Sounds That Surround Me

“…some great, intense music….the nervous system of the big city exposed via some excellent soundscapes”

Vital Weekly

LISTEN @ BANDCAMP

"Sounds that surround me was inspired by and made with music and sounds from my immediate surroundings, the multi-ethnic Liniekwartier neighborhood in Breda, where I have a studio. I asked people living there what music they listen to. They gave me names of artists, mostly active in pop music, from various countries, such as Morocco, Turkey and Somalia. Googling their names and taking these as a reference for further searches (into related music, more traditional origins, certain instruments), I discovered new music. I used that music to compose the tracks on this album. Sometimes I would use literal samples: a snippet from a particular song, which I processed (speeding up or down, pitching, looping) to transform it into something new. And sometimes I was influenced by elements of the music - a rhythm, a timbre or a specific scale.

I also made binaural environmental recordings in and around the area: street conversations, traffic, the sounds of the train station. For this purpose I used a dummy head that I had constructed myself: a mannequin head with two anatomically correct silicon ears. The microphones inside these ears, through which you make the recordings, pick up all the reflections of the auricle. Listening to them through headphones creates a hyper-real sonic image, a thoroughly convincing 3-d illusion. Therefore you are recommended to listen to this album not only over loudspeakers, but also through headphones.

Using existing music made me acutely aware of the fact that I had to create music that I could call my own, with characteristics that are specific for me - the use of concrete environmental sounds, sound design as a musical element and the combination of melodic lines and electronics.

The sides of the album have different moods: side A is emphatically rhythmical; on side B drones are more in evidence."

Some reviews:

https://www.gonzocircus.com/sounds-that-surround-me-2/

https://yeahiknowitsucks.wordpress.com/2016/10/05/dyane-donck-sounds-that-surround-me/

https://subjectivisten.nl/dyane-donck-sounds-that-surround-me/

http://www.vitalweekly.net/1058.htm

Credits

Music by Dyane Donck
Produced by Dyane Donck
Mastered by Richard van Kruysdijk
Cover Art by Vera Meulendijks
Design by Richard van Kruysdijk
Manufactured by De CD Perserij 2016l