Disquiets

Favourites

Disquiet Junto Project 0698: Second Third

The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio.

There are two versions of the instructions for this week’s project — one very short, the other very long.

Very short version (about 25 words): Select a track from last week’s project (disquiet.com/0697), pan it to the left, and add your own line to the right, leaving room in the center for someone to eventually turn it into a trio.

Very long version (over 600 words) at disquiet.com/0698.

Deadline: Monday, May 19, 2025, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

Disquiet Junto Project 0698: Second Third

My first contribution to Disquiet Junto, responding to the prompt "Know the Shadow".

With the reference to "The Shadow Knows" in the prompt, I had the idea to recreate an old radio program. I dug around in the Internet Archive and found recordings of 1930s radio from which I cut samples. Select samples were then arranged to tell the story I wanted to tell, of a mentalist named Professor Penumbra hypnotizing the listener through the radio.

The concept of a shadow is expressed in multiple ways: in the title, within the samples, with stereo imaging, with polyrhythms, and using high- and low-frequency EQ sweeps.

To fully experience the shadow, please enjoy with headphones.

About Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/2023/11/30/disquiet-junto-project-0622-know-the-shadow/

Disquiet Junto

Professor Penumbra (disquiet0622)

My second contribution to Disquiet Junto, responding to the prompt "A Fresh Pair".

The prompt invited me to consider two disparate influences and bring them together somehow. I missed the word "cultural" in front of "influences" and assumed musical influences. I immediately had the seed of an idea: Gary Numan 1978 vs Gary Numan 2018.

Please enjoy "Splintered Android" with headphones, and be kind to your electric friends.

About Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/2023/12/14/disquiet-junto-project-0624-fresh-pair/

Splintered Android (disquiet0624)

This week's contribution to Disquiet Junto, responding to the prompt "Noise Ceiling".

The prompt consisted of a photograph of a bare bulb light fixture on a roughly-painted section of ceiling. We were asked to describe how the space sounded.

It felt like a closet to me. So I took my stereo field recorder to the utility closet in my basement and recorded a CLAP, converted it to an impulse response, and then turned into a convolution reverb patch. Essentially, I created an aural simulation of that space, which lets me place any sound within that space.

The rhythmic breathing and kick drum are placed fully in that simulated closet space, to create a sensation of "close air". The background pads also migrate from a very spacious tone to the constricted space of the closet.

Ready your headphones for "Futility Closet".

About Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/2023/12/21/disquiet-junto-project-0625-noise-ceiling/

Futility Closet (disquiet0625)

A reflection on my past 12 months of music.

1. Who Not While. A discarded sketch that set this year's solo album in motion.
2. A raw recording of an ARP-2600 that I was able to play at the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio. (https://mess.foundation) This synth part is used in the opening and closing tracks of the album.
3. You Dream You Die. This started as a purely piano composition, and I like the tension between the messy organic and the mathematical clockwork.
4. A Sensation of Nightmare and Stain. The album is well underway at this point. 
5. The Iconoclast. This year's Drone Day composition, which also marked my first live in-person performance since the 90s.
6. A Convincing Story of the Self. Experimenting with using AI-enhanced text-to-speech as a vocal element.
7. True Colors. I finally got around to finishing production of my tracks in the Cyndi Lauper cover I'm doing with Eloquent.
8. A fragment from a jam session with my friend Fred, who I am secretly recruiting for a Live Band Thing.
9. A fragment from a jam session with my friend Kevin, who I am also  secretly recruiting for a Live Band Thing.
10. Passions and Peculiarities. The title is taken from a sentence deep inside my partner's dissertation, and coincidentally this is their favorite song on the album.
11. Outside, Last Night. The last track I completed for "The Nine Doors", my first full-length Sudre's Violin album.
12. Professor Penumbra. My first contribution to Disquiet Junto.

You are twice as likely to be moved emotionally if you use headphones.

About Disquiet Junto: disquiet.com/2023/12/21/disquie…625-noise-ceiling/

Audio Journal 2023 (disquiet0626)

A response to Disquiet Junto 0627: Just Ice Society.

The vocals were created using AI-enhanced text-to-speech, using content adapted from WikiHow. 

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

About Disquiet Junto 0627: https://disquiet.com/2024/01/04/disquiet-junto-project-0627-just-ice-society/

Making Ice at Home May Seem Overwhelming (disquiet0627)

I found an old sample that I'm quite fond of.  I'm not sure why. Perhaps its due to what I perceive to be a melancholic thoughtfulness, or what I imagine that quality to sound like. In in case, I put it into loop mode on the old 1010 Music module I have and recorded that "live" into Logic. I then subjected it to various effects, notably Fragments and EFx Motion from Arturia. After a bit of experimentation, I fell into a kind of phase shifting mode, with the movements and beat of the original sample falling in and out of time. I used Logic Pro's tremolo setting to further exaggerate the movements from left to right, and as such, this is perhaps best listened to on headphones or with speakers with good stereo separation. I'm normally a "hardware kind of guy," so I appreciated how this week's task focused my attention on the possibilities that lie in my DAW, which I tend to treat as a glorified tape recorder. So, while hardly a masterpiece of production, I learnt a few tricks that are new to me, at least. 

disquiet647

The track starts off with simulated bird sounds, courtesy of the Wing Pinger. Gradually, a C+ chord emerges, which is then joined by a bouncy sequence and eventually a rather standard techno beat, which will hopefully get one out of bed and onto the sidewalk for a good morning run. 

disquiet0684

I chose the brilliant track by https://soundcloud.com/torstengoerke for this Disquiet Junto brief; to add a second part in an eventual trio ... https://soundcloud.com/torstengoerke/plastiq-disquiet0697?si=e511e161b08d44e789d92e107816d030&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Looking forward to hearing any additions to complete the triangle of collaboration! ❤️

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

more halF unusuaL

halF plastiQ [disquiet0698] with Torsten Goerke

Based on a piano performance by @leonclowes, I played an OB-E (thanks, Tom Oberheim & @gforce-software) over Leon’s piano. I was going for a streamlined version of something quiet by Ravel — a kind of synthetic tone poem. Both the piano and strings are fake, but hopefully there’s still room to build.

Original:  https://soundcloud.com/leonclowes/hole-third-disquiet0697

for this challenge:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0698-second-third/

Maurice in a Hole (with leon clowes) - disquiet0698

A bass track over @half-unusual 's groove.
I played electric bass guitar (maple fender jazz bass with a pick and mute and a crunchy amp) with an overdrive pedal and a “skidder” effect tweaked in real time.

Original: https://soundcloud.com/half-unusual/half-third-disquiet0697-80-bpm

for this challenge:
llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-pr…-0698-second-third/

The Ghost of Bolsover Castle (with half unusuaL) - disquiet0698

Fake Genius on the left, Torpid Scorpion on the RIght. 

Added a rhythm played on the TR8S with a second pass to hand-crank filter and delay effects.

This pie is waiting for a third to fill in the missing piece.

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/



Second Third (disquiet0698) Fake Genius x Torpid Scorpion

A guitar part added to CJ McGregor's modular rhythm part, for the second of three phases of a collaboration.

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

Second Third on the RIght! (disquiet0698) CJ McGregor x Torpid Scorpion

Disquiet Junto 0698 is the second of three prompts aimed at creating an asynchronous trio.

This week, we had to select from one of last week's community submissions to add a second part. I was really moved by Torpid Scorpion's piece "First Third", featuring a gorgeous acoustic guitar. As soon as I heard it, I heard the complementary part. The trouble? I heard it on violin.

I've only been playing violin for 6 weeks, but I practiced this piece pretty hard and got a couple of good takes this morning. It's simple and understated, I don't think it's awful, and I'm calling it the best that I can do at this point.

There was some room sound on the guitar part, so I tried to match it with light reverb on my side of the song. I also applied a little bit of a reverb to both tracks to place the instruments in the same room.

I think this piece is spacious, sad, and lovely, and I can't wait to see how someone finishes it for next week.

Torpid Scorpion's starter track: https://soundcloud.com/torpidscorpion/disquiet0697-first-third

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

You're Not a Burden (with Torpid Scorpion) (disquiet0698)

This was my contribution for Disquiet Junto Project 0698: Second Third. The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio.

Here’s a copy of my post on the Disquiet Junto 0698 discussion thread on Lines:

Hard to decide since there were so many cool tracks. Selected “B Drone” by @morgulbee / @alanblip for my first contribution. Hoping to work with another track before the Monday deadline. Created the complimentary sequence using Slate+Ash Choreographs in Ableton Live and panned it to the right while setting the original to the left. Photo by Sven Mieke via Unsplash. 

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

B Drone Aftermath [disquiet0698]

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.

You're Not a Burden (with Torpid Scorpion) (disquiet0698)

Coraline Ada Ehmke