analoc: Recent Episodes
analoc
I had started out with the assignment yesterday… today, I re-read the instructions and found that I might have been on a wrong track. Is it 0-40-60-0 of overall volume? Or the ratio of sound to silence in the overall piece? Not being totally sure about this, I started to carve out bits and pieces from the track. I removed most of the underlying drone, dimmed it down to 40 percent maximum, cut off reverb tails, removed some notes, trying to get the „guitar“ part in front. * Disquiet Junto Project 0607: Silence Wave The Assignment: From close to zero and back again, alter the relative amount of sound to silence in a piece of music.There’s just one step to this project:Compose a piece of music in which the relative amount of sound to silence starts at zero (that is, no sound), rises to approximately 40 percent (that is, 60 percent silent) and returns to zero again. Keep the pace fairly steady.Background: This project builds on the two previous ones. You needn’t have done them; do give them some consideration. In the first of the two, each participant composed a piece of music with as much silence as notes. In the second, each composed a piece of music with three times as much silence as sound. Jason Richardson proposed the first project in what has since become a sequence. As that project unfolded, Klaus-Dieter Hilf (aka RabMusicLab) commented that maybe the instruction should have read “sound” in place of “notes.” Since the first project went well, a subsequent project increased the amount of silence, and implemented Hilf’s proposal. This project takes it a step further still.(...)More on this 607th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Silence Wave (The Assignment: From close to zero and back again, alter the relative amount of sound to silence in a piece of music), at: https://disquiet.com/0607/Thanks this week to Jason Richardson and Klaus-Dieter Hilf.About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0607-silence-wave/
Using an old Norns loop as a drone base, I prepared for a session with Lucid Grain; so I added seven types of sounds - piano, bells, noises, voice and strings, etc – which only play one or two notes at random. I didn’t have an idea how to introduce these blocks of sounds until this week’s prompt came. So I threw out the seventh part, numbered the sound blocks accordingly, and every 45 seconds, there’s a new part added according to the order I rolled. * Disquiet Junto Project 0601: Hard SixThe Assignment: Let a roll of the dice determine the relative prominence of various parts of a track.The project was inspired in part by recent correspondence with Junto participant Robert Precht. More to come in that regard. Step 1: Choose six brief segments of sound that you have recently recorded. Or record some new segments now. Either way, select six of them, and label them one through six.Step 2: Roll a single die for each of the six segments chosen in Step 1.Step 3: The result of each roll in Step 2 represents the relative presence of that given segment in a finished piece of music. Think about how the pieces might relate to each other. This idea of relative presence can mean whatever you want: frequency of appearance, relative volume, intelligibility etc.Step 4: Record a piece of music in which the relative presence of the segments chosen in Step 1 correlate with the results from Step 2.(...)Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0601-hard-six/
The 600th Disquiet Junto? Wow. Thanks you so much, Marc, and of course all of you participants! The Junto has played a key role in my live, and I can’t thank all of you enough. I withstood the idea to go for pure ambient with the material. Instead I tried to make a mellow piece with a bit of a pulse. All sounds come from Markus Fischer’s lovely samples. I treated them with S&A Cycles, Life in the Bush of Ghosts, and Ableton’s Simpler for bass and melodies. _______________________________________________________________Disquiet Junto Project 0600: Reaching OutThe Assignment: This is a shared sample project. Rework a set of seven WAV files provided by Marcus Fischer.Step 1: The musician Marcus Fischer, long a friend of and participant in the Disquiet Junto, has graciously put together a set of shared samples that will be the source audio for this project. Part of the beauty of a shared sample project is that there will be an underlying quality — a tonality, a texture, a commonality — to all the disparate works that are produced from the foundational material. Listening to the variations as they surface will be its own special source of pleasure. You can access the files here:https://www.dropbox.com/t/TGexgpq93GPLGFxEStep 2: You can rework the audio from Step 1 in any way that you see fit. You can use all of it, or just one tiny piece, or whatever subset you find strikes your ear. The one stipulation is your finished piece should begin and end with an unadulterated segment of one of the provided tracks for at least two seconds. Please credit Marcus Fischer when posting your track.Eight Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:Step 1: Include “disquiet0600” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your tracks.Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0600” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation of a project playlist.Step 3: Upload your tracks. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your tracks.Step 4: Post your track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0600-reaching-out/Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #DisquietJunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.Step 8: Also join in the discussion on the Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to marc@disquiet.com for Slack inclusion.Note: Please post one track for this weekly Junto project. If you choose to post more than one, and do so on SoundCloud, please let me know which you’d like added to the playlist. Thanks.Additional Details:Length: The length is up to you.Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, July 3, 2023, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, June 29, 2023.(...)More on this 600th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Reaching Out (The Assignment: This is a shared sample project. Rework a set of seven WAV files provided by Marcus Fischer), at: https://disquiet.com/0600/Please credit Marcus Fischer when posting your track.About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project- 0600-reaching-out/This project’s cover image is a detail of a photo by Marcus Fischer.
Production Notes
Life in the city feels can feel monotonous during the pandemic. So my wife and I flee to my parent’s garden over the weekend whenever possible.
I recorded Chris Kallmyer’s wind chimes with a plenty of ambience full of birds, bees, and cycling planes overhead. I’m still amazed what the little microphone of the Roland R 07 picks up – you can hear my wife talking roughly 20 meters away.
Fun fact: I also used a wind chime at the exact same location for the Disquiet Junto Aeolian Metrics assignment ([https://soundcloud.com/analoc/disquiet-junto-107-greifenberg)]
Disquiet Junto Project 0484: A Movable Heart
The Assignment: Transplant the sounds of Chris Kallmyer’s wind chimes to a new location.
First, some background: Artist Chris Kallmyer’s “Two hearts are better than one” is a pair of wind chimes, one of which is depicted in this week’s cover image, crisscrossing Los Angeles at the height of the pandemic. Installed at homes for week-long listening sessions, the chimes formed a duet across a city and provided intimate experiences with sound for 16 families sheltering at home. (More at chriskallmyer.com.)
Step 1: Chris has provided us with a recording of the wind chimes, a little over five minutes long. The audio was cleaned up by Alex Hawthorn to maximize the clarity of the chimes themselves, removing much of the background sound, thus situating the chimes in what might be thought of as a platonic space. Access the wav file at dropbox.com.
Step 2: You’ll be continuing the journey of this wind chime. You’ll do this by playing the wav file recording out loud somewhere you choose, and recording the sound of the wind chime in that environment.
(...)
More on this 484th weekly Disquiet Junto project — A Movable Heart (The Assignment: Transplant the sounds of Chris Kallmyer’s wind chimes to a new location) — at: https://disquiet.com/0484/
More on Chris Kallmyer at: chriskallmyer.com.
Major thanks to Alex Hawthorn for support: alexhawthorn.com
More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0484-a-movable-heart/
There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Production Notes
This is a contribution to the Disquiet Junto project (see paragraph below). If you’re interested in the full stereo version, please go here:
https://soundcloud.com/analoc/0121-whatever-comes
I set up an generative Ableton set just to have it noodling in the background to calm down a bit after work. This seemed perfect for this week’s project, although there might be too much happening already.
The track uses the Felt Instrument Blisko series, NI’s Noire Piano, Chromaphone, and of course, the Supermassive reverb by Valhalla.
Disquiet Junto Project 0472: Jam Time (1 of 3)
The Assignment: Record the first third of a trio that others will complete.
Step 1: This week’s Junto project is the first in a sequence intended to invite, encourage, and reward collaboration. You will be recording something with the understanding that it will remain unfinished for the time being. Your part will be done, but more will happen. Read on.
Step 2: The plan is for you to record a short and original piece of music, on any instrumentation of your choice. Conceive it as something that leaves room for something else — other instruments, other people — to join in.
Step 3: Record a short piece of music, roughly two to three minutes in length, as described in Step 2. When done, if possible, pan the audio so that your piece is solely in the left side of the stereo spectrum.
Step 4: Also, and this is important, be sure, when done, to make your track downloadable, because it will be used by someone else in the next Disquiet Junto project.
Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0472” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your tracks.
Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0472” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation of a project playlist.
Step 3: Upload your tracks. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your tracks.
Step 4: Post your tracks in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0472-jam-time/
Step 5: Annotate your tracks with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #disquietjunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.
Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
(…)
More on this 472nd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Jam Time (1 of 3) / The Assignment: Record the first third of a trio that others will complete — at:
https://disquiet.com/0472/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0472-jam-time/
There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
This recording was made in Summer 2014 at 2am, sitting on the rooftop on a house in Mallorca. The radio was tuned to the 19 meters band, I didn’t interfere at all... so technically, it‘s a field recording.
I am constantly surprised of the musical content you can find in-between shortwave radio stations. As most commercial radio stations have abandoned analog radio in favor of internet publishing, it has become a pool of sonic madness. You’ll hear Muezzin singing, Chinese propaganda, morse clusters, number stations, languages you can’t decipher and lots, lots, and lots of sonically interesting interference.
And thanks to Holger Czukay for pointing me in the direction. _______________________________________________________________
Disquiet Junto Project 0407: Dark Pitch
The Assignment: What do you hear between stations on the radio dial during a drive in the middle of night?
This project has one step:
Step 1: It’s 3am. You’re driving across a very dark, very flat territory. There are no other cars in sight. The radio signal begins to fade. You turn the dial. You hear something strange between stations. You grab your phone to record what you’re hearing. Now share that recording.
(...)
More on this 407th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Dark Pitch / What do you hear between stations on the radio dial during a drive in the middle of night? — at:
https://disquiet.com/0407/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0407-dark-pitch/
There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image by the Flickr account of the-difference, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/9bHnUo
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
Production Notes
In 2016, I challenged myself to get make some variations of Satie’s Gymnopedie.
For this particular recording I took the MIDI-file recording, reversed it in Ableton, and just added some fairy-dust reverb to it.
What I like about it that it somehow resembles the mood, but still is unrecognizable as Satie’s piece. And I particularly fell in love with the melodies starting around 1:30 and 3:40.
Disquiet Junto Project 0363: Gymnopédie Rats
The Assignment: Make over Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1” in your chosen genre.
Many thanks to Peggy Nelson and Alex Hawthorn for having proposed this project, at the tail end of last week’s project.
Just one step this week: Make over Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1” in your chosen genre: metal gymnopédie, britpop gymnopédie, R&B gymnopédie, high school choir gymnopédie, slowed-down-800% gymnopédie, …
Six More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0363” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your track.
Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0363” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation a project playlist.
Step 3: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 4: Post your track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0363-gymnopedie-rats/
Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Other Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, December 17, 2018, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on. It was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, December 13, 2018.
Length: The length of your track is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0363” in the title of the track, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.
Upload: When participating in this project, post one finished track with the project tag, and be sure to include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.
Download: Please consider setting your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution, allowing for derivatives).
Context: When posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:
More on this 363rd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Gymnopédie Rats: Make over Erik Satie’s “Gymnopédie No. 1” in your chosen genre — at:
https://disquiet.com/0363/
Many thanks to Peggy Nelson and Alex Hawthorn for having proposed this project, at the tail end of last week’s project.
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0363-gymnopedie-rats/
There’s also a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet to join in.
Image from the International Music Score Library Project:
https://imslp.org/wiki/3\Gymnop%C3%A9dies\(Satie%2C\_Erik)
Lucid Grain is Martha Plachetka (a.k.a. Panic Girl) and myself, improvising mostly on modular gear.
Album "Rise & Fall" out on Bandcamp on December, 1rst: http://store.modularfield.net/album/rise-fall
Production Notes
I can’t help, but the whole Bassel Khartabil case really got to me. I’ve been thinking a lot about him over the last months. Like everyone participating in the Disquiet Junto, I hoped for a happy ending. I was shocked, sad and angry when I heard the news of his murder.
Hence the track is not open and friendly - which would fit way better into the clean, polished, digital experiences of virtual reality. It sounds more gloomy (at least to my ears).
The base is a live recording of the Phonogene and Bastl Grandpa with some snippets of radio. Added a reverse piano, some EQ.
Disquiet Junto Project 0293: Emerge/Immerse
Make music for Paige Dansinger’s Palmyra 3D/VR images, paying tribute to the late Bassel Khartabil.
Step 1: This is the first of two consecutive projects we’re undertaking, following the news of Bassel Khartabil’s death. (If you’re new to the Junto, Bassel was an open-source coder who did a lot of work in CGI before being imprisoned in Syria. Word of his execution just recently became public.) Paige Dansinger is making VR drawings in Tilt Brush inspired by Bassel’s Palmyra CGI work, drawing from her own interest in making a better world. For this project we’re going to make sound, in Bassel’s honor, to accompany her 3D work. View Paige’s pieces at:
http://www.newpalmyra.org/projects/junto-emerge-immerse/
Step 2: Think about the sort of sound that might accompany, contribute to, or otherwise be a component part of a VR experience. Now, record a short piece of music, up to two minutes, that is about something emerging — something being brought to life, or coming out of a cave, or otherwise coming into being.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If your hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0293” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0293-emerge-immerse/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, August 14, 2017. This project was posted in early afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 10, 2017.
Length: Keep your piece to under two minutes.
(…)
More on this 293rd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Make music for Paige Dansinger’s Palmyra 3D/VR images, paying tribute to the late Bassel Khartabil — at:
https://disquiet.com/0293/
Thanks to Niki Korth, Jon Phillips, and Barry Threw for encouraging this project, and to Paige Dansinger for the collaboration. View Dansinger’s 3D drawings of Palmyra here:
http://www.newpalmyra.org/projects/junto-emerge-immerse/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0293-emerge-immerse/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image associated with this project is by Paige Dansinger, more on whom here:
http://paigedansinger.com
Production Notes
Phonogene, Clouds & Cinnamon to Analog Heat. Recorded live. ...oh, and "Bad Glamour" is an anagram of Abul Mogard.
0617 0617 Disquiet Junto 284 Calderon Hondo I
Calderon Hondo I disquiet0284
Production Notes
Edited a short piece from of the original material. Put this in my trusty ambient v03 for some granular base. Added pieces of the original material with some ping pong delays (Objeq Delay from AAS) and some hall. Mixed and mastered with cheap earbuds, so forgive me any strange frequencies.
Disquiet Junto Project 0284: Creative Commonfield
Make ambient music from the sound of clay bowls.
Step 1: We’ll be making ambient recordings this week based on source audio from the artist Chris Kallmyer. He recorded the music using bells and bowls he constructed from clay sourced on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis. Download the source audio from here:
https://goo.gl/Jb5CGU
Note: That file is an MP3. If you’d like to use a larger, higher-fidelity recording, I’ll have it available later today. Just shoot me an email at marc@disquiet.com.
Step 2: The goal is to make recordings that can also be played in the San Francisco gallery FraenkelLAB, where Kallmyer’s work is currently on display as part of the exhibit “Listening Is a Luxury.” I’ll be giving a talk there on Friday, June 16, and I’ll have some of the music audible in the background as well as before and after the talk.
Step 3: Among Kallmyer’s sonic objects made from the St. Louis clay are ceramic bowls. When making a piece of music from the source audio please do the following: (A) use no additional source audio, (B) aim for a sound that is just as gentle as the source audio, (C) consider using stereo effects to reflect the circular shape of the bowls. (Note: I might make an edit of the tracks — a ceramic chime mixtape, as it were — for the event.)
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If you hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0284” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0284-creative-commonfield/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, June 12, 2017. This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, June 8, 2017.
Length: The length is entirely up to the participant, though roughly three minutes is suggested.
(...)
More on this 284th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Creative Commonfield: Make ambient music from the sound of clay bowls. — at:
https://disquiet.com/0284/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0284-creative-commonfield/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image courtesy of fraenkelgallery.com and the artist Chris Kallmyer, who created the bowls and the source audio. More from Kallmyer at:
http://www.chriskallmyer.com/
Production Notes
Found an interesting interview with Steve Reich in which he talked about the origins of his music. I extracted a short piece of the interview, made a even shorter one for looping and arranged the phasing loops in Ableton. It sounded completely mechanical and boring.
So the Phonogene came to help. I took four 1:30 minute jams I recorded with the Make Noise Systeme Concrete (Maths, Phonogene, Echophone, MMG and Clouds were used) and added them to Ableton loops.
Added and animated EQs, a hint of compression, a final gag and that’s all.
Happy 80th birthday, Mr. Reich! _______________________________________________________________
Disquiet Junto Project 0249: 80 Phases
Wish the minimalist composer Steve Reich a happy birthday.
Major thanks to Neil Stringfellow for proposing and helping to craft this project.
Project Steps: Step 1: October 3 marked the 80th birthday of composer Steve Reich. Prepare to record a tribute to him.
Step 2: Select a short segment of sound or music that can be looped and, per Reich’s own technique, “phased.” Fortunately, the song “Happy Birthday” has entered the public do- main. Consider using it.
Step 3: Take the segment from Step 2 and play it on repeat, layering the loop with slightly different timing to create a phasing effect. Play around with this, editing the loops until you have some successful or interesting sounds/accidents.  Step 4: Add some extra sounds or textures if you think the piece needs it.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Per the instructions below, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0249” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is es- sential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track. (Assuming you post it on SoundCloud, a search for the tag will help me construct the playlist.) http://llllllll.co/t/happy-birthday-steve-reich-disquiet-junto-project-0249/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto par- ticipants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, October 6, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, October 10, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you. Four minutes feels about right.
(...)
More on this 249th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Wish the minimalist composer Steve Reich a happy birthday” — at: http://disquiet.com/0249/
More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: http://llllllll.co/t/happy-birthday-steve-reich-disquiet-junto-project-0249/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack in- clusion.
Rain image by Rory MacLeod, used thanks to a Creative Commons license: flic.kr/p/bVJFJb
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Production Notes
Back to my new favorite addiction (and it’s becoming one hell of an obsession), my modular.
The Makenoise "Phonogene" behaves like a monophonic tape machine - you can record „tape“, „splice it“ and then play the material by applying modulation, alter starting points etc. It’s a great tool for making Musique concrète. I recorded snippets from the three Netlabels tracks into the system (you can hear the result at the beginning)… and started tweaking.
This is where „Cloud“ from Mutable Instrument comes in. It‘s a stereo granular effect processor. I adore granular, especially when the sound is getting lush and creamy - and this module has some great sonic qualities. Whenever I found a bit i liked, I froze the audio, moved from „tape“ to „grains“… and repeated the process.
Mastered in oZone.
Disquiet Junto Project 0244: Euro Mixin
The Assignment: Combine tracks from three different European netlabels (Portugal, Spain, Switzerland) into one sonic union.
Please pay particular attention to all the instructions below, in light of SoundCloud having closed down its Groups functionality.
Big picture: One thing arising from the end of the Groups functionality is a broad goal, in which an account on SoundCloud is not necessary for Disquiet Junto project participation. We’ll continue to use SoundCloud, but it isn’t required to use SoundCloud. The aspiration is for the Junto to become “platform-agnostic,” which is why using a message forum, such as llllllll.co, as a central place for each project may work well.
And now, on to this week’s project.
Project Steps:
Step 1: This week’s project is a remix. The following three tracks are available for creative reuse thanks to a Creative Commons license. Please download them and extract the specified source segments:
Use the first 20 seconds of “The Station and the Underclass,” performed by the Phonetic Orchestra, released on the Insub. netlabel based in Geneva:
http://insub.org/insub44/
Use the first 20 seconds of “Cloud Scissors” composed by Lo Wei; performed by Cristián Alvear, Santiago Astaburuaga, Gudinni Cortina, and Rolando Hernández, released on the Impulsive Habitat netlabel based in Portugal:
http://impulsivehabitat.com/releases/ihabp001.htm
Use the first 20 seconds of “Zraerza,” performed by Geeksha Beka and Berio Molina, released on the Alg-a netlabel based in Galicia:
https://archive.org/details/alg-set05-zraerza/
Step 2: Create an original piece of music based on the source audio from Step 1.
(...)
More on this 244th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Combine tracks from three different European netlabels (Portugal, Spain, Switzerland) into one sonic union” — at:
http://disquiet.com/0244/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
http://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0244-euro-mixin/4361
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image associated with this project is by Thomas, used via Flickr and a Creative Commons license:
flic.kr/p/92xKFZ
Production Notes
For this assignment, I used a free Reaktor Blocks Ensemble called „Beatrix Radio“ ([https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/9887/]). It’s an interesting sample slicer full with EQ’s, delay lines and a nice saturated reverb.
I tweaked virtual knobs for half an hour, recorded six 1-minute pieces, picked the three most interesting ones and cut them to 10 seconds.
As there’s a lot of movement in these samples and they aren’t fitting in a rhythmic scheme when put together, I added a high-pitched beep every 10 seconds. Also I added a Synclavier V Bass, because the low frequencies of the samples sounded too muddy.
Mastered in Ozone. Time to finish: 2 hours.
Disquiet Junto Project 0237: Combination ABCs
The Assignment: Build a 90-second composition from three 10-second segments.
Project Steps:
Step 1: Record three 10-second sound elements. Keep in mind that they will be layered subsequently in various combinations. You might find it useful to set one or more of the elements to loop naturally after 10 seconds, but you might also enjoy the seam where a given loop begins again.
Step 2: Label the three 10-second sound elements A, B, and C.
Step 3: Create a 90-second track of the following sequence of standalone and combined elements: A, B, C, A+B, A+C, B+C, A+B+C, A+B, A.
Step 4: Your track is complete. However, you may opt to go back in and adjust transitions and add effects.
Three More Steps When the Track Is Done :
Step 1: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud. It’s here:
https://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Step 2: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 3: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Background: This project is partially inspired by the recent book Dramaturgy in Motion: At Work on Dance and Movement Performance, written by Katherine Profeta. In the book, Profeta notes A/B/A as a structure for contemporary dance choreography. It’s a structure I’ve noted, as well, as being perceptible in contemporary electronic music, especially drone-based music. This project is a step toward seeing what the A/B/A structure might sound like when a third element, C, is added.
Deadline: This project was posted shortly before noon, California time, on Thursday, July 14, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, July 18, 2016.
Length: The finished track should be 90 seconds long.
(…)
More on this 237th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Build a 90-second composition from three 10-second segments” — at:
http://disquiet.com/0237/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place on a Slack (send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for inclusion) and at this URL:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Production Notes
A Disquiet Junto Netlabel Remix for me traditionally is about beats and how to get the material in a nice groove.
This time, I hit brick walls. After extracting some bits from the source material (mainly from „Pepper Jelly“ and „Bump“), I found my usual approach didn’t work. It took ages to puzzle some bits together. No groove wanted to fit. Then the melodic parts didn’t want to go together. So I let the piece rest a day.
The next two day, things worked out better. I used two instances of Serum for bass and a short melodic part; also a free drum loop from Sample Magic, a heavily treated 707 and the Solina String ensemble.
Mastering was done in oZone 5. This challenge really one took some time, about 6-8 hours in total. Am I happy with the results? Too early to tell; I let it rest a bit.
Disquiet Junto Project 0233: Netlabel (NND Remix)
The Assignment: Make one track from three different netlabels, courtesy of a Creative Commons license.
Seeing the “ND” tag on a netlabel release is a major buzzkill. The “ND” tag denotes a Creative Commons license that rules out creating derivative work. Fortunately lots of netlabels do allow for creative reuse, and this occasional series of collaborative remixes seeks to celebrate that activity, and encourage other netlabels to switch off the ND tag. Take “NND” to mean “not no derivatives.”
Step 1: Download the three tracks that will provide source audio for this remix: Use the first 30 seconds of “HNY” off the album Wormbole by ʞık (Karl & Karlik) on the Bump Foot netlabel:
http://www.bumpfoot.net/bump207.html
Use the first 30 seconds of “Pepper Jelly” off the album Recombinations by Andre Darius and Riley Theodore on the Haze netlabel:
https://hazenetlabel.bandcamp.com/album/recombinations
Use the first 30 seconds of “Autista 3” off the album Autista by Pablo Reche on the Impulsive Habitat netlabel:
http://www.impulsivehabitat.com/releases/ihab113.htm
Step 2: Create an original piece of work including that source material.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, June 16, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, June 20, 2016.
Length: Length is up to you, though between two and three minutes seems about right.
(…)
More on this 233rd weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Make one track from three different netlabels, courtesy of a Creative Commons license” — at:
http://disquiet.com/0233/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place on a Slack (send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for inclusion) and at this URL:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project is by Jet Lee and it is used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/o9vg
0516 Disquiet Junto 230 Ghammar Rooftops
Ghammar Rooftops disquiet0230
Production Notes
Whenever I’m on vacation, I try to bring back some shortwave radio recordings. It‘s absolutely amazing what you can get out of the shortwave band - modular morse code, enchanting melodies, tons of Chinese wave salad and the occasional Muezzin - like this in the song - which still sound pretty far out to my ears.
I drew the volume according to the provided score, repeated it for a coda. Added some vocoder, reverb and slight sidechain compression.
Mixed with shitty earbuds, so it might sound somewhat over the top.
Disquiet Junto Project 0230: Design I
Interpret a graphic score (never before performed or realized) from the mid-1970s.
These are the steps for the project:
Step 1: View the graphic score, by Glenn Sogge, at the following URL:
http://goo.gl/hOQOSg
Step 2: Record a piece of music that interprets the score as a work of musical notation.
Step 3: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 4: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Background: The score was provided by Junto participant Glenn Sogge. Here’s a bit about his background: “I had finished my BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago a couple years before. I had begun my studies at Northwestern University before that. I studied with Frédéric Rzewski at SAIC and had taken a music & theater course with Berio at NU. The periodical Source was a major inspiration as were the compositions of Cage. Being the son of a sculptor and wood worker, I suppose the interconnections of the plastic arts (space, time, materials) have always been an influence. With a smattering of jazz in my history, improvisation was important so open ended scores that gave the performers room to explore were of special interest. This piece was probably done in the last year or so before I stopped composing for about 35 years (I got seduced by computers and programming among other things.) My son facilitated my reentry to the world of electronic music with a Minibrute last summer and I have been burnishing the bits like crazy since then.”
Deadline: This project was posted in the late afternoon, California time, on Thursday, May 26, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, May 30, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between one and three minutes feels about right.
(…)
More on this 230th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Design I: Interpret a graphic score (never before performed or realized) from the mid-1970s” — at:
http://disquiet.com/0230/
The graphic score is by Glenn Sogge, more from whom at:
https://soundcloud.com/glenn-sogge/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Production Notes
I felt Eno’ish today.
Tried some chords, and somehow Bbm11/A stuck. Recorded the single notes or octaves onto different tracks, which all had a different length, so nothing should repeat.
As for instruments, I used String Studio V2, Chromaphone, Absynth and Rhythmic Robot Orgatone 601 with some home-brew patches. Added a ton of FX, reverbs, chorus, delays, reverse delays and degraders.
Then I started automating, mainly the pans, volume of the tracks, some FX were turned off and on. The piece turned out much longer than expected, but any ambient track takes it’s time, right?
Disquiet Junto Project 0227: Treated Chord
Record a piece of music in which what changes is the treatment of the notes that comprise a single chord.
Step 1: Choose a chord, any chord. Step 2: Make a list of the notes that the chord is comprised of.
Step 3: Record each of the notes of the chord as a separate track.
Step 4: Create a piece of music in which each of those tracks plays from start to finish, and that as they play those tracks are manipulated individually (echo, texture, effects, relative volume, etc.).
Background: This project is inspired by the tape-cassette music of Amulets, aka Randall Taylor of Austin, Texas.
Deadline: This project was posted in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday,
May 5, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, May 9, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between one and three minutes feels about right.
(…)
More on this 227th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Record a piece of music in which what changes is the treatment of the notes that comprise a single chord”) at: http://disquiet.com/0227/
More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/ http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at: http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project adopted from a photo by Dan Barbus, used thanks to a Creative Commons license: https://flic.kr/p/4mcFS8
Production Notes
For this piece I took a slowly fading drone („the cloud“), added some Vibraphone/Marimba licks, which went into Augustus Loop Plug-In for a loooong delay treat („Shifting Bottom“). Also added a bass.
I’m on a short vacation in Switzerland, relying only on my computer and some really bad earbuds - so mixing this piece was an adventure on it’s own.
Disquiet Junto Project 0222: Bounded Foundation
The Assignment: Compose a piece for contemporary dance — with a “soft top” and a “shifting bottom.”
This is the second project we’re doing with artist and engineer Paolo Salvagione for an extended piece of choreography he’s working on. The result of the project is intended for potential use as a sonic backdrop for the dance performance, and also as a form of research into the materials and ideas being explored by Salvagione and the dancers. (Audio produced for this Junto project will not be used by Salvagione without its composer’s permission.)
Step 1: You will be creating a short, roughly four-minute piece of music. First, take into consideration the setting. Visualize that the piece would be performed by a young solo female dancer. She is dancing in a large space. The sounds of this Junto are the only sounds accompanying her movement.
Step 2: Your piece should have two perceived “levels.” The “top” level should be soft and cloud-like. The “bottom” level should be firm but ever-shifting.
Step 3: Make a piece of sound/music roughly four minutes long that meets the criteria of Step 2.
Step 4: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, March 31, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, April 4, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between two and five minutes seems about right.
Upload: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, only upload one track for this project, and be sure to include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.
Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please in the title to your track include the term “disquiet0222-boundedfoundation.” Also use “disquiet0222-boundedfoundation” as a tag for your track.
Download: It is preferable that your track is set as downloadable, and that it allows for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution).
Linking: When posting the track, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 222nd weekly Disquiet Junto project (Compose a piece for contemporary dance — with a “soft top” and a “shifting bottom”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0222/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The image associated with this project is by Tom Gill and is used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/qX8pyN
Production Notes
There are two sides to this piece.
First: I adore Domenico Scarlattis Sonata In B Minor, L 33 - Andante Mosso, especially the interpretation by Vladimir Horowitz - I could listen to it all day long. As my piano capabilities are way too limited to play the piece, I went to the „Kunst der Fuge“ website [http://www.kunstderfuge.com/scarlatti.htm]and downloaded the free MIDI file. Unfortunately, it’s just the notes without any velocity information or ritardandi, so it sounds very mechanical. My challenge was to get a more natural feeling out of the piece. So I added 5 piano layers and EQs, which spring to live when played on different frequencies. Also, I added some slight tempo changes.
Second: The background is an abridged version of what happened today. It’s Good Friday, thankfully no work, the birds were singing, we had a nice and enjoyable family breakfast… and if you listen closely, you’ll even hear the cat ;-)
Disquiet Junto Project 0221: Morning Music
The Assignment: Compose something — quiet, peaceful, refreshing — you’d want to wake up to.
Step 1: You’ll be making music that you’d want to wake up to — music you’d like to imagine other people would want to wake up to. This isn’t “shock alert” music. It’s quiet, peaceful, refreshing.
Step 2: Compose and record something that accomplishes the goal set by Step 1.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted at noon, California time, on Thursday, March 24, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, March 28, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between two and five minutes seems about right.
(…)
More on this 221st weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Compose something — quiet, peaceful, refreshing — you’d want to wake up to”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0221/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The photo associated with this project is by Alf Eaton, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/8NUM/
Production Notes
I found a sample I recorded in the „Klanggarten“ near Grünwald / Straßlach several years ago. You go through a curtain of wooden poles which then collide and make some sounds - quite nice ones, actually. Normally I’d try to shift the transients to archieve a rhythmic pattern, but this time - according to the assignment - I didn’t.
Next I extracted the melody of the pattern with Ableton and added a hand-made patch from Iris. After some piano chords and a simple bass note there still was something missing. It came to me in form of a recording in a church somewhere in Spain.
The result is a absolute rhythmic disaster. I feed the desperate need to give it some sort of rhythmic structure, but the assignment holds me back… so that‘s an itch I won’t scratch this time.
Oh, and btw: I love the book! Recommended read (and not only for Ableton users)
Disquiet Junto Project 0220: Rhythmic Arrhythmic
The Assignment: Make overtly rhythmic music from short loops of overtly arrhythmic source audio, following instructions from Dennis DeSantis.
Dennis DeSantis adapted this week’s project from the chapter “Implied Rhythm in Short Loops” from his excellent book Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers. The project explores how rhythm emerges from almost any audio material if short fragments of it are repeated incessantly enough.
Step 1: Find or make an audio recording of the arrhythmic material of your choice and gradually reduce its loop length until rhythmic patterns begin to emerge.
Tip: This usually works well with loops that are no longer than about two seconds.
Tip: Good sources include: existing music, field recordings, and recordings of speech.
Tip: “Bad” or uneven loops can often yield the most interesting results. Don’t necessarily aim for loops with clean boundaries or that are aligned to zero-crossings.
Step 2: Use the inherent rhythm in these short loops as the basis for a piece of new music in which the “discovered” rhythm is clearly audible.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, March 17, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, March 21, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between two and four minutes seems about right.
(…)
More on this 220th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Make overtly rhythmic music from short loops of overtly arrhythmic source audio, following instructions from Dennis DeSantis”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0220/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The photo associated with this project is by Junto member Will Benton (web.willbenton.com), a computer scientist based in Madison, Wisconsin.
Production Notes
Some days ago, I awoke at 5:00 a.m.. The birds were singing outside, and as I live right in the noisy city center, that‘s an unusual sound tapestry. The birds weren’t as loud as on the recording, but they sounded very cheerful… so I got up and started my field recorder.
To this recording, I added a self made drone; some chords came from Una Corda; a simple Operator bass; some pings from Aalto (lovely VST ensemble from Madrona labs). The fading organ is the „Enoeque“ preset patch I recently did for Rhythmic Robot’s Orgatone 601.
Disquiet Junto Project 0218: Sound Passage
The Assignment: Following the path of artist Kate Carr, explore sounds from a distance.
The artist and musician Kate Carr generously agreed to provide a prompt this week for the Junto.
Step 1: Consider the ways that sound changes as it travels across space, moving through specific human-built architectures and/or natural geographies. I live near Belfast’s major football stadium, and the roar that travels from the stadium, across the train tracks, up my street, and into my ears is a very different sound to the roar heard when standing in the stadium itself.
Step 2: Record a distant sound, and reflect on what frequencies have made it to your ears from the source, and which ones have bounced or decayed away.
Step 3: Compose a piece based on this recording, and your meditation on the ways its very journey to you has changed the sounds inherent in it.
Step 4: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Background: Kate Carr composes soundscapes based on field recording and non-conventional instrumentation to explore the relationship between people and place. Weaving together real and imaginary journeys , intensive explorations of sonic enclaves and the re-broadcast of sound in public places, her work is centred on both human and natural geographies. More on Kate Carr at gleamingsilverribbon.com.
Length: The length is up to you. Between one and four minutes seems appropriate.
(…)
More on this 218th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Following the path of artist Kate Carr, explore sounds from a distance”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0218/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Production Notes
I started Thursday night. Robert Lally's „Square Pins in Thin Layers“ [https://soundcloud.com/rupertlally/square-pins-in-thin-layers-disquiet0216-thinlayers] immediately caught my attention. I extracted three four-bar-parts of his lovely piece which served as chords, pads and noises.
Added a simple beat, a ABL3 TB-303 emulation, two different leads (Ableton’s „Bass“ and iZotope Iris) for the verse and the chorus.
I was too tired to continue, so I did the finishing touches on Friday (arranging, tweaking, compression, sidechaining and mixing) - took me four hours all in all.
As usual, it doesn’t breathe, as I tend to cram my stuff. Maybe I’ll do a longer version… what do you think? Is it worth the effort?
Disquiet Junto Project 0217: Form Song
The Assignment: Take an existing assemblage of rhythm and tone and turn it into verse/chorus/verse.
Step 1: For this project you’ll be working with a pre-existing track of your choosing. First, select one track from the previous Junto project, in which a thin foundational bed was added to beats of pin-prick audio. Visit either of these two URLs:
http://disquiet.com/0216
https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0216
Step 2: Confirm the track you selected in Step 1 is available for creative reuse. If you’re not sure, correspond with the musician. If you’re short on time, select a different track.
Step 3: Create a new track by taking the existing track from Step 1 and from it constructing something that follows the verse/chorus/verse format of a traditional song. You can include a bridge, too. No singing is required. You can alter the original audio, beyond just cutting and splicing, and certainly feel free to add a melody, but do maintain some sense of resemblance to the source material.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process — identify the source track and include a link to its SoundCloud page.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted around noon, California time, on Thursday, February 25, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, February 29, 2016.
Length: The length of your track should be the same as that of the source track.
(…)
More on this 217th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Take an existing assemblage of rhythm and tone and turn it into verse/chorus/verse”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0217/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The image associated with this project is from the Flickr account tanakawho, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/4fh7Ly
Production Notes
I went for emi minami’s lovely „tinyrhythms“, a mixture of pins and insects, recorded with a contact mike. You find it here: [https://soundcloud.com/emiminami/tinyrhythms]
Picked some tonal parts of a newer drone piece, arranged them. I cheated a bit in the length, it’s not quite the same, but otherwise the loops would have sounded somewhat strange.
Some EQ’s and sidechain compression… and that’s all.
Disquiet Junto Project 0216: Thin Layers
The Assignment: Add a thin foundational bed to beats of pin-prick audio.
Step 1: For this project you’ll be adding sounds to a pre-existing track of your choosing. Select one track from the previous Junto project, in which beats were made with five tiny, pin-prick sounds:
http://disquiet.com/0215 Step 2: Confirm the track you selected in Step 1 is available for creative reuse. If you’re not sure, correspond with the musician. If you’re short on time, select a different track.
Step 3: Create a new track by adding a thin layer, or several thin layers, of an ambient foundational bed to the pre-existing track. Don’t alter the pre-existing track significantly. Maintain its original length.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process — identify the source track and include a link to its SoundCloud page.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted at noon, California time, on Thursday, February 18, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, February 22, 2016
(…)
More on this 216th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“The Assignment: Add a thin foundational bed to beats of pin-prick audio”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0216 More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/ Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/ Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/ Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/ The image associated with this project is by Evelyn Flint, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/rKoG1i
Production Notes
Ooh, music maths. So, here we go.
Gb: 369,99 Hz. Wrong microtone = 409,73 = plus 39,74 ct Corrected frequency = 411,18 Hz = plus 41,19 ct
First I went for the sinewave approach, which turned out too bleak, as I couldn’t find a good musical idea. So I fired up iZotope Iris, added a piano sample and went somewhat crazy with the filters (in Iris, you can „paint“ filter frequencies in any loaded sample).
Tripled this layer. Made the two other layers a bit longer, so it takes roughly 2 minutes for the loops to repeat themselves.
Added a shortwave radio recording as „bed“. EQ, compressor, limiter. Done.
The name is the sum of all frequencies.
Disquiet Junto Project 0214: Microtonal Errata
The Assignment: Bring to the fore the distinction between two specific microtones.
Background: There’s a typo in the bible of microtones. The bible in question is Alain Danielou’s 1958 book Tableau Comparatif des Intervalles Musicaux. As reported recently by composer and critic Kyle Gann, “On the right-hand bottom corner of page 48, the interval listed as 569/512 should actually be 567/512.” We’re going to explore the sonic distinction between those two microtones.
Step 1: Choose a pitch and record three things: (a) a base pitch, (b) the mistaken microtone (569/512), and (c) the correct microtone (567/512). Here’s an example: Start with your base pitch (e.g., A440). To get the mistaken microtone, multiply the base pitch frequency by 567/512 (that is, raise the base pitch by one semitone plus 77.6 cents). To get the corrected microtone, multiply the base pitch by 569/512 (that is, one semitone plus 82.7 cents). For reference, here’s a handy conversion tool:
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-centsratio.htm
Step 2: Record a short piece of music employing the three tones (a, b, and c) from Step 1. Other tones are also welcome, certainly. The only request is that the emphasis in your piece should be on those three tones. The goal of the short piece should be to explore the distinction between the mistaken and correct microtones. Try this: Imagine someone reading about the errata in the Danielou book said, “What’s the big deal?” Your piece should, to the extent possible, answer that question in sound by shedding light on the gap between the two microtones.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the mid-afternoon, California time, on Thursday, February 4, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, February 8, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you, though between 1 minute and 2 minutes is recommended.
(…)
More on this 214th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“The Assignment: Bring to the fore the distinction between two specific microtones”) at:
http://disquiet.com/0214
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The image associated with this project is from Alain Danielou’s 1958 book Tableau Comparatif des Intervalles Musicaux, found via Kyle Gann. Major thanks to Ethan Hein (ethanhein.com) for helping word the project assignment. Disquiet Junto by Marc Weidenbaum (Disquiet.com) POB 210429 San Francisco, CA 94121-0429 USA
Production Notes
Mosquitoes? I prefer cats. But the possibility of adding their highly annoying sound into a love song really got my attention. Surfed the Interwebs and found a recording of an „Aedes Albopictus“ a.k.a. Asian Tiger Mosquito.
Pitched the sample to roughly 484 Hz. The little bugger kept singing out of tune. I was tempted to use some Autotune, but resisted the urge.
Added a Doppler Effect from the sample and a sequence by Aalto (lovely VST, btw).
Oh, and at the end, there‘s the desperate attempt to crack a joke.
Sample courtesy of USDA, Richard Mankin ([http://www.ars.usda.gov/sp2userfiles/person/3559/soundlibrary.html].
Disquiet Junto Project 0212: 484 Hz Love Songs
The Assignment: Make music intended to attract male mosquitoes.
The steps for this project are as follows:
Step 1: Recent research by Brian Johnson and Scott Ritchie of the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine has revealed that 484 Hz is “the frequency of a female Aedes aegypti’s wings flapping,” and thus is the frequency that attracts the male of the species. You can read up here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-19/scientists-discover-frequency-traps-male-yellow-fever-mosquitoes/7084434
Step 2: Create a brief, seductive love song that somehow features the 484 Hz frequency.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Length: Length is up to you, though between 30 seconds (mosquitoes do have a short lifespan) and 3 minutes (vaguely pop-song length) seems appropriate.
(…)
More on this 212th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“The Assignment: Make music intended to attract male mosquitoes”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2016/01/21/disquiet0212-484hzlovesongs/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Photo courtesy of Jason Richardson, who recommended this news story as a Junto prompt:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-19/scientists-discover-frequency-traps-male-yellow-fever-mosquitoes/7084434
Production Notes
At exactly 12:00 a.m. on January 14th, 2016, I pressed „Record“ on two field recorders. One was positioned outside my flat, balancing on the window sill; the second one was placed inside near my desk.
First, you hear some of the „outside“ world, then you hear me typing these lines inside.
My timer ringed, I turned the recorders off, imported the samples, added two tweaked effects (Reaktor Molecular).
And that‘s that.
Disquiet Junto Project 0211: Midnight Inside Out
The Assignment: Shift between the midnight sounds both within and beyond a physical structure, preferably your home.
This project is the sixth in an ongoing occasional series that focuses on late-night ambience. Collectively these nocturnal endeavors are being called “One Minute Past Midnight.” No one’s work will be repurposed without their permission, and it’s appreciated if you post your track with a Creative Commons license that allows for non-commercial reuse, reworking, and sharing.
The steps for this project are as follows:
Step 1: You’ll be making a one-minute track of ambient, everyday sound. The best option is to make actual real-world field recordings, but certainly simulations (i.e., foley) and free resources (such as freesound.org and previous Junto projects) are fine. Just keep this in mind.
Step 2: Please develop two tracks of what the world sounds like at midnight. One track should be the sound inside a physical structure, preferably your home. The other track should be the world outside that same structure.
Step 3: Produce a track that moves back and forth between those two different sonic experiences at midnight. The transitions can be as you see fit. They can be realistic (e.g., opening and closing a door or window), and they can be fantastic (e.g., imagining being able to move freely through a wall).
Step 4: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted at noon, California time, on Thursday, January 14, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, January 18, 2016.
Length: The track should be one minute long, exactly.
(…)
More on this 211th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“The Assignment: Shift between the midnight sounds both within and beyond a physical structure, preferably your home”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2016/01/14/disquiet0211-midnightinsideout/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
More on the One Minute Past Midnight series at:
http://oneminutepastmidnight.com/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Photo associated with this project by Michel Banabila, a Junto member, used via Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/79ZyGT
Production Notes
Ironic: We have a new fridge, but the ice cubes weren’t ready. So I resorted to the samples I recorded last year.
You can hear the ice cubes bit in all drum parts, the pads and also the lead in the middle part.
The rest was a self-assembled TB-303, Kontakts Una Corda, Ableton Electric and Izotope Iris.
Took 3 hours in total. (Now my cubes are probably ready.)
Disquiet Junto Project 0210: Ice Coda
The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.
Happy new year! This week’s project is as follows. It’s the same project we’ve begun each year with since the very first Junto project, back in January 2012.
Step 1: Please record the sound of an ice cube rattling in a glass, and make something of it.
Step 2: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 3: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Background: Longtime participants in, and observers of, the Disquiet Junto series will recognize this single-sentence assignment — “Please record the sound of an ice cube rattling in a glass, and make something of it” — as the very first Disquiet Junto project, the same one that launched the series back on the first Thursday of January 2012. Revisiting it at the start of each year since has provided a fitting way to begin the new year. At the start of the fifth (!) year of the Disquiet Junto, it is a tradition. A weekly project series can come to overemphasize novelty, and it’s helpful to revisit old projects as much as it is to engage with new ones. Also, by its very nature, the Disquiet Junto suggests itself as a fast pace: a four-day production window, a regular if not weekly habit. It can be beneficial to step back and see things from a longer perspective.
Deadline: This project was posted in the early afternoon, California time, on Thursday, January 7, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, January 11, 2016.
Length: Length is up to you, though between one and four minutes is recommended.
(…)
More on this 210th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2016/01/07/disquiet0210-icecoda/ More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/ Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/ Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/ Photo associated with this project by Michael Scott used via Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/5vyz3G
Production Notes
This assignment was the perfect excuse to give in to my gear acquisition syndrome: I bought the Buddha Machine Collection 1-5. I really love these boxes, have experimented with them for years now and was always keen to get them sampled properly (at least, thats my excuse for buying them).
Imported three of the samples that sat together nicely, treated them accordingly to the assignment (see below).
Some slight mastering added, exported, uploaded, tagged them and went back to playing Fallout 4 (Maaaybeeee…)
Disquiet Junto Project 0206: Three Switches
Compose a track with a trio of through-lines that repeatedly alternate relative prominence.
Note: It is generally helpful to read through all the steps before starting the first step.
Step 1: This week’s project involves a single piece of music with three separate simultaneous parts. Each of those three parts should run for the full length of the piece. The parts should individually be relatively consistent throughout.
Step 2: The one change that should occur is that every few beats, two of the three parts should be pushed to the background and the one remaining part should be prominent in the foreground. These relative positions should alternate every two seconds to four seconds or so for the full length of the piece.
Step 3: For the final few seconds, the three lines should be heard at equal (foreground, not background) volume for the first and only time in the piece.
Step 4: Upload your completed track from Step 3 to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the early afternoon, California time, on Thursday, December 10, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, December 14, 2015.
Length: The length is up to you, though between one and three minutes seems appropriate.
(…)
More on this 206th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Compose a track with a trio of through-lines that repeatedly alternate relative prominence”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/12/10/disquiet0206-threeswitches/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Source photo (“Three Light Switches”) by Zoran Kovacevic used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/2YdqLK
Production Notes
Quadupled the source material in Ableton Live. Reduced three tracks to their transients, so that they produced audible spikes. Pitched this material +12 and -24 notes.
Added several send FX chains, consisting mainly of NI Replica delays. Started the track. First you hear the original track, then I started fiddling with the send knobs, later with the delay times.
Added a slight compression to the mastering chain.
Thanks for your messages: The tooth‘s back to normal again, no need for sampling the dentist ;-)
I Disquiet Junto Project 0204: Under Beat
Add a foundational rhythm to an ambient foreground.
This week’s project is a complement to last week’s — but you can do this week’s project without having done, or even been aware of, last week’s. Last week we added a foreground to an underlying beat. This week we’re adding an underlying beat to a foreground.
Step 1: Listen to and download the track “Beacon, For Marissa” by Toaster:
https://soundcloud.com/toaster-1/beacon-for-marissa
Step 2: You’ll be adding a foundational, underlying rhythm — a beat, that is — to the track. The original is quite long, at over 17 minutes. You can certainly utilize the full piece, but it’s recommended that you select a segment of between 2 to 4 minutes.
Step 3: Please create a new track by adding a beat to the source audio from Step 2. (Do not change the source audio, other than perhaps fading in and out at the start and end, though you can use it as raw material for whatever beat you choose to add.)
Step 4: Upload your completed track from Step 3 to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
(…)
More on this 204th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Add a foundational rhythm to an ambient foreground”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/11/26/disquiet0204-underbeat/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
The image associated with this project is a light reworking of the image that accompanied the track, Toaster’s “Beacon, For Marissa,” that is the source audio for this week’s project:
https://soundcloud.com/toaster-1/beacon-for-marissa
Production Notes
Even after several visits to the dentist, my molar tooth is killing me. So I’m somewhat desperate, frustrated and aggressive in the last few days. Hence the „crunchy“ approach.
I chose to go more extreme this time. It took me a while to realize the piece is actually in 3/4 (I’m still not quite sure if that’s true). Added a simple kick drum, clap and cymbal to go along with the drum parts.
For melodic parts, the new Max for Live bass ensemble did great. Also added several samples, Reaktors Rounds and an Ableton Analog Lead with a pinch of Bitcrusher.
Added EQs and compression. That’s all. Time to take another painkiller.
Disquiet Junto Project 0203 : Beat Basis
Add something to a rhythm track titled “It.”
Step 1: Listen to and download the track “It” by Name Constant:
https://soundcloud.com/random-coil/it-1
Step 2: When posting the track, Name Constant accompanied it with this invitation: “additions welcome, should anyone be inspired by emptyness.” Please create a new track with the source audio as the foundation. (Do not change the source audio, though you can also use it as raw material for whatever you choose to add.)
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This assignment was made in the early afternoon, California time, on Thursday, November 19, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, November 23, 2015.
Length: The length is up to you. The original is just under six minutes, though you needn’t create something that long.
(…=
More on this 203rd weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Add something to a rhythm track titled ‘It'”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/11/19/disquiet0203-beatbasis/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project originally accompanied the source audio (“It” by Name Constant) on SoundCloud:
https://soundcloud.com/random-coil/it-1
Production Notes
Most of the times I don’t have a clue what a Disquiet Junto project will sound like once it’s finished. This time I knew exactly what I wanted the piece to sound like.
Added a self programmed Kaivo Bell synth patch (a great synth, btw), some Absynth for general buzzing, a Reaktor Lamellae and a simple Operator bass. The looped noises come from a Rhythmic Robot ensemble called Platter.
They were all playing the note provided in the photo (see below for assignment). Adjusted the volume… and that’s it.
Disquiet Junto Project 0196: Whole Lotta Whole
Sight-read the whiteboard notation from a children’s music class.
Step 1: Read the music notation in the following image (note that the photograph was taken at a music class for elementary and preschool students).
The image is here:
http://goo.gl/2C1mqT
Step 2: Record a piece of music based on that notation.
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This assignment was made in the early evening, California time, on Thursday, October 1, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, October 5, 2015.
Length: The length of your finished work should be roughly one minute, though longer is certainly fine.
(…)
More on this 196th Disquiet Junto project (“Sight-read the whiteboard notation from a children’s music class”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/10/01/disquiet0196-wholelottawhole/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
- end -
Production Notes
Hm. Two musical lines. Basslines? TB 303?
I extracted the MIDI harmony line from the first sample you hear in this piece (Ableton does that nicely).
Doubled the MIDI track, added two „ABL2“ TB 303 emulations and a ton of effects each. Made the second MIDI track a bar shorter, so the timing of the two tracks gets out of sync.
Couldn’t resist to add some rudimentary beats.
The lines intersect sometimes; also things begin to blur towards the end, as I added some delay.
That’s all.
Disquiet Junto Project 0193: Semi-Parallel Lines
Record a short composition for two voices/instruments that occasionally intersect. This project explores how two simple lines can occasionally intersect.
Step 1: Plot out a short piece of music, maybe a minute in length. It will consist of two separate lines recorded by two distinct instruments.
Step 2: When plotting out the piece, plan on the two lines intersecting on occasion. Plot, for example, a three-note riff 20 seconds in, or a held chord at 30 seconds, and so forth. The number of intersections is up to you — four to six seems like a solid range.
Step 3: Record the two lines independently. (It’s a natural occurrence of this process that despite the planning, the periods of simultaneity may be slightly off. That’s great. It’s arguably even preferable.)
Step 4: Layer them atop each other, with little to no post-production effort, aside from adjusting relative volume and introducing a fade in and fade out.
Step 5: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud. (Bonus points if you manage to sync the audio and animation and upload to a video service.)
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This assignment was made in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, September 10, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, September 14, 2015. Length: The length of your finished work will likely be about a minute long.
(…) More on this 193rd Disquiet Junto project (“Record a short composition for two instruments that occasionally intersect”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/09/10/disquiet0193-semiparallellines/
More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://disquiet.com/junto/ Join the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at: http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project by Tom Wachtel, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/hZcuMd
This is a longer version of Fripp’s Layer Cake [disquiet0189-tonelayer].
Recorded live.
Production Notes
There’s a nice little free Reaktor ensemble, which I used for this piece. It’s called vFripp. It combines a synth with a frippertronic style mono delay.
Played for 5 minutes to build up something, then let the loops flow.
Maybe I put up the longer version, also.
Disquiet Junto Project 0189: Tone Layer
Create a dense stack of attack-free tonal material from one audio source.
This project involves layering loops, or a loop of layers. It’s preferable that you do so with live looping, allowing the layers to accrue in real time. However, if live looping is not a capacity of yours, then feel free, certainly, to layer them in Audacity or by some other means.
These are the steps:
Step 1: Choose an instrument that can create extended tones.
Step 2: Record a short loop of a single held tone on that instrument. Use a volume pedal or other tool to eliminate the attack at the start of the tone.
Step 3: Create many more such loops, all with the same instrument, and layer them atop the original loop.
Step 4: Record a document of these layered loops lasting approximately 1 minute.
Step 5: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This assignment was made in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 13, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, August 17, 2015.
Length: The length of your finished work should be roughly one minute.
(…)
More on this 189th Disquiet Junto project (“Create a dense stack of attack-free tonal material from one audio source”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/08/13/disquiet0189-tonelayer/ More on the Disquiet Junto at: http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at: http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project by Nicholas D., and used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/ca1iLd - end -
Production Notes
I had an idea for this Disquiet Junto. It involved shifting the tempo while moving the starting point of samples. This would have been a nice and proper approach for the assignment… but honestly, I wanted to make just music. So I threw it overboard after an hour.
This is the path I went:
Extracted some loops from the material (lovely stuff!). Slowed it down a little.
Additional drums came from Analog Rytm, the bass pad(2Slow from #Biologiks soundset) from Analog Keys.
Recorded some piano lines.
To get more complexity, I added Beat Repeats from Ableton throughout the whole track. Towards the end the track adds feedback and noise from a shortwave radio, which are probably the most complex systems I know in music.
Layout and mixing was done the next day in 6 hours. Boy, that was fun!
Disquiet Junto Project 0188: Complex Complex
Take a provided track and make it more complex.
This project was proposed by Guy Birkin and Jay Bodley (aka Sun Hammer). It extends the thinking that went into their album Complexification, released by the record label Entr’acte. (There’s more background on album below the project description.)
These are the steps for this project:
Step 1: Pick one of the two tracks at the following URL: https://goo.gl/tN4Oit.
Step 2: Modify that one track in any way, using as much or little of it as you like, to make a new piece that sounds “more complex” than the original. You may add other sounds. (Note: You are free to use any definition or measure of “complexity.” You should be sure to describe your process and how it “increases” the complexity of the original track.)
Step 3: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.
Step 4: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This assignment was made in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 6, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, August 10, 2015.
Background: The album Complexification by Guy Birkin and Sun Hammer “explores musical complexity through a collaborative process based on a set of rules.” Those rules involved the two musicians swapping successive copies of a track in order to make it progressively more “complex.” For their purposes, they defined “complexity” as follows: “In this project, complexity is understood in terms of the quantity and variety of musical elements or patterns. The result is two parallel threads of music, each representing a progression of increasing complexity.”
Length: The length of your finished work is up to you.
(…)
More on this 188th Disquiet Junto project (“Take a provided track and make it more complex”) at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/08/06/disquiet0188-complexcomplex/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/
Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/
Image associated with this project from the notes that accompany the album Complexification (Entr’acte), by Guy Birkin and Sun Hammer, and on which project is based.
More on Complexification:
http://entracte.co.uk/projects/guy-birkin–sun-hammer-e187/