merry Christmas 2021

Merry Christmas & best wishes for a happy & prosperous New Year, 2022!

Thanks to any & all who have stopped by to take a peek. We hope you’ll have time to visit again in the coming year!

On Flying

“If I don’t manage to fly, someone else will. The Spirit wants only that there
be flying. As for who happens to do it, in that he has only a passing interest.”

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Vihne, by Jens Pauly

This is a nice collection of ambient music; we used a track on a program last year.
__________________________________________

Floating through empty streets late at night. No other people around, no distraction from a dialogue happening inside of you – looking for something, looking for nothing, looking for anything relevant.
Jens Pauly’s second album ‘Vihne’ is the soundtrack to a search between flickering lights and a cloudy sky, between emptiness and being alive. It asks the essential questions within us, in a tranquil state neither here nor there.
Each track marks a microcosm of its own, a small journey through worlds engulfed in memories.

Jens Pauly is a musician and artist from Cologne, Germany, who has previously released an album named r/f on Karlrecords. In his earlier years, Jens performed in punk and metal bands before he eventually began to compose more synth-based solo work as Ghostrider which he released with labels such as Digitalis and Tranquility Tapes.
Since debuting under his own name with r/f in 2017, Jens has developed an electro-acoustic sound which is both sparse and engulfing yet at the same time warm and melancholic. When we first heard Jens’ demo, we were reminded of the beautiful Ambient sounds that 12k might put out, such as work by Marcus Fischer, Solo Andata and Taylor Deupree. However, Jens has since shared with us that some of the artists that influenced this work are Oren Ambarchi, early Hiroshi Yoshimura and Vikki Jackman.

There is a sound palette that at first listen is stripped back but on closer inspection, Vihne is something steeped in detail. The music flows and feels weightless, as passages of guitars, piano, sine wave and cassette dictaphone recordings softly collide into a dreamy collage. If r/f was ‘5 straight lines in a circle’, Vihne is ‘8 circles on a line’ and although these tracks are parts of the wider picture of this album, it is intended to transfer an overall atmosphere as one whole journey. 

Released March 9, 2019

Written and produced by Jens Pauly
Mastered by Alexandr Vatagin
Photography by Choi Sungdong and Peter Nejedly
Packaging design by Jens Pauly
Press release Foreword by Ralph Schmidt

Canotila by Lutz Thuns & Wolfgang Gsell

Tags

Ambient

Wolfgang Gsell returns to Aural Films with another fine collaboration release featuring Berlin artist Lutz Thuns. Once again, Wolfgang presents a suite of sonic delights that explore the ambient landscape with new perspectives. Joined by Lutz, the two have captured the warmth and freshness of the outdoors with seven new recordings that are wonderfully evocative and uplifting. Set your player to repeat, as you’ll want to listen to these tracks over and over.

credits

released August 10, 2015

Wolfgang Gsell,1956 born in Stuttgart, Germany. He works as webdesigner, photographer and music composer. With 15 he began to play guitar. In the late 80s he changed into playing synthesizers. Since 2004 he is working with Software Synthesizers. The current style of his music is ambient and electronic music for inner journeys. He has released 25 albums (solo and collaborations with other artists) in various netlabels.

Lutz Thuns of Berlin, Germany is an Ambient and Electronic music artist who works with digital, virtual analog and analog hardware synthesizers. He has released more than 20 albums with his most recent Friends of Ambient albums that have been quite popular.

Aural Films is an online record label (netlabel) that releases high-quality soundtrack albums for movies that do not exist. We cover a wide range of music styles ranging from ambient to experimental to popular to soundtrack musics. Often on the same albums. You can find our complete catalog of releases online at auralfilms.com

Aural Films Catalog No. AF0135

A Flaw of Nature, by Sonar

[We’ve used multiple Sonar tracks within the ‘elements’ Jazz series]
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SONAR WAVES (A Flaw of Nature sleeve notes, by Sid Smith)

“The first memory I have is of the beach” says musician, composer and mathematician Stephan Thelen. When asked to time-travel back into his memory to see if he could recall the earliest sounds he heard when he was a child there was no hesitation in identifying the sound and the place. “I was born in Santa Rosa, California and grew up there. On Sundays we would always go to the beach at Bodega Bay. The gulls, the wind and the waves; just sitting there, listening to this beautiful sound. That’s my first real conscious memory of listening to something. It wasn’t strictly music, but in the wider scheme these things are important.”

Important indeed when you consider that the music of SONAR is constructed in such a way that it suggests an ongoing process of ebb and flow, advance and retreat, of tension and release.

The waves detected in SONAR’s music draw and pull upon our attention, their rhythmic undertow engaging both the heart and brain despite the deliberately restricted sonic palette. “It was a very conscious decision to limit ourselves to doing little things and to try and get as much as we could out from them” offers Thelen. “We also decided to almost completely abandon all our effects, delays and loop machines in order to concentrate more on the subtleties of our playing techniques and tone production.”

With the guitars and bass tuned in tritones, there’s a semi-dissonant, challenging quality to the constellations of plucked harmonics that chime in orbit around each other. They create interlocking, overlapping and polyrhythmic meters, reminiscent of the early minimalist microworlds of Steve Reich and the 80s-era gamelan-rock of King Crimson.

Anchored by Manuel Pasquinelli’s crisp drumming, Christian Kuntner’s bass meshes seamlessly with the guitars of Bernhard Wagner and Stephan Thelen. The music requires both discipline and stamina, as each member of the small chamber ensemble focuses upon his own individual time signature, whilst simultaneously ensuring that it all fits together.

SONAR’s music often appears to occupy two different worlds at the same time. Despite the rigorous, metrical nature of these compositions, they conjure a curiously porous sound through which the emphasis of the beat passes baton-like from one musical runner to another, lithely crossing from the drums to the bass, or leaping between the guitars. Two worlds because alongside such movement is an illusory stillness and zen-like calm as patterns of time and space imperceptibly shift. “That’s all intentional. For instance on Slow Shift, it’s actually a five note sequence that every player plays at a different speed” explains Thelen. “You have the bass playing very slowly, the first guitar playing a little faster and the second one even faster than that. So, you have this sense of different times and structures going on. That’s also the case in Tromsø, which we play slowly and then a bass riff comes in which is twice as fast. So you get this transition from a slow tempo without really knowing what happened.”

In this context even tiny changes within the playing generate apparently sudden extremes in dynamics that very much embody Thelen’s intentions when formulating the group. “If you want to do something with minimal music you have to find your variety somewhere else. Variations in time are a fantastic opportunity to produce little shifts that can be very exciting if you really concentrate on them.”

Despite such a reductive approach, their sound-world is paradoxically expansive, creating a distinctive place where small incremental movements form into newer, subtle combinations for the listener to experience and explore.

Although the musicians have played in different line-ups, the recording of A FLAW OF NATURE is the first time this particular configuration has worked together. Laid down in just two days, the music was honed by a lot of pre-recording rehearsals first with just Wagner and Thelen, and then with the rest of the band. Having come up with the basic composition on paper, Thelen was more than happy to see each piece then worked on and developed in a series of workshop rehearsals, with each musician contributing to the nuances and subtleties of the original piece.

For example, as Thelen explains the jagged ‘chord’ occurring toward the end of Tromsø wasn’t originally envisaged in the composition “Bernhard and I were playing with the tuning, just exploring. Some things work and others don’t. The power chord thing was Bernhard’s idea and that’s actually a funny chord because in the SONAR tuning you can play six Cs in five different octaves at once. So it’s not really a chord but one note sounded six times and that’s why it sounds so powerful.”

Though mathematical structures underpin much of Thelen’s work he argues that for music to be successful, it has to be far more than a mere conceptual exercise. “There are many mathematical schemes you can use to make an interesting composition but that doesn’t necessarily make it good music. For me, good music should be satisfying for the mind but of course it has to move you emotionally.”

Happily, SONAR’s music achieves both in a manner that firmly locates the group as a glisteningly brilliant node on the continuum of the Swiss minimalist scene alongside the pioneering work of saxophonist Don Li and the ritual groove of Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin. In Switzerland a growing number of people are getting into this kind of music where the players intentionally concentrate on just a few musical elements and try to present them as clearly and as precisely as possible. Perhaps it’s something in the air – at least here in Switzerland!

–Sid Smith, Whitley Bay, England, September 2011

(Sid Smith is a freelance music writer and author of numerous sleeve notes. A regular contributor to Classic Rock Presents Prog, BBC Music and other publications, he is also the author of In The Court of King Crimson and Northstars. You can find out more at www.sidsmith.net)

PYTHAGORAS, TRITONE HARMONICS AND THE SONAR TUNING

Historically, Pythagoras is considered to be the first person who had the profound insight that – hidden behind the apparent variety and complexity of nature and the cosmos – there is a pattern and an order that can be expressed by remarkably simple mathematical ideas. He and his followers, the Pythagoreans, were known for saying „all things are numbers“ and essentially believed that our world is rational, i.e. that all important phenomena can be described by ratios of integers.

Their prime example was a connection they found between music and mathematics, famously carried out on a monochord. They discovered that intervals between notes can be expressed by ratios of integers: the smaller the numbers, the more beautiful and consonant the interval. The most pleasant sounding interval to their ears, a perfect octave, was produced when the ratio of the lengths of two vibrating strings was exactly 2:1. The next simplest ratios were 3:2 (a perfect fifth) and 4:3 (a perfect fourth).

But they were wrong. It soon became obvious that the relationship between numbers and nature was far more complex than they had hoped for and could not always be explained by simple integer ratios. It must have been quite a shock to them when they had to admit that even such a basic and fundamental ratio as the one between the diagonal and the side of a square (√2:1) was found to be irrational, i.e. not expressible as a ratio of integers – ironically, this can easily be proved using Pythagoras’ own theorem. Another fact soon became apparent that surely didn’t suit their cherished beliefs.: that perfect octaves and perfect fifths were not compatible, meaning that seven octaves and twelve fifths do not – as you would expect – produce exactly the same note. Even today, this fact (which led to the Pythagorean comma and equal temperament) is hard to accept and even could be considered a flaw of nature. Heaven might be a place where seven octaves and twelve fifths are the same note – but the real world we live in is a darker and irrational place where compromises and adjustments have to be made.

In SONAR, the electric guitars are tuned in tritones C / F# / C / F# / C / F# where the bottom C is a major third below the standard E. The bass guitar is also tuned in tritones C / F# / C / F#, where the bottom C is again a major third below the standard E of a bass guitar.

The tritone is a very interesting interval. In a usual harmonic context, it is considered to be the most dissonant interval and has even earned the nickname diabolus in musica. In 12-tone equal temperament, the tritone is exactly half an octave (which corresponds to the irrational ratio of √2:1, just like the ratio of the diagonal and the side of a square). In many analyses of the works of 20th century composers, the tritone plays an important structural role. Perhaps the most noted is the axis system, proposed by Ernö Lendvai in his fascinating and controversial analysis of the use of tonality in the music of Bela Bartok.

A very large proportion of SONAR’s music is played using only the first four natural harmonics of the guitar and bass strings: first octave, fifth, second octave and major third. In this way, the perfect, rational harmonics of the major scale clash with the irrational ratios of the tritone tuning to produce a symmetric hexatonic scale C / C# / E /F# / G / A# (a mode of limited transposition in Messiaen’s terminology resulting from the C major and F# major triads)), which gives SONAR its distinctive and instantly recognizable sound.

In spirit, SONAR is a very Pythagorean band. Numbers are everywhere in our music – not only in the tuning (an amalgam of rational and irrational worlds) and in the harmonic material, but also in our approach to odd metres and polyrhythms (another sonic representation of integer ratios). In the wake of Pythagoras, we also believe that a composition is most satisfying if – hidden behind the apparent variety of all the sounds and rhythms – there is a simple idea that organically generates this complexity.

Stephan Thelen, Warth, Switzerland, September 2011

SONAR INFLUENCES

Here is a short list (compiled by Sonar’s main composer Stephan Thelen) with some of the key influences on their music:

1) King Crimson: Starless and Bible Black/Fracture (from the album Starless and Bible Black, 1974)
I listened to this album on LP in a record shop in Zürich when it came out in 1974. Accidently but significantly, the slightly confused lady working at Musik Hug put on side 2 of the album. The music I then heard was definitely beyond anything that that young teenager could understand at the time, but it totally fascinated him and put a spell on him that has lasted up to this present day.

2) Yes/Chris Squire: The Fish (Yessongs, 1973)
This great piece has 4 key elements of Sonar’s music : the odd-metered time signature, the guitar pattern played only using natural harmonics, the crisp & precise drumming and a monstrous bass sound. Yessongs was probably my first musical true love.

3) Glenn Branca: Structure (1981)
Glenn Branca’s multiple electric guitar ensemble was a very strong influence on Sonar, not so much the actual music but Branca’s ideas about sound and alternate tunings.

4) Scorn/Mick Harris: Time Went Slow
Mick Harris is a master of dark and spooky instrumental music of the ambient kind and this track is one of his best.

5) Bela Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, String Quartet No. 4
Bartok is probably my favorite classical composer. The books on his music written by Ernö Lendvai were very important for my musical education.

6) Steve Reich: Music for 18 Musicians, Proverb, Different Trains
For me, Steve Reich is the most interesting minimalist. From him I learnt that the best compositions develop organically out of ONE single idea. The ideas that Steve Reich based his early pieces on are so good that he hardly had to write any music.

7) Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin: Modul 44, Modul 45 (Holon)
Nik lives very close to where I live in Zürich. In the first years of the new millenium, I became really interested in the minimal groove music of Don Li and the early Swiss minimal scene. The early phase of Nik’s band Ronin (first a trio , then a quartet, then a quintet) was very radical and immensely interesting. His second album for ECM, Holon, is arguably his best and these two tracks stand out. 

released March 10, 2019

之 / OF, by Li Yilei

The xun is a globular, vessel flute from China. It is one of the oldest musical instruments in China and has been in use for approximately seven thousand years.The xun was initially made of baked clay or bone, and later of clay or ceramic.

Li has made a small number of ceramic xun, cast through plaster moulds and finalised by hand to support the release of their incredible new album OF which features a track called ‘Xun’ that samples a number of Chinese instruments including a xun.

Each xun comes signed by Li and will be shipped in a customised wooden box, along with an information card and photo card.

All purchases will come with a digital download of the album.

Please note these items will be shipped separately to any record purchased as they will be shipping directly from China where Li is currently working.

‘’之 / OF is a word that can be used as a preposition to express the relationship between a part and a whole. It is an unfinished tone, a broken sentence, a start and a whole. It is sustainable, full of potentials and longings.’’

London based performance and sound artist Li Yilei shared an experience familiar to many migrants during the past year of COVID-19 chaos. With their UK visa set to expire, and family back in China, Li made a last-minute dash to return to their nation of birth. Able to board one of the last few flights to China during the initial turmoil of the coronavirus outbreak, Li made it back to Shanghai for a two-week stint in a quarantine hotel.

Though Li had already begun creating OF, the reality of the pandemic began to seep into the recordings. Each of the 12 tracks is a study in horology, using metaphorical sound transcriptions and atmospheric extractions to focus on the temporal relationship between experience and surroundings. Li’s awareness of their own understanding of time became increasingly heightened during quarantine and the emotional involvement found within these new realities informed many of the sounds created.

‘’I tried to portray each song as a short, scattered poem…  more

credits

released August 16, 2021

Composed and produced by Li Yilei.
Mastered by Brandon Hocura.
Design by Jack Hardwicke.

elements_short stories (remix)

elements_short stories | Jazz & Ether Jazz | 76:07

Short (under 77″), sweet (REAL Jazz!) & sassy (can you dig that?).

My world is driven by leadership training & its corresponding audios. As a result, when I have time to listen to music, I want it to sound “just right” (and when it’s not, I tweak it!).

This is a re-working of a mix from 2014 with a new opening gambit (tracks 1, 2 & 3), track 9 & the track 12 closer); I also swapped out track 4, previously Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin, to a solo piano version by Bärtsch of the same composition.

With so many mixes under our collective belt, I had forgotten about this one and, tripping across it in my “Jazz” file, decided it needed a little dusting & refurbishing — I had just ordered the Jakob Bro album, Uma Elmo — and decided to give him the #3 spot (after the Marc Johnson track) for the remix.

I personally like this version better.

01 Ayumi Tanaka Trio – Ichi
02 Marc Johnson – Nardis
03 Jakob Bro, Arve Henriksen & Jorge Rossy – Music For Black Pigeons
04 Nik Bärtsch – Modul 13 (solo piano)
05 Pat Metheny, Dave Holland & Roy Haynes – Old Folks
06 John Scofield – Jeep on 35
07 Van Morrison – The Eternal Kansas City
08 Miles Davis – It’s About That Time
09 Stefano Battaglia & Michele Rabbia – Sundance In Balkh
10 Stanley Jordan – Freddie Freeloader
11 Pat Metheny – Sariel
12 Sonar – Sonic Blue

#3, by Illuminine

I am so happy that today I can finally share my third spiritual child ‘#3’ with you. It was a long and sometimes turbulent journey, creating this album during a time full of struggles with anxiety and panic attacks. But especially reading all your sweet comments and hearing your stories about what my music gives to you, encouraged me to go on and to create this album. I hope that these songs will also become part of your personal journey through life, and that this music will give you the support and comfort we all need sometimes.

Released November 3, 2018 
All songs written & arranged by Kevin Imbrechts. Except for song 5 & 11 by Kevin Imbrechts & Hannah Boswell. Except for song 6 by Kevin Imbrechts & Adam Bryanbaum Wiltzie. 

Produced by Kevin Imbrechts. 
Recorded (September 2016 – March 2018) by Kevin Imbrechts at his home studio (BE). 

Except for song 6, recorded by Adam Wiltzie. 
Additional string recordings (track 1, 3, 8 & 9) by Jimmy Van Rietvelde at Sugarbeat Studio (BE). 
Mixed by Birgir Jón Birgisson at Sundlaugin Studio, Mosfellsbær (IS). 

Photographs Chrisopher De Béthune 

Lay-out Ruben Van Bouwel 

Tine Anthonis (cello track 1, 3, 8 & 9) 
Hannah Boswell (vocals track 5 & 11) 
Budapest String Orchestra (track 6) 
Beatrijs De Klerck (cello track 1, 3, 8 & 9) 
Kevin Imbrechts (acoustic & electric guitar, samples, piano, keys, synths and others: all tracks) 
Adam Wiltzie (guitar & synths track 6)