Like Joy in Memory is an odyssey in classic analog synthesis and ambient soundscapes.
The Story
Like Joy in Memory was originally written as the soundtrack for the Chuck Bentley film (of the same name). As often happens with film scores, only a few of the pieces made it to the final production. However, it has made a return as a primary theme in Chuck Bentley’s next film, Last Summer in Paris. So, in effect, it is one soundtrack for two films!
The Music
I wrote the ten parts in the order they appear on the album. this linear through-composition approach contributed to it being a single long work - like a symphony in ten movements. There are returning motifs used throughout - the rising fifth of a melody line, the ethereal falling pitch-bent synth. One recurring element is a low filtered explosive sound that is actually an old recording of a garage door from my childhood home.
The other unmistakable sound on the album is the prominent use of analog synthesizers - primarily the Yamaha CS-80 and the Roland Jupiter 8. Thank you to Arturia for creating incredibly faithful digital reproductions of these venerable synths (and many more). Being an electronic musician includes creating the sounds themselves, and it allows for a unique type of musical and emotional expression (note: the saxophone in memory 7 is real!).
