Every once in a while, a project comes along that feels so new and exciting and unknown that I think about it all the time. “The Night Sky” was one of these. I first got an email from Jordan Nobles about it in December with the 88 constellations spread across the attachment. He drew out each constellation onto sheet music and he wrote each star as a note then connected the lines to create the shape of each particular constellation. The ones in the northern hemisphere were written in the treble clef and the ones in the southern hemisphere were written in the bass clef.
I love Jordan’s creativity and his willingness to think about music in ways that I could never dream of. Then he allows so much flexibility to his musicians that I find it very fun to collaborate and work on this creations.
Here is my favourite constellation because my dad taught me how to find it in the sky when I was very young. I look for it every time I can see the stars:
I gave Jordan at least three takes on each constellation where I would try to interpret them all differently. For example, if there was a distinct line that felt like it should be followed, I would do that instead of reading the music conventionally from left to write. Sometimes, little closed sections of the constellations made us think that they should be played a few times. In others, it felt like a gliss was needed to connect specific notes.
Here are about a dozen of the constellations in a video with me playing them while the constellation is up to see what exactly I am playing:
When listening to this music, do not think of it as melody and accompaniment because that does not exist in this composition. Rather, imagine looking up at the night sky and seeing the stars, some clearer than others, creating a tapestry of randomness to be admire and lost in.
The album is out now and can be found on Bandcamp. If you scroll to the bottom of the songs on this site, or click here Jordan has put together one track of all of them being randomly played and layered. I think this is my favourite way to listen to it.
Here it is on Apple Music.
Here it is on Spotify.
And here it is on Jordan’s label: Redshift Records.
And if you think this is just as beautiful to look at as I do, you can by the sheet music and a beautiful copy will be sent to you by clicking here.
Thanks for reading and listening!
