I started by recording a couple of modular feedback patches, with a loose goal of generating steady, slowly animated tones. A Doepfer BBD delay was used as a hub to process a mix of droning pulse waves from two VCOs—the result of which was fed back into the delay. The BBD also outputs CV that corresponds to manually set controls as well as input CV signals, and this was used to modulate other patch parameters in the feedback loop.

The output was split to a crossfader that was sent to a handful of filters and another delay with a long interval—the idea here was to create a bit of slow movement to keep the timbral/spectral qualities in slow motion. 

I stacked a couple of sections of the drones together in Ableton, and layered in parts of a recent recording Tides (in chord mode) being granularly processed with Nebulae v2. This created some mid-higher frequency 'blooms'. Also added some simple granular processing in Ableton that was spread wider in the stereo field. Lastly added in some looped field recordings that introduce some higher frequencies and textures that I wanted to include.

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Disquiet Junto Project 0611: Music That Listens to Itself

The Assignment: Record a piece of music that repurposes itself as it proceeds.

Background: On September 29, 2023, there is going to be an event at a place called the Berkeley Alembic, in Berkeley, California, where I’ll play recordings of music that share a specific theme, and I’ll discuss the sounds with the people who come to listen. The event is titled Music That Listens to Itself, part of the Expanded Listening series developed by Erik Davis (Techgnosis, Burning Shore). That is the theme. Part of the goal of this project is to develop tracks for potential inclusion in the event, and to pursue ideas related to the event’s theme.

Step 1: The underlying idea is to produce music that, so to speak, listens to itself. This would be music that employs techniques to revisit itself — repurposes itself — as it proceeds. From reverb to echo to tape loops to granular synthesis to accessing a buffer, various techniques serve such a compositional and performance purpose. Consider a means to achieve this result.

Step 2: Record a piece of music that employs the technique you focused on as a result of Step 1. Please note: for the Berkeley Alembic event, I’ll be sharing music that is particularly quiet, particularly appropriate to a meditative state of mind. You don’t need to record quiet music for this project, but quiet music is what I’ll be playing at the event.

Additional details: disquiet.com. Tickets: eventbrite.com 1. About the venue: berkeleyalembic.org.

(...)

More on this 611th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Music That Listens to Itself (The Assignment: Record a piece of music that repurposes itself as it proceeds), at: disquiet.com/0611/

Some of the music resulting from this project may be included in a September 29, 2023, event at the Berkeley Alembic in Berkeley, California: www.eventbrite.com/e/expanded-list…ts-712124101357 1

About the Disquiet Junto: disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-pr…-listens-to-itself/

Pulse Animation • [disquiet 0611]

new album *ᴄᴏɴᴄᴇɴᴛʀɪᴄ* out now on Mystery Circles

We have completed our "Time Trilogy"... 1 album and 2 EPs now available on CD! https://zuunzug.bandcamp.com/merch/time-trilogy-3-cd

Pulse Animation • [disquiet 0611]

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