Song Stories: Ocean Unicorn
Whether or not you believe in land unicorns, the sea boasts the most preposterous creatures that swim around with a horn on their head. Okay okay, the “horn” on a narwhal is actually a tusk, a prolonged canine tooth. They like it chilly, hanging out in Arctic waters, and they also dive very deep. Narwhals are closely related to belugas. And, like belugas (and other whales), they make a wide variety of sounds, including for communication and echolocation.
Some of these sounds are featured in my song “Ocean Unicorn.” In my album notes, the song is introduced as “Speaking of cold, care to join us?” The song invites you into the frigid world of the narwhal, their communities, their travels, their conversations, maybe even their hopes and fears.
In addition to field recordings of narwhals, there are ocean waves and water splashes, that I harmonized with midi and sampled strings, and some percussion and effects.
Here are some screenshots from my DAW (digital audio workstation) as I was creating the piece. It has a lot of layers and even some layers inside others.
Ocean Unicorn is available on all major streaming platforms. Have a listen!
