"hylighters drifting gently above the plain"


track: 05

recorded: 20140111

duration: 16:06

type: ambient

tempo: 20 bpm

chords: A#11 A#sus2 A#11 A#sus2 Ebm A#dim7

mixer sounds:

01 Drums: Timpani Tremolo
02 Bass: Sub Bass
03 Effects: Cockpit
04 Bowed: Bowed Lead
05 Pads: Bliss


"hylighters drifting gently above the plain"


track: 05

recorded: 20140111

duration: 16:05

type: ambient

tempo: 20 bpm

chords: A#11 A#sus2 A#11 A#sus2 Ebm A#dim7

mixer sounds:

01 Drums: Timpani Tremolo
02 Bass: Sub Bass
03 Effects: Cockpit
04 Bowed: Bowed Lead
05 Pads: Bliss

both “the mind of avata” (track 04) and this track, track 05, “hylighters drifting gently above the plain”, are inspired by a series of four science fiction novels written by the late, great frank herbert; along with a poet named bill ransom (who had to finish the fourth book on his own, as sadly, frank passed away before the book was finished): beginning with “destination void”, “the jesus incident”, “the lazarus effect”, and “the ascension factor”, which I’ve been re-reading again – I’m halfway through the fourth volume as I write this (in January, 2014) and I absolutely love the world that herbert and ransom created, a strange planet named “pandora” where the remnants of humans from earth have been brought (by a conscious spaceship named “ship”) and one of the most unusual creatures that live on pandora is the hylighter, a creature that floats through the sky, full of hydrogen, holding onto large stones as ballast – and if attacked, they explode into a million fragments (due of course to the extremely explosive properties of hydrogen). for me though, they represent such a graceful creature, from an odd world, a world with these hydrogen “gas bags” that look like hot air balloons, that float in their numbers over the plains and the seas of pandora. they are part of a very complex ecology, and they are also part of…”the mind of avata”.

I was so pleased with this track in particular, because it begins with a sort of white noise that suggests the wind, and that works so well in terms of fitting my subject beautifully, in the case of these drone fx tracks, I am actually creating the titles before the tracks (because there is no “rename” facility in the app) so that gives me the opportunity to try and influence each piece, to sound like the subject of the song. and this track, to my ears, really suggests these enormous, ponderous, slowly-floating alien creatures from pandora – fantastic creatures from the minds of frank herbert and bill ransom.

being the fifth drone fx drone, I am still so shocked and amazed at how very consistently ambient and lovely these tracks are turning out, which must mean that both the quality of the samples, and the quality of the generative process that “plays” the samples, the chord progression, and so on – this tool is absolutely ideal for ambient music – and these five tracks demonstrate that very well indeed.