The Aquarium Archive
Transmission No. 3
Recently, while visiting our local aquarium (not to be confused with The Aquarium), I found myself mesmerized by the Pacific Sea Nettle jellyfish. Their movement was continuous, graceful, and seemingly effortless. I watched as they drifted through the water, each following its own path, yet somehow creating a beautiful, constantly changing choreography.
That experience stayed with me.
A few days later, I began writing a new piece of music inspired by what I'd seen. What started as a short sketch became a nearly seven-minute composition titled Effortless.
It also became the final piece written for my next Magnetic Fish album, Redemption.
This new album explores a different musical landscape than This of Which I Know. It's more contemplative, with music intended for meditation, reflection, and those moments when we simply want to step away from the noise of everyday life.
All ten compositions are now complete, and it's down to the final mixing stage of the album.
I'll be sharing more about Redemption in the coming weeks, including the music, artwork, and some of the ideas behind it.
For now, I wanted to share this little story with you first.
Until the next transmission,
— Don
Magnetic Fish
← Transmission 02 | Back to Top | Transmission 04 →
Transmission No. 2
I have been passionate about analog synthesizers for decades.
It started in the mid-1970s when I first heard Wendy Carlos’ Switched on Bach and ELP’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Those two albums changed my musical trajectory.
My first two synthesizers were an ARP Odyssey and an ARP 2600. Those two instruments, a small mixer, and a 4-track recorder comprised my first studio. Many more synths, a 16-track recorder, a proper mixing desk, and a real recording studio would come later.
By 2015, I had parted with my studio and a career as a photographer pushed my musical ambitions to the side.
Then in 2025, a friend told me of a company that made a reissue of my beloved 2600. I purchased one and also a reissued version of the MiniMoog. Setting up a small recording space in my basement rekindled my love of analog synthesizers from long ago. It was a warm nostalgic feeling being able to create those familiar sounds from that instrument again.
The 2600 does a wonderful job of creating the sound of an ocean surf, and that was the starting point for my first composition using the 2600. That first piece I completed was what would become This of Which I Know. I chose that title because I do love being around water, especially salt water. It is something I know well, thus This of Which I Know.
However, the concept of linking my music with a photograph would come later. This one sat on the shelf for quite awhile without any visual reference. It wasn't until just last year when I was in Key West that I created the image below.
I hadn’t started with the intention of producing an album, it just evolved naturally on its own. As I continued to collect more synth modules, my sonic palette grew and allowed me to create new sounds, and I knew that this would become a special journey. I am happy to have you along as I share these stories and experiences.
— Don
Magnetic Fish
← Transmission 01 | Back to Top | Transmission 03 →
Transmission No. 1
Sometimes a melody.
Sometimes with a sound.
Sometimes a piece of music begins with just an idea.
This one began with a photograph.
When the Planets Align is the first track on my album This of Which I Know, and the photograph that shares its name was the starting point for the music.
That relationship between an image and sound became an important part of the album. Photographs became starting points for the music, with their titles becoming the titles of the pieces that followed.
I've always been interested in the way an image can suggest something beyond what it actually shows. A photograph is silent, of course, but sometimes when I spend enough time with one, it begins to suggest a rhythm, a texture, a sense of movement, or simply a feeling.
When the Planets Align was one of those photographs.
Two spheres. Light and shadow. Separate objects that, from just the right angle, seem to find a relationship with one another. I had noticed these hanging light fixtures and the shadows they created at an outdoor seating area, and I knew what I wanted the photograph to look like.
It took some planning to determine what time of year and time of day would allow these shadows to be perfectly lined up. Then, once the camera was set and the image was framed in the viewfinder, it was just a matter of waiting for the sun to move into position.
That photograph lived in my head for quite a while, until the fall of 2025, when I started creating this piece of music.
Funny thing about composing music: just when you think you know what you need to write, you begin, only to discover that the direction or feeling isn't right at all.
It took several attempts before I found the musical spark that matched what I was feeling with that image.
The music grew from there.
That's one of the things I hope to share here in The Aquarium...not just finished recordings, but some of the photographs, ideas, accidents and discoveries that existed before the music did.
So I thought we'd begin at the beginning.
When the Planets Align.
— Don
Magnetic Fish