Lowered – Arche (For Singing Bowls)

A fairly low tone from a singing bowl plays, and after a short period is joined by another tone. Then, a singing bowl is struck and rings out over the two constant tones. After fading out and a short period has passed, it rings out again in the same manner. This happens a third time as background tones become higher pitched and more pronounced. Then a fourth and fifth time. The background tones shimmer, providing a shifting drone for the singing bowl to be struck over. This sonic space, in which the singing bowl is struck over shifting tones produced by playing other singing bowls in a different manner which produces a drone, continues until some of the drones fall out, and then one comes back in and the singing bowl is struck again.

The droning tones continue to be subtly modified over time, and grow louder in volume for a bit, then quiet down. This period does not have a singing bowl struck, as the drones quietly ring out, and different singing bowls create what could be described as a serene atmosphere. The prominence of the subtly shifting drones creates a situation in which many different harmonics harmonize with each other, and so the music is very consonant.

A drone grows louder briefly, and then more quiet, then fuller as more bowls enter into the soundspace. The sound continues to shimmer, and then some of the bowls drop out, and lower-frequencies become more prominent.

The sound morphs over time, yet stays mostly in a place which while sounding different in various subtle ways, it would be difficult to use words to describe precisely how it is different. However, just before the 19:00 mark the drones drop out, leaving what sounds like a single singing bowl to provide the drone.

Then, an unfamiliar drone comes in over the singing bowls, produced by a wash of string instruments, which each play a single note constantly and fade in and out of the sound space, until they gently dominate the sound, shifting over time in volume and timbre, changing the prominence of individual instruments. This continues for a quite lengthy time to the end of the piece, when the string instruments fade out.

(https://www.tromerecords.com/trome008.html)

Author: dryeyes4096

I am a musician, spanning many genres with various projects, as well as a writer, poet, and photographer.