‘Negation’ Individual Song Breakdowns ____________________________________________________________ Individual Song Breakdowns Instead of following the tracklist, the breakdowns correspond mostly to when I recall composing them. “Chomp” This is the first extemporaneous piece, and I think it slightly preceded the batch that I wrote in Guitar Pro in tandem around the same time. Alike "Inhale Cog" from The Soundtrack of Nonexistence, I sought to self-impose the challenge of composing everything from a singular sound clip. In this instance, it's my dog Sid eating his dinner. I took it much further, isolating a particularly juicy, scrumptious portion of mastication—which can be heard punctuating the very end—and building from there. Other than the bed of ingestion that runs throughout, it's all from that sliver of sound: a soundBITE, hah hah. “Wise Vena” Recorded a sine wave with a mic, pitch-shifting and processing it a myriad of ways, making various chords. The alien-like sound is this cheap, fun little synth, the Gakken SX-150. Sudden funky bass line emerges—check out that tone. Fretless Jazz Bass for the win. Two of those lines are quoted in the closing epic. “The Grinder” For some time, I'd wanted to experiment with 12-tone rows, creating walls of chordal texture. The aforementioned critical/recreational listening to my Boulez 'The Conductor' box set further impelled me. I wrote this in Guitar Pro, arranging the instrumentation for glockenspiel, santoor, piano, and bass guitar. I also had a rather abrasive, jarring idea of capturing the sound of my teeth grinding (which I also used in the Silly String Redux version of "Desensitization") and doing something with that, so these ideas naturally collided, heh. The tempo that I decided on, by utter happenstance, ended up being the same as most of the closing epic, which contains a quotation of this piece, recreated entirely with my voice instead of instruments. Because there isn't a tonal center, and because it's so dang hard to play, I decided on the theremin as a lead instrument and went wild. There are also touches of mini trumpet. “Trekwatts” An anagram of 'Werkstatt,' a Moog product, another cheap synth I purchased before starting the record. I wanted to take a baby step into the world of modular, and ended up barely using those features, so go figure. But this was another exercise in restraint/limitations: the whole piece was made with the titular synth. It was tough contriving kick and snare sounds. “The Gripper II” The first installment appears on Elsewhere in the Nowhere, and was rewarding enough to justify exploring it again. The haunting, disturbing sound that opens this and appears throughout is the squeaking of a hand exerciser, a gripper, manipulated with a large variety of plug-ins. This one went in a different direction, trading the violent distortion for chilling ethereality, recruiting my Schecter Omen 8-string (recorded probably for the first time) for some involved chords. “March of the Vacuum” I sampled the beginning of a movement of a classical piece—a rare application for me—and pitch-shifted it down a minor third. Underpinning it is a groove made from a vacuum swishing from side to side, bumping off of a dog kennel. One or two of the synth melodies that enter were captured from a 'sound tape' (Onde Magnétique) being played and recorded through a Gieskes ?man+ Cassette Manipulator. I better harnessed the capabilities of this little setup in a section in the closing epic. Mini trumpet noodling closes it out. This is gotta be one of the druggiest sounding things I've ever done, and a solid inadvertent stab at musique concrète. “Fata Morgana” Came up with a lengthy chord progression with the only VST synth I've got onboard my Pro Tools setup, the Brainworx Oberhausen, with bass supporting it. There are two instances of a field-recorded public fountain running throughout, each processed in different ways. Vocal decorations abound, lots of whistle tones and 'super head voice' notes, as I'd just started fooling with those techniques. The occasional terse sound is a voice memo I took of my friend Blair operating his cigarette rolling machine. “Negation Expresses” Initiated on 08JUL25, the first pre-conceived/GP piece. I'd had the opening melody in my head for, geez, the better part of a year or so at that point. I'd hum it while taking the dogs out. Some of the intervals surprised me once I'd finally sat down to transcribe it. The opening line is tripled, a minor accomplishment, and the lead is sung through a megaphone. The latter part of the piece grew compositionally from these components. Not only do I snicker at starting a largely electronic album with an almost entirely a cappella tune, but it also serves the purpose of introducing one Negation concept. In fact, all of the aforementioned pieces up to this point of the breakdown include it: digital 'cursed black.' In a literal fashion that's characteristic of my work, the silence (which is achieved through not only volume-automating the master fader, but bypassing all effects) juxtaposes/'negates' the music; this transpires subtly at first, via the lulls between the opening vocal, and acutely in the latter part. Lyrics: As one grows, one would hope The absence of youth accrues such truth My crooked step pirouettes Black and blue, contused muse I'm lost and never found Inside: secrets abound Negation expresses Represses “Honkin' Gallimaufry” Another of the GP pieces, more and more elements are introduced and it devolves into chaos! “The Sylph” And another one, though everything developed out of the two piano melodies that open it, which were written during some noodling. There's a choral vocal arrangement in the middle. “An Ocean of Gray” (drum transcription) The penultimate GP piece of my first writing/composing session for the record. I wanted to do something featuring odd-time grooves. It builds into a boisterous, grandiose section with programmed drums from live samples, and closes with a lovely, warm chord progression featuring mini bongos. This progression is quoted in the closing epic. “Negation Represses” (drum transcription, percussion overdub transcription) And the final GP piece within the first writing chunk, not only within this part of the breakdown, but also technically—initiated 29JUL25. Similar to "The Sylph," this all grew out of the opening piano lick, which was the result of another noodle session. Almost a through-composed piece, I reused some chords in different sections but the only reprise (with a couple layers and twists) is the 17-16 section, the first of which follows the opening. This piece has very little 'chill.' There are a couple respites, the R&B and ambient parts, but surprises both big and small await around every turn. The synth lead in the R&B part was improvised on my iPad via the Animoog app. I set up a compatible scale, did four or five passes, and comped what you hear. The Gieskes enters during the last repetition: this time, I picked out a sound tape that best complemented the aesthetic, and actually played a melody with the built-in slider. They're small movements, but it's approximately 237% easier than playing a theremin, which is in the 17-16 sections. It also adds a tasty, foreboding element. The quintuplet-heavy section that enters at 8:14 features a (comped) improvised drum solo. I tracked this part in an additional tracking session, separately from the other drums; I experimented with several custom clicks to lock in with the rapid quints, ultimately deciding on 16th quintuplets with a downbeat pulse of 3 for the first half and 4 for the latter. The two bass quotes from "Wise Vena" occur at 10:05-10:35, and the progressions that close "An Ocean of Gray" comprise the ambient section, along with other decorations. I left in the release of the final chord on the piano, I think it's a cool touch. After composition, I didn't get any opportunities in my schedule to track all of the live instrumentation (for all of the GP-generated pieces) until a few months later, working intermittently around obligations through September to November, and then the vocals in December. Lyrics: My obscure creation Impure allure Negation Choose a role Where's the truth? In your soul Now I'm whole We'll all be fed to the grinder Now I'm whole “The Bells” This piece kicked off my second writing session for this record, commencing on Christmas Day 2025, as stated in 'About the record.' A few months prior, my bandmate Nico was in Italy and sent me a voice memo he'd grabbed of church bells ringing. "Do something with this!" It was a perfect loop, I mean friggin' metronomic. Expanding on the Negation concept, I juxtaposed the opening section, which is dreamy and wistful, with a grimy trap beat and the bells pitched down a half step. The sliding minor-third vocal harmonies sound Motown-y to me for some reason; Trap Motown, maybe it's time for a new genre. The piece ends with an ambient movement that features an extremely processed singing saw. My efforts couldn't yield solid tones, so I just smacked it with the wooden side, applying various pressure with my leg and taking down samples of pitches. “An Esemplastic Disparity” Originally, I wanted to try my hand at writing a simple house song, also to serve as contrast to the opening tune. I'd found this cool sequencing patch on the Yamaha CS1x, started playing with chord shapes and landed on the opening. Well, it just so happens that that particular patch organized the sequence into 15-8, so I wrote around it. The kick starts phrased in 5, which was a happy programming accident. Intro section builds and morphs into a hip-hop beat with fragments of a field recording taken in a busy restaurant. Then, back to the opening section with the groove straightened and a new layer. It closes with a spacey section that sounds like two cowboys squaring off... on the moon! Closes with some droning feedback with a hair-raising scream out of nowhere, which segues into... “Sid's Lament” Step 1: wind up your basenji and record a few yodels. Step 2: construct a drum 'n' bass song to feature them. Step 3: there ain't any profit, who are we kiddin'? This was big fun. Sid opens it up, punctuates the downbeats of the busy DnB section (in 9-8) at 1:17, and is also in the last section. The two voicemails that set up the middle section are real ones that I received a few years ago, saved, and always wanted to use. They were obviously scams. The main groove tumbles into half time, there's some cursed black at the end, then a syncopated beat emerges, which takes us to... “The Prism” The repeated groove popped into the ol' noggin one night, so the next morning I transcribed it in GP and then wrote everything else, starting with the baritone acoustic. The consequent harmonic environment is pretty unique, at least for me, to my ears. Equal parts tension and release—perhaps more of the former—and a bit of mystery, it's decorated with more field recordings (a busy coffee shop). It ambles into a big synth solo, which is bolstered with occasional xylophone and glockenspiel, then closes with a repeated reprise of the sweeping opening bars, entwining with a choir. Did a little bass feature there, it's mostly ad libbed and comped. Took a good while to land on things that worked, between the harmonies and rhythmic motif. The field recording from before segues into “Adagium,” and runs throughout it. This piece is one of my favorites. “Adagium” One of two quite lengthy pieces; each appear on either 'side' of the record (per CD release). Executed spontaneously, instinctually. There's a snippet of dialogue at the very end, for which I tried the Twin Peaks technique of learning the phrase ("A slow burn may still become an inferno") backwards, then recording it and reversing it, imbuing it with a strange quality. I tried this first in the other lengthy soundscape piece, "Extemporaneously Extending Electroreality," saying "Death, life, negation," and nailed it in nearly one take—executed so well that it actually doesn't sound like the technique was even employed. Thus, I thought the 'slow burn' phrase couldn't be much harder. Well, it took me nearly a half-hour to get it to what you hear! Plosives are really tough, I don't think there's any way to for them to sound organic because of the reversing, and whatever follows the plosive is amplified in difficulty. You've gotta engage foreign tongue and mouth shapes, and sounds that you never would otherwise. “Extemporaneously Extending Electroreality” Used the Ebow for the first half of this piece, which is layered with CS1x. The latter half is an expansive, unfolding synth melody (the Oberhausen again). The TP technique is at 4:33. “Minikui” I had to bust out my Leaf Audio Soundbox and try to do something with it, as that thing's so very fun. Recorded a bunch of stuff, playing it with assorted implements, then processed and pitch-shifted certain pieces of audio, piecing together a bitchen loop. Added some reversed bass distortion, pitch-shifted rubber bands with delay, and then a vocal idea materialized. Wrote the lyrics on the spot: Bury me Inside my head Tear me free Tumor of life Fixture of hope and death Bury me Inside my spite “Utsukushii” This piece follows as a Negation-contrast, to pivot from the ugliness to something I regard as beautiful. In fact, that's what the titles translate to from Japanese: 'ugly' and 'beautiful.' I didn't try to do anything fancy. There's a key change at 0:39-1:18 for contrast, that's all. Wrote everything sitting in my studio with a synth, I think it was my Waldorf Blofeld. Perhaps due to the inadvertent patch selection, it sounds pretty close to something from the Silent Hill 2 OST. It is hopefully seen as an homage rather than a ripoff. Wanting to provide a respectful hat tip, I decided on the Japanese titles, as the SH2 OST was composed by Akira Yamaoka. “Pokily Plodding in a Pleasant Polyphony” Contains a field recording from a jaunt down the street in Japan, layered with a fan and the sound of dripping water. Altering the pitch of the treated fan sound, it builds in tension, then cursed black appears, then a heavy groove with that same field recording—on a totally rad preset in Soundtoys's Effect Rack, 'Feedback Beat'—laid down via live drum samples. A super processed harmonica, of all things, wafts in, followed by a synth lead. “Septem Contra Quinque” The penultimate piece that I'd started within this big second chunk of writing the record. I imported the same track of Soundbox noodling, culling different sounds from it, took down more rubber band plucks, and used my Suiko ST-50 for the synth melody. The scrapes and the bands form a 7:5 polyrhythm. The high-pitched, steam-whistle sound is a fucked-up sink at the Dulles airport, and the sliding minor-third harmonies were played on my Otamatone. There's a wee bit of processed mini trumpet at the end, then you can faintly hear the "The Bells" sample; the Otamatone harmonies foreshadow those same vocal harmonies during the trap beat. “Intermezzo II” I set out to write two bridge pieces for a bit more connective tissue. The chords and melodies are built out of notes used towards the end of "Honkin' Gallimaufry" until it switches gears around 3:15—then it's built from components of "Negation Represses." I love how this one makes you feel underwater, blanketed in murk. And as that synth ostinato ever-so-slowly creeps in, it's a bright light within all that darkness. That is, until we get too close to it, then what the hell is happening?! Much uneasiness and apprehension. And at the end, the distorted bass chord at 3:53 feels like an otherworldly portal to safety yawning open. “Intermezzo I” Same concept as above, except the style is different—kinda quirky, lighthearted, with more momentum. The theremin solo didn't take too long to get down, mercifully. The chords at 1:16-1:24 serve as a brief contrast and segue, as they're composed of notes from both sections. There's a little parallel to the piece before, with the distorted bass: now, they're full-on chords rather than one arpeggio, and it's a synth bass. The distortion infuses tension, a prolonged sonic earthquake. “Chiaroscuro II” Further drawing on the Negation concept, the following two were written in a way that pits multiple contrasting key signatures against each other, with consistency. Here, it's 4 bars of D# natural minor, the synth lead being in mostly half-note 13-lets, then 2 bars of A major, with the lead straightening but becoming more expressive, with much pitch-bending. The rhythmic contrasts also play into the concept via (purported) tempo changes. While mixing the piece and doing further production, it evolved into an exploration of production aesthetics: the first half is lo-fi, with odd glitches and distortion, and the second half features a higher fidelity within the synths/overall production. A rhythm section also appears, with mini bongos playing the 13-lets, then a shaker with straight 8ths to further drive home those rhythmic shifts. “Chiaroscuro I” I didn't deliberately choose to write a counterpart, but both pieces were written in Guitar pro within 24 hours of each other, and complemented each other well. The contrasting keys here are D and D# enigmatic—enigmatic is so strange!—and then, after all that tension, some F harmonic minor with big, sweeping synth melodies sans pitch bends. Another important difference is the production aesthetic develops oppositely, starting hi-fi and devolving. “The Bug” Hah hah, the final piece. The silly melody came to me in the midst of this mad creative dash. I voice-memo-ed it so I wouldn't forget, opting to act on it when I had the opportunity. I didn't even record the drums properly: I used my rehearsal kit and recorded both brief passages (sans click) with my field recorder and my iPhone, which was positioned atop my kick. The Negation concept is manifest here, plus it cycles through 4 different flavors of distortion, each becoming less abrasive. The tempo for the distortion segment was purposefully set to coincide with the tempo for "March of the Vacuum." Lyrics: Oh no, what a beautiful bug SQUISH IT

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