All posts by Steve Spon

About Steve Spon

Aerial Artist and Music Producer at Dronescaping Britain at Diamondseeds Media Productions

Crystalwytch

Lockdown, Nostramus, Production, Products, Steve-Spon, Studio, , , ,

Nostramus #Ambient #Drum and Bass #ChillOut

A new single by Nostramus.

“Crystalwytch” is the second of a trio of singles I am releasing over February, March and April before a brand new album is released this summer.
Depending on the style of each track from now on in I will be suffixing my Nostramus moniker with either #Ambient, #DarkAmbient #Drum&Bass #Glitchcore #Trapstep #OldSchoolDrumAndBass #Tribal #Cinematographic etc.
The above should distinguish the genre’s I work with. I am not a DJ Producer I am a musician Producer but I realize that DJs and listeners will like to know what genre I am producing.
I don’t see why I should select one genre as has been suggested in the past. I have an eclectic taste in my productions which are all broadly speaking ‘alternative’ and ‘underground’ rather than music produced purely for a commercial market. I make music that firstly I enjoy making and secondly if I feel good about a production I like others to enjoy as well.
So ‘Crystalwytch’ what is it about?
Continuing the theme from “Multiversal” here the work is played out to Helen J Street’s lucid and phantasmagoric poem “The Crystalwych” which is whispered as in the breeze on a moonlit night. The ‘Crystalwych” could be described as analogous to a night time version of the ‘Green Man’ of the woods or a Druidic gathering in the Grove. Riding a chariot with seven jewel incrusted horses into the white marbled and sparkling heavens. A pagan allegory for what in realty is yet another alternative universe or simply a gentle attempt at autonomous sensory meridian response? In the poem things might not be the way they seem to be, the ‘Crystalwych’ may actually be a visitor from the other and the chariot and seven horses a craft sent from a far distant but mourned future. Who knows?
Moving on from the previous single ‘Multiversal’ I now re-enter the world of ambient and jazz flavoured drum and bass. I am not sure whether or not this would make a hard core floor filler, rather than attempting a mesmerising transcendent auditory meditation, or perhaps better still both. I have sat here with this song playing back in a loop and have been absolutely tripped out on it, of course I would say that but hopefully this will work the same way for at least some of you.
I am much indebted and would like to thank Ella Jo for her input here, for her whispered oratory. Also Tony “Redfish” Gee once more for his magnificent and succinct trumpet playing.
Tony recorded his trumpet remotely and I felt as always, quite confident that he would deliver. As a scientist in his day time job, he has that heightened empathy and love for the great British eccentricity that makes for a true thinking-outside-of-the-box, musician. Hopefully there will be much more “Redfish” collaborations in the future.
I enjoyed playing electric piano on this, which is how the idea kicked off. I laid down the chord progressions and then played a lead pattern over the top of the chords. The overall effect I was looking towards was ‘soft’ and ‘jazzy’ although I would be the first to admit that I am simply not good enough to play ‘proper jazz’. I do go for the mood that works and once I obtain something like the desired performance, I record it warts and all. I then refine and edit it into place.
Quantising? I think that subtlety and nuance is vitally important in performance. I used to quantise the f*** out of everything I played and eventually I came to realize that in certain cases there is a danger of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I was super conscious of allowing as much free style playing as possible without severely quantising the vitality out of my performance. So I left as much heart and soul as possible in the played keyboard parts. However to counteract I sequenced a triad of quantised but hypnotic moving pads that nail down to the Drums and Bass.
I then plugged my guitar into my pedals and created some jagged but ephemeral washes that gently glide over the rhyme. Initially I had the guitar much louder over the song but I came to realize that ‘less is actually more’ at times when working on composition. When I turned them down in the mix , the whole song lept out of the speakers at me. So we are left with just a hint of their former glory. Who knows I may do a remix at some point with the guitars featured more. I am known for my guitar playing in post punk band UK Decay and IN Excelsis so its probably right to point the above out for those that may expect my usual guitar performance’s.
Recording? I use Cubase and a host of plugins these days to produce my music. I have recently upgraded my set up so now I have the added possibility of working my sound to moving video, which frankly adds another layer of inspiration to my work. Working to video blimey but it does open ones eyes to landscapes and soundscapes and all betwixt.

So I see “Crystalwytch” as part two of a trillogy, a further invitation to journey between musical dimensions. I hope it does it for you.

UPDATE: May 2021: You know, I am just going to carry on releasing solo or single tracks, hopefully monthly but my target is ten new tracks a year.

Thanks to everybody who has supported Nostramus. 

lyrics

Words to poem coming soon…..

credits

released March 5, 2021
Conceived, written and produced by Steve Spon for Nostramus.
Lyrics: “The Crystalwytch” by Helen J Street
Whispers: Ella Jo
Trumpet: Tony “Redfish” Gee
Electric Piano: Steve Spon
FX guitar Steve Spon
Thanks to Diamond Seeds Media Productions.

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all rights reserved

Multiversal

Nostramus, Production, Products, Steve-Spon, Studio, , , ,

Nostramus: Ambient #DeepSpace #ChillOut

A new single from Steve Spon’s Nostramus

Multiversal” is the first of a trio of singles I will be releasing over the next two months before a brand new album is released this summer.

From now on in I will be suffixing my Nostramus moniker with #Ambient, #DarkAmbient #Drum&Bass #Glitchcore #Trapstep #OldSchoolDrumAndBass #Tribal #Cinematographic

The above should distinguish the genre’s I work with. I am not a DJ Producer I am a musician Producer but I realize that DJs and listeners will like to know what genre I am producing.
I have an eclectic taste in my productions which are all broadly speaking ‘alternative’ and ‘underground’ rather than music produced purely for a commercial market. I make music that firstly I enjoy making and secondly if I feel good about a production I like others to enjoy as well.

So ‘Multiversal’ what is it about?

I rather like themes that are based on different quantum possibilities than we take for granted in our search to try and understand the world we are living in. Just suppose for one moment that time travel is possible.

Then how would this sound like how would it look, what about paradoxes? We can’t go back and stop our parents meeting. One idea is that is may be possible to journey forward in time, but not backwards. I like the possibility that the structure of time moving forward is rather like a tree. Maybe the Tree of Life? But in an infinite universe could it be plausible that at every moment there are choices and our sense of consciousness is merely traveling up through the branches, each time there is a choice, we take one new branch or another as we continue cursing along our destiny. Like a tree, what if other versions of ourselves took a different choice or were befallen by accidents and hiccups along parallel branches existing in unfolding and infinite universes? In some of these one may no longer exist or one may have taken a completely different journey in their lives. Could it be that we live in an infinite universe of infinite dimensions? Sometimes we may get a sense of a nearby universe or dimension where things are slightly different than our current journey. Could dreamtime or trance-time be a lowering of the veil between these worlds?

So I start the piece with a rather innocuous bar-room piano and it quickly rises and invokes in my mind a sonic dream sequence of arpeggios and other hypnotic shape shifting effects that rise and lull the listening into hopefully a higher state of sonic bliss as the motif’s rise and crescendo building with subliminal and phased drums that leap forward and back into the wash and waves of the invocation. Well that’s what I am calling it. I was tranced out into a state of bliss whilst making this, maybe if it can do it to me it can to others as well and so far, the folk I have played this to absolutely love it to bits as a ‘chilled out’ passage.

“Multiversal” was never meant to be a traditional Nostramus Drum And Bass sound but it was always part of a broader and more eclectic church in the sound I produce for Nostramus. Who knows maybe in the future it is possible I will remix it in another style, maybe? I have so many other ideas to work on it may be sometime before I re-address it with another mix.

Recording? I use Cubase and a host of plugins these days to produce my music. I have recently upgraded my set up so now I have the added possibility of working my sound to moving video, which frankly adds another layer of inspiration to my work. Working to video blimey but it does open ones eyes to landscapes and soundscapes and all betwixt.

So I see “Multiversal” as an invocation, an invitation to journey between musical dimensions. I hope it does it for you. 

lyrics

Instrumental.

“This is a deep spacial ambient mix, designed as an invocation to reset and relax mental stress in its hypnotism” Steve Spon.

credits

released February 5, 2021
Conceived, written and produced by Steve Spon for Nostramus.
Thanks to Diamond Seeds Media Productions.
Thanks to Ella Jo for moral support.

Witches And Halloween :

Documentary, Events, Multimedia, Nostramus, Production, Steve-Spon, , , ,

Find out more about witches and what they mean.

Of Late I have taken to creating Youtube Movies, utilising my audio and music productions with film.

Steve Spon
Find out more about witches and what they mean.

Reckless Relic Halloween Podcast.

THIS VIDEO IS A MUST FOR HALLOWEEN!

Why are Witches associated with Halloween?

Ancient and pagan wisdom from the heart and soul In this podcast Ella Jo from Reckless Relic talks about Halloween during the time of Covid and how deeper meanings can be learned.

Spoken Covering perspectives from folklore and lessons we can learn from our own times, content is distinctively spooky for mature viewing.

Produced by Diamond Seeds Media, featuring adaptive sound sculpture by Steve Spon for Nostramus. Spon’s musical presentation here finds him at his hellish best! Spon is a member of UK Decay famous for their early gothic sound and in particular the Black Cat EPO and The early gothic noire “Werewolf” on the Rising From The Dread EP. Spon is in good form at the moment , he is using his covid time to create fantastic sounds and video. Please check back for further Lockdown presentations.

Witches Halloween T Shirts are on sale all year round at…. https://recklessrelic.com/

Scythian Art

Documentary, Lockdown, Multimedia, Nostramus, Production, Steve-Spon, , ,

A Reckless Relic film, giving a brief history and some examples of Scythian art.

A warm welcome and thanks for visiting my media website.

Of Late I have taken to creating Youtube Movies, utilising my audio and music productions with film.

Steve Spon
A Reckless Relic film, giving a brief history and some examples of Scythian art.

A Reckless Relic film, giving a brief history and some examples of Scythian art. Surviving relics portray a fascinating culture that had no writing, but produced extraordinary art. Note – pictures are for illustration and not necessarily linked to any specific examples being discussed in the film, unless otherwise stated. Also, this film features mummies and human remains that may not be suitable for the young or the squeamish. Written and narrated by Ella Jo, produced and filmed by Diamond Seeds Media with music by Steve Spon’s Nostramus. Scythian Article Transcript: https://recklessrelic.com/cleaning-up…

Look out for our Reckless Relic Scythian T Shirt Design : https://recklessrelic.com/

“Crystalwytch”

Lockdown, Nostramus, Performance, Production, Steve-Spon, , ,

A Moody dash-cam drive along The Shining Way in
West Wales on Xmas Eve.

A Moody dash-cam drive along The Shining Way in
West Wales on Xmas Eve.

Mission 6 of our Dash-cam journey through the West Wales countryside. With music by Steve Spon’s Nostramus.

Today’s brand new Nostramus track is called “Crystalwytch” an ambient Drum and Bass soundscape featuring Tony Gee on Trumpet, Ella Jo on Vocals and Steve Spon on FX guitar and Electric Piano.

I am producing this and other material for a forthcoming album project which will be highlighted on my Bandcamp channel. This new work is based on a short science fiction fantasy story involving Pagan Goddesses, Druids and the mysteriously named “Coveners” who ‘cloak’ their real identities as time traveling extra terrestrial providers and you could say – gardeners. The ‘Crystalwytch’ could be the visitors craft or it may be the name of one of the visitors, or even a place. Who knows, it was at story written many years in the future. It is impossible to report it here. Please consider supporting Steve at Nostramus Bandcamp.

With the current Lockdown and the darkest time of year – with snowy weather, it has not been possible to travel to the mountain journeys that I had planned. However on Christmas Eve 2020 I managed to take some footage that fitted a mood that appealed to me. I set the video to play with the song, and came up with “Crystalwytch”. This drive takes place just after sunset along a Ceredigion Ridgway approximately 1000 foot (300 Metres) above Sea Level. Known locally as the White, or Shining Way, the journey traverses the road from Pen Cae and finishes at Post Bach. Whilst the views may be rather “ordinary” compared to some earlier videos, the moody atmosphere and brooding cloudscapes appear auspicious. windswept, bedraggled Beech, Laburnum and Pine trees scatter the hedgerows, and the odd croft or farmstead are often decorated with Christmas lights. Also the road was slightly busier than usual. Although not set for kids, this particular movie is actually safe for kids to watch. Please check all my videos before allowing your kids to watch.

Big thanks to Tony Gee (Redfish) for his speedy and magnificent Trumpeteering and Ella Jo for her “Crystalwytch Prophesy Poem”, finally Spon played Electric Piano and guitar fx. Please check back later for further dash-cam journeys! we are going to journey further into the Cambrian Mountains as soon as we get a few good clear days…. Written and conceived by Steve Spon for Nostramus and Diamonseeds Media 2021

Aberystwyth to New Quay at 200mph along the Coast Road

Lockdown, Nostramus, Performance, Production, Steve-Spon, , ,

Mission 5 of our dashcam journey through the Wales countryside.

Mission 5 of our dashcam journey through the West Wales countryside.

This time we are heading from Penparcau in Aberystwyth to New Quay along the A487 west coast road, a distance of 22 Miles (35 Kilometres).

According to Bing Maps that journey would normally take 39 minutes as there are numerous hills to navigate along with a host of villages and small towns that have speed limits. Today for this video we have reduced the journey time to 9 minutes by speeding up the video 4 times, which means our journey speed varies from 80 MPH to well over 200 MPH at times depending on speed and safety considerations. The average speed turns out to be 163 MPH…phew!

At no point in the real time journey was the legal speed limit broken and road safety was at all times the primary consideration This road is known and used by many who travel to West Wales on summer vacations and it has some spectacular views of Cardigan Bay and the mountains of Cadair Idris and Snowdonia. On clear days the mountains of the Lleyn Peninsular can be seen marching out to Sea to the North West. Also to the south on a clear day the distant Mynydd Preseli mountains can be seen.

So please buckle up your seat belts, turn up your sound, put your feet up and enjoy the journey. Yet again there are brand new sounds from Steve Spon’s Nostramus, this time there are three movements, “Temporeral”, “Levelling Up” and “Disshevelance”. Big thanks once more to Ella Jo’s wonderfull contribution on “Levelling Up” Please bear in mind these videos are meant for adults rather than kids to enjoy. This has to be defined by Youtube these days, whhich have a much stricter set of protocol’s to navigate if the video involves entertaining kids. In this video please be aware there is some “Explicate Content” in the words. Big thanks to Shaman Murphy and Ella Jo for company on the trips Please check back later for further dashcam journeys! we are going to journey further into the Cambrian Mountains as soon as we get a few good clear days….

Devils Bridge Arch to Aberystwyth a Dashcam view with Music

Lockdown, Nostramus, Production, Steve-Spon, , ,

Please be aware there is some strobing as the Sun flashes through the trees !! I hope this can mitigate those in current lockdown who yearn for the wide open beauty of our glorious countryside. #Lockdown#LockDownEntertainment
Special Thanks to Ella Jo Street for her wonderful vocal chords! Another dashcam journey with music by Nostramus with music Steve Spon is producing for a forthcoming album project which we will be highlighting on our Bandcamp channel. Please consider supporting Steve at Patreon (Link Below) The return journey from a dashcam videoed road trip across mid/west Wales. Last week we premiered our first leg of the journey into the Cambrian Mountains “Ysbyty Ystwyth” to “The Devils Bridges”. Now we present our return leg of the mission from the Hafon Arch which is known as the gateway to the Cambrian Mountains on the mountain road to Rhayader from Aberystwyth and the coast at Cardigan Bay. This video comes in two parts, today we present part one. With a new piece of sound sculpture by Nostramus titled “Cambrianne”. This journey starts at The Hafon Arch built by Thomas Johhnes in 1810 who owned the nearby “Hafon” estate. He built in commemoration of the 1810 Jubilee of the so called ‘mad’ King George III. Until recently the mountain road ran through the arch. This marked the entrance to the Cambrian mountains and the old packhorse road was one of the only passable tracks through the mountains to the Welsh coast. This is one of the finest scenic routes in Wales and it has some pretty stiff competition as Wales is a beautiful country.

Devils Bridge to Aberystwyth Part 1 Movie

Another dashcam journey with music by Nostramus with music I am producing for a forthcoming album project which I will be highlighting on my Bandcamp channel. Please consider supporting my Nostramus channel at at Bandcamp .

The return journey from a dashcam videoed road trip across mid/west Wales. Last week we premiered our first leg of the journey into the Cambrian Mountains “Ysbyty Ystwyth” to “The Devils Bridges”. Steve was accompanied by stained glass artist Jon Murphy on this group of journeys Special Thanks to Ella Jo Street for her wonderful vocal chords as Nostramus’s movement “Cambriannia” is reprised from part one! For part two of this journey and included in this video are two brand new tracks written and produced by Steve Spon for Nostramus the two tracks are “The Conduit” and “Cluster Five”. Steve is hoping to raise funding for a new Nostramus album which he is currently writing and producing as Nostramus during lockdown, so if you can me please consider supporting me at Bandcamp or contacting me directly through this Youtube channel or my new Dronescaping Ynys Prydain Youtube Channel. The links will follow shortly.

I have arranged this new music to complement the journey, finding it inspirational and easier to work with moving image’s. “The mixes are bespoke for the journeys but out of this I hope to distill and produce this music into fully fledged album productions which I hope to mix all in 5.1 3d sound” So watch this space!

Now we present our return leg of the mission from the Hafon Arch which is known as the gateway to the Cambrian Mountains on the mountain road to Rhayeder from Aberystwyth and the coast at Cardigan Bay. This video comes in two parts, today we present part Two. This journey starts at Pant Mawr roughly half way along the route to the coast. This road is better known as the A4120 today and the views are spectacular, on a really clear day the mountains of Mourne in Ireland can be made out across Cardigan Bay from certain parts of this road and also the mountains of the Lleynn Peninsular rise spectacularly over the Sea in the distance. The end of the journey is marked by the iconic sentinel summit of Pen Dinas with it’s Wellington Monument overlooking the Seaside Town of Aberystwyth the “Biarritz of Wales”, famous for housing the Library of Wales , the University and elements of the Welsh Government. It is also a traditional Victorian Holliday resort made famous a few years ago when a storm tossed up wave splashes higher than those buildings on the Sea front, seen across the worlds media. Constitution hill can be seen in the background of the last image with its famous funicular railway and camera obscura. This is one of the finest scenic routes in Wales and it has some pretty stiff competition as Wales is a beautiful country. Please check back later for further dashcam journeys! we are going to journey further into the Cambrian Mountains as soon as we get a few good clear days….

Devils Bridge to Aberystwyth Part 2 Movie