Dronescape 6.3 is the tenth in a series of albums, containing new Digital Symphonies by Oscar van Dillen. The work and text of this album were collaboratively created, composed, and recorded May 2021-May 2022.

Music created by Oscar van Dillen and Pier Sante Falconi; cover art of this album created by Oscar van Dillen.

Making of Oneirology 4

The making of Oneirology 4 is placed in the period of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. The two composers worked together meeting by a remote computer connection, which was a bit of a surreal situation when compared to the time before the pandemic, but people got used to a remote working, teaching, studying, and collaborating actually very soon.

The surreal element also actively inspired and influenced the making of Oneirology 4 and its basic choice to face the introspective side of the dream. The plot refers to the elements of drone and dream, those are already present in the original work and its title by van Dillen.

The development in this specific Oneirology 4 is influenced by artistic suggestions from literature and cinema, like the surrealism and the sense of estrangement of Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, or the dystopian dimension of Philip K. Dick’s novels, but also by consulted documentation on scientific research about sleep and dreams.

Pier Sante Falconi used different layers of instrument, first percussions and electronics, then also ambient sounds, sampled in different places and times to create different scenarios and atmospheres.

The singer and composer Lucia Alessi lent her voice to Oneirology 6.3 in sections 2 and 4. She played a significant role in the making of Oneirology 4 as counselor to Falconi, being one of the two persons, along with van Dillen’s wife Elise, who heard and listened to the track before it was completed, both being trusted artists.

A productive collaboration, open and constructive, and between colleagues now, resulted. This possibility was known from the time Falconi was still studying with van Dillen. Now the two worked as peers. Ideas were being discussed on the phone, in emails or in Zoom conferences, sometimes sketches were sent for further discussion. In the end both agreed on the path chosen and Falconi set out to create and record his part of the composition in Rome.

After having recorded all the 40+ tracks in Italy, Falconi sent these to van Dillen in Rotterdam to composite and compose the final blend of both composer’s work by creating the mix and final master. His creative mixing went through several stages before a satisfying result was approached, which was refined in his mastering process afterwards. With great care this very complex music had to be mixed, composited, composed and mastered, so as allowing for the complexity to come out while maintaining transparency and optimal spatial placement and width of every sound as well as the overall sound. After sharing the result, this time sending from Rotterdam to Rome, both composers finally agreed on the end result after what had amounted to over a year of intense collaborative work.

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