Compline by Milieu

"This is thy hour O Soul,
thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art,
the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing,
pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars."

-Walt Whitman, "A Clear Midnight"

'Compline' is the ninth published recording in the ongoing Sleepbuilding series, originally broadcast live on February 26, 2023. It consists of the beloved 2HP Pluck synthesizer, a paraphonic Karplus-Strong device, playing an Aeolian scale with timing information for the sequencer originating from a Turing machine, even-numbered and Boolean clock dividers and Missed Opportunities' probabilistic/subtractive trigger array. This is all an overly detailed way of explaining that 'Compline' is a fully generative composition, like all Sleepbuilding broadcasts, made manifest by an arrangement of directed electricity and some simple mathematics.

A small note about the title I have chosen for this piece: 'Compline' is the last of the canonical hours in the day, observed in many variations by many different Western religions, which is devoted to late night introspection, relaxation and silence. It is my intent to only use the visual idea of this canonical hour to represent something that is designed for late night usage - a vibratelepathic candle to light beside your bed, perhaps - and not imply a deeper or more symbolic reference to any religious view at all. I have always felt that one can be in accord with spiritual matters while also not ascribing to religious considerations, and this is the context I wish to invoke for 'Compline.' Of course, if you are yourself a pious person, then my intention for 'Compline' should not exclude you from enjoying the piece either.

As with all prior and subsequent Sleepbuilding broadcasts, 'Compline' will be a free release, offered in the optimistic hope that it can and will meet others where and when they are, and be whatever they need it to become in that moment. I become more fond of stating with every new release that there are no wrong answers here, no way to use this sound-material that will betray its purpose. It continues to bring me joy to find that other creative work has been facilitated in part with the presence of my own in someone else's time and space, but it is equally gratifying to know that this music is helping someone to sleep, or read, or simply tune out the noise of the outside world. Don't work too hard, take care of yourself and please be well. Enjoy the soundwaves.

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YouTube playlist of all Sleepbuilding broadcasts: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbcjgVJRSgeSHy00DZLB8zFFIJbIgcYjo

All prior Sleepbuilding releases to date (all FREE): https://campsite.bio/oscillog

For more generative ambient music delivered to your inbox automatically each month, please consider subscribing to my Vibratelepathos series: https://vibratelepathos.bandcamp.com

Tracklist

1.	Compline (00:00:00-02:23:15)	143:16

2.	Compline (02:23:16-04:46:19)	143:05

3.	Compline (04:46:20-07:09:27)	143:09

4.	Compline (07:09:28-09:32:30)	143:04

5.	Compline (09:32:31-11:39:05)	126:36

Credits

released May 26, 2023

W/P by Brian Grainger. Recorded and broadcast live at White Pillar Workshop with the R-EW Audioholistics modular system, on February 2023. Mastered by The Analog Botanist. Text by Brian. Poem by Walt Whitman. Design by ABM&D using visual sampling of 'Visual Planes III' by Frantisek Kupka, ca. 1912-1913. This is Milieu Music number MMD079. (C) + (P) Oscillog ASCAP 2023. All nights preserved.

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