‘The Soundtrack of Nonexistence’ Bandcamp (purchase) CD Purchase Individual Song Breakdowns --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About the record: The impetus for conceptualizing this record was born from working on some of the more experimental songs in my back catalog. Pieces like: “My Machine Dreams” (Delectable Machinery), “Stentorian Echolalia” (Silly String Redux), the ambient section of “Terra Nullius” (Finite III), “Omphalos” (also from Finite III), “Necropolis” (Projects III), and the ‘in-the-box’ style of composition for both “Susurrant Plangency” and “Rewilded” (Projects III and Fall and Response, respectively) were all inadvertent inroads that guided me. At the risk of sounding haughty, those tracks came fairly easily to me; i.e. I found it to be more fun than the ‘homework’ feeling for which songwriting can occasionally take a turn. An impasse within part of my studio workflow was what actually kicked off this recording. I had to wait for some gear to arrive and found myself with a surplus of time. Everything was written and recorded in two big chunks: starting on 22FEB23 for about three weeks, and restarting on 26MAY23 for a full week - all in all, about a month. Aside from four tunes, the entirety of the record was written extemporaneously. In the first chunk, I completed: “Inhale Cog,” “Gotta Lock Your Doors,” “TerpsichoreanV,” “Streaked Neon,” “Sprinkles of Divinity,” “6-5-25,” “Knock, Knock…,” “Cloud Colossi Coolly Coasting,” “Jacklegs Bark,” “There’s a Guitar in My Hands and Nothing You Can Do About It,” “Sucked Into the Dark,” and “Quaking Eudaemonia.” I also composed: “Woeful Outlines of a Visionary’s Rendezvous,” “A Crumpled Rogue, Abysmally Sinking,” “The Protean Taxi,” and “Gliding to the End” (the only ‘planned’ pieces on the album; more on them in the song breakdowns). The balance was written and recorded in the second chunk. Making this was a highly gratifying experience; that first three-week chunk felt especially magical. I’d pour myself a big cup of coffee and head out to the studio for a few hours, unknowing of what would result. TSoN prompted me to purchase a small assemblage of new gear, from drum machines to synthesizers, mostly old, obscure models. As for the title, it came to me one day, and upon Googling it, I was surprised that it had only been utilized once. I think it’s pretty kick-ass, but doubles as an inside—literally, between me myself and I, heh—joke, as so few folks listen to my music. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Credits 1. Inhale Cog 2. Woeful Outlines of a Visionary’s Rendezvous 3. Gotta Lock Your Doors 4. TerpsichoreanV 5. Streaked Neon 6. Sprinkles of Divinity 7. 6-5-25 8. AngelDemonBaby 9. Knock, Knock… 10. A Crumpled Rogue, Abysmally Sinking 11. Cloud Colossi Coolly Coasting 12. Jacklegs Bark 13. Binding, Binding, Binding 14. There’s a Guitar in My Hands and Nothing You Can Do About It 15. Sucked Into the Dark 16. Acte Gratuit 17. (Intermittently) Subaqueous, Battling (Perhaps) Apparitions With Technology 18. The Protean Taxi 19. Crepuscular 20. Opulent Peroration 21. It Finally Speaks 22. Prosopopoeia 23. Gliding to the End 24. Quaking Eudaemonia  · Travis Orbin - Drum set, Percussion, Bass, Guitar, Mandolin, Santoor, Synthesizer, Theremin,    Harmonica, Xylophone, 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 Over the last few years, I’ve developed an interest in oil painting. Specifically, I wanted to pursue a generally abstract style. I started painting in June of 2023 and completed five pieces before undertaking what would become the TSoN art. Some of these pieces were purposeful in that they were ‘experiments’ unto themselves, in an effort to determine how to approach TSoN once the visual became more apparent in my mind’s eye. The first step was opening 100 tea bags and dumping their contents into a bowl with water, along with some used coffee grounds (simply because I had ‘em) and mixing it up and spreading it all over the canvas. This stained it and created some interesting patterns. I painted it a light yellow/brown color atop the stains and waited for it to dry. The third step was gluing crumpled tissue paper to it, as I was imagining old parchment paper, or an ancient scroll. Once it dried, it looked okay but the white color of the tissue paper threw off the visual quality. So, I painted that a similar color to the first layer and waited for it to dry. Then, four days of random ‘drip,’ or more so ‘fleck’ painting, wherein I’d create a few colors on my palette, dip my fingers in and flick away. Finally, a few more days of drying and a proper photo. Postproduction was quite vital, as prior to it it looked a little more like clown vomit, rather than the beautiful abstraction that it became. I particularly love how the red hues highlighted the texture on the canvas - looks like something human is bubbling underneath! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘The Soundtrack of Nonexistence’ Gear List: “Woeful Outlines of a Visionary’s Rendezvous” · 4”x14” maple piccolo snare drum with Controlled Sound X/Ambassador Hazy snare side · 20” Reference Pure bass drum with Powerstroke III coated batter (augmented with a 24” Decade maple bass drum) with an Ebony Powerstroke III ported resonant, played with a Vic Firth VicKick fleece-covered beater · Cymbals (from left to right, player’s perspective): 15” K Light Hi-hats, 22” K Constantinople Renaissance Ride

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