015.5 - The Deep Dive - Aural - アーバン空想

The deep dive is for readers who want to dig further into the album by reading the notes and pre-review interview that is done with each artist.  It is best read after the review.

 

Notes

目覚めた (awakened) - Immediately the song differentiates itself from Aural’s past works.  The albums previously had a strong focus on nature and the beauty that comes from those environments.  This new album creates a very urban atmosphere, with sounds mimicking city environments and noises.  
The way this song begins is very much in the dark ambient territory, a low mechanical hum is the dominating force throughout the majority of the track.  If this was something to be found on its own it would be a very boring composition, but that is not what we have here.  There are subtle shifts that take place over the course of the track, the first is around 3:00 where the tone seems to take a half step down and becomes slightly more resonant.  
The entirety of the first three minutes is quite possibly not even music, but rather an observation of something that is taking place in front of us.  The tone wraps itself around us and makes it difficult to concentrate on anything else but what it provides.  Sounds of cars driving by and machines crashing together repeat over and over adding to the effect that we are an observer.  What are we observing? Well that’s what the beauty of ambient music is, it will differ from person to person.
Right around 4:30 the tonal shift that started at 3 minutes begins to bloom.  That resonant tone that is teased right at 3 minutes slowly swells and eventually becomes the dominant force driving the song by the 5 minute mark.  This not only changes the tone of the song but also movies the narrative forward.  We are no longer in an atonal state of observation, we have a musical chord playing in the background now.  It's a subtle but important shift.  
By 7 minutes most of the ambient noises are pushed very far into the background, with only the mechanical clanking being heard clearly over the musical tone.  This transition from a state of neutral observation to the current state is a fascinating one to me.  Are we as the observers through this music making sense of something that is occurring in the city in front of us? Or is this more that we are finding the beauty in the landscape in front of us?  Beauty can be found anywhere, and the city is no exception.  Many people consider beauty to be inherent to nature, but there is a strange beautiful quality that can be derived from the city itself.  
It makes me very curious about the narrative if any that is attempted to be communicated here.  Or perhaps there is none.  The other thing that is curios is how the car sounds and the industrial clanking never truly goes away.  They are constant from the start of the song until the very end, providing a context to what is transpiring in the song.  Without these sounds this could very well just be a singular tone played over the course of 12 minutes.  The loop is interesting, and I’m curious why Aural chose to maintain it throughout the song.  
The last minute the song goes back to the atonal sense that was established in the first three minutes.  I’m curious as to why he went back, what is he trying to communicate here?  Did we find what we were looking for and decided to go back to our initial state of being?  Or were we unsuccessful in our quest and what we thought was beauty turned out to be nothing but another variation on what we already knew?

シティ内側 (Inside the City) - Transitioning directly from the end of the first track, the scene developing in front of us includes people talking and possibly a PA system announcing something inaudible.  The atonal noise from the first track is present here as well, however it has a more dynamic tone to it.  Everything is set up for the track to go along the same route as the first song however right at 1 minute everything stops.  We are in a train station and passengers are loading and unloading onto what sounds like a commuter train going to an unknown location.  
This transition is the first of a few that will take this song to a destination that is far removed from the first track.  There are subtle melodies that are played throughout, especially after the 3 minute mark (again three minutes).  Its a very simple melody that simply chooses to exist.  The world is going on around it haphazardly and just like a glowing light that is oblivious to the world around it the melody continues to meander through the song like it doesn't have a care in the world.  
The way that the melody is structured, it has almost a child-like feel to it. This is in pretty strong contrast to the other noises that are going around it.  Everywhere there is the busyness of the city and the chaos that comes with it.  People moving out and about, random noises blur into this giant mess of a cityscape.  All along this melody just trucks on through it all like there is nothing in the world bothering it.
There is a secondary melody that is not nearly as innocent playing above it.  While the first melody is played on instrumentation that resembles someone blowing into bottles containing different amounts of water, the second melody is played on instruments that are highly saturated.  They sound like they are played in a near haphazard way, tripping over each other.  The way that the second melody is mixed is front and center, it demands attention.  
The interplay between these two melodies is really what fascinates me about this track.  We have two opposing forces, one of perceived innocence and aloofness and the second or a harsher take on the same reality.  I’m left wondering if this is conflicting viewpoints of the same scene or if this is conflicting ideas in someone's mind.  Regardless of the context there is a conflict between the melodies.  They don’t compliment each other at all, but I think that is the ultimate point of all of this.
Maybe these are just two people waiting for the train.  One being a child who is just taking in the chaos of the city and being enthralled by it.  The second more harsh tone could be a businessman who is on his way to work or someone who is stressed out by the realities that come by living in the city. Regardless of the circumstances this is a very interesting song to listen to and it paints a very vivid picture of a train station, regardless of how we take the melodies.  

人工的な (Artificial) - I’m getting the running sense here that we are observing different parts of city life.  Each soundscape has vastly different elements associated with it.  The first scene is likely a construction site, the second a train station, and this one seems like either a workshop or a lumber yard, some place with heavy machinery.  The ambient noises really dominate the start of the track with no musical context whatsoever.  There is this overarching theme that there is no music for the first few minutes on each of these tracks.  I wonder if we’re just supposed to take this time to take in the ambience or if there is something else going on?
At 1:15 the music finally joins in, well a singular note takes hold and dominates the song rather.  Again there is a common theme with at least the first track, where there is a dominant tone throughout the song and it offers what little musical guidance that can be seen throughout the entire composition.  
The way that the resonance works on this tone however is quite unique.  It comes in waves, that is it fades out slightly then strengthens again and again.  This dominates the song with workshop noises until about three minutes.  This is where the table saw returns to the forefront.  The whole time it sounds like something is being built, or constructed.  
The whole song seems to be in almost simple harmonic motion, the ebb and flow of the main tone creates this sense of almost hypnotism as we wash back and forth through this construction site. It's a cool effect and it is hard to do well.  
Finally the tone fades out and we are left once again with just the soundscape of the construction site.  Again this whole album seems to be glimpses of different parts of the city.  I don’t know if we are meant to be a bodiless observer or if we are a character in each one of these scenes but I am quite enjoying looking into the lives of the people through this musical venture.  

忘れられた通りたち (Forgotten streets) - I’m not going to refer to these tracks as songs anymore, they are scenes.  Each track is a scene that we are observing.  This scene begins very similarly to the other scenes, ambience of an urban nature.  There are sounds of distant cars driving by, but everything has an echo on it.  Perhaps this scene is observed from a tunnel?
Distant voices are also heard, it seems like we are close to a lot of activity but not quite within it.  After hearing the surroundings for a little over a minute a melancholy guitar slowly fades in.  The guitar has a ton of reverb on it and the notes are played in a slow, deliberate fashion.   This is likely the most musical the album has been to this point.  
Just like passing a musician in the street the guitar eventually fades into the background right around three minutes and the ambience of the city takes over.  The guitar never fully disappears and eventually does come back full force.  This interplay has me curious.  In previous tracks once the musical quality took hold of the song then it remained the dominant force until the conclusion.  
The background ambience is also much more varied on this track than it was on any of the previous tracks.  The previous tracks I was able to distinguish the loop rather easily, whereas here I really am having a hard time with it.  These subtle changes are something that I probably would have missed on casual listens but they stand out like a sore thumb when listening actively. Lots of questions.
The change of pace from the first three scenes is also very welcome at this point in the album.  We’ve observed three very different parts of the city but they all have minimalist musical tones to them at best, with track 2 showing the most musical inclinations.  Here however we have a full blown melody accompanying us as we travel down these roads.  Or are we the guitarist? I’m not sure.  
There are so many directions that this can be taken.  The one thing that is for certain is that we are traveling during this scene, whereas the other ones were largely stagnant.  I wonder… is the guitar melody that we are hearing the observer creating their own music to go with the interplay of all the people and objects we're observing from a distance?  It could be and if it is that changes the context of the entire album. This may be my favorite track on the whole thing.
The guitar finally fades out completely and at the end of the song we are left with this very slow droning and ominous voice calling out something that I can’t understand.  People walking by like there is nothing going on… the track fades into silence after this.  Kind of a crazy end to a wonderful track.

上に (Above) - Like all the other scenes we are lulled into this one with soundscapes.  This time we are observing a street or highway with many passing cars.  Either that or we are within a car traveling alongside them.  Either way we automobiles are a focus, at least based on the sounds that are presented.  

A slow swell of a deep chorded synth pad slowly builds as the song progresses from 1-2 minutes.  This is really one of the recurring strengths of this album, its not in a hurry to get anywhere and it lets its listeners fully take in what is going on before moving on to the next concept.  The synth pads have a slow but defined melody to them.  Again very musical compared to the first half of the album.  Are these last three scenes the second chapter compared to what we observed in the first three?  Something to ask Aural about.
This song revisits the concept of waves washing over you with the music.  The ebb and flow of the synth pads has a near hypnotic effect to them.  I found myself just listening to them and staring off into space as they pulled me into a wonderful rhythm.  I really love this effect, gives the song a strong sense of identity.
The interesting part of this scene is its contrast to the previous song.  The previous song faded the guitar in and out throughout its runtime, here the synth pads dominate as soon as they finish fading in.  Small details like that have huge implications on an album such as this.  If we are observing something and the music is indeed symbolic of something of our observing state or the world around us then the loss of it in the previous track would indicate that the retention of the music here has some lasting effect.  
What does this mean?  That probably is different for every person, and that is the real beauty of this type of music.  I’ve said this multiple times in the past but pure ambient music is some of the most challenging to listen to, but ultimately it can be some of the most rewarding.  You are the person that creates a narrative based on what you hear, and it becomes a personal story.  The composer is giving you a canvas: paint.  
Sticking with the cars driving theme, the sense of hypnotism that comes with driving on the open road is very similar to the rhythm found on this scene.  We could just be driving around the city and taking in the sights, or we are a passenger doing the same.  Great track, and its placement on the album is exceptional.  This album really has excellent pacing.  

世界の頂点 (the top of the world) - Major major change right off the bat.  There is no ambience here, there is only a monotone that slowly fades in and then lingers.  This is an astronomically huge change compared to every other track on the album.  There is no context given to what we are listening to, and its honestly disconcerting.  
I feel lost when listening to this track, I don’t know where I am or where I am supposed to be.  I am floating in nothingness, given no form or context.  I can’t explain enough how big of a change this is from the rest of the album.
This does give a bit of context to what the tones on previous tracks may be.  The music heard in previous tracks has to be related to the observer somehow and not to the environment, for here this is no environment.  We are the music, or we are partakers in the music.  How that manifests differs based on where we are in the city, but here we are by ourselves and we are left with nothing but pure tones.  
The tones used to create the track here are deep and rich but they also differ from the previous synth pads used.  There is a warmth to these that were not present in the previous tracks, almost but not quite in a major key.  This track is the closest thing this album comes to Aural’s previous works that are more in tune with nature.  Maybe this track is the return to nature.  Either way its beautiful and is a wonderful way to close out the album.  

Overall - There is so much to dig into here.  What does the music mean vs the environment? Why do some tracks have genuine melodies and why do others only hover with a single chord?  Everything seems to be made with purpose here and I think it's up to each listener to discern what that meaning is.  
The album does seem to be divided into two chapters, the first being less melodic and music driven (tracks 1-3) and the second being more musically driven, featuring actual melodies from time to time.  Every song has an ambient context with it except for the final track, I don’t know if this is trying to convey something or if this is just the way Aural wanted to conclude the album.  
I chose to interpret the music mixed with the soundscapes as a character or multiple characters observing or taking part in different scenes around the city.  Each melody could indicate a different character, or could all be the same character depending on how you look at it.  The final song could also be someone looking down at the city as a whole and taking everything in, and just enjoying the harmony that everything brings.
However the album is interpreted the way that it is crafted and flows is well done.  The album is best listened to actively to pick up subtle differences between the tracks.  Some of them hit me like bricks while others were not as monumental.  Regardless of how impactful they were they are always exciting to hear.  

Interview

Multiple part question.  Every song but the final track begins with some sort of field recording in a city. Did you record these?  

 
No, these were already prerecorded and most of them were sampled once they were placed into the mix.


How did you choose where to record?  

 
Unfortunately, there’s not really a city around to record the nature of. The album was tagged with field recordings because the pre-recordings were genuinely recorded in that live setting, it felt necessary to give proper classification.


What was the reason for including these recordings?

 
Even though there’s not a city around, they always presented something new to discover when exploring on a vacation or in general. They are naturally ever-changing over the course of time, and that’s one of the beauties of a city, which is one of the themes desired to be covered in this album: growth.

Much of the music in the first half is minimal at best.  The second half of the album contains passages that are very melodic, especially tracks 4 and 5.  When you constructed the album, was this change in tone done with intent? Why have the more melodic sections of the album towards the end?

 
Yes, the shift was intentional as the first half is essentially an introduction to the city environment, whilst the second half, becoming more melodic, is the journey deepening into the “heart” of the city.

The final track on the album contains no field recordings.  Why?

 
The final track in particular was composed with no field recordings, no sampling, and just instruments. This is because the track is supposed to be focused only on the individual’s thoughts on the exploration they just took, explaining the floating-like essence of it. It also implemented a sense of life.


On the second track I noted that there were two competing melodies, one childlike and one more atonal and harsh.  This is really the only point in the album where this occurs, can you describe what you were trying to communicate here?  Did your song writing process differ at all here from the rest of the album?

 
The first melody that is introduced is meant to serve as the individual's initial thoughts of the current setting and of discovering something completely new to them, whilst the next melody is actually discovering it. These two then wash into one another, signifying that the previous emotions of the setting have expanded.

You mentioned before that color is very important to you making music.  Can you detail this a little?  How does color influence your music? 

 
Color plays an extremely important role in production. Music is almost like a recipe, and color is the texture and flavor added in. Color itself gives off a certain mood and utilizing it when trying to capture a certain emotion can open inspiration and make production become easier. The results will also be more grand as the listener can truly feel and relate to the atmosphere an album gives off. Focusing on what is felt rather than what is actually being heard is more important in music without lyrics, especially ambient music.

This album has a very urban feel to it.  Your previous albums have a very natural and organic feel to them.  What was the reason for the shift to the city environment?

 
As mentioned, there’s not really a city around, so the shift to a city environment peaked interest along with the desire to live in the city. In general, the production for everything that is and will be put out is experimental, new ideas come and go.

What equipment was used to create this album? (you don’t have to detail this if you would like it to remain private)

A MacBook Air, Garageband, and some downloaded presets are the only equipment used for everything produced.

Is there an overall narrative you are trying to tell on this album? If you would like to share some of it please do.

 
There’s not really a plot that was implemented, it’s more of an experience when listening to rather than a story being told. The album is mostly a soundscape, and it is left to the listeners to create their own story while listening. It is fundamentally a discovery of the creative mind, with the album itself being the foundation for the individual to fill in with his/her thoughts.

I noted in a lot of the songs it seems like we are observers seeing passers by on the street or watching people work at a construction site. Whether or not this is what you were getting at here, I’m curious what you were seeing the viewpoint of these songs being as you were recording them.  In your own words, how did you observe these scenes as they played out?

The entire album moves the individual from place to place. The first track is the opening itself, with the arrival of the individual in a completely new environment and exposing him/her with a roused or possibly even confused mind, hence the title “目覚めた” (Awakening). The second track, “シティ内側” (Inside the City), captures the scene of a train station, and at the end, the individual boarding a train. This symbolizes the embarking of a journey, in this case, the city is the journey. The third track, “人工的な” (Artificial) is when the exploration actually begins with construction in the background being of typical city nature; it’s simple but that’s what mostly walking on the sidewalk is, and the entire song is meant to symbolize the idea that a city is always growing. As said, the second half of the album deepens into the city, with the fourth track, “忘れられた通りたち” (Forgotten Streets), coming in. This track represents the impoverished or lower-classed residents of a city, it’s purpose is to put the listener in the poor’s perspective as there are those who overlook this group of people and their anguish. Next track, “上に” (Above), illustrates skyscrapers, their presence can interpret dominance in a sense; a symbol of power. The final track “世界の頂点” (The Top of the World) showed the overall beauty and importance of feeling alive, and concludes the album there.

How did you come to write music?  How did you settle in on your current style?  Where do you see your style evolving to?

 
Someone asked what job is desirable, one that gives complete satisfaction, “making music” was the answer. This is not a job though, it’s a hobby/passion incredibly enjoyed. The current style emerged from feelings of desire, euphoria, and love frustrated by instances of angst, sorrow, and loneliness. In mind, there is always a place that welcomes an imaginary refuge to which escaping from a distressing event(s) is possible. Of course there are other artists such as 2814, t e l e p a t h, D R O I D R O Y, Sangam, Hong Kong Express, 沙漠里的沙子晚上很温暖, etc. who are inspiration when curating a certain style that is wanted. Everything will have its own style as production is experimental.

Is there anything further you would like to say about your music or any other projects?
Another album is in the works, with a couple of instruments found at the moment. As a whole, there are more projects to come.

Thank you.