Quarandrones by Mihok

This is album was recorded during March and April of 2020 in NYC when the City was under lockdown for Covid-19. The five songs together total 40 minutes, alluding to the "40" of The word quarantine which comes from quarantena, meaning "forty days." During the 14th–15th-century in Venice all ships were required to be isolated for 40 days before passengers and crew could go ashore during the plague epidemic.

Despite the rather disturbing origins of the word as I play with it in the title of this recording, I hope with these five pieces to create a calming and contemplative, even a meditational, mood, though their dronal quality may also suggest the containing effects we all endured while under lockdown.

All of these pieces were written, performed, and recorded on keyboards.

Quarandrone 1 is the most static of the 5.
Quarandrone 2 has the feel of an icy landscape, perhaps somewhere else in the universe. At least that's what a friend who heard it first says.
Quarandrone 3 has a minimalist piano part.
Quarandrone 4 has a synth sound that emulates a human voice. Quarandrone 5 is the most elaborate and textured.

They play nicely together, as intended.

These recordings are soundscapes for meditation, work, deep listening, distracted listening, or whatever works for you.

There are guitars, drums, percussion, synthesizers, treated pianos, environmental sounds, and other instruments. I'm drawn to texture and melody, dynamism and stasis, clarity and opaqueness.