"Petrichor" - David Orlowsky presents new album | NDR.de - Culture - Music

As of: October 10, 2024 9:06 a.m

The term “Petrichor” refers to the smell of rain falling on dry ground. Everyone knows this typical summer scent. But not everyone perceives scents and smells as colors or patterns at the same time. The clarinetist David Orlowsky does.

by Anna Novák

David OIrlowsky has a synesthetic sensation. This inspired him to compose eleven pieces describing scents. They can be found on his new album “Petrichor”, which he recorded together with guitarist Daniel Stelter and drummer Tommy Baldu. Titles like “Lisboa”, “Magnolia” or “Marrakesh” promise a sensual journey through a great fantasy world. On NDR Kultur EXTRA, David Orlowsky and his new musical companions present some of these unusual settings and explain the background.

David, you are a synesthete, which is a gift that some people have. This means that you perceive music with more than one sense. Some people see colors when they listen to music. How does this synesthesia manifest itself in you?

David Orlowsky: For me there are no colors, but what I see is a kind of black and white relief, which is difficult to describe. This mainly has something to do with timbres, and not so much with keys, which have their own visual representation. Depending on how it sounds, I see a sound wave that you see on the computer when you record something. For a long time I thought everyone had that. It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I realized that not everyone sees that.

How is it for you two?

Daniel Stelter: You don’t just take music through your ears. I can’t really define what it is right now. But music affects the whole body – in colors, in scents. I can’t describe it exactly. Music goes far beyond the sounds, it’s an overall impression for me.

You have now mentioned these scents. Maybe you could break this down for us. You used the scents for your album “Petrichor” as a guide. What do you smell when listening to this music?

Orlowsky: I don’t think that we smell that much through music, but rather that scents have a very similar power to music – for example, influencing the mood or evoking memories, feeling at home or even feeling out of place. Actually, it’s more of an ode to the scents that they are appreciated a little bit. But it’s not the case that a sound smells like something specific to me, I think that the scents are the only thing that comes close to the power of the music. That’s why we wrote an album dedicated to that.

AUDIO: “Petrichor” – David Orlowsky presents new album (55 min)

The title song from the album is called “Petrichor”. This is a very special scent, the smell you smell when rain falls on dry ground. How do your songs come about when you say you are equal. Does anyone bring the melody? What does it look like when you make music together?

Orlowsky: There were two pieces where I brought the melody. But the rest was actually created here as a trio, partly with Tommy in the studio as a jam session. I think most of the songs were created with Daniel playing some kind of chord progression and then a beat came along. Everyone did their part.

Velvet: Like three young boys who are locked in and someone throws in a little candy and everyone wants to eat with them. We’re like little boys – hot for music. That’s just beautiful.

Do you also agree on the scents? Do you feel the same scents?

Orlowsky: All three of us agreed that this “Petrichor” piece sounds like rain. I don’t know if it was Tommy’s snare drum or the guitar riff, but we definitely agreed on that. The rest came about organically. We asked ourselves: What could this fit with?

Velvet: You have to say, my little music room is in the garden. There were different seasons: sometimes it rained, sometimes it was hot. This is in the middle of nature. Maybe this also inspired us to simply look at nature and what it gives us. That was very nice.

Are you people who draw strength from nature?

Velvet: I definitely do.

Orlowsky: 100 percent.

The conversation led Anna Novak.

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