Video clip of “Aether” live at the Theater at Ace Hotel, Los Angeles
“Aether” was originally written for our fifth Echo event “V.”
In early 2016, I experienced Ravel’s “Bolero” at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles for the first time. It was truly captivating. Unlike some of my fellow Echo friends, I’m far less versed in classical music and my knowledge is beyond limited. I hadn’t known that composers had been writing hypnotic, pulsating and rhythmically alive music like that. I got home and googled more about him and the piece. I came across these odd articles in NPR and this Nature.
“the repetition in Boléro could reflect a manifestation of Alzheimer's disease, or some other serious mental deterioration.
Perseveration, an Alzheimer's symptom, is the obsession of repeating words or actions, and could have been the mastermind behind Ravel's infamous masterpiece.”
This hypothesis of repetition being wrong hit me sideways.
Having been previously introduced to soul moving Native American church songs, music from Gonda in the Central African Republic and the Ikaros in South America, I have listened to and enjoyed repetitive traditional works from a wide range of backgrounds. I’ve heard the same critiques about electronic music and rap. It read as the same old Western perspective. Perhaps Ravel’s condition contributed to his output at a certain time but that was beyond the point.
Deborah Mawer, a music researcher at Lancaster University, UK cautioned “Ravel became interested in mechanization and modern machinery at the end of his life, which could account for the repetitiveness of the piece.” This seems like a balanced approach to viewing his work.
I felt called to take the inspiration I felt for his “Bolero” piece along with my views towards these articles and create something. Our upcoming fifth Echo Society show “V" would be the outlet.
The orchestra we planned to work with for our “V” show was a 40-piece group with an additional 16-piece choir on top. It was the largest group of musicians I had ever written music for - a thrill and terrifying. Working with The Echo Society had always pushed me into scary new worlds and this was definitely one of those moments. I set out to create something that fused synthesis and orchestral while using the number 5 as an anchor.
For this new updated studio recording version, I had learned more since that original version from 2016 and so I carefully and gently revisited the piece. I refined the mixing, layered in cello for texture, expanded the main synth lines and redid some of the orchestration now that it was to be with a smaller ensemble. I remove the choir bits as they were essentially live in-person accents for the show itself. I made things fit.
Below are some screenshots of the Logic sessions. Each player is on a separate channel. I'm not really a fan of keyswitching. The main synth was 3 Serums (and sub) stacked and sending to a handful of buses each. Some of the buses are layered and fighting for space. One of them was run through the Modular Channel from Overstayer (below). I focused on one particular pattern of five that shifts and evolves through the entire piece. I played with callbacks, long builds and some simple time signature stuff.
After finishing the mixing process, I ran everything through a chain of tube and solid state outboard gear that I love. The Foote P4S Plus LE Compressor, Highland Dynamics BG1, Hendyamps Michelangelo and the Modular Channel.
“Aether” Live at the Theater at Ace Hotel, Los Angeles
PS:
Interesting timing occurred with the release of this Echo Society album.
When we designed the album, I was going by the name “ESKMO” as I had been for almost 20 years. Little did everyone else know in the group that I had been thinking about changing my name but unsure of when that might happen. Direct conversations with friends and people in Canada & Alaska reached out to me about the concerns with the name. This had been weighing on me for some time, unsure of what to do about it or the correct way to make a shift. Not until the wave of change that occurred (and is still occurring in 2020) was it clear to me that I had to make this switch and do so clearly and vocally.
Below is the posting I made on all the socials online. This means the Echo compilation album is the last piece of physical product that will ever have the ESKMO name written on it. It’s special to me and sort of a farewell in a way. Onwards and upwards. - B
My friends,
I have changed my artist name to Brendan Angelides.
When I was 19, I made an album as a project to complete high school. I named it “ESKMO” and just kept going, not grasping or understanding the weight that it has for the First Peoples of Canada, Alaska and beyond.
People have reached out to share their views and historical context and I want to publicly acknowledge them. I hear you. It was my privilege that allowed me to take too long and overlook any harm this may have caused. I apologize to anyone whom I may have disrespected in the process, it wasn’t my intention.
This year has been a wake up call for a lot of us, that combined with the fact that I became a dad snapped me to attention with the role I play out there. I want to be transparent and honest with you. This is all about being a part of a community that does its best to respect each other.
I appreciate all of you more than you know and I’m excited to share this new chapter with you.
All love
Brendan Angelides
