When I've had time, these are my submissions to the Disquiet Junto project. Visit each track's detail page (by clicking the right-arrow) to learn more about the particular set of constraints that track started with which lead to the music I created.

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The Disquiet Junto is a collaborative music-making space in which restraints are used as a springboard for creativity. It is produced in association with Disquiet.com

Each Thursday a new Junto project is announced. Participants are expected to upload their completed tracks to the group by the following Monday at 11:59pm (that's 11:59pm wherever you are). 

Please read the "FAQ" located at the link below for additional information about the Disquiet Junto group: how to participate, what the rules are, and more. And no, you don't need to participate every week.

More Info/FAQ: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info

Disquiet Junto Submissions

Field recordings of ice cubes falling, swirling, squeaking, etc. mixed w/ambience, piano, and acoustic bass. I recorded all of the ice sounds using FiRe on my iPhone - some of them were taken w/the phone at a distance while the squeaking and swirls were taken by holding the phone above the glass and, w/them both in the same hand, slowly rotating the glass causing the cubes to rub against the side.

Thanks for listening!



A Glimmer of Hope [disquiet0001-ice]


Nearly There (Disquiet0004-mfischer Benjamin Dauer's Sun In Your Eyes Remix)

This is my contribution to Disquiet's Junto project 0004, a remix of a Marcus Fischer track from his newest album, "Collected Dust", out now on Tench Records. All sounds were created using the original stems. I wanted to explore the textures and tones within the source files so I processed them using granular delays, tape saturation, tremolos, and reverb.

Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoy.

http://mapmap.ch/
http://www.tenchrec.com/TCH05.html
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/


Nearly There (Disquiet0004-mfischer Benjamin Dauer's Sun In Your Eyes Remix)


Every weekend my girl and I take care of a bunch of what I call "crap of life" - cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. I thought for this installment of Disquiet's Junto project I would soundtrack a portion of one of those tasks.

After doing a lot of field recordings while doing these tasks I finally settled on the one I made while returning from grocery shopping. The sounds you hear begin outside our building and follow us into the hallway, waiting for the elevator, riding up, walking to our condo, and going inside.

The music will hopefully make that seemingly mundane task seem a bit more interesting.

Thanks so much for listening. I hope you enjoy it!

More Information:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto


Sunday Routine (disquiet0005-layer)

Burning Down [disquiet0009-avian]

This is my contribution to Disquiet's Junto 0009, cross-species collaboration. The goal was to take 1 of 2 guitar samples, combine it with 1 of 2 bird song samples and use only those source files to create a new piece.

My approach stems from the idea of burning down the barriers between species. So, to that end, I tore down the structure of the samples, re-pitched them/re-sampled them/stretched them/fed them through delays, crushers, reverbs, etc. It tends to be a bit more heavy/aggressive sounding then what I normally write, but I am overall happy with the outcome.

As always, thank you for taking the time to listen. Hope you enjoy.

The source material for this track was provided from these two samples:
http://www.freesound.org/people/UncleSigmund/sounds/30266/
http://www.freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/14909/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/


Burning Down [disquiet0009-avian]

On Wings [disquiet0010-reflect]

For this week's Disquiet Junto assignment, The Reflective Remix, I wanted to go back and visit ooray's track "Sealegs" - a stunningly beautiful neo-classical piece composed of field-recordings, piano and cello. I remember thinking when I first heard it that I would love to re-imagine it as a dream sequence - something that feels out of time, slightly hazy, similar in structure, and (if possible) equally evocative. I can only hope Ted will approve of my efforts!

As always, thank you so much for listening.

Original Track:
http://soundcloud.com/ooray/sealegs-disquiet0005-layer

More details on the Juno project here:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

On Wings [disquiet0010-reflect]


Ask That I Walk Easy [disquiet0011-motoring]

This particular Junto submission has a bit of background. Those familar w/my Dwindlers project (http://www.thedwindlers.com) will know that our latest release, Allegories, is a collection of songs that are, in part, a response to Michelle's current loss of mobility. As such, a daily rhythm for us is the sound of her crutch hitting the ground as we walk. I used a field recording of this sound, sped up, as the base layer for this song.

I wanted to create something simple and repetitive (as much of walking is) but also beautiful and uplifting. She put a reminder on our refrigerator to everyday "Ask That I Walk Easy". I want nothing more than for her to fully regain mobility and to be able to dance, rollerblade, and yes, even walk, without pain. So, over the course of this piece the base layer of her crutch slowly fades away. This one is for you love.

As always, thank you so much for listening.

More details on the Juno project here:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto


Ask That I Walk Easy [disquiet0011-motoring]

Four and One [disquiet0020-nodebeat]

It's been a while since I've had time to participate in the Junto so it feels good to be back. One instance of NodeBeat created several stems that laid the foundation over which I played some fretted four string bass. I recorded everything through my Fat Track and summed everything out to my Tascam Porta07 and back through the Fat Track to saturate and muffle the overall song a bit. Nothing fancy but hope you find some interesting bits in the music.

Headphone listening recommended.

As always, thank you so much for listening.

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This track employs the app NodeBeat, created by Seth Sandler, Justin Windle, and Laurence Muller. More information on NodeBeat at nodebeat.com.

More details on the Juno project here:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Four and One [disquiet0020-nodebeat]


Scourge [disquiet0033-turntable]

For this particular Junto, in celebration of the turntable, we had to create a track using only sounds created by a record player - clicks, pops, whirrs, etc. so long as we didn't actually play a record on it.

In addition to this constraint I had only 2 hours available this weekend to attempt a song. So, while I didn't have time to do many of the things I had in my head, I managed to create this little noisy piece. It's a little heavier than usual for me so hang in there!

Process:
- I used a stereo mic into minidisc to capture all of the sounds
- I processed the hell out of some of the sounds using various spectral tools, resonators, delays, and reverbs. I retained the source sounds as well throughout the track (pops, clicks, grinding of the protected needle against the surface, etc.
- I then took the processed stems and crushed them using analog tape and overdriven tube channels on my Fat Track. This allowed some of the overtones in the files to come alive and also gave the sounds a nice thick, saturated tone which stands in contrast to the clear sounding 'source' stems
- In the end, I fed the entire piece back through the Fat Track to soften things a bit more

At any rate, I hope some of you enjoy it and thanks as always for giving my work a listen!

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More on the 33rd Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2012/08/16/disquiet0033-turntable/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info


Scourge [disquiet0033-turntable]


H Street NW

I realize that this recording really stretches the notion of "retail" but in the process of thinking about this week's assignment I wanted to go ahead and post it anyway. Even if it won't get selected for inclusion in the exhibition later this year, it sparked an idea for a project that perhaps others would be interested in.

Here was my thought process: commuting costs are paid for at retail and the buses in DC have equipment which allows user to purchase/add value to their transit cards (tap card, press button to add value, add currency, press button to confirm value added, tap card to sync value, tap card again to deduct fare for the ride you are taking). That process in and of itself has a rhythm/pattern which would be fun to capture. But, what really interested me the most was the way in which different drivers actually drive - everyone has their own unique style, a sort of "driving fingerprint" if you will. Some have a consistent pace while others have spurts of rapid acceleration and others still tend to tap the breaks/speed up in erratic ways. So, I wanted to capture the "driving fingerprint" of one of the drivers on a section of my morning commute. There are relatively few clicks/beeps of the fare machine (apparently I was sitting too far away from it) but you can clearly hear the pattern in the engine rev'ing up/slowing down over the course of the last few minutes on my ride.

This got me thinking - the buses in DC also have geo-tracking data that is open-source and accesible to anyone knowledgeable enough. I kind of want to do more of these sonic "driving fingerprints" throughout the city and collect them/map them. Maybe others in their own cities would find this interesting. Who knows. Making cities safer through art?

At any rate, I really appreciate your time if you read this far and/or listened to my bizarre recording. Thanks everyone!


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This Disquiet Junto project was done in association with the exhibit As Real As It Gets, organized by Rob Walker at the gallery Apex Art in Manhattan (November 15 - December 22, 2012):

http://apexart.org/exhibitions/walker.php/
 
More on this 37th Disquiet Junto project at:
 
http://disquiet.com/2012/09/13/disquiet0037-asrealasitgets1/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:
 
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info/

H Street NW [disquiet0037-asrealasitgets1]

Lingering [disquiet0041-dirtyminimalism]

Had a lot of fun with this one as I haven't recorded an improvisation in a while. Here are some details for those interested:

My signal chain consisted of a) an OP-1 synth into El Capistan dTape Echo into Flint Tremolo into blueSky Reverb and b) iDensity running on my iPad manipulating a piano loop. Both of these were running through my Mackie mixer into Ableton Live. On a send channel I added in a bit of 'dirt' using some stutters/noises.

It was great fun playing the OP-1, tweaking knobs/pushing buttons on the synth and pedals (which you'll hear from time to time) and trying to make some sort of something musical out of the piano loop.

At any rate, thank you so much for listening. I hope some of you enjoy the sounds.

Peace

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More on this 41st Disquiet Junto project at:
http://disquiet.com/2012/10/11/disquiet0041-dirtyminimalism/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info/

Lingering [disquiet0041-dirtyminimalism]

Benjamin Dauer - Missing You [disquiet0055-twoscrews]

My inspiration for this remix comes from an episode of Fringe where special equipment was used to listen to audio from the past - ghosts of sounds that once existed in time. I imagined Nils rehearsing certain passages of his songs before finally committing them to a recording. In this exploration, I wanted to give the impression that you are hearing these ghosts of notes past, fleeting in an out, tumbling over each other as they come into focus.

Our assignment was to take two of the source tracks — “Do” and “Re” — and create a new track from them, in the process creating a work for two pianos. In the end, I kept the key of "Do" for the final piece.

Thank you Nils for opening up your beautiful music to be reworked.

This remix, along with many others, is also available via the official Reworked website: http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/rework/DO/do-benjamin-dauer

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More on this 55th Disquiet Junto project at:
http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disquiet0055-twoscrews/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

More on the Frahm project at:
http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

Missing You [disquiet0055-twoscrews]


"I Will Always Return" by Benjamin Dauer
Hcnl004 Ensō Compilation

I was invited by Jonathan Fisher over at the Hippocamp Netlabel to contribute a track to this compilation, loosely based around Japanese aesthetics. My track is based on Ensō, which means circle - an expression of the moment. If you like mine, please visit the Hippocamp website to download all of the tracks by a wide variety of artists.

Headphone listening recommended.

Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoy.

http://hippocamp.net/?hcnl004


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I Will Always Return

Product Designer at WhatsApp. Previously at Meetup, Spotify, Facebook, SoundCloud and NPR. Also one half of The Dwindlers.

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benjamindauer

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