zakè 'Orchestral Tape Studies I+II' [CS]

Black shell cassette tape with white direct imprinting, housed in clear/maroon norleco case. Three panel j-card. Loaded with FerroMaster C456™ super ferric, ultra-high performance type-1 music grade analog tape. Shrinkwrapped. Pressed, manufactured, and assembled in Ontario, Canada. Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard. Design and layout by zakè. This is PITP-COMP02. Orchestral Tape Studies I originally released as PITP19, 2019. Orchestral Tape Studies II originally released as PITP44, 2023. Includes digital downloads of all three Orchestral Tape Studies volumes.

Also available at: pitp.bandcamp.com, Juno Records, Norman Records, Soundohm, Tobira Records, and others.

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Originally produced in 2009, these recordings lived quietly in the background for years as private experiments, half hidden sketches, and personal studies that Zach Frizzell, better known as zakè, never felt a rush to release. Now they finally surface as Orchestral Tape Studies, a carefully gathered collection that feels both archival and deeply alive.

Built from fragments of orchestral loops, the pieces drift and unfold in slow, deliberate movements. Strings blur into one another, melodies repeat like memories, and small gestures gradually take on unexpected weight. There is a clear reverence for minimalist symphonic composers and traditional forms, but nothing feels academic or stiff. Instead, it feels tactile and intimate, like music that quietly breathes.

Field recordings and soft drones weave through the arrangements, adding texture and space, like air moving through an empty hall. zakè leans into restraint, letting subtle tonal shifts and recurring motifs carry the emotional weight. Rather than pushing forward, these compositions hover and linger, an invitation to slow down and notice the details.

Orchestral Tape Studies is not meant to demand attention so much as reward it. It works best at low volume, settling gently into the room and blurring the line between foreground and background. OTS offers something quietly profound, a patient, understated kind of beauty that reveals itself over time.

Produced, arranged, mixed, and recorded by zakè in 2009. Remastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard. Design and layout by zakè. Marketing and distribution, Past Inside the Present. © 2019 Past Inside the Present. ℗ 2019 Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI). This is PITP19. All rights reserved. pastinsidethepresent.com / pitp.us / zakedrone.com

◾️◾️◾️ REVIEWS

These studies are a “compilation arranged and curated by healing sound propagandist, zakè.” The mode becomes pure striations of ambient texture wafting from an off-white drone. The recording is broken into four parts, that actually work seamlessly as an extended long-player. Throughout there are frozen harmonies continually thawing, sometimes behind a filter, sometimes up front. But before the invigorating higher chords the layers melt and rise. It sounds like orchestral music for made in homage to the deterioration of polar ice, warm and chill, back and forth. Lovely set.

—Toneshift

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Gracefully & respectfully "healing sound propagandist", zakè has sampled & looped the sounds of several orchestras' quieter passages then deftly adorned them with gentle drones & the faintest of field recordings to wonderfully soothing, minimal, neoclassical & ambient effect for Past Inside the Present. — The Slow Music Movement

“Since arriving on the scene less than a year ago, Indianapolis-based Past Inside the Present has rolled out a rather dazzling catalog of thoughtful and immersive ambient releases of exceptionally high quality. Among these is a gem under the title of Orchestral Tape Studies. The record is by “healing sound propagandist” zakè, an homage to minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras in which fragmented orchestral loops have been compiled and woven together with oscillating repetitive strands of textural ambient drone. The result is a wonderful meditative exploration of liminality and tonality and one of the most serene and beautiful albums you could hope to enjoy.”

— Stationary Travels

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"Released on the increasingly influential Past Inside the Present label, Orchestral Tape Studies is a compilation album ‘curated’ by zakè. Based on looped orchestral samples, which then incorporate original field recordings and production, OTS is a remarkably meditative record, that despite its short running time is one that brims with ideas. Presented in four parts, zakè describes OTS as “intended for listening at low-volumes” and it’s is a mellow, pleasant listen. Opener Pure Violet is classic Tired-era Stars of the Lid; a horn gently blows in the background as strings delicately meld together to form a cohesive whole, while the ominous sound of wind hums beneath. Infinite Ocean is delightful; the violin sounds like it is buried beneath sand but the way the melody curves is joyous. The repetition lulls you in and seems to wrap you in a cocoon of serenity, with the barely audible wisp of wind now only adding to the calm. zakè describes himself as a “healing sound propagandist”, and OTS is a wonderfully peaceful record. Solar follows suit, its violin slowly rising up and down throughout the track. Combined with how plaintive the strings are, it makes you feel as if you are being talked down from a panic attack, and that the song exists solely to rid you of anxiety. Closing track Stata is perhaps the most complex; this time the violins are more pronounced, the notes sharper and higher – it never strays into disquieting because rather than sounding foreboding, the strings are instead steeped in melancholy. It’s an acutely poignant end to a record of mostly tranquil stylings. Orchestral Tape Studies is a fascinating album, one that feels like an aid to ridding yourself of a 2am anxiety spiral. It’s a record of beauty and poise, and each note feels perfectly placed. It may just be half an hour in length, but it’s a special 30 minutes.”

— All Things Loud

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Orchestral Tape Studies II is an enthralling amalgam of orchestral textures carefully crafted by zakè. It is a continuation of its predecessor, Orchestral Tape Studies which was released to high acclaim in 2019.

Bringing forth pastoral meditations with becalmed, atmospheric intent, Orchestral Tape Studies II is a convincing display of beautiful scores primed for the self-reflective moments that are both contemplative and thought provoking. These delicate repetitions, reticent sound treatments, and recurrent tape-based loops demand focused listening in a quiet environment.

Written, recorded, and produced by zakè. String accompaniments by Olivia May (cello), Charlotte Frizzell (viola), and Damien Duque (guitar/bow)
Mixed at Kaleidoscope Tone Studio by zakè. Mastered at Ambient Mountain House by James Bernard. Design and layout by zakè. © 2023 Past Inside the Present. ℗ Past Inside the Present Publishing (BMI). This is PITP44.

◾️◾️◾️ REVIEWS

“It has been some five years since US ambient maestro zake dropped the first volume of his Orchestral Tape Studies. We're glad to finally have the second installment in the series available because there has rarely been music as cathartic and soothing as this on our shelves. It's made from drones, field recordings and richly layered movements of fragmented orchestral loops.

It is heavily inspired by the sound of the greatest minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras of the last 100 years. It is another adventurous and immersive listen from zakè.

zakè seems to drop something new almost every week. But you won't hear us complain because few have a breadth and depth of sound that matches his lo-fi and absorbing output on his home US label Past Inside the Present.”

-Juno Records

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"zakè continues his excellent orchestral studies series started in 2019 with a brand-new edition of tracks that casts symphonic compositional structures inspired by film scores and classical music in a kind of sonic amber through looping, tape processing, and other textural treatments. In writing about the first edition, we called it a “wonderful meditative exploration of liminality and tonality and one of the most serene and beautiful albums you could hope to enjoy”. Much the same could be said here with no less enthusiasm."

-Stationary Travels

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“I’m always enthralled by the work of zakè. The ambient/new age composer has spent the last several years building a catalog of forward-thinking, thoughtful, and intellectual albums. Records that accumulate beautifully orchestrated sound collages and sonic realms that put you, the listener, in a state of contemplative and meditative bliss. Using electronics to create both a higher state of being as well as a sort of sonic therapy for the soul, zakè attempts to push the power of sound further with each release.

In 2019 zakè released Orchestral Tape Studies, “a group of richly layered movements of fragmented orchestral loops, paying homage to minimalist symphonic composers and orchestras.” It was an eye/ear/mind opening sound experience, creating a sort of zoned-out peace for 30 minutes. A deep space drift that felt as monolithic as it did micro.

zakè returns to that world with Orchestral Tape Studies II, a revisitation to that musical world. Orchestral loops, repetition, and a gauzy, overcast feeling overwhelm on this stunning new long player. Accompanied by real strings and guitar/bow, zakè connects to the listener on a spiritual and cosmic level.

Orchestral Tape Studies II extends 2019s sonic experience from 4 tracks to 9. The songs seem to melt into one another, creating a 40-minute sound excursion; an existential journey into a wordless existence, floating along that rainbow-hued slipstream life leaves behind. These songs seem to emanate from a metaphysical orchestra that exists in our minds. These are the sounds of sleep and dream; the soundtrack for the life we lead when we’re on the plane between here and there.

There are moments of joy and hope, like on “Lament For Strings I” and “Lament For Strings II”. They have symphonic weight, while still having a touch of hazy sonic indifference. It’s this engrossing coming together of organic and synthetic. Light and life in musical form. Likewise, “Hearken” begins as almost just a hint of something before blossoming into ambient bliss. Composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich come to mind here.

“Silenzio” is darker and more mysterious. “Bestir Thyself” lays heavy with mournful strings and an overcast disposition and a monumental, cinematic presence. “Ashes Depart” has that cinematic heaviness as well, though it feels as if it’s leading us to lighter days. “Lament For Strings III” closes out this journey, lamenting in wavering strings and bringing up the spirit of Tangerine Dream’s Phaedra. The song ends in a fading, gauzy hiss.

zakè continues to evolve his art and compositional magic with the ethereal Orchestral Tape Studies II. Thinning the lines between ambient, new age, and classical, zakè works to bring them all together into something thought-provoking and viscerally and intellectually alive.”

-J. Hubner, Complex Distractions

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