Seven Souls

The Nine Doors

A Sensation of Nightmare and Stain

A response to Disquiet Junto 0630: Creative Sufficiency, a challenge to choose, in advance, a limit on the number of pieces of equipment, instruments, software, or plugins that will be used in the piece.

I chose 9 components: Logic, keyboard controller, piano, bass, drum kit, 8th triplet stereo delay, 8th stereo delay, room reverb, and a StepFX plugin. The polyrhythms are the result of automating the send amounts to the auxiliary channels with the competing stereo delays.

I wanted the overall feel to be a film noir carnival chase scene played on a Korg M1.

Recorded and produced at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Labs, The Shambles, Chicago, IL USA.

About Disquiet Junto 0630: https://disquiet.com/2024/01/25/disquiet-junto-project-0630-creative-sufficiency/

Disquiet Junto

Casting Out The Nines (disquiet0630)

This week's Disquiet Junto prompt was "0631: In a Silent Waveform". The instructions were to "take one held tone and make it dance slowly".

The title of my piece, "Dream of a Rarebit Fiend," is taken from a 1906 silent film directed by Edwin Porter. The film is seven minutes long, and is notable for its revolutionary special effects. It tells the story of a man who, upon gorging himself on Welsh rarebit (toasted cheese on bread), falls into bed with a fever dream of animated furniture, pesky imps, and a night flight above the rooftops.

I chose 554.37 Hz as my single source tone, and recorded 8 tracks of it: 5 on my St Vincent guitar with ebow, and 3 on a Roland/Studio Electronics SE-02 analog synth. These tracks were then woven together and processed with a variety of rhythm-based effects to make them dance together. Additional rhythmic elements were created for the synth tracks by manipulating knobs on the SE-02 control panel.

Underneath it all is a single unsettling kick drum. The rhythm is everywhere and nowhere, something and nothing, like a fever dream.

NOTE: Your odds of discovering a secret recipe for Welsh rarebit hidden in the audio file may be improved by listening with headphones.

You can watch a restored version of the "Dream of a Rarebits Fiend" film on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dream_of_a_Rarebit_Fiend_(Edwin_Stanton_Porter).webm

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0631/

Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (disquiet0631)

Disquiet Junto #0636 has us creating one part or layer of a three-part asynchronous collaboration. 

I tried to provide an interesting rhythmic layer (93bpm, 3/4 time) and some minimal atmosphere with the guitar (St Vincent Music Man 6-string, Eventide H9 Harmonizer, Keeley HALO delay pedal). 

The samples are taken from episode 123 of the radio drama The Shadow, titled "The Tenor with the Broken Voice," which aired on June 5, 1938. The samples are intended to prompt or inspire a collaborator with an interesting dramatic premise.

I'm happy to share stems, samples. or Logic files with anyone who'd like to build with this. 

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0636

The Last of the Opera Murders (disquiet0636)

Disaster Society

Four Colors

In Part 2 of 3, I started with an amazing organ drone created by Leon Clowes (https://soundcloud.com/leonclowes/left-1of3-disquiet0636) in the left channel. 

I added slide steel guitar, live vocal samples, and sound effects to create a tense dramatic backdrop for whatever happens in the third round of this Disquiet Junto!

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0637

Recorded at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Labs, The Shambles, Chicago USA.

It's Just Ringing (with Leon Clowes) (disquiet0637)

Terra Null

For Disquiet Junto #disquiet0643, we were asked to create a piece of music inspired by a line of poetry from Yoko Ono: "Take the sound of a stone aging". Thus was born an ancient city, a blasphemous ruin of basalt, constructed at angles that defy geometry. We hear it rising from a raging ocean.

The unsettling whirring sound is a sample of a replica prehistoric stone woer-woer, or bullroar. The bell-like tapping is quantized but otherwise unprocessed field recordings of the "ringing rocks" in Buck County, Pennsylvania: so-called "sonorous stones" that ring like bells when struck with a hammer. One of the pads is based on a sample of my own voice. All of the ocean sounds (except in the outro) were created capturing a live performance of high- and low-pass filter sweeps on a pitched-down white noise source.

Best enjoyed with speakers with good bass response.

Recorded at NO SIGNAL Multimedia Labs in The Shambles, Chicago, USA. Don't be afraid to #makeunpopularmusic.

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0643

R'lyeh Rising (disquiet0643)

Live piano, live slide steel, live bass. A candidate for the upcoming Sudre's Violin release "Seven Souls".

Nine Zero Nine Six

My interpretation of this week's Disquiet Junto was an invitation to consider the concerto: its form, its constraints, its traditions; and to create our own composition based on these traits. I read up, listened, read some more, and made my list of rules and constraints. Then I set to it.

I knew that I wanted the solo/virtuoso instrument to be the ARP2600 that I sampled in the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) a couple of years ago. I improvised some chord movement with a generic pad and got the thin, flute-like ARP lead kind of dancing around on it in a single take. The overall feel reminded me of "Deckard's Blues" from the Blade Runner soundtrack, so I ran with that.

Turns out I had also sampled a Deckard's Dream analog synth at MESS, so that became my pad bed. I added some more support with a Streichfett analog string synth and  bass with a Moog Minitaur. The entire composition is 4 tracks of analog synths (and what should be an illegal quantity of reverb).

"The Voight-Kampff Concerto" is best enjoyed with good headphones, like the ones you got at that little shop under the glittering c-beams near the Tannhauser Gate.

Recorded at NO SIGNAL Multimedia Labs, The Shambles, Chicago USA.

More on Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0649

The Voight-Kampff Concerto (disquiet0649)

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week was an invitation to transform a siren as it passes from left to right.

My contribution features the transformation of an air raid siren by way of two layers of heavily effected slide steel guitar and an ambivalent synth pad. The vocal samples were generated with text-to-speech.

"Airships Over Chicago" is a stereophonic experience, so choose your listening environment with care. Recorded at NO SIGNAL Multimedia Lab, The Shambles, Chicago, USA.

More about Disquiet Junto 0650: https://disquiet.com/0650

Airships Over Chicago (disquiet0650)

Disquiet Junto # 0652 challenges us to tell a favorite tale through music and sound. My response tells one of the stories of the House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. The title of the piece is taken from a line by the musician Poe, whose album "Haunted" is a companion to her brother's book.

The confident explorers pass through the mysterious door, and spend days carefully mapping the blank walls and floors and arches of the winding passages beyond. The House responds with unearthly growls and the scrape of extruding stone. Halls elongate. Doorways appear and disappear. Corners rearrange themselves into inexplicable intersections. Stairways yawn down into a darkness deeper than the center of the earth.

The stone grinding and other earthy samples were created by rubbing and scraping two slate coasters together, slowed down and layered.

You'll want to bring sturdy, reliable headphones as you explore the House of Leaves— but they won't help you find your way back out.

Recorded at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Lab, The Shambles, Chicago USA.

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0652

The Soul Architect (disquiet0652)

This week's Disquiet Junto was, well, disquieting. We were to make a list of rules we never break, and then pick one— to break.

My list was mainly "I don't usually"'s rather than rules proper, but one item stood out: I never use loops. I'm philosophically opposed to loops. (You do you.)

So the challenge for me was: can I use stock loops exclusively and still make it sound like me?

So in creating this piece I didn't allow myself to play, paint, or shift any notes. I just drag-and-dropped the first loops that came to my eye into an arrangement template. The only musical variables I could manipulate were the arrangement, the key and mode (using scale quantization), and the voicings (using pre-existing presets). 

The drums got their own set of loops. The synthetic bass and guitar split notes from 3 loops. The two pads share a loop. The vocal samples are  synthetic and use the default text from a text-to-speech application.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0653

Default Text (disquiet0653)

Darker Layter

A Foolish Consistency

Black Rainbow

Stray Willow

Content note: there are two mentions of self-harm in this track.

The invitation for this week's Disquiet Junto (#0654, "Just Notation") was to interpret a piece of graphic notation sheet music, a composition titled "True Glimpses" by Swiss experimental musician Franziska Baumann. 

The sheet music is organized into 5 rows of 7 staves. I interpreted the rows as vertically stacked layers and the columns as divisions of time. You can see the notation here: https://disquiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/TrueGlimpes-1-Franziska-Baumann-scaled.jpg

My interpretative performance consists of 5 layers of instrumentation (percussion, bass, synth pad, keys, and ebow guitar) exploring a sonic space divided into 7 tableaus. All tracks were recorded as improvised single takes without edits while following along with the score.

Self-reflection works best in stereo, so please enjoy "True Glimpses (Self-Portrait) with an empathetic pair of headphones. Recorded at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Lab in The Shambles. Chicago, USA.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0654

True Glimpses (Self-Portrait) (disquiet0654)

This week's Disquiet Junto introduced me to the work of Raymond Scott, beginning with his 3-volume "Soothing Sounds for Baby" and back and forth in time between The Quintette and Looney Tunes and Manhattan Research. I've got a lot of catching up on history to do.

I wanted to do something that was lovely and curious, a dark fairy tale, a sort of lullaby that evoked the clockwork precision of the songs on the Soothing Sounds records. I learned that Scott was the inventor of the sequencer, so I decided to use a hardware sequencer and analog circuits to create an homage. I tried to reflect the ostinato sequences, the wandering key changes, the intricately overlapping patterns, and the stiff improvisation that I heard in Scott's work.

All of the sounds came from a Roland JU-06A, the boutique reissue of the venerable Juno-60 and Juno-160. I also used that unit's 12-step sequencer to create each iteration of the ostinato pattern (through 7 key changes.)

I swear I tried not to use reverb. I swear I swear.

"Baby's First Harmonic Minor" is best enjoyed curled up under a soft blanket, nightlight aglow, with the hall light on and the bedroom door left open just a little bit. 

Recorded at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Lab in The Shambles. Chicago, USA.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0655

Baby's First Harmonic Minor (disquiet0655)

Disquiet Junto 0656 invites us to remix another musician's lullaby submission from last week, to transform it into something for parents. I chose Ray Cobley's "slumberscape" as the collaboration (https://soundcloud.com/ray_cobley/slumberscape-disquiet0655)

I reflected on my own early parenthood, and how much I wished that there was a manual. Well, that's how it started at least.

In 1948, Hungarian physicist and Manhattan Project scientist Leo Szilard published a short story titled “The Mark Gable Foundation”. Reminiscent of HG Wells’s _The Time Machine_, the unnamed narrator, who wanted to see what the world would be like in 300 years, arranges to be frozen, or "withdrawn from life" as the process is called, until the year 2260. However, owing to a legal dispute, he is awakened after only 90 years. He learns the facts of a strange new way of life on earth. Teeth had become unfashionable, for example. And the richest man on earth, Mark Gable, made his fortune by selling his sperm and producing millions of “donated children,” each of which earned him thousands of dollars in royalties.

Put on your favorite pair of headphones and follow along with the Getting Started Guide for your new Mark Gable Foundation Progeny. 

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0656

The Mark Gable Progeny (with Ray Cobley) (disquiet0656)

Disquiet Junto 0657 was an invitation to compose a pice out of overlapping tones that start and stop suddenly.

I created multiple layers of synth pads, each holding a single note of random duration in the key of Am. Next I bounced the audio, slowed it by 75%, and reversed it to create abrupt stops in each tone. I blended that audio back into the mix to provide a low aural foundation. On top of this I recorded a couple of additional pads with held tones, chopped up with a grain stutter plugin. To wrap it up, I improvised a couple of wandering leads with "broken" synths in Cmaj/Amin.

I worked hard on the spacial mix, so headphones or a good pair of stereo monitors are recommended.

More on this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0657

Tails on Tones (disquiet0657)

The Whirlwind

Every old instrument carries with it the memory of its best performance. The broken cello in the back of the junk store was no exception.

Disquiet Junto 0659 had us squinting at a close-up photograph of the back of a cello, and instructed us to interpret the grain and pockmarks as a musical score.

This composition is an interpretation of Nick Drake's "Cello Song", reimagined as a symphonic piece. I spent an inordinate amount of time with a physical modeling synthesizer to try to create the sound of the broken cello. I hope it's convincing.

To hear the music like the junkstore cello remembers it, it's best to use a trusted set of headphones.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0659

Dream Of The Junkstore Cello (disquiet0659)

T-Bone Walker famously said that, though the song was great, "St Louis Blues" just wasn't the blues. Disquiet Junto 0660 invited us to remix a 1923 public domain recording of that storied jazz standard. My remix takes Walker's stance and turns it up to 11.

Every sound in the song comes directly from some piece of the original recording. One of the percussion layers is even voiced by tape hiss. I cut the original recording into dozens of samples of different lengths, from a single beat to a full measure. The samples were then triggered by 6 tracks of a MIDI interpretation of "St Louis Blues". Essentially, the song is a recording of a song playing itself.

"Not Every Saint is Blue" has been determined safe for most stereophonic listening devices.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0660

Not Every Saint Is Blue (disquiet0660)

They say that home is where the heart is. Sometimes, late at night, the sound of it beating can keep you awake.

Disquiet Junto 0661 invited us to devise a drone made from the sounds of consumer electronics and appliances around our homes. "It's Just an Old House Settling" is composed entirely from the dulcet tones of an air purifier, a DVD player, a dehumidifier, a ringing cell phone, a clothes dryer, a computer booting up, and an air fryer.

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0661

It's Just An Old House Settling (disquiet0661)

Disquiet Junto 0663 was an invitation to compose music to accompany a spinning-platter hard drive. 

I thought I would miss this one, as I was traveling abroad these past two weeks without any gear, not even a pair of decent headphones. But inspiration struck at the kitchen table in a rented flat in Manchester UK and there was no ignoring the impulse. This piece was recorded off the tempo grid, the notes were painted in a piano roll, and the automation was done with a trackpad. A very different creation experience and set of constraints for me! 

I like a little percussion with my drones, so I used the new stem splitter feature in Logic Pro to extract a few isolated samples of the hard drive chitter to establish a rhythmic foundation.

You will experience the song differently played through computer speakers vs headphones, and I can't say which way is the right way.

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0663

The Lake Shore Drive Incident (disquiet0663)

Perhaps Another Time

This week's Disquiet Junto prompt: create a composition in 29/16 time. I have never done so much math to make a song.

I subdivided the 29 16th notes into 2 measures of 3/4 (6/8?) followed by 1 measure of 5/16. I started with percussion this time, and spent a lot of time programming and visually manipulating the beat mappings until I found something that didn't feel gimmicky. I created 3 variations to make a loop of a four-part drum progression.

The top screaming synth follows the rhythm precisely but blurs the lines at that 5/16 transition. I think it wraps around the beat nicely.

I was daunted at first but I learned a ton composing this piece, and ended up having a lot of fun. 

For more about Disquiet Junto, see https://disquiet.com/0644

Byzantine Valentine (disquiet0664)

This week's Disquiet Junto was in memory of the founder of the Mille Plateaux record label, Achim Szepanski. We were invited to listen to the compilation _Clicks and Cuts_ and compose a piece that paid homage.

I listened to the album a couple of times over and took notes on what I heard: complex rhythm is centered; glitchy, non-traditional percussion and other samples; dry mix; musical elements downplayed; no obvious structure; repetitious, hypnotic; lots of thoughtful, small touches.

I stepped away for a few hours and listened to familiar music to clear my head. When I was ready I hit the studio equipped with only my notes. I set out to make a piece that met the criteria I had observed more than something that sounded like the examples we had been given.

Since the rhythm is so central, I hand-programmed a few 5/4 drum patterns and shopped for an appropriately glitchy drum kit. I layered on some additional percussive and other samples for flavor.

The drone synth was performed on my Moffenzeef Modular Stargazer. There's no clock sync on this unit, so I had to set the LFO rate by hand and pray that I didn't accidentally bump that knob while performing. I doubled the Stargazer and panned the two tracks hard left and right. I quantized one and not the other, meaning that the LFOs drift in and out of phase. I also blended in a +7 pitch shift to fill out the sound some.

"Mise-en-scêne" is best experienced with headphones. Recorded at NO SIGNAL Multimedia Lab in The Shambles, Chicago.

Mise-en-scène (disquiet0665)

This week marks the 666th consecutive week of Disquiet Junto. To mark the beastly weekly number, I reached back in time and came back with an early industrial number about the "satanic panic" of the 1980s.

Samples were cut from found-sound vintage news broadcasts and some from created from synthetic sources. The line about boys wearing makeup is a nod to my youthful pre-trans confusion. I tried to stay true-to-period with the drum machine and the arpeggiators, while keeping the synths evocative but ambiguous.

Put on your black t-shirt and your favorite headphones, and enjoy the imaginary 1988 demo version of “Satanic Panic”.

More about this week's Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0666

Satanic Panic - Demo Version (1988) (disquiet0666)

A response to Disquiet Junto 0667: Neighbor of the Beast.

I didn’t know how well I’d fit in with the new neighborhood, but so far people have been really friendly. My neighbor even invited me over for a jam session. Most people assume he’s just a fiddler but he plays a mean ebow too. It’s nice to be welcomed into the circle.

Features live ebow guitar and slide steel, live bass, and hand-programmed drums. Samples include pink noise, the bells of St Paul's Cathedral in London, and a musical theatre performance heard from outside. (Listening back, it seems I accidentally made a Shepherd scale at the end there!)

More about Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/0667

Circle Six (The Heretics) (disquiet0667)

Coraline Ada Ehmke composes, records, and produces original experiential music from NOSIGNAL Multimedia Lab in The Shambles, Chicago. The Hard Times has described her music as "creepy, haunted, but also a little bit uplifting."

Coraline Ada Ehmke

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