Terminal is a collection of songs written that go back as far as 2004 and up until April 2016. It reflects the theme of travel, some current, some from years passed.
Let’s talk about the tracks.
Terminal Nexus (2:30) (2014) – This is the introductory piece to the album. It was originally written for Drake Jensen as a remix of his cover of Beautiful Colours, originally written by Duran Duran. This is really the intro to the 12in Expedition of Joy mix. It is still one of the most epic things I have written, and I am very proud of the experience behind Beautiful Colours. This was too good to pass up not releasing. A video does exist for Beautiful Colours, by the way.
Concorde (4:00) (2015) – This is my way of paying homage to one of the most beautiful planes ever developed and features samples from the last time it took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport. I would have written this while travelling to and from Portland and at home.
The Altar (3:38) (2006) – Kind of a Depeche Mode inspired piece. Despite the throbbing bass and beats, it’s one of those pieces that kind of chills me out while I’m sitting in a lounge.
Intercontinental Shift (4:22) (2015) – I invested in Ableton Live and a Push in 2014, figuring it was time to learn how to use it. This was my first Ableton project. It is inspired by the following quote from Pet Shop Boys:
A flat, B flat, G minor 7th, C minor. That’s The Chord Change. You can’t go wrong with that. A guaranteed worldwide hit.
Okay, not quite in my world, but it is a great set of chords and quite uplifting. It is the chord structure used in Being Boring and It’s Alright.
This was probably the most challenging track on the album for a few reasons.
- The first challenge: I used Native Instruments Molekular extensively on the track to get those micro edits and stutters. One of the Molekular FX I used is randomized, meaning that every time I bounce the track the sound changes every time. I have re-bounced this track at least 5 times to get the sound I was looking for.
- The second challenge: The mix presented is in a binaural format. There is also a proper surround sound version created. Mixing for binaural is one challenge, for surround is a completely different kettle of fish, and you get different aspects of the sound coming out.
- It is the album’s most complex track with 33 elements playing at the same time, and probably the most demanding of CPU.
- Definitely listen to this song with a good pair of headphones. You’ll hear some really neat detail.
Why the name Intercontinental Shift? Imagine flying through the air constantly between the east and west coast, dealing with security, customs and boarder patrol, time zone changes, retinal scans, fingerprint scans, and vast amounts of data being transferred about me as I travel, all while maintaining a chipper attitude. That’s the theme of the song.
787 (3:42) (2015) – Another song about a beautiful and fuel efficient airplane with graceful swooped up wings, as it slices through the sky flying between Vancouver and Toronto, Toronto and Tokyo, and the multiple times I’ve taken the -8 and -9 variants. Probably my most favourite plane to fly on these days.
This was the third of the four tracks written on a plane. It was started as Scott and I were flying to Tokyo.
8:00pm (4:08) (2004) – The oldest of all the tracks on the album. Inspired by Pink Floyd’s High Hopes from The Division Bell, which is a fantastic album in my top 100 albums of all time. Trance.
Reginald Letting Go (4:12) (2007) – I ‘wrote’ this going to Mexico for the first time, for a big party put on by the company I work for. It was inspired by visions of Elton John playing piano in one of his fabulous outfits, just around the time he came out of the closet, hence the letting go part. Anyone who knows Elton, knows what his original first name was.
Okay disclosure time – This song was written fully using Apple Loops which are royalty free. It’s probably the laziest I was, and it was around the time I put Polyatomic on hiatus for 7 years. Other than this song, all of the songs I wrote on this album are genuine programming jobs by me. I played and programmed the notes, but not on this track. It was like playing musical Lego. Pre-formed blocks ready for you to use, leave it up to your imagination to see what you come up with.
That said, I learned a valuable lesson about being authentic and true to your art form, and not being complacent. This album did push my limits, and I had people behind me pushing me. Going from Reginald Letting Go to a difficult track like Intercontinental Shift or Terminal Nexus/Beautiful Colours shows how far I’ve come as an artist, and where I want to go as an artist.
Still, I really like the sounds and how I arranged Reginald Letting Go. It’s a fantastic track and one I really like, hence the placement on Terminal.
Altitude (7:09) (2015) – The second longest track on the album and the second track on the album written on a plane. I actually wrote this on a red eye from Vancouver to Toronto when I couldn’t sleep, in an Air Canada studio pod. I was fortunate enough to get the single seat so I could spread everything out. It is totally about being a business traveller, sitting on a plane, enjoying the service, looking out the window, looking forward to being home. This track takes me back to early 90s trance. It is mixed a little louder with deeper bass. This may have also been the first track that I used Native Instruments Replika which is an amazing delay/diffusion effect. I adore this track.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (5:30) (2016) – The last track to be written and last to be written on a plane, specifically an A330 from Vancouver to Toronto. This sums up the album and the past year of travel. It features Stutter Edit and BreakTweaker. Not my first track to feature Izotope/bt’s StutterEdit, but definitely the first to feature BreakTweaker which is AMAZING. I can’t wait to mix it with NI Molekular for some amazing beats. I also adore this track. Like Altitude, it takes me back to early 90s trance but updated. You can hear the influence bt has had on me.
Terminal Nexus (Polyatomic’s Expedition of Joy Mix) (7:34) (2014) – Longest track on the album. Oh how I wish you could hear the lyrics that were for this track. For the record, it sounds nothing like the original Beautiful Colours but it works amazingly. This was one of the most epic things I have written, and even to this day I’m amazed it came out of my fingers.
Terminal Nexus (Dislexia’s Chill Mix) (4:24) (2014) – Thanks to Dyslexia for the remix! I really like what he did with Terminal Nexus, truly adding to the chilled vibe of some of the tracks on this album. This mix reminds me of something that Art of Noise would do. Not a bad comparison, and I love the stutter effects.
So there you have it, the history, inspiration and stories behind the making of Terminal.