Limited edition 3 x tape compilation + fanzine (50 hand-numbered copies), professional duplication. C60 (x 3). Hand-stamped ("Hylé" logo in pink). Arwork and fanzine printed on 250g paper.
Includes unlimited streaming of self-identified non-male artists making experimental electronic music
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Composed, produced, recorded and mixed by Stephanie Merchak
« I always try to convey a certain mood or emotion with my music. At the same time, I like to get technical when I compose. I define a set of rules for each track (or collection of tracks) that I make.
I like to challenge myself by limiting the basic material that I use and making a wide palette of complex sounds out of it.
I have a few different approaches. I either make field recordings of common everyday sounds such as traffic, people conversations, construction sites etc that I bring into Ableton Live and edit and process to such an extent that they become unrecognizable. Or I use only hardware synths and hardware electronic drums. Or I use only iOS apps. Or I synthesize everything from scratch in Ableton Live using Operator and Live's effects to create my own sounds.
This last approach is the one I chose to compose "Espaces et Ombres".
I started by creating the first sustained bass pad of the track, then the other synths and lastly the percussion instruments. All in all, the track consists of 2 pads, 2 synths and 5 percussive elements.
Besides the common effects like delay, reverb, eq and compression, I used other types of effects (chorus, frequency shifter, resonator, redux, auto pan, beat repeat) with automations on some of their parameters to give the instruments lines some motion and life. I also extensively used the sample and hold section of the LFO in Operator and in the frequency shifter to shape the sound of the synths and pads.
The percussive elements are polymetric with 3/4, 4/4, 5/4, 7/4 and 7/8 meters layered. Two of the rhythmic patterns I used are borrowed from classical Middle-Eastern music.
Structure-wise, the track starts with a calm and mysterious pad line and a synth similar to a glass harmonica. By adding the different elements one after another, I create tension little by little until the track reaches its peak about half way through. Then the tension decreases, increases and decreases again. The track slowly goes back to a state of stability while still remaining mysterious then fades into silence.
With "Espaces et Ombres", I tried to depict the darkness, the mystery, the complexity and sometimes the solitude of the human mind. »
supported by 20 fans who also own “Espaces et Ombres”
During the final days of writing my thesis I listened to this album on repeat for hours at a time. It was like being suspended in one eternal moment while all that changed around me were the ripples and eddies of a slowly meandering river. catharina_bee