Tunnels of Light

From the album Dreaming In Gamelan, with Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill.

Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill spin in slow motion as “Tunnels of Light” opens, hypnotic tones flickering in captivating, choreographed sequences. The combination of Sundanese gamelan instrumentation and atmospheric electronics creates a charge that’s fully unlocked by Hugh Marsh’s violin. “Tunnels of Light” bounces from mysterious and somewhat haunted zones into something moving and heavenly as Marsh slows time with winding melodies. All of this is captured in the movements and shapes in Bruce Alcock’s video, adding a visual focus to the delightful sonic environment. This is truly something special. - Brad Rose, Foxy Digitalis

This was a pleasure to make. Unlike my usual exhaustive pre-planning, I worked intuitively from a starting set of textures and basic forms, using a palette pulled from hundreds of photos of gamelan performances. Reds, golds, greens, blues... I wanted a dominant colour to delineate broad structure, to underscore repetition with variation, a trick that worked nicely in my film At the Quinte Hotel. There's so much pattern in the music, I wanted to bring that out but not simply sync with it. The idea was to choose a rhythmic visual pattern to bring out with sync, then play around the edges of it by figuring anticipation and ring-on. It's the interplay between repetition and exception that gets at the full experience of the piece, as much in the writing and performance as it is in the act of listening. As I worked through section by section, I found a direction to explore, pushing myself to vary the action in order to accentuate varying aspects of the sound: visual listening, a live analysis of sorts, was the goal. I'm a musician myself, and I love trying to bring a sense of active listening to viewers who may not be musicians, opening access to a feeling of sound.  - Bruce Alcock

Bill Brennan - bonang, panerus, kendang, jengglong, peking, gongs, keyboards, vibraphone

Andy McNeill - bonang, panerus, jengglong, electronics, bass, treatments

Hugh Marsh - electric violin

Composed by Bill Brennan and Andy McNeill (SOCAN).

Recorded and mixed by Andy McNeill.

Mixed for Dolby Atmos by Ron Searles at Red Maple Sound.