On this page you'll find examples of the work i've done as inhouse composer and sound designer for the restaurant Alchemist.
Alchemist is a theatrical two Michelin star restaurant located in Copenhagen, Denmark, voted as the 5th best restaurant in the world 2023. The restaurant treats its guest to an immersive dining experience that often lasts for 6-7hours. With over 2000m2 dining area, in a three stories building, guest are lead through various rooms, each with a unique setting and ambience. The experience is highly artistic and filled with dramaturgy and theatrics.
There are no Spotify playlists inside Alchemist. From when the guests enter until they leave, they are accompanied by a custom musical score, which has been made exclusively by me. As head of sound for restaurant Alchemist i've, since 2019, conceptualized, composed and produced the soundtrack for the experience. My job has included making music and soundscapes for all the different rooms, as well as for the unique panoramic AV dome in the center of the restaurant. Furthermore i've made sounds for inhouse installations, webpages, SoMe posts, teaser videos and more.
For more about info about Alchemist visit:
Works by categories
Across the years i've composed and produced over 10 hours of original music for the restaurant, which your can hear (and see) examples off below.
The Dome
Rooms
Installations
Webpage & SoMe
The Dome
The dome is the centerpiece of the Alchemist experience. Here guest spend the majority of their time surrounded by immersive visuals that are conceptualized and created by the Alchemist Imagine team, of which am a part off.
The dome is a panoramic AV experience, where guest sits inside a hemispherical structure that acts as a giant enveloping screen. Here 10 Epson projectors map a seamless image of real-time animations in a resolution off 9600 x 2000px. The audio has full is mixed in full surround.
In general we produce two types of content for this dome, universes and transitions. Universes are immersive, calm and ambient, while the transitions are dramatic, loud and attention demanding.
Dome universes
Sakura
This universe is inspired by Japan and cherry blossoming. Many dishes and drinks at Alchemist are made with Japanese cooking methods and ingrediencies. The musical score for the Sakura content, is a special composition inspired by Japanese folk music, such as min'yo, nagauta and gagaku. The score consists of three distinct parts. Each part is an original musical arrangement based on a Japanese folk song or melody. These are, Sakura Sakura, Genroku Hanami Odori and Aka Tombo. Full piece is about 22min.
Surveillance
The universe is connected to the dish 1984 and is inspired by the dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell. In general the universe is a slightly ominous reflection of mass surveillance in modern society. Datamining, personal data leaks, social media, hacking, GPS tracking, facial recognition and more. These are trends that belong to the age of surveillance capitalism. The universe seeks to create a parallel between the society of 1984 that of 2022.
The music is a moderately unnerving arrangement for synthesizers and noise. Dissonant harmonies are used in parallel with mechanical rhythms and pulses, to create a feeling of being in a world that is cold, calculated and inhuman. Lots of noise (tv static, electronic circuit noise, digital glitches) are used in the soundscape to underscore the unstable machine nature of the visual universe.
Bioluminescense
A special drink called, Cheers!, is made with an protein powder extracted from bioluminescent jellyfish. This makes the drink glow in the dark with a turquois hue. For the serving of this drink we made a special glowing liquids content, that swirls down the sides just before all the lights are turned off. When all is dark the drink can be seen glowing in the darkness.
Nothern Lights (Aurora)
A reference to our Nordic roots and ancient norse mythology. The sides are cowered with detailed pine tress while the sky is covered with aurora borealis (polar lights). The music is inspired Nordic folk music and features boneflutes, tagelharpa, throat singing, skin drums and more. The sound is an atmospheric mix of drone and tribal music.
Space Junk (Major Tom)
This universe is thematically centered around space and the different kinds of junk that orbits the earth. Showing the imprint off man from a breathtaking view of earth.
The music is a classic space piece with inspirations from the soundtracks off 2001: A Space Odyssey and Interstellar, and the album Space Oddity by David Bowie.
Fishscales
Fishscales is a universe where we attempted to create an abstract design, that was mostly about the visual expression.
The moving scales are inspired by the scales of Koi fish.
The sounds and music are abstract as well, with textural synthesizers and a clicking/rippling soundscape.
Escher
The universe is inspired by the drawings off the famous Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. Specifically his lithograph, Relativity, was used as primary visual inspiration.
The soft and mysterious music is very reverberant. Here the main idea was to capture the spaciousness of the visuals to give the audience a feeling of being in a space.
Butterflies
This universe ties into the butterfly dish, showing the cabbage universe the cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) lives its life in.
The cabbage and herbs in the universe was created through 3D scanning's of real plants.
The music is a mysterious and slightly melancholic piece arranged mostly for winds, bells and soft synthesizers. The universe is set in the late evening, and therefore the music is created as an atmospheric nocturne.
For the soundscape i did lots of foley recordings, where i essentially groped a different variety of cabbages, to capture their crunchy squeaks. These sounds, mixed with animal calls, wind and other textural sounds, gives an impression of being low in the life filled undergrowth.
Corals
Corals are the second part of our reinvented jellyfish content. At the very opening of Alchemist in 2019, a central dome universe was the jellyfish universe. We wanted to recreate that iconic theme with updated graphics and design. In the coral universe plastic bags float around, and plastic graveyards fills the cavities of the corals. Over time the corals slowly turn white, as a symbolic reference to the actual bleaching of corals in the worlds oceans.
The music is an original arrangement for bells, gamelan, vibraphone, synthesizers and other wobbly sounding instruments. The piece starts out on a positive note, with life and energy. Slowly though it changes to something more dissonant, ominous and dark. Reflecting the corals turning slowly white.
Paper Cuts (HC Andersen)
This universe is a tribute to the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen and his fairytales.The fairy tales portrayed in the universe are: The Emperor's new clothes, Soup from a Sausage Peg, The Ugly Duckling, The Little Mermaid.
The music is inspired by romantic music from the 19th century, and is a four piece arrangement for piano, strings and bells. Each piece tries to capture the musical spirit of the different fairytales.
Rooms
With over 2000m2 customer area, Alchemist is a big place with many rooms that guests move through during the experience. Each rooms has a purpose in the larger dramaturgic structure. The soundtrack tries to underscore the dramatic development and therefore changes in mood with every room.
Below you can listen to the music from some off these rooms.
The entrance
The gate or front entrance is an iconic piece of functional art. The piece is made by the Danish metal casting artist Maria Rubinke. Next to the gate are two hidden speakers that plays music for guests waiting to enter. The music is a symphonic piece meant to invoke a feeling of waiting for something epic yet mysterious and unknown.
The lounge
The lounge is where the guest recive their first dishes, also called impression. The room is a architectural mix of concrete walls and metal structures. Here the music pics up speed and tries to create a feeling of wonder, expectation and excitation. The music is a textural mix of symphonic and electronic instruments.
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The balcony
The balcony is a relaxing lounge, where guest can digest all of their experiences while being served drinks and their final desserts. This music sets a mood of relaxation and calm reflection. Soft wind blows while gentle chimes glitters. Flowing synthesizer pads creates a breeze of pleasant harmonies, decorated by wind instruments, angelic voices and bells.
Installation rooms
Alchemist has two installation rooms which change from year to year. Bellow are a few examples of installations we've had during the last couple of years.
New York
Our very first installation was called, that ran between 2019 and 2020. The walls are painted by the Brooklyn based street artist Lady Aiko. Inside the room is played an ambient soundscape, which travels through different areas of New York City in couple of minutes. Following the George Floyd murder in may 2020, the soundscape was redesigned in solidarity, and sounds of protesting and struggled breathing was added.
Rainbow room
The Rainbow Room was active from july 2019 to late 2020. The Rainbow Room was a small passageway that the guest would walk through before arriving at the balcony. LED-lights rhythmically flashed in synchrony with the music that underscored the brief journey through the room. The general theme was a celebration of the LGBTQ-community.
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Pink room
The kitchy art installation "Pink Room" revolves around the tension between complying with authoritative rules and the yearning to break free. The Pink Room is also a comment on pink washing campaigns, which is
when you try to market something as either a feminist statement, a breast cancer statement or in support of LGBTQ rights. It is a twist on greenwashing.
Webpage & SoMe
At Alchemist we often make small video teasers to promote the next booking season open. Here are a few examples along with the Alchemist homepage music.