April 2, 2026

Fenice Updates: Composition, Recording, and Bilingual Version

Today’s news are fresh, and there’s more than one. Tonight we had a rehearsal, as we now do every week, for quite some time: we’ve reached the first milestone, and the composition work is moving forward. I’d say we are at 53-55% of the piece; Fenice has solid legs!

It is an almost pure psychedelic piece; I say “almost” because it is certainly rich in sound and atmosphere, but also extremely complicated to arrange. It is a track with very pronounced, expanded harmonics that must fit together rather than add up, follow one another rather than interfere. The frequencies must not blend into a muddled, shapeless, confusing sound; for this reason we have to work on entry timing, on the length of the echoes and reverb, keeping the sounds clean and separate so that the listener can grasp the meaning and the ear is rewarded.

This is the first update. The second concerns the recording setup: we decided that the final move to Ardour is the best choice to have a stable system, with very high resolution and practically zero latency. Tonight I saw a fixed latency of 8ms with as many as 9 simultaneous tracks and a maximum CPU load of 14%, which is absolutely excellent.

The Galactica recording standard will be 32-bit float / 48kHz: a very high level in terms of definition and spaciousness, where every tiny expression is captured with enormous dynamics and zero distortion, even at inhuman volumes. For compatibility reasons, the final mastering will be 24-bit / 48kHz, ensuring playback on almost any player. For the record, I’ll note that the CD standard is 16-bit / 44.1kHz: a good resolution, but not at the level of 24-bit (in playback) or 32-bit float (in recording) that we use to ensure clarity and dynamics.

In addition, we decided to record the pieces again that, despite having their final form and structure, were at a lower standard than CD. It no longer satisfied us: it would have been inadequate and dishonest to present it in a work that we want to be beautiful to look at and, above all, pleasant to listen to.

Third news: the site will take on an international form by becoming bilingual. We are preparing the English version and I hope it will be ready soon. It is not a choice; it is a necessity: it simply has to be done.