ALCYONE under Paul Rijken’s spotlight

"ALCYONE is an album of absolute excellent
Berlin School electronic music
with great sequencing and wonderful soundsculptures.
This music is deep, uplifting and utterly beautiful."
Paul Rijkens (Reviewer for the Dutch magazine iO Pages)

Thanks to Paul Rijkens for this photo

ALCYONE under Paul Rijken’s spotlight
Topic: The album

Paul Rijkens: Alcyone comes out of the Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Aeolus and the wife of Ceyx. She drowned herself in grief when Ceyx died and was transformed into a kingfisher. She was also called Halcyone.

Where did your idea or inspiration come from to use Alcyone as concept for this album?

Sequentia Legenda: In fact, ALCYONE represents the Great Central Sun, which is the theme of my album. A year ago, ALCYONE came to me like a bolt from the blue, and I felt it was essential to express this energy, this elevation emanating from the Great Central Sun, musically. Everyone is free to choose whether or not to embrace it, everyone is free to do their own research and to be discerning, especially in these current times.

For me, it was natural and important to decode and transcribe what I perceived so that I could share and offer the best of myself, both humanly and musically. It was obvious to follow my heart, to share this fabulous energy, this luminous force, this vibrant joy, this infinite hope.

ALCYONE is all that 🙏☀️🙏


Track 1: Around The Great Central Sun
Paul: The sun is all. The sun is everything. Without the sun, earth and the humans cannot survive. It is one of your most joyful compositions, you state in the booklet.

How did you come with the idea of the sun for a track ?

Sequentia Legenda: It was the logical continuation of ALCYONE, I had to highlight this radiant and loving alignment, this incredible creative power literally breathed into me by the Great Central Sun. The more I progressed with this composition, the more the atmosphere of joy grew, much to my delight - it was quite indescribable, in fact. In the end, all I know is that, in my opinion, it's the 'happiest' track in my discography.

Around The Great Central Sun is a message of Peace, Hope and Love, an invitation to gravitate freely in an atmosphere bathed in a divine light and in a creative benevolence. It's a cosmic dance around this fabulous Great Central Sun for a spiritual elevation.


Track 2: The Ring Of Golden Light
Paul: Gold is one of the most precious and valuable materials in the world. Light of gold must also be very precious.

Did you feel surrounded by it when you composed this track?

Sequentia Legenda: I felt surrounded, guided and transcended by a gentle, benevolent emanation that exhaled my creativity – Gratitude🙏

The idea of this composition is to take the listener towards the ring of golden light of an ascending spiral to reach high and beneficial vibrations. The soundscape is a bit like a nebula bathed in a soft, regenerative light. Everyone is free to make up their own mind, to find their own path to exaltation.


Track 3: Bon Voyage
Paul: It means have a good journey or vacation.

Do you consider yourself being on a voyage yourself when you create
your music?

Sequentia Legenda: In a way, yes, there are similarities. When I'm composing, I'm living in my own world, disconnected from our reality so to speak, travelling in my own reality. Time no longer has a hold on me, it's a notion that disappears completely, giving way to a delightful timelessness conducive to creativity. With Bon Voyage, I hope listeners will be able to travel freely and serenely in their own reality.


Track 4: Love Feeds Love
Paul: A for Sequentia Legenda short track. The sequence is fantasic.

What means love to you? How do you make this?

Sequentia Legenda: Thank you Paul for that compliment. It's not really my habit to do short tracks and this is the shortest in my discography. I have to say that this composition literally "invited" itself! In fact, it was planned from the outset that ALCYONE would consist of three tracks, as almost all my albums do. Then, spontaneously, a pressing need arose to rework an initial part. It was a bit like an initiation experience, something that upset the schedule. This composition developed with disconcerting fluidity, as if to persuade me to incorporate this unexpected title. I was really excited by the result, so I decided to add a fourth track, "Love Feeds Love".

In the end, that's how I see Love, in sharing.

 

ALCYONE under Paul Rijken’s spotlight
Topic: Equipment

Paul Rijkens: I am very interested in synthesizers and everything around them. You use mostly software synths. Arturia has created brilliant software emulations of classic synths.

Why have you chosen for this and not for hardware?

Sequentia Legenda: I have to say that when I was between 16 and 21, in my parents' basement, I had a room full of analogue synthesizers, such as the Korg PS 3200, the ARP Odyssey and the Oberheim Two Voices, to name but a few.

Later, with the advent of the MIDI standard, I parted company with these for a large number of digital synths accompanied by Cubase software. Then, like many of us, there were changes in my life and for a while I only kept the Korg DSS1 and the Roland JD800.

Then, a little over ten years ago, I discovered virtual synths and really enjoyed composing with them. Finally, looking back, I've realised that before hardware and everything else: it's the heart that's most important in sharing with listeners. It's my experience, my feelings, of course. I think that my basic knowledge of subtractive synthesis, for example, allows me to approach VST technology with a certain ease and a very precise vision of what I want to highlight. I have to say that overall I'm satisfied.

ALCYONE under Paul Rijken’s spotlight
Topic: Live

Paul Rijkens: I would love to see you play live.

Is there a chance you will perform here in The Netherlands on the E-live of E-day festival?

Sequentia Legenda: Thank you, that's very kind of you. Performing live is something very special, it's a new adventure every time, both technically and on a human level. There's the meeting with the audience, that special contact that makes it a unique moment in itself.

I was lucky enough to be able to play live during 2019, accompanied by German drummer Tommy Betzler (who himself accompanied Klaus Schulze in the mid-80s) in France, Switzerland and Germany.
I have fond memories of that.

As far as future concerts are concerned, it's possible that I'll be able to perform in the Netherlands, and I'd be delighted to do so. Ron Boots and I have been in touch and we'll see what happens. Tommy would also be up for this new adventure on stage. I've got a few imperatives in my life at the moment which mean I can't give you any precise dates. In any case, if it's not possible this year, I hope it'll be next year.

Presentation: My name is Paul Rijkens.

I come from The Netherlands and live in the beautiful ancient inner city of Alkmaar, the city of cheese.

In daily life I work for the Ministry Of Justice. My hobby is music. I love The Beatles and am a volunteer in the Beatles Museum in Alkmaar. My biggest musical love is progressive rock, especially that with (lots of) keyboards in it. I also love electronic music and even tried to make it myself a long time ago. Sine many years I have a weakness for the so-called “Berlin School of electronic music” and that is one of the reasons that I feel so drawn to the music of Sequentia Legenda. Ever since the early eighties, I write about progressive rock and electronic music: I do interviews and write reviews of albums and concerts. In the old days I did that for magazines like Sonic Report, KLEM magazine, E-dition and SI Music Magazine, nowadays I write for the Dutch magazine iO Pages in which I am called the electronic music specialist. 

MY VISION FOR THE BERLIN SCHOOL IN 2023
A heart to heart sharing

I had the great pleasure to share with you my last opus, I will try here to reveal you some aspects from behind the scenes.

ALCYONE represents for me a beautiful adventure, rich in human, spiritual and musical experiences of course. It is a setting in light, the term is appropriate, on the continuum of my musical vision.

As you may know, my music is now tuned to the frequency of 432 Hz in order to offer the purest sound worlds possible. My goal with this new creation is to continue my heart-to-heart sharing, to infuse more and more serenity in order to help you better radiate your own wholeness.

I have to say that the composition phases have unfolded overall with a pleasant fluidity. Gratitude. I wanted through the various universes composing this album, in the structural form, in the color of the harmonies, in the choice of the timbres, to deliver a connection which is the most in adequacy with my feeling. I wished a sound matter the most favourable to dreams, which is at the same time rich and ethereal and comfortable to the listening. To lay down notes tinged with light that could evoke the freedom between the dimensions of a journey that could be relived each time and in a totally personal way.  

I hope that ALCYONE and its four sound universes will accompany you during your astral and immersive peregrinations, arousing in you for a long time beautiful and sweet emotions.

I wish you lots of listening pleasure.

ALCYONE