Celestial Pulsar
Did you ever look through a telescope into the Universe at Night: when all around you, our tiny planet is dark & silent?
If you have, what did you see? What did you hear? What did you feel?
I'm very excited about my latest composition "Celestial Pulsar" because it's akin to looking through a telescope into the sky at night.
And what it sees is mind-blowingly beautiful, scary and hypnotic.
I want you to see the Universe differently.
I want you to look at the World differently.
I want you to see, hear and feel Music differently.
I want you to consume Music with a hunger often reserved for more gastronomic temptations.
It matters that we expand ourselves and our senses.
It matters to me: and it matters to you.
So here it is...
And as usual, I'm asking for your feedback.
How does this composition make you feel?
What images are conjured up in your mind when you see and listen?
Allow yourself to be taken over by the sounds and rhythms.
Go with it, and don't stop until the piece ends.
Here is the music...
MP3 file
WAV file - higher quality
Your response to my music is welcomed below...
Copyright QJé © 2024. All rights reserved. PRS registered.
Roll up, roll up, it’s time to play ‘smack the organ down’. Or is it what happens in every city centre musical instrument store during those dark and very early hours of the morning, when no one spots the instruments secretly come out to play! The continuous pulsating beat offers a nod to Peter Shilling’s ‘Major Tom’. But wait – there is conflict brewing here. A production line of component pieces are being assembles while renegade urchins defy all expectations, having no desire to co-operate at all. They seek to delay the finished product. If it carries on like this, it might all end in some dreadful fracas. The evident burps, bangs and assorted conflicts is where the fun really lies for me. I like a little bit of trouble!
It’s another very filmic piece. I was picturing a man trying to break into a KGB office to steal secrets. Lots of drama as he narrowly avoids guards, hiding in nooks until finally…
Well, then it got a bit weird, as he opened the door and came across a room in which a scary clown was playing the organ and he’s finally mesmerised and falls into a deep sleep.
(I must change my medication! 🤣)
The driving, robotic and heavily quantized pulse has an anxiety inducing quality to it. There’s a little sweetener towards the end where the organ motif and vocal sounds bring a bit of hope.
I’ve listened to your composition and ignored the title. It might be my weird imagination, but it put me in mind of animals giving chase. I pictured a barren scene, lots of sand, a desert if you will, but a pursuit going on. Hunger verses fear!
Right QJ, the images that came straight to me , are ones of the world as we know it have gone. All of humanity has disappeared. Then , a basic electronic machine somehow wakes up , and starts to discover what it can do through sound. It experiments with certain sequences that had previously been put into its memory by humans, and then dismisses those that don’t excite…. like a child exploring the world.
It is 6:38 am, and having risen very slowly and cautiously from bed, made my coffee, and told the dog we are going for a walk, while my aged brain is in a dizzy whirl of old age sludge, I got your letter, and immediately clicked the link to find this wonderful and exciting piece of music. I am a little jealous having listened to it. The engineering is clear, precise, and exceptionally professional, which is something I lack in skills. And the music itself? Hard for me to describe as I have nothing in memory for which to compare it. I am entertained by the linear aspect of the melodies, that meaning, the piece is not an A-A-B-A-C-A, which I prefer. At 5:09 there is a series of chords and congruent issues that are very pleasing, and I would certainly like to hear them explored and developed further. Thanks QJ. What has happened is that an otherwise somewhat dreary looking day has just become exciting and effervescent from hearing your music.
Thanks so much Wesley. Your words are so kind, and I’m defo glad my music’s turned your dreary day into something exciting and effervescent.
Thank you, Qjé composer!
I wanted to listen to the music without having read what you wrote about it, first. With bluetooth in place, I greatly enjoyed the quality sound and stereophonic effects. Other thoughts were science fiction films. Other futuristic sounds become coordinated as the music builds. And, yes, there is a connection between what you see through a telescope and your composition.
Thoroughly engaging, I found myself lost in thought when I realised the harmony of voices and organ had changed the mood to a more soothing if sudden ending. Initially, it gives off mechanical vibes, perhaps a soundtrack to an industrial, but modern, Fritz Lang. Then it threw me in the direction of Stevie Wonder’s Secret Life of Plants until I found myself imagining a darkened planetarium watching stars whizz by – The Secret Life of Stars, maybe. Upon reflection, I think I was expecting bigger, faster, more powerful pulses, but was I being too literal? Lots of interest and intrigue in this piece!
(Is Celestial Pulsar a tautology?)
Yes, Chris, it’s tautology. But I am a fully signed up member of the artistic licence brigade!
Simply lovely. Expressive and evocotive soundscapes that allows the imagination to run free.
Badassery right here. I love the driving bass. Great use of sound FX plus nice harmonies over the onstinati. I am though hearing room for electric guitar. Unpredictable phrase structure, which I always like very much.
Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up… Very nifty piece. Tossing the traditional organ over the top of all that techno was very cool.
Nifty. I like that word. Thanks Steve.
I listened to this prefering not to be guided. I heard this piece as a live performance in a grand auditorium with a 3D audio, much like Otomo as performed at the Albert Hall.
The content is a superb piece of writing, keeping a core thread with chaos. I like it, but I’d want to hear it BIG.
Sorry, I don’t think I’m being very helpful.
Pierre
P.S. Pulsars are very dangerous.
I get the vibe of hurtling through the vacuum of space on a warp like journey toward a pulsar, whilst encountering other weird & wonderful sights en route. Sometimes sharp & shocking, but often beautiful, with a haunting touch of fear of the unknown and as yet undiscovered.
I am travelling on a speeding train through urban cities and then into a tunnel, back out to bright lights and other trains passing. I am watching the city through the window. There is urgency.
Big thanks for writing your response to “Celestial Pulsar”.
Delighted that you got ‘speeding train, tunnels and bright lights’. It all adds to the rich complexity of how we each have our own unique responses to art.
You hit the nail on the head! I’ve just been listening to Voces8, eventide, and it prepared me well for this harmonious experience. Thanks QJ.
Thank you, Anthony. Lovely to get your feedback.