Pocket Devices

Modular Synthesis

These are tracks in which I participated in Disquiet Junto. It's amazing and you should do it too! Find out more here: https://disquiet.com/2013/04/25/disquiet-junto-faq/

Disquiet Junto Projects

A short playlist of my favorite experiments

Featured Tracks

Starting off 2020 with daily jams to get me back into the swing of creating.

Jamuary 2020

You can make some really weird sounds with the Bastl Kastl 1.5. As evidenced by this strange little tune I generated, accompanied by a PO-28. (The original video this man posted is actually quite fun and lovely and not creepy at all. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olnm66Uxy8U )

Kastl 1.5/PO-33: "Deranged Calliope"

My ability to donate blood is very meaningful for me. (I'll share the full story another day.) One of the many things I've enjoy about giving blood is that the Apheresis machines make the COOLEST sounds!! I've always wanted to sample and use these sounds for music and so I figured it was a great first test run for the PO-33. This is by no means the last time I will make music with apheresis samples, but this is a decent start! I also sampled my Bayan and the Kastl 1.5 for some additional instrumentation.

PO-33/Kastl 1.5: "Apheresis"

I babysat some young adventurers currently interested in the field of robotics. With their help, and some samples from the Kastl 1.5. I made a soundscape to represent their endeavor.

PO-33/Kastl 1.5: "Ellisian Robotic Technologies"

I did this Junto while on Catalina Island for a wedding weekend, so all I had was my PO-33 and my Bastl Kastl. I recorded some tones with my Kastl and layered three melodic lines into the PO-33. I also added some percussive elements I recorded on the island. Simple but effective.

Catalina Counterpoint [disquiet0352]

I had to end today's live-stream early because my internet was crappy, but here's a jolly little patch I was working on at the time.

Video Giant

Made a jam on my 35th birthday during my stream. Here it is.

Birthday Jam #35

Making my own @podular_modcast patch challenge with “Pleasant Pulse”. This patch shows how badly I need a clock divider and a delay.

Jan 3: "Pleasant Pulse"

A study in running the @schlappi_engineering Angle Grinder through the @ericasynths and @gamechanger_audio Plasma Drive. Filthy.

Jan 2: A Study on Angle Grinder thru Plasma Drive

Decided to do Jamuary patch challenge style: 15 minutes with a prompt or focused on a single module. First time I’ve used my BIA and I’m already hooked. Thanks @controlvoltage!

Jan 1: A Study on Basimilus Iteritas Alter

Used a mix of serialism and indeterminism to create today’s jam.

Jan 5: Isms

Tonight’s performances by @aurick_leere and @snowdnstudios inspired me to experiment more with the natural rhythms that circuits can create rather than controlling everything with a sequencer. @schlappi_engineering and @trogotronic work together super well on this kind of stuff

Jan 4: Natural Rhythms

While making this patch on stream, a buddy looked at my modular and said it looked I was patching the Millennium Falcon's Hyperdrive. Hence the name.

Made in eurorack, relying mostly on the Make Noise Tempi and the Noise Engineering Basimilas Iteritas Alter.

Hyperdrive [disquiet0429]

This one started with this Guitar Journey(https://soundcloud.com/stefan_strasser/cum-on-feel-the-noize-disquiet0429) by @stefan_strasser followed by these epic drums(https://soundcloud.com/gus-576228330/disquiet0429-74-drums) by @gus-576228330 which was masterfully edited by @flyingtonefish. I couldn't resist adding some noisy distorted synth nonsense to the whole shebang. The end result reminded me of [Fox/Soper Duo](https://nnatapes.bandcamp.com/album/magenta-line) hence the goofy opposite name "Goose/Contaminator". This was a blast and a half to make.

Goose/Contaminator [disquiet0431]

This one started with [this lovely piano theme](https://soundcloud.com/baconpaul/a-third-disquiet0429?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0429 by @baconpaul followed by [some hip trumpet action](https://soundcloud.com/stull/a-second-third-disquiet0430?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0430) by @stull. At first I was reluctant to engage this one because it sounded so nice already, and I usually make obnoxiously noisy synth sounds. I decided to give it a go and I'm super glad that I did. I managed to create a complex synth voice that sounds like a cello in the lower registers, and sounds more like a clarinet in the highs. I'm much more composer than player, so I had to record the part in sections, but who cares. I'm super pleased with the result. This is probably the disquiet I'm most proud of being a part of, and it taught me that I can do some really cool things with my synth I didn't know I could do. This means I can make some pretty music alongside the harsh stuff.

A Third Third [disquiet0431]

One more grand experiment with the Basimilus Iteritas Alter by @noiseeng. This is "Air, Air is a Smelt Subtitle". All drum sounds came from a single BIA.

Air, Air is a Smelt Subtitle

This was all done with the fantastic new Gamechanger Audio Motor Synth. https://www.gamechangeraudio.com/motor-synth/ I started with just one voice, and gradually added the second voice, messed with some modulation settings, cross modulation, filter resonance and pitch modulation, then finally started detuning the voices. This thing excels at long complex tones. I highly recommend looking into it.

Steel Whine [disquiet0460]

I ended up doing a bit more of a scattered gradient than a straight one. I love playing with uneven clock sources. This patch was mainly made using the Olegtron 4060E.(https://www.perfectcircuit.com/olegtron-4060e.html) which is a cool little device where you can plug electronic components directly into the module, basically live circuit bending. I used this as both a sound source and an irregular clock, timing the Synthstrom Deluge. The "Gradient" was first slowing down the speed of the Olegtron, which in turn slowed the Deluge, Then bringing a new "Gradient" up by increasing the number of drum sounds on the Deluge. The result was not straightforward, but I ended up with some super interesting sounds.

The title comes from a time years ago during an easter celebration, where one of my friends kids uttered the phrase "That Hits Me Right in the Deeps." That phrase has stuck with me.

That Hits Me Right in the Deeps

That Hits Me Right In The Deeps [Disquiet0463]

I'm posting this over a week late, so I don't remember how exactly I did this patch. I do remember it involved trying to slow down the very unpredictable Trogotronic m/679 "Gran Fury", which lended to some interesting results. It also sounds like I used the Basimlas Iteritas Alter and Polaris filter quite a bit too.

While the term "Corpsicles" has been coined by many, I remember it mostly from the end of "Shards of Honor" by Lois McMaster-Bujold. There's a very moving scene where a cleanup crew after a space battle is searching for dead bodies in the wreckage. Highly recommend all of her "Vorkosigan Saga" novels.

Corpsicles

Corpsicles [disquiet0432]

I took https://soundcloud.com/k-blamo/recording93disquiet0472?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0472 from https://soundcloud.com/k-blamo and added a trumpet-thru-modular track. Final participant will probably want to do some mixing, and perhaps eq the final tracks a bit.

Noise 94 [disquiet0473]

I took https://soundcloud.com/zoundsabar/icy-rhythm-pt-1-of-3-disquiet0472-mono-on-l?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0472 from https://soundcloud.com/zoundsabar and did this thang. It was an attempt at trumpet through modular, but I must have had some levels wrong, because you can't really hear the trumpet and I don't have time to re-record it. Oh well. Live and learn. Final musician should use the stereo track from the original piece IMHO.

Icid [disquieto473]

I took this awesome track https://soundcloud.com/stefan_strasser/mostly-stereo-feat-half-unusual-disquiet0473?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0473 by https://soundcloud.com/half-unusual and https://soundcloud.com/stefan_strasser. I added some eurorack modified trumpet, which allowed me to bring out my inner Miles Davis, kinda Bitches Brew style. Had a ton of fun with this one.

The name comes from a James Acaster joke, commenting on how weird it is that so many cartoon teeth have teeth. This kind of brain train can reminds me of that style of music. It probably makes the most sense when you're on drugs, or wish you were.

Do The Tooth Teeth Have Teeth Too? [disquiet0474]

For this one I took this track https://soundcloud.com/user-859240368/dronedrumdrub-disquiet0473?in=disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0473 by https://soundcloud.com/melondruie and https://soundcloud.com/user-859240368. And ended up with this chill atmospheric drum thang.

The name comes from this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbVpAwGGGs. It still makes me laugh every single time. Also the piece ended up sounding like smooth dad jazz.

Daddy Butter [disquiet0474]

Sonic exploration and creation from Seattle, Washington. Discovering new materials, patterns, and concepts for music composition.

Feldspark

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