Victor Valiant: Recent Episodes
Victor Valiant
Victor Valiant® Brand & Company Composer-Rec.Artist-Producer-Engineer Perf.Artist & DJ from the Netherlands Record Label: Victor Valiant Music
The story behind the track & artwork: Winterlove is a track I produced especially for Christmas time. The feel I had for this was a warm feeling of love during the cold winter. Also it crossed my mind, that some people have summerloves during summer vacations, others have winterloves during winterlove vacations ;) But my intent was to have a trance track that you could dance with little kids & have fun. A warm family love track,
The artwork is of an family, kids having fun in the snow, parents in a warm embrace, with a snowman they've built together, and Christmas tree setting the vibe. Winterlove - Is about the warm feeling of togetherness during cold winter times.
The story behind the track & artwork: Every person has an unique signature from birth. At the time of birth there's a specific alignment of planets in relation to the zodiac star systems. And their aspects has influences on the person & their life. The study of these is called astrology. Most common known is the sun sign, the sign where the sun is aligned to at birth. Commonly known as the western zodiac/star signs. It's typical of characteristics that make up ones personality, but other planets & the combination of them holds even more significance to their character, aura, appearance & as unique tools/ways of one's life. Knowing the time of birth & location of city, one can map out the alignment in a chart, called birth chart. And can reveal verification of one's characteristics, early childhood experiences, and one's own unique way & viewpoint in life. It's studied throughout history, from knowing oneself, to usage in ancient kingdoms, destiny of royalties & their arranged marriages, to modern compatibility of colleagues, friends & partnerships.
The artwork is symbolic of this complex system, that sets these influences at the time of birth. From the alignment of planets & stars, to the environment of incarnation to flesh, To the umbilical cord providing nutrition & bonding in the womb, To the spiral reflecting birth & connection to earth. Also known as grounding in meditation practices.
I've tried my best to depict it in one artwork. The 12 zodiacs, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, & Pisces. Sun-Ascendant on the horizon, planets mercury, venus, earth, moon, mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto. I also depicted the asteroids as stripes of vertical flashes, symbolizing eros, fortuna, & others that also has an significant influence to one's personality. I've studied them in astrology and it's what I wish to share & people become more aware of & to know their own unique qualities better. As well as their path in life with the advantage of scientific technology today to verify it.
The trackname Calculus & sound used: When I produced this track it was in mind of an cosmic calculation taking place. The sounds I was going for was an vintage synth sound, of the 50s, bleeps of the vintage computer doing calculations, with an deep early 90s trance vibe, rhythm & atmospheric pads. At the time I was having discussions on the DI FM radio forums, how people missed those deep tracks, so I got into that vibe & feel. Some have heard previews of it in the past, but I've rearranged & remastered anno 2019. I've used winding down sound effects thats depicted as the spiraling, and other sounds like choir voices & supersaws, having the artwork relate to it as much as I could.
From my perspective this is the right way to depict this track, as to how I saw it in my mind when I made it & intended the music vibe to be. It took weeks of effort to depict it in this way & I hope it comes across artistic, well fitting along the track ;) The word Calculus came to me when I was working on the sounds & nearing completion of the track. The word Calculus is defined as: "Derived from the Latin word for small pebble or stone. Originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals" Is the mathematical study of continuous change."
The story behind the track & artwork: Sanexsh Raiyzhing, is a doomsday themed soundtrack. That came about of an experimental art sound design; exploring the depths of harmonic distortions, dynamic resonance & the interplaying of various modulations.
Played like an orchestra, Featuring #sounds like a razor sharp violin bow, choirs screeching into extreme harmonics, with underpinned acid basses & cellos grooving the low end. With dynamic unpredictable modulations, that resulted in this unique & not repeatable recording. The vision I had with composing & recording this horrendous piece, was that of doomsday. And the ever glooming doom that holds the world in captive fear of its imminent #destruction.
Nuclear in nature, with it's blinding flash, radiation hazards & toxicity to all organic life, sustained by the nuclear #winter that would follow.
If ever these #concepts should be represented into an equivalent soundscape, I figure it would sound like this recording. The #artwork is done by myself in 2019, over a time span of a few months. The artwork is multi layered, with an landscape & explosion in the background; A clock in the clouds, for symbolic notion of the #doomsday clock known in the 50s & 60s; And the nuclear hazard symbol, rising & radiating, with skeletons depicting the #doom & gloom overlayed in the foreground. With all in shades of grey, yet the nuclear symbol highlighted in color.
The story behind the track & artwork: Decadence & Servitude, is an classical music piece I composed & recorded in 2016. Another poem entry in my musical diary. Featuring a gypsy violin as the leading instrument, accompanied by an orchestral backing. It's a dark toned musical, with that tone set right from the first second. This entire piece, is a poetic rhyming extravaganza. Continuesly in motion, with phrases & sections ever so rhyming, connected in measures & rhythm, as the piece progresses in it's storytelling. With the entire piece played in the key of F, in a musical mode that's associated with the psychological thriller genre's of movie scores. It's a telling of a dark tale, with one following the notes of the lead violin, like it's notes are breadcrumbs leading towards its final destination. The entire piece of 20 minutes reflects this, in it's diverse tempo, and flowing from stresses & reliefs, and gentle to harshness, that I would almost associate to horror in certain sections.
To give it a title based on the disturbing, rotten-decay & strict characteristic, I decided on condensing it to two words, Decadence & Servitude. And I can imagine it as a foundation to an theaterical play.
Forefathers is an ethnic electronic track I've made in 2012, to tell a special story. The idea came to me with the memory of the American native & their humble lifestyle. They had a way of life & culture, that was iconic and left many impressions through their generations. When they spoke of their family from past generations they would often speak of their Forefathers. Telling stories & tales to the younger generation of what their forefathers did, to pass knowledge & experiences on, keeping the tradition of the culture & their pride going. The saying to respect your elders stems from that, when knowledge & wisdom was only shared in such native ways. When an elder passes away, without sharing his knowledge, it would be considered a great loss for the tribe. And by remembering him, they perserved the wisdom. With their main priority to survive, to safeguard their offsprings & the well being of their tribes. Elders & forefathers were regarded with respect & reverence, pride of their tribe & great heritage. I thought it as very significant, their ways of living & historical story of our human culture. And wondered if I could tell it musically, a tale of how the Forefathers told their humbeling stories. A story of an elder telling a story... about their Forefathers... & passing it on the young. That's what made me start with this track on a very early sunday morning and I was in luck that everything came on naturally that day. & by evening after dinner did the final mixdown & it was finished. I captured the story. I did mastering several years later when I got better equipment. I picked instruments to give it a tribal vibe, together with electronic instruments that is reminiscent of the 90s eurostyle atmosphere that I liked & grew up on. The extended ambient mix came several months later.
The artwork is a depiction combining both vibes, the story telling of the Forefathers, and the calm of the night starry sky that suits the extended ambient mix.
Forefathers is an ethnic electronic track I've made in 2012, to tell a special story. The idea came to me with the memory of the American native & their humble lifestyle. They had a way of life & culture, that was iconic and left many impressions through their generations. When they spoke of their family from past generations they would often speak of their Forefathers. Telling stories & tales to the younger generation of what their forefathers did, to pass knowledge & experiences on, keeping the tradition of the culture & their pride going. The saying to respect your elders stems from that, when knowledge & wisdom was only shared in such native ways. When an elder passes away, without sharing his knowledge, it would be considered a great loss for the tribe. And by remembering him, they perserved the wisdom. With their main priority to survive, to safeguard their offsprings & the well being of their tribes. Elders & forefathers were regarded with respect & reverence, pride of their tribe & great heritage. I thought it as very significant, their ways of living & historical story of our human culture. And wondered if I could tell it musically, a tale of how the Forefathers told their humbeling stories. A story of an elder telling a story... about their Forefathers... & passing it on the young. That's what made me start with this track on a very early sunday morning and I was in luck that everything came on naturally that day. & by evening after dinner did the final mixdown & it was finished. I captured the story. I did mastering several years later when I got better equipment. I picked instruments to give it a tribal vibe, together with electronic instruments that is reminiscent of the 90s eurostyle atmosphere that I liked & grew up on. The extended ambient mix came several months later.
The artwork is a depiction combining both vibes, the story telling of the Forefathers, and the calm of the night starry sky that suits the extended ambient mix.
The story to this track: Luxurious Loneliness is a melancholic classical piano piece. This is a personal piece from my music diary, Recorded on November 26, 2012. A poem I played on piano that expressed the sadness I had in that moment. The artwork is simply an reflection of what I felt my environment to be when I recorded it.
As an artist, I was feeling lonely, having the luxury of my music instruments, but with no one there to listen or share it with. What good am I as an artist without an audience to hear it? Made me sad and I pressed record, & started playing the notes that sounded like how I was feeling. I named it Luxurious Loneliness. A long time later, I listened to it again, & felt the calm of being alone, from the busy world & hectic life I was in. One might say to have that escape & alone time is a luxury.
The story behind the track & artwork: "Breeze" is an track that came to be when I saw an contest for an ambient relaxing track several years back in 2016. It's a track that has a mellow inducing rhythm & soft drums, breezy pads, with instruments chiming in like windchimes over time. Swells in volume in waves over the course of the track. Relaxing as in watching waves in the water with a gentle breeze. It's quite sleep inducing & great before bed or if one has trouble getting to sleep/insomnia.
The picture/artwork, is a photo I shot myself when I took a late sunset walk in the summer of 2016. The conditions & vibe was like the track, ~calming waves & a gentle pulsing breeze.
It fits the vibe of the track, intended to make you feel relaxed & rest for a few minutes, letting the world breeze by for what it is.