strange ghosts of Eno's Spirits Drifting at times . . .

oh whoa, this is the emotional crying timbre...

@boldenweck: Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed this. I'm not as familiar with Gavin Bryars as I'd like to be. What I've heard reminds me of Arvo Pärt, whom I admire greatly.

More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — “Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre ‘old-time electronica’″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Photo associated with this track, of a working Babbage Engine, by Larry Johnson, courtesy of a Creative Commons license at:

https://flic.kr/p/8uw1KJ

Disquiet Junto Project 0137: Old-Time Electronica

Really vague about what electronica means but it suggests "pop" to me rather than experimental. "Old-time" brought to mind the Wendy Carlos "Switched on Bach." Disco music also came to mind. 

I used a Kaosillator with 2 patches that sounded retro to me, created 2 tracks and then aligned them in Logic and wrapped it up using a Channel EQ preset called Boombox, a word which for me conjures days of yore.


Rather goofy, was not sure if I should post it, but it is mercifully short.

***********



More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — “Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre ‘old-time electronica’″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/


Heckuva Pile  [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

This is a remix of the Edison Concert Band's recording of "Nearer, my God, to Thee" (1902). The original recording was downloaded from archive.org. I did "electronic processing" on this old-time hymn to create something impossible at the time it was created: a time-stretched version with a drone created from part of the recording as well, and a phasing effect created by slightly different stretch lengths. My hope is that this version helps people hear this hymn in a new way. (Apologies that I went over the time-limit guidelines a little.)

More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — "Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre 'old-time electronica'" — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Nearer, my God, to Thee (remix) [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

Disquiet Junto Project 0137: Old-Time Electronica

Pineal Pionears [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

For me, this means going back to composers like Louis and Bebe Barron and their 1956 magnetic tape soundtrack to “Forbidden Planet” (check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNKhju6Pryg ), as well as Morton Subotnick, Walter Carlos and all those records from the Princeton University computer music workshops that I got my hands and ears on in the 60s.

Steps taken:

In the spirit of minimalism, I worked only with 2 sine waves and a click track, both generated by Audacity. These were modified using plugins and pitch shifting, with shorter more heavily modified sections used to create a gradually changing soundscape.

(See the whole Forbidden Planet poster here: http://cdn-images.9cloud.us/476/piccit_the_forbidden_planet_poster_1296502960.jpg


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The Assignment: Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre “old-time electronica.”

All Disquiet Junto projects employ constraint as a means to stimulate creativity and productivity. Sometimes this means limiting oneself to specific source material, other times to a conceptual approach, and there’s always the additional constraint of time: the deadline is approximately four days, depending on your time zone.

For this Disquiet Junto project, the constraint is a matter of terminology. This week we’re exploring how the concept of “genre” can itself serve as a restraint, and we’ll accomplish this by pushing back at genre conventions.

The project instructions are straightforward: Record an original piece of music that you feel belongs within the genre of “old-time electronica.”

Restrictions: You can use any source material, any instrumentation, except the human voice.

More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — “Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre ‘old-time electronica’″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/ 

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588


Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/    




Pineal Pionears [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

As a solo parent this weekend, my plans to hook up gear and produce handmade electronica haven't eventuated. So I returned to an earlier idea to work with a MIDI file and honour my introduction to electronic music as a child listening to Wendy Carlos' Switched On Bach.

This piece uses Lokomotiv, Absynth and the Minimojo Reaktor VST synths and was edited for brevity.

More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — “Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre ‘old-time electronica’″ — at:
http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Johann_Sebastian_Bach.jpg

Switched on Joy of Man's Desiring [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

My interpretation of "old time electronica" was to take a song associated with the dawn of pop music and treat it as the raw material for an electronic track. My choice is "Daisy Bell", a public domain song written in 1892 by Harry Dacre, and used in the first computer speech synthesis at Bell Labs in 1961; Arthur C. Clarke saw this demonstration and incorporated it into the screenplay and novelization of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The first section of the track is the original chorus melody and chord progression played on soft synths in Ableton, with a light percussion track made from samples from Beats & Breaks. For the second run-thru of the chorus melody  the chord progression is replaced with a version made using the Coltrane Changes; John Coltrane pioneered chord substitutions in his performances that used a major third movement to give an odd, airy quality to the harmony. For "Daisy Bell", which is in C major, the original chord progression follows the melody closely, as is the custom for most popular music. In its place I used the Dm7-G7-C progression. 

The jazzy timbre of those chords reminded me of Squarepusher's record Hard Normal Daddy, which used chords and melody combinations usually associated with jazz in conjunction with breakbeats. This track gradually adds more percussion elements, all chopped up from samples from Beats & Breaks.   

Once the new chord progression is introduced, the softsynth playing the melody has a random MIDI note generator, C major scale effect, and Bass-Beat Decoder added to it, with MIDI notes being triggered at the same rhythm as the original melody. The random notes were played & recorded to a separate track, and that MIDI information was placed in the initial softsynth track, with the MIDI effects removed. 


////

More on this 137th Disquiet Junto project — “Produce an original piece of music that fits the genre ‘old-time electronica’″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/14/disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Daisy Hell [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

Spring Has Withered

 I had never listened to my garden before.

This is my contribution to the Disquiet Junto project's Midnight Glitch assignment (0170).

I made a 1-minute recording in the garden, at midnight on Apr 6 2015, using a Soundman OKM II binaural mic. I then used Live to add a low frequency drone track with random high pitch notes (the glitches).

The artwork was based on a photo by David Nestor, licensed under Creative Commons:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thenestor/13570999

More on this 170th Disquiet Junto project — “Create a one-minute track that takes the project title, ‘A Glitch in the Night,’ as its guiding aesthetic” — at:
http://disquiet.com/2015/04/02/disquiet0170-midnightglitch/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto/

More on the One Minute Past Midnight series at:
http://oneminutepastmidnight.com/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/

Photo associated with this project by Javier Morales, used via Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/fsje4t

In my garden [disquiet0170-midnightglitch]

Simply a random field recording recorded on April 5th or 6th 2015 sometime around midnight in my SW Florida back yard. The track was then uploaded to my iTunes playlist and broadcast to an FM frequency from my iPhone through a mobile bluetooth device. I purposefully took it slightly off frequency to attain the static and a slight, indecipherable bleed through from a nearby station before recording.  

Disquiet Junto Project 0170: A Glitch in the Night
Create a one-minute track that takes the project title as its guiding aesthetic.

This project is the third in an ongoing occasional series that focus on late-night ambience. Collectively these nocturnal endeavors are being called “One Minute Past Midnight.” No one’s work will be repurposed without their permission, and it’s appreciated if you post your track with a Creative Commons license that allows for non-commercial reuse, reworking, and sharing.

The steps for this project are as follows:

Step 1: The primary goal of this project is to make a one-minute track. That track should, in your imagination, fit the description “A Glitch in the Night.”

Step 2: You may create an entirely original work that fits the brief project outline in Step 1. Or, you might choose to rework audio from one of two previous projects in this series, #0160 from January 22, 2015, and #0163 from February 12, 2015, both of which involve field recordings made of the sound one minute past midnight:

http://disquiet.com/0160/
http://disquiet.com/0163/

Step 3: If you choose, per Step 2, to use pre-existing material, locate segments that are especially quiet and meditative — and confirm that they are available for creative reuse. Many should have a Creative Commons license stating such, and if you’re not sure just check with the responsible Junto participant.

Step 4: Upload your track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.

Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Deadline: This assignment was made in the evening, California time, on Thursday, April 2, 2015, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, April 6, 2015.

Length: The length of your finished work should be roughly between one and four minutes.

Upload: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, only upload one track for this assignment, and include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please include the term “disquiet0170-midnightglitch” in the title of your track, and as a tag for your track.

Download: It is preferable that your track is set as downloadable, and that it allows for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution).

Linking: When posting the track, please be sure to include this information:

More on this 170th Disquiet Junto project — “Create a one-minute track that takes the project title, ‘A Glitch in the Night,’ as its guiding aesthetic” — at:

http://disquiet.com/2015/04/02/disquiet0170-midnightglitch/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

More on the One Minute Past Midnight series at:

http://oneminutepastmidnight.com/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Photo associated with this project by Javier Morales, used via Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/fsje4t


Night Air - disquiet0170-midnightglitch

Starseed [disquiet0170 - Midnightglitch]

Loopscapespace[disquiet0170 - Midnightglitch]

This track is dedicated to my Dad who passed away unexpectedly in his sleep on Saturday, October 1st. He was 58.

I had originally meant this as a bonus track to be included in the tape release of Healer, and had named it Sleep Now because that's what the music made me think of. But since Saturday, both the track and the name have taken on a completely different meaning to me.

The photo is a polaroid selfie of him from the late 80's, when he was working the US with the hope of bringing my Mom and I over from Poland to North America.

Rest In Peace Dad

Sleep Now (for Dad)

Six Conversations in Variation

Nails in Wood

www.triac-act.com
more here:
http://soundcloud.com/triac_sounds/departures-part-i
Follow us on last.fm too
http://www.lastfm.it/music/Triac_

Us - to Nils Frahm

parallel

My 33 1/3 series book about the Aphex Twin album <i>Selected Ambient Works Volume II</i> was published in 2014. The book was one of the top 5 bestselling titles for the calendar year, and in 2015 was ranked by Pitchfork as one of the "33 best" of the 100-plus books in the 33 1/3 series. It has subsequently been translated into Japanese (2019) and Spanish (2018)

Since 2012 I have moderated the Disquiet Junto group, which began on SoundCloud. More at disquiet.com/junto. 

I've written for Nature, Pitchfork, The Wire, Down Beat, Boing Boing, NewMusicBox, Red Bull Music Academy, Art Practical, the website of The Atlantic, and many other publications. 

I've exhibited sound art at galleries in Los Angeles (Crewest), Manhattan (apex art), and Dubai (DUTAC), and I had a audio-visual installation at the San Jose Museum of Art as part of its 45th anniversary.

And since 1996 I've run the website Disquiet.com about the intersection of sound, art, and technology.

Dowsabel is a musical/sound art project without many boundaries and a lot of exploration. I have started issuing limited edition physical releases of Dowsabel under my micropress/mail art project, Faint Press (faintpress.tumblr.com).

For high-quality downloads of complete albums, please visit dowsabel.bandcamp.com.


Nearer, my God, to Thee (remix) [disquiet0137-oldtimeelectronica]

Dowsabel

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Dowsabel

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