visualculture
NEREIDS
NEREIDS - 2020
When covid started, I moved back in with my parents for several months and set up a small studio in a spare room in their basement. I recorded this album in that room over the course of about 3 weeks.
Here's what the process was like:
Each track was created using the Sequential Prophet-6 (except track 9, Proto, which was created using the Intellijel Atlantis sequenced by my Path to Lyspial sequencer). I played (or arpeggiated) each track manually on the synthesizer, recording them onto a reel-to-reel tape recorder. I then played the tape back, recording it into the computer.
While recording, I manipulated the tape in various ways: changing the speed of the tape while it was playing, pushing on one of the reels to distort the sound, or interrupting the reels while they were turning. This introduced various artefacts into the recording, giving reminders of the physicality of the recording device.
There are also instances when i started playing the tape at the tail end of a recording and you can hear the blip of the reels getting up to speed and the sound trailing off. I kept these in as well and you can hear them between some of the tracks.
Once the tracks were in the computer, I spent a lot of time mastering them to even out the frequency content and make sure they all matched in terms of volume and sound quality. I also applied some light effects to fill out the sound a bit more.
Two tracks in particular, Thalia and Sao, have significant editing. I added some bass tones in Thalia with the Arturia Minibrute. And in Sao I automated the filtering and reverb time to create the fade-out/wash-out effect at the end. The rest of the tracks have very minimal editing.
Around the time I started recording this album, I was reading Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days. When the Nereids are mentioned in Theogony, he lists out 50 names of the Nereids, or the sea nymphs who are daughters of Nereus and Doris. This intrigued me and I wanted to know more about them. Did they appear in other works? What roles did they play in the mythology? Where did their names come from?
Eventually I found a list that explained some of their names, and I decided to record an album where each track would be named after one of the nereids.
I wanted to keep the cassette design clean and minimal, like the music. I found a 3d model of a water nymph statue and made some renderings of it for the album cover. I also included an icosahedron as a motif in the design of the cassette because that is the Platonic solid representing water.
The front of the obi-strip shows the name of the album in Japanese (ネレイーデス). The back lists the names of the Nereids and the approximate meanings of their names.
The cassettes themselves are pure white. The interior of the jcard has a red rendering of the water nymph with blue text printed on it. It is only readable if you have red film to look through.
These cassettes were an edition of 25 and are unfortunately sold out.
| Track no. | Name (Greek) | Name (transliterated) | Approximate meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Πουλυνοη | Polynoe | rich of mind |
| 2 | Θεμιστω | Themisto | customary law of the sea |
| 3 | Κυμοθοη | Cymothoe | running waves |
| 4 | Σπειω | Speio | sea caves |
| 5 | Γλαυκη | Glauce | blue-grey waters |
| 6 | Ακταιη | Aktaea | sea shells |
| 7 | Ψαμαθη | Psamthe | sand |
| 8 | Ληαγορη | Leiagore | assembling of fish |
| 9 | Πρωτω | Proto | first voyage |
| 10 | Μελιτη | Melite | calm waves |
| 11 | Θαλεια | Thalia | blooming seas |
| 12 | Σαω | Sao | safe passage |