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Particulate Matter

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Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The term aerosol commonly refers to the particulate/air mixture, as opposed to the particulate matter alone. Sources of particulate matter can be natural or anthropogenic. They have impacts on climate and precipitation that adversely affect human health, in ways additional to direct inhalation.


Types of atmospheric particles include suspended particulate matter; thoracic and respirable particles; inhalable coarse particles, designated PM10, which are coarse particles with a diameter of 10 micrometers (μm) or less; fine particles, designated PM2.5, with a diameter of 2.5 μm or less; ultrafine particles, with a diameter of 100 nm or less; and soot.


[...] Particulates are the most harmful form (other than ultra-fines) of air pollution due to their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and brain from the blood streams, causing health problems including heart disease, lung disease, and premature death. [...] Worldwide exposure to PM2.5 contributed to 4.1 million deaths from heart disease and stroke, lung cancer, chronic lung disease, and respiratory infections in 2016. Overall, ambient particulate matter ranks as the sixth leading risk factor for premature death globally.


Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates


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My entry to the NG Audio Iceberg Challenge - Layer 4

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NGAIC -

This caught my attention immediately upon hearing it the first time. Very good Orchestral Drone which fits the theme you're specifically going for, insta-fav'd!. Are you utilising Spitfire Orchestral Swarm for this? There's a few small parts which sound somewhat familiar upon playing this back a few times

As ironic as it may seem to say this based around Particulates: I think there's too much 'air' in the overall mix, possibly from the mic signals (if you are running SF Orch-Swarm, it's a known side-effect of it that I also struggle to deal with). If that's the case, then there's not a huge amount you can really do about that tbh, other than (as a compromise) running those individual sections through careful DeNoising via RX or Acoustica to deAir it gently without compromising on the close & gentle detailing that the library samples are meant for. Or alternatively, very careful shaped filtering above the 10kHz region and then individually boosting-up the most detail-rich frequency ranges on everything else individually.

nyxl responds:

Thanks for your comments! You are close with your Orchestral Swarm guess, but it's actually Albion Tundra :)
Having a lot of "air" was what I was going for, but perhaps it's indeed too much... Maybe I have to listen on some different speakers and check what can be done. I actually used a woodwind articulation that they simply called "Air", it might come from there.

** A NGAIC REVIEW **

o/ :)

COMPLIMENTS:

- This feels...odd...to listen to. It hits me like I'm hearing pure dread and anxiety. I am unsure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it reminds me of a short documentary / commentary I saw with composers talking about how they create horror sounds, stings, and full compositions. It is MEANT to be uncomfortable, by the read of your Wiki excerpt on particle matter. You're supposed to be scared. You're supposed to be unable to think clearly. It's audible fear. @LD-W would be proud. ;)

- This feels like something meant for a suspense sci-fi score. Love it. ♥

- The humming strings are also brilliant with the droning noise. They almost flow on the same frequency and kinda blend and meld around each other, and start to sound like the same thing. It is intriguing to hear and experience, and I am glad I took the shot to listen to this, despite not being a huge fan of "drone songs".

CRITIQUE:

- I think a bit of sine or square wave manipulation, or pitch bending, would've been in order...just to ratchet that tension some more.

- Also half-expected to hear some panning play, either by filtering plugin or phasing plugin. Wish it was so. ♥

- Perhaps it is just me, but I think the 4 mins was a bit too long for this. IMO, I think you could have achieved the same effect and possibly even more impact if it was literally cut in half, introducing the small variations you have that I can hear within the droning (what sounds like an electric static FX and choral humming / chanting) earlier in the runtime....

Otherwise? For such a genre, this was extremely effective, mesmerizing, and--dare I say--creepy to listen to. I think I mentally checked-out a few times in hearing this, so had to listen to it a couple times just to absorb the whole of what you have made, and it was worth it. :)

Good luck with the remaining layers! :3 I look forward to hearing more from you!

nyxl responds:

Thanks for your detailed review, I agree with all of your points, gave me some great ideas for the future! :)

Super cool piece, I love the strings in the second half. Reading the description while playing the song makes it even more interesting. I'm a big fan of themed songs like this and knowing what the song is about gives it a really gloomy vibe.
I've definitely learned something new while listening to this! Good job :)

This was one of the tracks that originally piqued my interest when checking the entries for this Layer. I think it's an intriguing take on drone music. It definitely has that suspended feel, with an airy, yet uncanny—even morbid, juxtaposition of textures. The way you manipulated orchestral samples to create this controlled dissonance is inspiring. I don't think it would sound out of place in a documentary film.

Credits & Info

Artist

Listens
1,781
Faves:
5
Downloads
16
Votes
8
Score
4.62 / 5.00

Uploaded
Mar 18, 2023
10:19 AM EDT
Genre
Experimental
File Info
Song
9.2 MB
4 min 1 sec

Licensing Terms

Please contact me if you would like to use this in a project. We can discuss the details.