Ayerora: A Concept Album About Identity and Gender
153Buy the album on Bandcamp: https://isabellechiming.bandcamp.com/album/ayerora
A young BOY is born through the love of a MAN and a WOMAN. He grows up with other BOYS and GIRLS, never to cross over the all-encompassing invisible line separating the two, like two prison cells dividing and containing all people. But what happens when the young boy crosses that line and breaks free of his cage? Who built these iron walls? And on which side do we choose to stand? Ayerora is the story of a world that sought to answer these questions, and the spark that started it all.
Ayerora is a chiptune concept album about identity, gender, and revolution. Nearly 2 years in the making, this album was my final thesis composition to earn my Master's in Music Composition. It features a wide variety of sound chips and consoles, along with live instruments in select tracks. Repeated themes and motifs throughout the album connect the tracks together and aid in the storytelling. Throughout this video, poetry will appear on screen at different times to convey the story told by each track. I recommend following along to experience the full narrative of the album. The tracks can also be individually listened to on Bandcamp.
Huge thanks to every single person who helped make this album possible, especially Mark Engebretson and Alejandro Rutty, my composition professors and University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Credits:
Album Art - Unlimited Trees - twitter.com/UnlimitedTrees / https://cohost.org/UnlimitedTrees
Stand Before It
Alto Saxophone - Mark Engebretson
Ayerora
Conductor - Alejandro Rutty
Flute - Charles Norris
Clarinet - Daniel Garcia
Viola - Dave Phillips
Piano - Jessica Leong
Electric Piano - AJ Lyon
Percussion - Jack Yagerline
Tracklist:
0:00 - The Fires of Birth [2A03+VRC6]
4:39 - Identity [2A03+VRC6+MMC5]
9:46 - Life of Sephtos [GB]
14:22 - Prison of the Mind [Mega Drive]
20:15 - Dysphoria, the Blight [2A03+N163]
24:49 - Finding Euphoria [Various VGM Samples]
30:16 - Fight For a New Name [2A03+MMC5+FDS]
36:14 - Stand Before It [2A03+Alto Sax]
42:15 - Supernova [2A03+VRC6]
46:58 - Ayerora [Chamber Ensemble]