Dren McDonald  spent the 1990s running Vaccination Records and played in multiple  SF Bay Area bands before embarking on a career  writing music for film, theme parks and many video games including CounterStrike Global Offensive (Valve), Ghost Recon Commander (Ubisoft), Cooking Dash (GLU Mobile/EA), Gunman Taco Truck (Romero Games) and the award winning indie game Gathering Sky (Pontoco). In addition to his game soundtracks, he’s  also released the albums The String Arcade (2014); Psychic (2022), a collaborative project under the polyheDren moniker featuring guests such as Josh Freese (Devo, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters), Nels Cline (Wilco), and Iva Bittová; and his guitar orchestra record, Pterous (2023). His music can also be heard on Stranger Things VR (Netflix/Tender Claws) and many other VR and MR interactive experiences. Now, McDonald has a new collection of ambient  instrumental pieces: Oceanic.

While not looking to emulate specific sounds of nature or the sea, the album takes inspiration from the ocean and its mysterious calming effect. McDonald also rekindled a spark for Brian Eno’s Ambient series as he began to record these pieces, exploring experimental timbres created with layers of his instruments recorded with unorthodox techniques. None of these pieces started out the same way. A modular synth patch might inspire a mood as much as an Ebow triggering electric guitar notes through several effects pedals and amplifiers.  Field recordings pushed through granular synthesis or pedal steel guitar delays stacked on reverbs all provided layers and triggered ideas for Oceanic. The instruments are all played by McDonald, and he also engineered, produced, and mixed the record both in stereo and for Dolby Atmos. “Atmos is an ideal platform for ambient music,” says McDonald, who enjoyed “fabricating a truly immersive listening adventure” on Oceanic. Find the Atmos version on Tidal and Apple Music. 

Recommended Tracks: Track 1, “Orcinus Bulla,” Track 3, “Physeter Coda,” Track 6, “Delphinus Bursa”

FCC CLEAN

Label: Appearing Records

Goes For Adds 7/30