Sungazer - THRESHOLD (animation by Ben Levin)

[@AdamNeely]

h y p e r t u p l e t s presave the upcoming album (out oct.11) here distrokid.com/hyperfollow/sungazer/perihelion

[@GoviaM]

nice

[@d333ds]

Can’t wait!

[@klarsen91]

Looking forward to it!

[@jada90]

can't wait

[@alvislarson7853]

nice

[@youssefrezzaki1523]

Protip: make sure the synth and the graphics are in the same key

[@TarkMcCoy]

Setting the Hologram Microcosm to Mescaline!

[@an_annoying_cat]

pro tip: make sure the synth and the visual synth are in the same key

[@artmeatj6620]

Damn. This joke is pretty old. Like six years at least.

[@zifatanner-kamal486]

can someone pls explain where this is from for me I think I missed something

[@moguls914]

@@zifatanner-kamal486 I'm not sure where it's from, but I believe it refers to synesthesia, or sensory perception of an input that differs from the usual. An example would be seeing sounds, or tasting colors. Synesthesia is sometimes mentioned to be an effect of psychedelics

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

Hell yeah

[@jendose.archive]

Hi 🌝

[@f52_yeevy]

An analysis of one of Sungazer’s songs would be extremely interesting

[@Ermz]

Fancy seeing you here!

[@drewautote]

read this in bill wurtz’s voice

[@BenLevin]

I love you both! Please don’t ever leave me alone 💧😩💧

[@noyd4172]

Thank you for the lovely visuals, they complemented the song well and pushed it over the top to become my new favorite Sungazer track. I'm taking a lot of bittersweet hope from this, but that might just be me. Would love to see your visuals on one of those big festival screens, having just watched Second Sky last night. Love your work, thank you for your continued contributions to Sungazer and bringing crumbly glitchy beauty to your own corners of the internet as well.

[@BenLevin]

@@noyd4172 Thank you for this sweet message! It's very nice!

[@paullindley2]

Not enough sweeties OR cuties 😢 Real talk, this was awesome man. I love the merging of your visual style with this track.

[@dimitriid]

Small detail but it's so rare to see a music video at 60 FPS yet it looks soooo nice and fluid it really takes it up a notch to another level so kudos on that Ben

[@joseferreyra2723]

Ben this animation is so sick dude, keep on with this kind of work!

[@RudyAyoub]

dudes this is so sick

[@elias8580]

unsubscribed

[@rostamostmann9657]

Didn't know middle eastern guy is allowed to listen to music!!

[@MikeNevill3]

That's rude ie

[@MikeNevill3]

Hi Adam .. just wanted to say hi.. I have shitty bass vids hq

[@jtsloth]

I thought you might roast it for being.

[@MishaMansoor]

Goddamn everything about this rules.

[@PaulDavids]

Ah man, this track rips! 🌶️ Also, massive kudos to Ben, sheesh.

[@PaulDavids]

The drop at 3:16 tho...

[@Necrow_Productions]

More like "This trip racks" (I don't think that makes sense but I don't care!)

[@diatomicfawn1141]

@@Necrow_Productions somehow it does makes sense LMAO

[@skierpage]

It's like endless mid 1980s Peter Gabriel solo album covers!

[@chiefindisguise]

I love how this music is so fresh sounding. It is technical AF but not in a "look at my solo" kind of mentality, it seems to prioritize texture and rhythm (as modern music does), but still retains melody, emotion and form (as classical music does). For me it's a perfect balance, it's awesome.

[@ledumpsterfire6474]

Agreed. My best descriptor is coherency. When you look at a lot of technical stuff, there's almost always a focus element that just overwhelms any sense of it still being music for me, just pure chaos. Sometimes it's melody, rhythm, texture, whatever the case. I don't want to call it noise because of the negative connotations which aren't what I'm talking about or suggesting at, but that's the best way I can describe it. This is taking some of those same ideas but making them work with each other instead of against. There isn't one crazy focus element, the focus element is the service to the music that all elements are working towards.

[@asymmetree2748]

Before the theory video is out, I wanna give it a try: Song is in 19/16, subdivided in 6-6-7 - a typical „short-short-long“ scheme put to the extreme. But I guess the point of the theory video will be, that the rhythm can also be seen as a slow 4/4 with 19 beats per quarternote (so 19-tuplets, lol), because of the snare appearing on 2 and 4 throughout the whole song (just like in „Sequence Start“). The question could be „what are the biggest practical X-tuplets“ and adams answer might be „probably 19“.

[@nickcoronado898]

I'm having trouble counting the subgroups but my guess is they're groups of 5 instead of 6, so 5-5-6 for a final meter of 16/16.

[@stutch4048]

I also counted 6-6-7, but if you're going more on the feel of the snare hits, it feels more like a half-time beat, which would mean it would make more sense to group it as a slow 2/4 with snare drum hits on 3...but who knows, either interpretation could work I think. Edit: actually, now that i think about it, it feels more like a 6/8 beat with the snare drum hit on 4...really, the same 2/4 beat but split into triplets.

[@excelsior501]

You were right!

[@dame-e-in1258]

Actual genius mode you got it right

[@maxzapom]

wow you legend

[@jynuko4318]

i never realized how good sungazer music was for ben's art style

[@analytical768]

It’s the perfect harmony of visual imagery and music

[@AlexMoukalaMusic]

Wow guys. This kind of expanded my concept of music a bit. And the video is super cool too!

[@miki890098]

Thats the kind of art you want to consume on a daily basis to keep yourself *g r o w i n g*

[@TheReal4th]

Glad to see you here, I loved watching your reviews of orchestral libraries

[@kristopherphillips5779]

Change is everything.

[@utsavmajumdar2747]

Confirmed : Ben Levin exists on a different spatial and temporal dimension altogether

[@Shivelight]

Damn so beautiful 😍 This is what heaven would sound like if it was coded in Windows 95.

[@ivyssauro123]

Perfect definition haha

[@brittenmusic6923]

I can remember waiting for that upgrade

[@billyalarie929]

jesus christ the accuracy HURTS

[@achillebesida4292]

And it is

[@petersocha5551]

Me: Hey what's the time signature of this song? Song: Yes.

[@Corvus__]

I think that's the idea.

[@Crovax]

The dance of eternity: Finally! a worthy opponent! our battle will be in 19/8

[@artemis_furrson]

@@Crovax 19/16

[@corentinsoulier5607]

@@Crovax It's not even close to the Dance of Eternity!

[@benmaclean2789]

Music 2

[@breadmoneymusic]

I'm convinced that Ben Levin literally perceives the world in neon CGI.

[@notcheesebones3965]

No one: 12 year old me using every transition in PowerPoint:

[@ugh.2923]

Aww fuck yeah that was the shit

[@FinnbarrGoesFast]

Thanks for the cheeky chuckle

[@fugithegreat]

I wish this was an art installation that I could visit and be immersed in throughout a 3-D space.

[@ErikGarcia07]

I think there's one called DMT

[@diceblock]

There are many ways to do this in vr. I think an example of this would be the game "WaveVr"

[@goclbert]

By now I shouldn't be surprised by how good Shawn's drumming is and yet every time I am. Can't get enough of it.

[@kevinchen1339]

yeah it's like I know he is capable of doing that but at the same time I'm like oh shit he can actually do it

[@coleozaeta6344]

He can do 99:100 polyrhythms, he’s god.

[@averythesuperhero]

My English professor last semester was a big lover of jazz. Towards the end of the semester all we talked about in class was jazz history and how it relates to African American culture (we were initially trying to relate it to poetry but class sessions ended up just being music appreciation periods lol) Last time I attended his class, my fellow peers seemed pretty burnt out and out of it cuz of finals. So he decided to just end class early while he and one of his buddies (a fellow professor) talked about music. I decided to stick around and join the discussion. It was just the three of us. I suggested this song since I thought he'd find it interesting and he played it for all three of us. The whole thing. We went on to have a really great discussion about other unrelated things for the next hour or so, but idk if I'll ever forget that day. That class period. It was truly something special. This song reminds me of that

[@CheddarKungPao]

It's like Aphex Twin had a baby with Enya inside of a Nintendo 64. I love it.

[@crente87]

Hahahaha. God, you got a point right there.

[@VectressWasHere]

so on point lmao

[@orrerybandcleveland1255]

Damn this is it!

[@wallyslow]

Actually when Tortoise and Plaid would hook up to play Tetris in my ears.

[@milanstevic8424]

well.... um that actually made sense.

[@idfk9578]

I can hear the bluecoats snareline and fromt ensemble in my head

[@richardalbritton9812]

Just saw Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corp perform a bit of Threshold. Congrats! I hope you get a chance to see it.

[@user-ml2re8ek7b]

Yep

[@UnknownSpooky]

So cool to see music from a KZbinr I like being used in my favorite DCI group's show this year! Let's go, Bloo! Hoping for Adam to make a video on it after the season wraps up!

[@mellowtron214]

This is Crowders most impressive tune yet. Usually, I can at least understand what’s going on in a Sungazer tune drumming wise, but until the later snare rolls, I was in the wind. Super impressive stuff, something unique and with masterful musicianship, but that grooves and has an organic lively feel to it. Usually hyper-technical music is also extremely sanitized and lifeless. Sungazer finds the perfect blend of emotion and ability.

[@Coastfog]

Spot on. That's the thing about Shawn. There's plenty of drummers who mastered tuplets, but he makes them feel so alive, purposeful, almost necessary. Whenever I play tuplet grooves, it feels more like I'm actually saying to myself and whoever is listening "Yeah, so I can kinda play tuplets. Are you impressed? Please tell me you're impressed."

[@grbr5240]

As if the song was not enough to induce a full-blown trip. From now on it's an inseparatable audio-visual experience for me. Everything fits just perfectly.

[@submh0938]

Same here. I’ll never be able to experience them apart. It wouldn’t be the same

[@LimewaterMusic]

Oh my God seeing this one live absolutely blew me away. I've been thinking about this song every single day since patiently waiting for it to drop.

[@loganfullest]

Dude, same @3:16. The live version had an echoing, wailing, screaming saxophone sound that's etched into my memory.

[@kineticwayss]

damnn peggy !!!

[@dinklepuffus3878]

How is Ben Levin both a brilliant musician and a brilliant animator like bro save some talent for the rest of us. Brilliant track btw!

[@kirjian]

You know Ben's cracked when his animations try to depict higher dimensional objects. This universe is not enough for his intellect

[@tomieilamo]

I really felt for that cube-based 80's man living in his synthwavy 80's world when the blobs started getting crushed, great job!

[@Xeon2112]

I don’t know the last time an instrumental track had this emotional and profound an effect on me, this is overwhelmingly beautiful. Thank you.

[@bmprrr]

vamos a la playa

[@heybudgreatname]

A mi me gusta bailar

[@madisoncameron4382]

Simon Grove collabing with Adam Neely is not something I ever thought I'd see but I am so glad I did

[@aadityagoswami]

Yep, the production, mix and master sound absolutely massive. Simon Grove and Ermin Hamidovic are a fail-proof recipe.

[@beardyman]

This is an absolute masterpiece guys!!!!!!!

[@Olesceant]

Normal boring day in depression : Sungazer : *Prepare Serotonin injection*

[@RogerioDec]

The best definition!

[@themandownstairs4765]

This is like vapor jazz, I love it

[@Nikki_kms]

that's sungazer for you

[@RaYin1133]

Simply blown away by this creativity. Synapses ablaze.

[@samoftheam]

Yes. Adam Neely moving the genre along.

[@yitzharos]

Wow. That wad beautiful. Youve been teaching me music for 5 years and that is the first time I listened to Sungazer. That exploding high chorus line was so exciting.

[@thearmchairpsychic]

Bluecoats is using your music in their DCI show this year!

[@shpadoinkle_wombat]

Mt soul wants Sungazer concert in VR directed by Ben Levin!

[@nightmare-nightmarenightma1147]

This seriously has my jaw on the floor. Everything from the music composition to the visuals is incredible

[@officialevanboehm]

I'm ecstatic for this album

[@Adam-hs1ft]

I have no idea what just happened, but I really liked it.

[@BenValdesMusicAndArts]

Awesome!!! It reminds me the old 'gate to the mind's eye' vhs!

[@jhudielgabrielsabelino9278]

First time listening to this, for some reason the climax part made me tear up and cry. Thank you. Such a great track.

[@sirtorchington]

this is so so incredible thank you to all parties involved for putting in insane effort to achieve this masterwork!!!

[@alexwebmch]

I don't listen to much jazz, so I don't have a great frame of reference for this song, but I did enjoy it. I can say with confidence that those drums sound phenomenal! A great performance from Shawn, but credit where its due to the audio and mix engineers.

[@jozefurban733]

It's been a long time since a piece of music made me feel this happy and fulfilled. I was smiling widely while listening. Thank you.

[@samescourt3801]

This is what jazz will sound like in the year 3000 so ahead of its time man. Fantastic work from everyone involved

[@YouYou-ir4zu]

this is the very essence of life as a whole

[@FrizzlerGuy]

I've listened to this enough times that i can hear it in my dreams :D Love your work Adam, Shawn, and Ben! And of course Zac did amazing too always love to see what everyone you include brings to Sungazer!

[@danceb4nine]

Such oddly cool graphics and music. I love it. I’m glad there’s experimental artists like sungazer.

[@marotteinc.766]

This is such an amazing piece of art!!! Ben Levin really outdid himself with the animation, just splendid. Thanks so much to you three.

[@JoeMama-sl8ux]

That is by far the most unique animation style i've ever really seen, its a freakin trip

[@LessAshamed]

Gotta love seeing people at the top of their craft coming together to make some GREAT art. What a concept. What a track. What a video. Art like this doesn't come along every day. Very grateful.

[@kaitlyn__L]

I’ve often wondered what 80s and 90s CGI demo aesthetic would look like with modern raytracing, bloom, fluid sims, etc. This is really cool.

[@carlmmii]

I'd take what Ben's having, but I don't know if I've played enough REZ yet.

[@LtPulsar]

Always remember, rock is sponge and fear is the mindkiller.

[@MrTonysoundsgood]

I love the "lo-fi hiphop to study to" chord voicings in the bridge!

[@duffman18]

I really really really wanna see Sungazer live Please please please when the world is safe again and you're going on international tours, could you please come to Liverpool in England for one of the dates? It's the most musical city in the country. EVERY pub and bar has live music every day, pretty much. And hundreds of buskers outside playing music too. All types of genres. There's many many jazz bars. You'd love the city just for its own sake. Liverpool is the closest thing to NYC there is in the UK. That's why John Lennon loved NYC. It reminded him of home I grew up near London but I went to Liverpool for university, and fell in love with the city, and moved here permanently. Everyone who comes here even once says it's an incredible city. And they make it their number 1 mission to come back here again and again

[@TachyBunker]

This is so trippy I love it. It's an AWESOME trio!!

[@DCUPPS]

Such a wonderful piece of art. The animation acts as if it is an instrument in the band!

[@nickmonks9563]

Best ad for Ben Levin's "Blender for Musicians" class, EVER.

[@oldbandguy]

BLUECOATS!!!!

[@ryseely1]

You know what this feels like? It feels like the deep breathing you try to do after a hard sprint. Your heart rate is rapid, and when you breath, you are trying to breath at the steady, normal rate. But when you do, there is an unsteadiness of the breaths that match the almost 3/4 of the kick drum--the urge to breath to match the rapid heart rate encourages a short extra inhale. Loved your video Adam.

[@xCriticalStrikex]

I just saw the Blue Coats include this song in their drum corps performance at Nightbeat DCI wake forest. Look for footage dude it was really good and do some reaction video! 🙂

[@corndoggydogdog]

Really enjoyed Bens work animating here. Feels very gnostic. The human search for truth within confines of machines. It all fits very nicely together with music which is so electronic. I think as an over all animation+music style it couldn't be more appropriate.

[@noahbrierley885]

I'm genuinely in awe at this. It blows my mind that there are people this talented in the world. Both the song and animation are stunning.

[@prestokrevlar]

This has got to be the greatest Ben Levin Sungazer animation I've seen yet, and the same has been true of each one I've seen. So awesome.

[@prarobinson]

Ben! These visuals are incredible. Such attention to the music, not surprisingly. @Sungazer you guys are pretty okay, too :)

[@oscargill423]

How does he do it? Honestly... it feels like in every video there's innovation along with some existential message about society and existence... it's very engaging to watch.

[@wilky1189]

YOU ARE NOW ON A JOURNEY BEYOND THE MIND'S EYE

[@GadFlyMamut]

Kinda want to cry to this, it gives me that good overwhelming feeling. Just beautiful!

[@joecostello1624]

Can we acknowledge how talented not only the band is. But also bens animation

[@WritingOnGames]

This is so goddamn good!

[@TheXComputerXDr]

Most underrated track I know of. It's just so good that people can't even comprehend the awesomeness that is going on right here. Keep it up yo, I'm a musician and this is giving me huge inspiration!

[@elektro096]

God damn this is good. Animation is polished like something you'd see from a signed artist. And the music is great. You guys have really outdone yourselves, kudos.

[@TylerRossow]

Sungazer is EDM Animals As Leaders and I love it ❤️

[@THERUSSIANONE]

"no, I'm not high officer" my neurons :

[@Grease-Goblin]

Wow, I love it. The animation is incredible, too. It feels like it might be an incomplete experience to only hear the music without seeing the imagery as well. Stop hogging all the talent. Especially you, Ben.

[@LastPrismAlex]

NEW SUNGAZER LET'S GOOOOO

[@davidjoachims]

those drums at the end are so sick, my goodness

[@TwoScoopsOfTubert]

This video makes way more sense to me than most ultra high budget music videos

[@franco5506]

Cheers for Simon Grove, The mix is really good! Also he is a beast playing bass as well

[@CollinWestland]

Here before all the Bluecoat Commenters

[@johnsmith-kc1sn]

These WinAmp visualizers are getting insane!

[@WernerErkelens]

3:57 Way to hit the people with that Léo Delibes quote there boys 🌝

[@hayi8957]

every single frame is a piece of art in its own right

[@mysterioos]

Damn peggy…

[@theimmortalalchemist]

seriously on the outer edge of modern music, totally one of a kind, and an experience!

[@ayatsubame]

when i heard the maj7 arp, i thought for sure Andrew Huang had hijacked the session :P thanks for sharing!

[@Tahmid_1337]

This is probably the trippiest music I've ever heard in my entire life... The concept is so simple yet so complex that it breaks the whole idea of our perception of beat and time. This is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!

[@screwaccountnames]

The first six seconds of this have big Windows Startup Sound Energy

[@isaiahmumaw]

Loving the tonal palette you guys have adopted with this one - still sounds like good old Sungazer, but with fresh new ideas mixed in.

[@spakeschannel]

Gotta say, that 7/4 in chorus felt strange yet more comforting than during the rest of the song... And also even more confusing... That's really hard for me to gather.

[@TheBigMoneyRecords1]

Agreed. I felt it in 7/8 The evenly spaced kicks on beats 1, 3, and 5 plus the kick on the and of 7 into the snare on beat 1 are all super common to 4/4 dubstep With the arp and buzzy saw bass, it felt so familiar and also not at all

[@cheerijessie]

It's got that kind of experimental play what you see draw what you hear feeling of the audio and visual from those old Mind's Eye compilations from the late 80s early 90s but with vastly more power, just amazing!

[@JuliaAllenHesse]

What if like synthwave but like on shrooms or something? Well done, all yall. =)

[@caleboackes9669]

today is national shrooms day

[@JuliaAllenHesse]

There ya go!

[@ojberrettaberretta5314]

@@caleboackes9669 omg it is i will eat sum shroomies

[@VictorAndradeGuitar]

It's been 40 minutes, guys. 40 minutes listening to this on repeat, going back to sections. This got me paralised, very emotional experience. No, I'm not high or anything, no need with this, actually. It made me sad, but in a cathartic way, so it feels good and relieving. Amazing piece, thank you. Congrats.

[@moresnqp]

much cleaner/resonant direction than your previous projects, cant wait to experience the full album!

[@duskfallmusic]

Adam, I learn music theory and how to work through making my music because of your videos - One of these days i'll try and work past being jus ta samples/loops user, but honestly - the more I watch even from your Sungazer uploads the more i learn