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February 20, 2008 - Echo_Root
Echo Root's newest album, Clockwork Angels,
is now complete! All of the tracks are available for free download, or
you may purchase the album if you'd like to show your support in that
way.
Clockwork Angels is my first concept album, and the first album for
Echo Root that is not part of the Zen Junk collection. I took the first
few weeks of February away from that year-long project to focus on
completing this album as part of my participation in February Album
Writer's Month and the RPM Challenge.
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The goal of the album was to build a cohesive piece of art, from the
cover to the title, and of course the songs themselves. That is a
departure from the Zen Junk albums which are more of a
stream-of-cons ciousness musical diary.
Clockwork Angels alludes to the idea of man-made beings that surpass
the capabilities of humans. The music therefore mixes ethereal musical
landscap es with mechanical and electrical sounds. I sometimes use the
Bladerunner replicants or the work of HR Giger as a visual/mental
re ference. I think it really helps to think of my music as a
soundtrack, focus on the imagery and allow the movie to form itself in
your mind. Thus "music for B movies."
I used many new tools and techniques for this album. A good number of
the keyboard parts were composed using my homemade algorithmic
comp osition software, which I call Geia 1.0, using my Spiral DNA
Algorithm. I also made extensive use of a free sci-fi VST synth called
Alieno, the free mda VST plug-ins and Guitar Rig 3.
Musically, all of the songs are based on modes of the Major scale. The
Spiral DNA algorithm randomly generates serial modal lines which
utilize all of the notes (and the octave) of a scale so that the full
shape of the mode can be experienced. The program then uses that same
randomly generated sequence to create a harmonic progression through
the scale. Geia 1.0 also defines the key and tempo of the piece. The
angular, yet perfect lines composed by Geia symbolically represent the
superior, yet artificial intellect of the "Clockwork Angels," while the
improvised guitar represents the human spectator in a world that is
evolving beyond his control.
As always, thanks for listening!
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