This Binary Universe | ||||
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![]() The original CD release has a physical overlay of the white cover and album title, with "BT" in binary cut out of it (pictured). Most digital download covers (below) use the original background image in the CD jewel case. | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 29, 2006 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 74:19 | |||
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Producer | BT | |||
BT chronology | ||||
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This Binary Universe is the fifth studio album by the composer and electronica artist BT. It was released on August 29, 2006. The album was a significant about-face for Transeau, largely abandoning the progressive trance music he was known for, in favor of ambient soundscapes, live orchestration and glitch music. It is the first BT album not to be released on vinyl, nor feature any singles (though an edit of "1.618" was featured on a compilation). The album was also composed specifically for DTS 5.1 surround sound. A film version of the album received a limited theatrical run, usually accompanied by appearances by Transeau himself. The album is dedicated to Transeau's daughter, Kaia. The album's artwork makes nods to binary by spelling BT's name in morse code on the cover, as well as using additional morse code on the DVD menus.
Prior to This Binary Universe, BT was at the forefront of the trance scene, creating and producing a wealth of popular singles for himself and others, including "Pop" for the pop group *NSYNC. BT's most successful album, Emotional Technology , was the beginning of a more introspective and mature sound, which carried over to the soundtracks Transeau was producing at the time, including those for the films Stealth and Monster . These film scores featured minimal beats, lush orchestration and significant use of piano and acoustic guitar. Spurred by these newfound sonic boundaries and the birth of his daughter Kaia, Transeau created an entirely downtempo album of original works, mainly as lullabies for his daughter. Kaia also sat in Transeau's lap throughout most of the production on the album, and can indeed be seen in several studios with Transeau in the included video for "Good Morning Kaia".
With This Binary Universe, Transeau sought to further his compositional skills, seeking out inspiration from indie rock and jazz, using their chord progressions and song structures. [1] The album makes extensive use of circuit bending, which consists of intentionally mis-wiring and short-circuiting keyboards and children's toys to obtain interesting sequences of sounds that are later processed and time-corrected. He also invented wholly original instruments to make unique tones that wouldn't be possible for anyone else to recreate or copy. Many of the beats and rhythms in the album were created by computer programs Brian Transeau developed himself to produce the effects he wanted, including Stutter Edit and Break Tweaker. Both have since been released by iZotope, who acquired BT's software company Sonik Architects in 2010. [2]
"All That Makes Us Human Continues" was written entirely in Csound, a music sequencer written in the programming language C, over a period of six months. Several tracks also feature a full 110-piece orchestra; most notably, "The Antikythera Mechanism", which features the orchestra both in original and beat stuttered forms. The only traces left of previous BT albums are the closing minutes of "The Internal Locus", with its pronounced hip hop beat, and album closer "Good Morning Kaia", an ambient rock number filled with ocean sounds that is dedicated to his daughter. [3]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
About.com | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GetGlue | favorable [5] |
Progressive-Sounds | 9/10 [6] |
Sputnikmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Tastyfresh | 8.7/10 [8] |
TranceCritic.com | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
This Binary Universe was a critical success, with several reviewers praising the new sonic directions and sensibilities, and favourable reviews appearing not only in mainstream print but also in instrument and electronic music publications, such as Keyboard Magazine. Being a low-key release, commercial success was minimal. John Diliberto, his Amazon.com editorial review, wrote favorably of the album, saying, "BT reveals himself as a master of Eno-esque melancholy, as simple melodies evolve through an electro-orchestral instrumental palette." After praising the album's many styles, he concluded his review by stating, "This Binary Universe may be the first ambient symphony of the 21st century." [10]
Tangerine Circus's keyboard player Lalo Mariné cited This Binary Universe as one of his top five favorite albums. [11]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "All That Makes Us Human Continues" | 8:15 |
2. | "Dynamic Symmetry" | 11:23 |
3. | "The Internal Locus" | 10:27 |
4. | "1.618" | 11:34 |
5. | "See You on the Other Side" | 14:23 |
6. | "The Antikythera Mechanism" | 10:06 |
7. | "Good Morning Kaia" | 8:11 |
Total length: | 74:19 |
The included DVD contains the entire album in DTS 5.1 surround sound as an audio-only portion, as well as a short film to accompany each song. Four of these short films were created by CG graphics artist Scott Pagano, one by Mondi, one by Dose Productions, and the last consists of Transeau's personal footage of his daughter and himself. The short films included were given a limited theatrical promotion, containing new footage to join the segments together. During the theatre run, BT himself would attend, watching the film with the audience and answering questions before and after each screening.
The films ran the gamut of cinematography, from live action ("Good Morning Kaia") to computer generated animation ("1.618") and traditional animation ("The Internal Locus"). Several videos feature mathematical animations; most notably the fractals in "The Antikythera Mechanism" and use of the golden ratio throughout "1.618". "Good Morning Kaia" consists entirely of footage shot by Transeau of himself and his daughter, at home and on vacation, while a personal message from Transeau to Kaia scrolls across the screen.
"1.618" was included as one of the default music videos on the Zune digital media player. Copies of the album from online retailers (such as the iTunes Store) include only the videos for "Dynamic Symmetry" and "1.618".
Tangerine Dream are a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the group was its mid-1970s trio of Froese, Christopher Franke, and Peter Baumann. In 1979, Johannes Schmoelling replaced Baumann until he departed in 1985. Since Froese's death in 2015, the group has been under the leadership of Thorsten Quaeschning. He was joined by violinist Hoshiko Yamane in 2011, Ulrich Schnauss from 2014 to 2020 and Paul Frick in 2020.
Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. It may lack net composition, beat, or structured melody. It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation. The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual", or "unobtrusive" quality. Nature soundscapes may be included, and the sounds of acoustic instruments such as the piano, strings and flute may be emulated through a synthesizer.
Ima is the debut studio album by American electronic musician BT, released on October 9, 1995 through Perfecto Records. The album is considered a major stepping stone in trance music, popularizing a more progressive approach. The album includes the 1995 single "Embracing the Future", which reached number one on the UK Dance Chart, as well as "Loving You More" featuring Vincent Covello. Following its release, Ima appeared on the UK Albums Chart for four weeks, peaking at 45. In 1996, the album was released in the United States in a double disc format, with the US Dance number one single "Blue Skies" featuring Tori Amos.
The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981.
Emotional Technology is the fourth studio album by electronica artist BT. Transitioning towards a more pop music oriented sound, the album features some of BT's more commercially successful releases, including "Somnambulist ", "The Force of Gravity" and "Superfabulous". "Somnambulist " holds the Guinness World Record for most vocal edits in a single track, with 6,178 in the album version. The album features vocal performances by JC Chasez, Rose McGowan, and BT himself, among others.
Scott Pagano is a Los Angeles-based video artist, filmmaker, and motion graphics designer, who constructs videos by re-mixing images of architecture, daily life, and intricate CG graphics. Pagano studied photography and graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design and is a graduate of Brown University where he studied Modern Culture and Media.
Oceanic is a 1996 studio album by Greek electronic composer Vangelis. It was released in Europe on October 25, 1996, by East West Records and in the United States on January 28, 1997, by Atlantic Records. A single "Song of the Seas", with b-side "Aquatic Dance", was released simultaneously.
Beside You in Time is the third video album by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released in Europe on February 26, 2007 and in the United States on February 27, 2007. The video documents the band's 2006 Live: With Teeth Tour, and is available on DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. An edited version of the video aired on DirecTV's The 101 Network in March 2007.
A Night of Triumph is a concert video first released to VHS and LaserDisc, later released as a live album and DVD by the Canadian hard rock band Triumph. The concert was recorded on January 16, 1987, at the Halifax Metro Centre in Nova Scotia during Triumph's Sport of Kings tour. The DVD bonus features included backstage footage from a Triumph concert at Wachovia Spectrum in Philadelphia. Also included is the video for "Just One Night" and a live performance of "When the Lights Go Down" from the band's appearance at the 1983 US Festival, which itself was previously released as a standalone DVD in 2003 called Live at the US Festival.
iZotope, Inc. is an audio technology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. iZotope develops professional audio software for audio recording, mixing, broadcast, sound design, and mastering which can be used in wide range of digital audio workstation (DAW) programs. In addition, iZotope creates and licenses audio DSP technology including noise reduction, sample rate conversion, dithering, time stretching, and audio enhancement to hardware and software companies in the consumer and pro audio industries.
"Break My Fall" is a single track by Tiësto with vocals from BT released in July 2007. This song is off the album Elements of Life.
The stutter edit, or stutter effect, is the rhythmic repetition of small fragments of audio, occurring as the common 16th note repetition, but also as 64th notes and beyond, with layers of digital signal processing operations in a rhythmic fashion based on the overall length of the host tempo. The Stutter Edit audio software VST plug-in implements forms of granular synthesis, sample retrigger, and various effects to create a certain audible manipulation of the sound run through it, in which fragments of audio are repeated in rhythmic intervals. The plug-in allows musicians to manipulate audio in real time, slicing audio into small fragments and sequences the pieces into rhythmic effects, recreating techniques that formerly took hours to do in the studio. Electronic musician Brian Transeau is widely recognized for pioneering the stutter edit as a musical technique; he developed, coined the term, and holds multiple patents for the Stutter Edit software plug-in.
Brian Wayne Transeau, known by his initials as BT, is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. An artist in the electronic music genre, he is credited as a pioneer of the trance and intelligent dance music styles that paved the way for EDM, and for "stretching electronic music to its technical breaking point." In 2010, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album for These Hopeful Machines. He creates music within a myriad of styles, such as classical, film composition, and bass music.
"Good Morning" is the first song from American hip hop recording artist and record producer Kanye West's third studio album Graduation (2007). The song was produced by West and contains samples from the recording "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by English singer and pianist Elton John. As the opening track, the song serves as an introduction to the musical and lyrical themes of the album. West establishes the academic narrative of it, celebrating his graduation in the realm of hip hop and rapping about his skepticism of higher education over thumping, off-kilter boom bap drums.
The discography of the American electronic musician BT consists of 13 studio albums, 4 compilation albums, 5 extended plays, 39 singles, 28 music videos, and 16 soundtracks.
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