When Theo Travis began experimenting with long-form improvised instrumentals for duduk - a woodwind instrument from Armenia sometimes described as ‘the saddest sounding instrument in the world’ -  he could hardly have imagined a world in which such a one-hour piece would clock up in excess of a million plays on YouTube. Yet that is precisely what happened, with the multi-functional music finding fans purely in its own terms as well as for an array of uses from meditation to yoga, to relaxation and more. Something about the sound, the performances, the context, found, built and maintained a much wider audience than most, far more mainstream music. All of this was achieved without hype, marketing or a dedicated record label supporting the release.

Extending the idea, earlier this year Theo worked with producer Steven Wilson, (who has previously mixed and mastered many of Theo’s solo recordings and in whose band Theo has played) to produce a new duduk improvisation in multi-channel audio as well as stereo, with soundscapes assembled by Steven Wilson from Theo’s alto flute playing. The result is a stunning and utterly unique piece of work which helps to define new possibilities for so-called “Immersive audio”, without losing focus on the pure sound and inherent musicality of the duduk improvisations which have struck such a chord with a wide and growing audience online.

The new piece ‘Aeolus’ (again, one hour long) appears in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Sound and 24/96 high resolution stereo on the Blu-ray and in standard 16/44 audio on the accompanying CD.