Notes on some of the cuts from Mensura

Dopplereffekt:
a piece whose lyrics speak of a very common physical phenomenon which forms a part of our every day life, the Doppler effect. In 1842, in Vienna, Christian Doppler (1803-1853) discovered this effect of physics which bares his name and which has an extraordinary importance in astrophysics and cosmology. The Doppler effect applies to all undulatory phenomena, and resultingly to the propulgation of both sonoric and luminous phenomenon.
In the every day world, we can take into account the effect on sound that the Doppler effect has. An observer who finds himself seated on a bench in a train station perceives a change in sound associated with the train's siren as it first approaches, then passes, and finally distances itself.
Aside from the obvious change in intensity of the sound, growing in intensity while the train approaches and diminishing as the train travels off into the distance, there is also a variation in frequency which is perceived. The sound, in fact, has a higher tone while the train approaches, and the tone is lower as it moves off. On the contrary, a passenger on the train doesn't perceive any change at all. It was due to the Doppler Effect that Hubble discovered, in 1929, the expansion of the universe. In particular, he discovered that the galaxies are distancing themselves at a velocity that is proportional to their distances from one another. Extrapolating the movement of the galaxies backwards in time, he arrived at the theory of the 'Big-Bang', in other words, a huge initial explosion from which springs the present material of the universe.
From this last evolution of a cosmic nature from the Doppler effect and from the reflection of how this can be perceived even in the most minute of creatures, such as insects, when they pass beside us, the idea of text of this piece was born; putting in relation the domestic microcosm of a mosquito as it passes around our head in semi-sleep to the macrocosm represented by the infinite voyage of celestial bodies.


Le fantôme néoclassique:
Created and principally based on a sample of baroque music fused with a rhythmic loop utilising particular algorithms by digital processing. From this comes a particular, evocative sound somehow almost 'rubbery'. A robust rhythm section and other expedients of sound design complete the piece.


Mensura
The title cut from the album, it tries to create a very rare atmosphere utilising abstract sounds, both digital and cutting, which float however over a soft line of electric bass.


Sette apparizioni di Mao Zedong su di una TR606 (Seven apparitions of Mao Tse-Tung on a TR606)
The title is a paraphrasing of a painting by Salvador Dalì:" Seven apparitions of Lenin on a Piano". With the change of the communist leader for another and without the piano, of course. In place of the piano is the TR606, the historical drum machine from Roland from the early eighties used for the main groove of the piece together with other 'vintage' analog electronic instruments.
A piece constructed of pulsating beats, where the 'apparition of Mao' takes the form of samples of the late leader's voice.


Grotesque
The main part of this piece is comprised of acoustic drums played on samples and assorted digital sounds. The contrast of recorded voices on a telephone at the beginning and with the voice of the vocalist at the end are two of the more distinctive elements of this piece.


Essence
The sinuous sound of an antique Theremin appears in this piece, a singular instrument which is played by moving one's hands in the air next to its antennas. Invented in the early 1900's by the Russian Leon Theremin, it is the forerunner of all electronic instruments and it has transcended, with its sound, the entire history of music in the last century.


A little bit
The melody in the conclusive part of this piece was composed with a software instrument, the 'Delay Lama', which simulates the voice and singing method of a Tibetan monk. From this, results a both mysterious and curious half-way between the natural quality of vocal emission and the clear digital derivation of sound. The same instrument was used in the piece "Melancholytron" on Mensura.