In the lead up to writing and recording INkBlot, Gottardo devoted himself to the study of orchestration, arrangement, counterpoint, and harmony. In his approach, he emulated the old masters, learning from the same rare music theory texts—many of them centuries old and now out-of-print—that they’d consulted in their time. In these books, Gottardo says, he discovered a foundational musical language that took his composing to a new level. With his freshly sharpened skills, he began working on a new concept—a kind of crossover music incorporating various classical forms with production elements of modern popular music and an arrangement style closer to traditional European orchestration.