Constraint (High Mass Remix) is the fifth single released under alpha.zero and the first remix project by 1oolm.

The single was released digitally on December 8th, 2023 on 6 streaming platforms.

This release is preceded by Devastation and followed by Eyewaltz.

Trivia

• This is the first alpha.zero song to come with a music video on its release day.
• The song description seen on Youtube, SoundCloud and Bandcamp reads "D₂O". D₂O is known as "heavy water", hence "high mass".
• The "High Mass" remix title is also a wordplay on "Hi Mas", Mas being Stretched Across Infinity.
• The subpar pun dates back to early August of 2023, when the original version of Constraint wasn't released yet.
  
  
  
  During that time, the prototype of the remix was the original Constraint slowed down from 180BPM to 152BPM. Not the project itself being slowed down. Literally an Audacity stretch, resampled quality and all.
  You can download that prototype here.
  (yes, the metadata contains artifacts such as Mas having no artist alias, and a scrapped EP's scrapped cover)
• As of UNDEFINABLE, this is the shortest song on alpha.zero.
• This is the first song to have the standard alpha.zero watermark on its cover art: top-right corner alpha.zero logo with the catalogue number.

Personal Experience: 1oolm

Background

It's not exactly a secret that I dislike everything I do, but at the time, Constraint might've been one of my biggest flops in my eyes. What is that break part? Why is it unneedingly loud at the expense of an actual low end? I considered it an "ew" track. Nowadays I try to appreciate it for what it is, being my first hardcore track to be finished, and having a lot of sentimental value attached, but I thought it was time to give it some new life.

Production

I didn't like Constraint's lack of bass or speed, so I made it frenchcore. And at that point I realised how the hundreds of hours of kick production in 2022 were doing me roughly 0 service. Back then, I thought that kicks were everything. Now I see myself using others' kick samples all the time to convey myself, usually with some changes.

With that kick made, I went on and grabbed the illogicmaths synth preset from Constraint, and experimented with it. Every single melody except for the ending part is the same three notes, but mangled with Gross Beat or a different pattern.
The triplet-esque rhythm seen in the second drop was inspired by Radium - Renegade Return's very last part. I've never heard anyone else try their hand at a rhythm like that, so I did. I think it turned out fine.

Oh yeah, the last drop. Ah, the last drop. I distinctly remember walking to the supermarket with a splitting headache after overworking myself on the triplet drop and having absolutely no clue what I was going to do next. I think that shows. No matter how hard I try, it never feels like anything deeper than a "shock value" type drop, and I'm not sure if it succeeds at being that, either. I suppose it is the first actually released uptempo segment I've done.

The project file totals to 40 hours of working time.
So overall, this track was a bumpy road back into producing on my computer, after having moved apartments and laptops. It signifies a change in methods, values and more. I like to see that, just listening back to a track and thinking to that point in my life. What was I like? Who were my friends? What was I THINKING making that part?

Release

It took roughly a week from begrudglingly finalising the audio to releasing the track. The release date is a friend's birthday. They liked it.

Reception

Some friends liked the track.

- March 7, 2024

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