This Binary Universe
Encyclopedia
This Binary Universe is the fifth studio album by composer
and electronica
artist BT, and was released on August 29, 2006. The album was a significant about-face for Transeau, largely abandoning the progressive trance music
he was known for, in favor of ambient soundscapes, live orchestration and glitch music
. It is the first BT album not to be released on vinyl, nor feature any singles (though an edit of "1.618" was featured on a compilation). The album was also composed specifically for DTS
5.1 surround sound
. A film version of the album received a limited theatrical run, usually accompanied by appearances by Transeau himself. The album is dedicated to the memory of Transeau's dog Tootsie. The album's artwork makes nods to binary by spelling BT's name in morse code
on the cover, as well as using additional morse code on the DVD menus.
" for pop group *NSYNC. BT's most successful album, Emotional Technology
saw the beginning of a more introspective and mature sound, which carried over to the soundtracks Transeau was producing at the time, including those for the films Stealth
and Monster; these film scores featured minimal beats, lush orchestration and significant use of piano
and acoustic guitar
. Spurred by these newfound sonic boundaries and the birth of his daughter Kaia, Transeau created an entirely downtempo
album of original works, mainly as lullabies for his daughter. Kaia also sat in Transeau's lap throughout most of the production on the album, and can indeed be seen in several studios with Transeau in the included video for "Good Morning Kaia".
With This Binary Universe, Transeau sought to further his compositional skills, seeking out inspiration from indie rock
and jazz
, using their chord progressions and song structures. The album makes extensive use of circuit bending
, which consists of intentionally mis-wiring and short-circuiting keyboards and children's toys to obtain interesting sequences of sounds that are later processed and time-corrected. Many of the beats and rhythms in the album were created by computer programs Brian Transeau developed himself to produce the effects he wanted, including Stutter Edit and Break Tweaker. Stutter Edit has since been released by iZotope
, who acquired BT's software company Sonik Architects in 2010.
"All That Makes Us Human Continues" was written entirely in Csound
, a music sequencer
written in the programming language C
, over a period of six months. Several tracks also feature a full 110-piece orchestra
; most notably, "The Antikythera Mechanism", which features the orchestra both in original and beat stuttered forms. The only traces left of previous BT albums are the closing minutes of "The Internal Locus", with its pronounced hip hop
beat, and album closer "Good Morning Kaia", an ambient rock number filled with ocean sounds that is dedicated to his daughter.
. Being a low-key release, commercial success was minimal.
5.1 surround sound
as an audio-only portion, as well as a short film to accompany each song. Four of these short films were created by CG graphics artist Scott Pagano
, one by Mondi, one by Dose Productions, and the last consists of Transeau's personal footage of his daughter and himself. The short films included were given a limited theatrical promotion, containing new footage to join the segments together. During the theatre run, BT himself would attend, watching the film with the audience and answering questions before and after each screening.
The films ran the gamut of cinematography, from live action ("Good Morning Kaia") to computer generated animation ("1.618") and traditional animation ("The Internal Locus"). Several videos feature mathematical animations; most notably the fractals in "The Antikythera Mechanism" and use of the golden ratio
throughout "1.618". "Good Morning Kaia" consists entirely of footage shot by Transeau of himself and his daughter, at home and on vacation, while a personal message from Transeau to Kaia scrolls across the screen.
"1.618" was included as one of the default music videos on the Zune
digital media player. Copies of the album from online retailers (such as the iTunes Store
) include only the videos for "Dynamic Symmetry" and "1.618".
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
artist BT, and was released on August 29, 2006. The album was a significant about-face for Transeau, largely abandoning the progressive trance music
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
he was known for, in favor of ambient soundscapes, live orchestration and glitch music
Glitch (music)
Glitch is a term used to describe a genre of electronic music that emerged in the mid to late 1990s. The glitch aesthetic is characterized by a deliberate use of glitch based sonic artifacts that would normally be viewed as unwanted disturbances reducing the overall sound quality and are thus...
. It is the first BT album not to be released on vinyl, nor feature any singles (though an edit of "1.618" was featured on a compilation). The album was also composed specifically for DTS
Digital Theater System
DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. , an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications...
5.1 surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
. A film version of the album received a limited theatrical run, usually accompanied by appearances by Transeau himself. The album is dedicated to the memory of Transeau's dog Tootsie. The album's artwork makes nods to binary by spelling BT's name in morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
on the cover, as well as using additional morse code on the DVD menus.
Overview
Prior to This Binary Universe, BT was at the forefront of the trance scene, creating and producing a wealth of popular singles for himself and others, including "PopPop (song)
"Pop" is the first single by *NSYNC from their third studio album, Celebrity. It was written by Wade Robson and Justin Timberlake and produced by BT using his famous "stutter edit" sound. The song's subject focuses on contemporary criticism of boy bands and pop music, and assures the public of...
" for pop group *NSYNC. BT's most successful album, Emotional Technology
Emotional Technology
Emotional Technology is the fourth album by electronica artist BT. Transitioning towards a poppier sound, the album features some of BT's well-known hits, including "Somnambulist", "The Force of Gravity" and "Superfabulous". "Somnambulist", also known as "Simply Being Loved", holds the Guinness...
saw the beginning of a more introspective and mature sound, which carried over to the soundtracks Transeau was producing at the time, including those for the films Stealth
Stealth (film)
Stealth is a 2005 American science fiction action film starring Jessica Biel, Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, and Sam Shepard. The film was directed by Rob Cohen, director of The Fast and the Furious and xXx....
and Monster; these film scores featured minimal beats, lush orchestration and significant use of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
. Spurred by these newfound sonic boundaries and the birth of his daughter Kaia, Transeau created an entirely downtempo
Downtempo
Downtempo is a laid-back electronic music style similar to ambient music, but usually with a beat or groove unlike the beatless forms of Ambient music. The beat is sometimes made from loops that have a hypnotic feeling...
album of original works, mainly as lullabies for his daughter. Kaia also sat in Transeau's lap throughout most of the production on the album, and can indeed be seen in several studios with Transeau in the included video for "Good Morning Kaia".
With This Binary Universe, Transeau sought to further his compositional skills, seeking out inspiration from indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, using their chord progressions and song structures. The album makes extensive use of circuit bending
Circuit bending
Circuit bending is the creative customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and small digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and sound generators....
, which consists of intentionally mis-wiring and short-circuiting keyboards and children's toys to obtain interesting sequences of sounds that are later processed and time-corrected. Many of the beats and rhythms in the album were created by computer programs Brian Transeau developed himself to produce the effects he wanted, including Stutter Edit and Break Tweaker. Stutter Edit has since been released by iZotope
Izotope
iZotope, Inc. is an audio technology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. iZotope develops professional audio software for audio recording, mixing, broadcast, sound design, and mastering which can be used in Digital Audio Workstation programs including Pro Tools, Apple Logic...
, who acquired BT's software company Sonik Architects in 2010.
"All That Makes Us Human Continues" was written entirely in Csound
Csound
Csound is a computer programming language for dealing with sound, also known as a sound compiler or an audio programming language, or more precisely, a C-based audio DSL. It is called Csound because it is written in C, as opposed to some of its predecessors...
, a music sequencer
Music sequencer
The music sequencer is a device or computer software to record, edit, play back the music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically :...
written in the programming language C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
, over a period of six months. Several tracks also feature a full 110-piece orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
; most notably, "The Antikythera Mechanism", which features the orchestra both in original and beat stuttered forms. The only traces left of previous BT albums are the closing minutes of "The Internal Locus", with its pronounced hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
beat, and album closer "Good Morning Kaia", an ambient rock number filled with ocean sounds that is dedicated to his daughter.
Reception
This Binary Universe was a critical success, with several reviewers praising the new sonic directions and sensibilities, and favourable reviews appearing not only in mainstream print but also in instrument and electronic music publications, such as Keyboard MagazineKeyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...
. Being a low-key release, commercial success was minimal.
CD
- "All That Makes Us Human Continues" – 8:15
- "Dynamic Symmetry" – 11:23
- "The Internal Locus" – 10:27
- "1.618" – 11:34
- "See You on the Other Side" – 14:23
- "The Antikythera Mechanism" – 10:06
- "Good Morning Kaia" – 8:11
DVD
The included DVD contains the entire album in DTSDigital Theater System
DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. , an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications...
5.1 surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
as an audio-only portion, as well as a short film to accompany each song. Four of these short films were created by CG graphics artist Scott Pagano
Scott Pagano
Scott Pagano is a Los Angeles-based video artist, filmmaker, and motion graphics designer and is recognized for his distinctive style of moving images constructed by re-mixing images of architecture, daily life, and intricate CG graphics...
, one by Mondi, one by Dose Productions, and the last consists of Transeau's personal footage of his daughter and himself. The short films included were given a limited theatrical promotion, containing new footage to join the segments together. During the theatre run, BT himself would attend, watching the film with the audience and answering questions before and after each screening.
The films ran the gamut of cinematography, from live action ("Good Morning Kaia") to computer generated animation ("1.618") and traditional animation ("The Internal Locus"). Several videos feature mathematical animations; most notably the fractals in "The Antikythera Mechanism" and use of the golden ratio
Golden ratio
In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...
throughout "1.618". "Good Morning Kaia" consists entirely of footage shot by Transeau of himself and his daughter, at home and on vacation, while a personal message from Transeau to Kaia scrolls across the screen.
"1.618" was included as one of the default music videos on the Zune
Zune
Zune is a digital media brand owned by Microsoft which includes a line of portable media players, a digital media player software for Windows machines, a music subscription service known as a 'Zune Music Pass', music and video streaming for the Xbox 360 via the Zune Software, music, TV and movie...
digital media player. Copies of the album from online retailers (such as the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
) include only the videos for "Dynamic Symmetry" and "1.618".
External links
- BT interview about This Binary Universe at Progressive-SoundsProgressive-SoundsProgressive-Sounds is an electronic music review and news website.Founded by Chad Harnish and Simon "Progsounds" Jones, the site has featured hundreds of single and album reviews, including occasional guest reviews by artists and DJs such as Bill Hamel and Jonathan Lisle...
- Official trailer for This Binary Universe
- YouTube site for the trailer.
- Keyboard Magazine article Dead Link!
- M-Audio Interview / Promotional Video
- Interview announcing theatrical release of This Binary Universe
- http://ungerrose.com/blog/?p=44