‘Negation’ Bandcamp (purchase) Individual Song Breakdowns --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the record: There was a longer lull between finishing and releasing Dissimulated; Decorticated and commencing this work, due to a self-imposed prerequisite of consuming a monolithic tower of music and movies; the twofold reason being a search for inspiration and, simply, at least a partial clearing of my workspace. Click here for The List. Moreover, this time around I refused to shirk my drum-, bass-, and vocal-shedding routines, as was the case with both The Soundtrack of Nonexistence and Elsewhere in the Nowhere. I wrote the bookends of the record along with four other pieces in Guitar Pro, as well as six pieces in the typically spontaneous, improvised fashion that permeates these sorts of albums in July 2025—about 50 minutes of music. The balance was contrived in a condensed, frenzied whirlwind of creativity starting on Christmas Day and ending on the 7th of January, 2026. I nurtured an inner nudge—an ambitious challenge, really—to make a two-hour record. Though not averse to ceasing the work if it truly felt completed, once all of my ideas were explored and indulged, I'd inched just past said mark. This record is an exploration of contrast: dynamics, genre, mood, production aesthetics, tempo, consonance and dissonance. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits 1) Negation Expresses 2) An Esemplastic Disparity 3) Sid's Lament 4) The Prism 5) Adagium 6) Trekwatts 7) Minikui 8) Utsukushii 9) Chiaroscuro I 10) Chomp! 11) Pokily Plodding in a Pleasant Polyphony 12) Wise Vena 13) The Grinder 14) Chiaroscuro II 15) The Bug 16) March of the Vacuum 17) Septem Contra Quinque 18) The Bells 19) An Ocean of Gray 20) Fata Morgana 21) The Gripper II 22) Extemporaneously Extending Electroreality 23) The Sylph 24) Intermezzo I 25) Honkin' Gallimaufry 26) Intermezzo II 27) Negation Represses  · Travis Orbin - Instruments, Programming, Vocals  · Composed, Produced, and Mixed by Travis Orbin  · Lyrics by Travis Orbin  · Mastered by Kenny Eaton of Mystery Ton Studios  · Cover Art by Travis Orbin Thank you to my fans, friends, associates, and family; especially my mother for her perpetual support and my neighbors for putting up with all of the racket. Also, thank you to my endorsements: Pearl Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth drumsticks, RTOM drum accessories, Vratim drum shoes, and E-Pad! Practice Pads. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cover Art Construction At the outset, I had wanted to capitalize on the Negation theme with a B&W piece. My friend Jessica Dankmeyer tipped me off to drywall mud many months prior, so I had a small bucket awaiting me. I took clods of it along with gesso black and sloshed everything onto the canvas with a palette knife. The back cover is also a blank canvas, smeared with gesso black, and—once dried, of course—a rather simple, crude drawing of a slouched, dejected figure (Sharpie paint marker). However, their shadow is triumphant, further playing into the theme. It took a not incomparable amount of time in setting the lighting as doing the actual art. I undertook quite a bit of experimentation between the inclusion of artificial and natural light to adjust the gradient just right. There was desaturation via GIMP for the back cover, but zero color tweaking for the front. I waffled on the back cover font for a bit, selecting something that skirts the line of frivolity and solemnity. The handwritten quality plays into the crude drawing, and also contrasts the gravity of the front—more Negation. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Negation’ Gear List: “An Ocean of Gray” · 12”/16” Pearl Reference Pure tom-toms with Remo Vintage Emperor coated batters/Emperor clear resonants · 4”x14” Pearl maple snare drum with Controlled Sound X/Ambassador Hazy snare side · 20” Pearl Reference Pure bass drum (augmented with a 24” Decade maple bass drum) with Powerstroke III coated batter/Ebony Powerstroke III ported resonant (played with a Vic Firth VicKick fleece-covered beater) · Cymbals (from left to right, player’s perspective): 22” K Constantinople Renaissance Ride, 13" A New Beat Hi-Hats, 10" A Splash, 6” A Custom Splash, 19” K China “Negation Represses” · same drums as "An Ocean of Gray," except with a 5"x14" Pearl Sensitone Heritage Alloy Aluminum snare drum in place of the maple snare · Cymbals (from left to right, player’s perspective): 20" K Heavy Ride, smallest 'stack' (7" FX Stack / 8" FX Stack), 19" K Dark Crash Thin, custom hats (14" K Constantinople bottom (top) / 14" K Custom High Definition bottom (bottom), 10" A Splash, small 'stack' (8" FX Trashformer / 10" A Custom EFX), 13" A New Beat Hi-Hats, 19" K Custom Hybrid Crash, 18" K Custom Special Dry China, 19" K China

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