Drop Science

In the science of acoustics, every sound has both a frequency—the speed at which it causes the air to vibrate—and an amplitude—the size of these oscillations, making up its particular sonic signature. Musician Matthew Dear toured the Niskayuna facility at GE, gathering over an hour of whirring, humming, thundering source material.

“Drop Science” is a gleefully busy romp through the world’s top research labs—a skittering ode to industry. Dear’s music has always blurred the boundaries between analog and electronic, between the body and the machine, but on “Drop Science,” he erases that boundary entirely: fiber optic vibrations are stretched into melodic curlicues, underwater frequencies squelch and bend around a 4/4 pulse, and a jet engine appears just in time to build up to a particularly well-earned drop.

The Drop Science Bundle features the full track, a documentary video, 12 remix-able audio loops, photos and GIFs. Enjoy.