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RUN TIME: 87 Minutes.
RELEASE DATE: Oct 26, 2023
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All instruments, songs, production, mastering, and cover art: Michael W. Dean. Cover art includes some astrophotography I did of the Crescent Nebula. I think it looks like a brain.
–Microtonal Tunings: Mohajira-to-slendro
–5 TET.
(plus a little standard 12TET).
This song has actual MRI sounds I recorded with my Zoom H2 micro recorder (aka the “Studio on a Stick”), recorded from the waiting room through an open doorway while having my MRI done. You can’t have any metal in the MRI room, the MRI can turn it into a projectile.
I used the MRI sounds throughout the album. I also put some MRI sounds into my Simple Microtonal Sampler and played it with a MIDI keyboard throughout. I did some other playing with my VST, Microtone 5000, plus some drum machines. Because drum machines have no baggage. I used a lot of the ring mod I made, Orion Ring Modulator.
The album also has me saying “I’m fine” in the MRI at one point looped a number of times, when the technician asked me “How you doing in there? Good?”
(EDIT, NEXT DAY: My brain MRI results; No cancer!)
I was nervous, it’s a very claustrophobic experience. But I survived, so thought I’d make this to help others prepare. Not sure I’d listen to this DURING an MRI, they do allow you to listen to music of your choice (using their gear, no metal can be in the MRI). But if you like this music, I see no reason NOT to listen to it before, and during, and MRI.
Even the song titles here walk you through the process and offer encouragement.
They did tell me that my tattoos might heat up, and they did. It didn’t hurt. Was only my oldest tattoo, from the early 90s, maybe something different about the Ink? Metallic ink perhaps?
Doc gave me 2 1-mg pills of generic Ativan (Lorazepam) to relax before MRI. That’s common and you can ask for it as soon as you book your MRI. It’s basically like being locked in a tomb for 40 min to an hour, with your head in bondage, in a small tube, while horribly loud sounds happen near your head. Also brought a nasal cannula and had them hook me up to oxygen.
I brought and wore foam earplugs AND wore the all-plastic headphones they gave me there. Was still very loud, but the sedative they gave me helped.
I was still high on the Ativan when I finished recording and mixing this tonight. Downers were never my drug of choice by they were a good tool today to stay still when you’re in a situation that could make one panic. So there was that and also some “better living trough chemistry” for finishing this album.
The album cover photo is an open MRI, I was in a closed one but had this photo already. Mine was smaller hole and I was stuck into the tube from the top of my head to my waist. They also had to shoot me up with some metallic (!) contrast thing halfway through.
All in all an ordeal, but if you have one, ask for the pills. You’ll need to have someone drive you there and home. They usually won’t even let you take a taxi if you do that, because you’re pudding when you’re done.
Get pastable BipTunia street art, PDF download
Album cover high-rez click below:
Fun stuff. Plasma in glow mode put in an MRI scanner haha, the universe is electric !
I’m a fan of this group’s music. There’s something unusual about it that’s difficult to put my finger on, but it is described as “microtonal” which I think means, it doesn’t adhere to the 12-tone scale used in Western music but also incorporates “notes within the notes.
It’s not just that, though. I find myself somehow transported into different mental spaces when listening to Biptunia’s music, especially this latest one, MICROTONAL MUSIC FOR MRIs. I’ve had a few MRIs and I can swear I hear some of the actual sounds those machines make when you’re being examined by them, which somehow fit surprisingly well into and with the melodies. If in fact Biptunia incorporated actual MRI sounds into their music, it’s a brilliant idea.
It’s a good thing, I think, that Biptunia’s music defies categories. I can’t tell you what genre it falls into, because I think it’s a genre all its own. I suggest you give it a listen and see for yourself.