okay this part seems a little dark perhaps but its not that unsettling to me because i still feel the spoken word intro section sort of renders the overall context and keeps it in a certain deep, not too emotional momentum

Disquiet Junto Project 0703: That’s How You Got Killed Before

This one’s been sitting on my hard drive for 16 months. It came from a session with my friend and collaborator Bobby Rangell — we had recorded some flutes for a job, then took advantage of being in the studio to jam a bit: bass and flute, sometimes with a drum machine click.
It was a super productive day. I later revisited and shared many of those flute-based tracks… but this one?
Like the others, it was just two tracks: mono flute and stereo bass, with a 2-bar drum machine loop. But I made a patching mistake that day — the bass came out super thin and low, and mixed weirdly with Bobby’s long reverb. So I just… deleted my bass track. Why? No idea.
Months later, I went back to it — and found only Bobby’s flute and a 3-note Roland 707 kick pattern. No idea what I originally played. Worse: Bobby’s blowing was super abstract. I couldn’t even figure out the key. Still can’t.
Then I got Marc’s email this morning and thought, why not try something different?
Instead of trying to remember what we did, I improvised on top of Bobby and the 707 kick playing electric bass, just following my own ideas and added some drum loops that weren’t there when we played, then I played a Fender Rhodes and some synth textures following my new bass, trying to structure what was probably and abstract free impro.
instead of trying to figure out what key were we playing in (I recall in all our impros we just kept one steady key) I introduced chord changes, played around with modulations, and laid down harmonies that don’t necessarily match what Bobby was playing. So now you hear his flute moving freely over harmonies that were never there in the original — sometimes clashing, sometimes strangely aligning. I liked the tension it created.
I spent a full day in the studio doing this. Honestly, I don’t think it’s done, but I’m leaving it here for now.
Side note: if anyone asks “what’s the point of the Junto challenges?” — this is it.
Sure, I could have called Bobby back and spent the same 8 hours creating something much more polished and coherent from scratch. But we never would have ended up with something like this. And without this challenge, I never would’ve bothered digging into a broken, abandoned track like this.


Performed by Daniel DIaz (June 2025) and Bobby Rangell (March 2024)
Photo by DD, Carilo, Argentina. 2025

That’s How You Got Killed Before (disquiet0703)

landing

The first sentence of Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig is, "I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning."

More on the 705th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Book Start — The Assignment: Let the beginning of a book help you begin a new piece of music — at https://disquiet.com/0705/. This week’s project was proposed by Neil Stringfellow.

more halF unusuaL

halF icanseebymywatcH [disquiet0705]

it wasn't a binding agreement

This week's Disquiet Junto prompt asked us to use the first line of a favorite book as the inspiration for a piece of music. I selected David Byrne's "How Music Works", with the opening sentence "I had an extremely slow-dawning insight about creation."

I'm traveling this week, so away from my outboard gear, but I did bring along a mini keyboard and headphones so that I could still participate this week! Features several layers of software synths (mainly Alchemy) and a field recording made from the 3rd floor balcony of the flat we're renting while we're here.

I tried to keep this sparse (for me at least), following the idea of the "slow-dawning insight", while still capturing the chaos of the creative act. It's probably still unsettling, but I just can't help that.

More on the 705th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Book Start — The Assignment: Let the beginning of a book help you begin a new piece of music — at https://disquiet.com/0705/. This week’s project was proposed by Neil Stringfellow.


A Slow Dawning Insight About Creation (disquiet0705)

through this lens

a brief piece with Waterphone, Shakuhachi and plucked piano

Trio

2025-07-23

no stress

ETHEREAL AMBIENT SOUNDSCAPES INSPIRED BY GAME OF THRONES AND THE  LORD OF THE RINGS AND MANY OTHERS. RELAX, ENJOY AND DRIFT AWAY.

CTHULHU MYTHOS - SUBLIMATION

Jigsaw-dette

original soundtrack plus extra outtake stuff i made for 4spells (2024), a film by tom rogers - link here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HD6lmN_yXE

cover artwork by tom rogers (clip from 4spells)

bandcamp

all i wanna do (even slower)

I create original experiential music from NOSIGNAL Multimedia Lab in Chicago. The Hard Times described my music as "creepy, haunted, but also a little bit uplifting." Prolific.

A Slow Dawning Insight About Creation (disquiet0705)

Coraline Ada Ehmke

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