Hypnomancer

cinematic songwriter

As a wordsmith, my curiosity and passion for blending diverse musical genres provides an ideal way to explore songwriting as a vehicle for cinematic storytelling. I approach each song as its own world, uniquely set in time, locale, and emotional tone. These vivid narratives include a wide range of characters and accounts from the wired anxiety of an unfolding political intrigue to the fumbled lines of a chance romantic tryst, a moment of prayer, a rant, or an alien encounter on a back country road.  The creative scope of these sonic dramas has been greatly expanded by the advent of generative AI, which enables my poetic stories to quite literally drive musical expression. Generative AI sound-making tools allow for quicker production timelines, lower recording costs, and a greater choice of musical setting. More importantly, this emergent technology liberates the songwriter to imagine far beyond the confines of a singular iconic voice to become the multitude we are!

Find many more songs here, from blistering rock to adventurous forays across foreign lands and desolate sci-fi soundscapes. soundcloud.com/iotronik

  • Hypnomancer (aka David Stout) is a musical shape shifter exploring the world of hybrid sound cultures blending a wide array of genres from folk, rock, country, jazz, and global fusion to widely divergent electronic styles, abstract soundscapes, minimalism, and contemporary classical music. His compositions, songs, and scores are produced with a variety of instrumental approaches including modular synthesizers, custom soft synths, field recordings, folk instruments, generative AI, and session instrumentalists. David received his MFA in Film-Video & Music from the California Institute of the Arts followed by an active professional career as a professor and celebrated performance director leading diverse interdisciplinary production teams and teaching effective skills for collaboration across the arts. He is among a growing number of multi-disciplinary artists exploring the power and potential of new and emerging media.

    Learn more at davidstout.net


Forecasting Emptiness

It all begins with an idea.

Forecasting Emptiness

The poignancy of loss couched in an aura of shame is amplified by the anxiety and inability to hide from the oppressive judgement from others.

Poignant, Wistful, Literate, Melancholy, Introspective, Relationships, Ballad, Folk, Cinematic, Choral, Acoustic Guitar, Dramatic, Singer-Songwriter

  • She slipped in this way
    Footprints at the door
    Some others will say
    Some others will say

    No callers today
    No cars on the streets
    Some others will say
    Some others will say

    Cold nights ahead
    Forecasting EMPTINESS
    Alone in this bed
    Forecasts of EMPTINESS
    Heading this way

    She slipped out again
    No key for the door
    Some others will say
    Some others will say

    No silver is set
    No blankets or sheets
    Some others will say
    and others will say

    Cold nights ahead
    Forecasting EMPTINESS
    Alone in this bed
    Forecasts of EMPTINESS

    Heading this way
    Forecasts of emptiness

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Never

It all begins with an idea.

Never

Pensive cinematic trip hop fuels this interior dialogue of betrayal and abandonment. Is this a rumor of an illicit affair, a clandestine meeting, an incidence of espionage, or an invention of her panicking imagination?

Soundtrack, Betrayal, Romantic, Relationships, Psycho-Drama, Strings, Distress, Cinematic, Atmospheric

  • is that you?
    I know we said, let’s take this somewhere else, instead,
    is that you?
    I thought I heard but can’t remember,
    maybe missing, maybe later
    is that you?

    I know we said, let’s take this somewhere else, instead,
    is that you?
    I thought I heard but can’t remember,
    maybe missing, maybe later
    is that you?

    ta ta ta ta ta ta
    talk to me, say you never
    ta ta ta ta ta ta
    talk to me, say we never, never …

    is that you?
    where is the key, I left another in my sweater,
    is that you?
    I thought I knew your name, I called
    you didn’t, ever answer
    is that you?

    I know we said, let’s make this one time even better,
    is that you?
    I heard this sound but that’s real long that I can’t remember,
    is that you?
    maybe lost it, losing us together
    is that you?

    ta ta ta ta ta ta
    talk to me, say you never
    ta ta ta ta ta ta
    talk to me, say we never, never …

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Wild Skies

It all begins with an idea.

Wild Skies

A gothic country ballad with a hint of techno recounts the inability to save someone who cannot see their own plight or admit surrender to the well-meaning care from others.

Ballad, Poetic, Cinematic, Soundtrack, Songwriter, Country, Gothic-Country, Country-Rock, Electronic, Ambient, Shoegaze

  • There was that awkward pause in her parting phrase,
    going down this road before the world was paved.
    That silent ah--awards an early grave,
    is our bridge too far for those we want to, save

    When all the time was just another shifting load,
    on the shoulders of three brothers down the road.
    All hesitating and unevenness displayed,
    on the bridge too far for those we want to, save away

    Ohh, the wild skies are not safe shelter in the storm
    But their beauty is a fury we all know
    Down from heaven, into heaven we all go,
    from these fields of dust and clay where we were grown.

    When your sister, or some mother sits alone
    In a cell made out of cardboard for a home
    In a nest of all the troubles she can claim
    the bridge too far for those who won’t be saved

    Ohh, the wild skies are not safe shelter in the storm
    But their beauty is a fury we all know
    Down from heaven, into heaven we all go,
    from these fields of dust and clay where we were grown.

    Ohh, the wild skies are not safe shelter in the storm
    But their beauty is a fury we all know
    Down from heaven, into heaven we all go,
    from these fields of dust and clay where we were grown


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A Crossing

It all begins with an idea.

A Crossing

An acoustic folk song unfolds as journal entries made by those fleeing a dangerous life-threatening conflict, invasion or industrial disaster. The chorus is a damning lament against those who would choose chaos over peace.

Ballad, Poignant, Melancholy, Protest, Folk, Cinematic, Introspective, Acoustic Guitar, Singer-Songwriter, Political

  • we turned face
    at the crossing
    tumbled back
    toward a town
    we fled
    before that morning
    when the metal rains
    fell to the ground

    we strayed through
    brush and brambles
    off the roads
    away from crowds
    we slept
    by day in ditches
    inching and uncertain
    following the sound

    when you’re summoned by a savior
    who disdains all those we love
    will you follow blind and willing
    will you kiss the empty glove
    will you bellow, bleed and kill then
    will you shoot the white wing dove?

    we chanced there
    at the river
    a shivering child
    in tear-stained gown
    we fed
    her full at morning
    and repaired
    her golden crown

    we turned to face
    the current
    no falling back
    no standing down
    we braved
    despite the warning,
    drones were swarming
    gathering in clouds

    when you’re summoned by a savior
    who disdains all those we love
    will you follow blind and willing
    will you kiss the empty glove
    will you bellow, bleed and kill then
    will you shoot the white wing dove?

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