Experiments | Vol.01

During my relatively short time exploring the fascinating world(s) of ambience, drones, and soundscapes, I’ve quickly learned that - unsurprisingly, given humanity’s desperate need to categorise everything - there exists a vast array of micro-genres within the broader ambient landscape.

Occasionally, these explorations don’t quite sit within the framework of a full album, and so Experiments Vol.01 was born: a small collection of works intended to be enjoyed in isolation.

The four tracks that appear on this EP were actually recorded two years ago, and I haven’t listened to them since. What I anticipated would be a disparate mix of mismatched tracks, is actually a very pleasing and cohesive collection, dealing with some fairly heavy subject matter.

It felt appropriate to sit down, whilst revisiting the music, and jot down some liner notes.

Other Ideas:

My father passed away on the 20th December 2023, and I sat down to write this EP shortly afterwards.

It’s fair to say many of my thoughts at that time were about him, and the resurfaced thoughts of my mother’s passing three years (to the day) before.

I decided early on that I wanted to surround myself with beauty - they kind of beauty that I saw and felt as a child, an innocence and naivety.

This piece opens with a piano ostinato that continues for the duration, underpinned by a shimmering, almost celestial pad.

A cello then enters on the major third of the home key, establishing a fragile sense of warmth. However, as we know from experience, life is not without discord and tension is provided by diminished notes at the end of the cello phrase.

A new ostinato from the lower piano part indicates a minor shift, introducing instability without fully abandoning the original ground - but a certain amount of ‘safety’ is provided by the return of the familiar opening piano ostinato.

The persistent glockenspiel tolls quietly throughout, its presence both distant and unavoidable.

0109:

The cello is such a beautiful and versatile instrument that I often find myself gravitating back to it time and time again.

This piece starts on the same note as the previous piece, but with a very different underlying harmony.

As more sustained notes are added, both the music and sound morph between something obvious, or expected - the cello section of an orchestra, perhaps - and something other-worldly or ethereal.

Hints of a piano melody ring in the background, but somehow insubstantial - like the ghost of a melody from one’s childhood.

Dark, ominous lower strings and basses engulf us with a weight of unease, while a harp provides the listener with a fragile lifeline among an overwhelming sea of foreboding.

6 Mile Rain:

The pattern of rain has been used as a compositional tool for centuries, and no less so here. Rather than a regularised ‘drip’, the rain here is fractured - a series of polyrhythmic ideas that provide a persistent, but gentle, uneasiness throughout the piece.

This sense of unease is further exacerbated by the sustained cello notes that drift in and slightly out of tune, before a more traditional piano ostinato is introduced.

The piano moves on, and a simple melody can be picked out amidst the ostinato - the detached nature again mimicking that of drops of rain.

After a short break, the lower piano ostinato returns, it’s fluid and insistency reminding us that, as with the erosive persistence of water, time inescapably marches on.

Carry Me Away:
Contemplative and restful, like the first moments of sunshine after a storm, layered guitar ostinatos provide a lilting backdrop to sustained cello lines of quiet optimism. A descending harmony suggests a sense of coming home, or a return to safer ground—the cellos recalling the opening track, but without its earlier dissonance. A vibraphone, now echoing the guitar’s gently hypnotic loop rather than the menacing toll heard before, reinforces this shift in character. As the texture swells, the music briefly opens into a joyful release before settling back into the original melodic idea.

If you would like to own the EP, it can be downloaded for free via my BandCamp page (tobyjamesmusic.bandcamp.com)

There is also a free zine to go with it, and some merch that may be of interest.

As ever, I’m honoured to have held your attention for this long - I know you’ve got things to do!

Toby