Naviar Haiku submissions

A piece composed for the Naviar Haiku http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/

"Someone else's clock / During the long night / I count all the strikes"

This is a modular piece that uses two quantisers that are transposed throughout the piece such that they are never in the same key.  These drive two pairs of oscillators, one from each pair ring modulated with one from the other pair to give the bell like sounds. A lot of complex sequencing involving prime numbers and different length sequences ensures it never quite repeats.

Someone Else's Clock [naviarhaiku101 - Someone else's clock]

Through the ages
rising above the mountains
tonight's moon

Haiku by Inoue Shiro

http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/136732575773/naviarhaiku105-through-the-ages

The repeating sequence represents starlight (and the 'ages'), the brassy sound is the mountain, and the higher shimmering melodic line that appears gradually is the rising moon. 

Tonight's Moon [Naviarhaiku105 - Through the ages]

My attempt at some music for Naviar Haku 106: Sunrays.
I tried to represent the needles underfoot by the crispy noises, the dark mystery of the pine forest with the deep foreboding bass, offset by the brighter rays of sunlight, and then cut through by brighter shafts of light.

I am guessing the poem is saying that the pine trees look like snake gourds (which I hadn't heard of before - they are long and thin and hang down off their vines - I can imagine the trunks of pines would look like them in the bright sunshine?)

"Sunrays - 
Between the pines we see 
snake gourds"

Poem by Ichihara Tayo-Jo

Sunrays [Naviarhaiku106 - Sunrays]

This is my entry for this week's Naviar Haiku:

"The sleet falls / As if coming through the bottom / Of loneliness"
Haiku by Naito Joso

This is as usual 100% modular,  one take, straight into the  computer. The reverb is Strymon BigSky, and the Mix and Tone levels are being controlled by the modular via the expression pedal input. 

The Sleet Falls [Naviarhaiku107 - The Sleet Falls]

My entry for NaviarHaiku 114 - http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/

"Where do you come from? / Borders on Earth fall away / as we fly upwards" - poem by David Pulsford

This is a modular piece that uses multiple LFOs and envelopes both as modulation sources and as a method of triggering events (using a comparator) - meaning that the outcome is derived from simple rules but exhibits complex behaviour - much like the universe. And us. 

From Whence We Came (Naviarhaiku114 -where do you come from?)

My piece inspired by Naviar Haiku 115 
"You know where you are?" / "Um..."  The boy studied the map.  / "Well what's the next stop?" 
(poem by Visceral/Realism)
http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/141157095428/naviarhaiku115-you-know-where-you-are 

I also took inspiration from the famous Lao Tzu quote "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - the concept behind the piece is that the music sets off with a single step, it's journey is initially hesitant, as though it were unsure where it is going.  At times during the journey,  it is lost and halts to find it's bearings; at other times it strives forward as though it knows where it is going, but ultimately it is simply going with the flow. 




Hesitant Steps (NaviarHaiku115 - You Know Where You Are?)

My Entry for this week's Naviar Haiku.

"Melting windshield frost / warm guitar in thin earbuds / sun coming through leaves"  by Michael Neal Morris (aka Blue Monk Writes).

Tried a different approach this time, with lots of computer manipulation of layered audio in Acid Pro.  I am a synthesist, not a guitarist, so you will be pleased to hear that no guitars were harmed in the making of this track.  I tried to get a shivering, shimmering, cold sound using lots of layered drones with multiple reverbs, and a low pass EQ that gradually changes as the track moves on. There was a track I made yesterday that had a sort of warm fuzzy electric guitar sound which I put through a band-pass filter to make it sound as though it was being heard playing on someone else's earphones. I wanted that to be the only warmth in the track, but not too warm so it is like the guitars are the gentle warmth of sun through leaves.  I added a field recording of some birds to give an early morning scene and also to lend the track some 'air'. 

It came out interestingly enough to post - but watch this space there may be another totally different attempt within the week.

Melting Frost (NaviarHaiku116 - Melting Windshield Frost)

My submission for this week's Naviar Haiku challenge. 
"The vast kelp forests / create spooky habitats / blocking out the sun" by Meg / Haiku Lizard.  
http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/141958661023/naviarhaiku117-the-vast-kelp-forests

The track uses three gradually shifting melodies with a lot of reverb (and no dry signal) as well as some echoes to give an underwater feel. The top end has been rolled off quite a bit to remove some of the 'light' , and the tone control on the reverb (Strymon Big Sky) has been severely cut to avoid the high frequencies.  The burbling noises are pink noise put through a resonant Wasp filter, which has the frequency swept by a random output, and is also occasionally pinged by a randomly triggered and very short envelope. This is panned randomy, and also each side of the stereo field is treated with different EQ and levels of reverb / echo. 

The Vast Kelp Forests (NaviarHaiku117 - the vast kelp forests)

This week's Naviar Haiku challenge was based on this haiku by Kashyapi: "Silence arrives / as mountains / wrapped in rain"

I tried to represent the mountain as a contant, solid feeling bass note, with a cloud layer drifting over the top (the brassy sound). The rain was represented fairly literally with the random sequenced high notes, but then a second 'rainlike' sequence that morphs and changes over the course of a few bars is also present to give the chilly feeling and add more weight. By opening filters and adding harmonics the 'mountain' is given shape, and then disappears as the whole piece dissolves into silence at the end.   

Not only was this a single live take, it was also the first take! :-)

Update: Following some feedback, I have tried a second version, with the mid-range sequence much less prominent: https://soundcloud.com/ikjoyce/the-mountain-take-2

The Mountain (naviarhaiku-118-silencearrives)

I thought I would try something a little different this week. All sounds are from the BassStation2, using patches made by me. I initially came up with a melody line based on the words of the haiku, and that is the 'bass' melody. The rest was all just ad-lib. 
It turned out a little more melancholic than I expected.

"Over the meadow / through the deep valley of dawn / lies the morning sky"  by lzlabs
http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/142734530908/naviarhaiku119-over-the-meadow

The Valley Of Dawn (Naviarhaiku119 - Over the meadow)

This week's Naviar Haiku is by my-crazy-random-happenstance: "Momentary halt / A brief but violent silence / Quieting the mind" 

I instantly saw in my mind the intensity curve for this, so I drew the curve on some paper, and then set about making it happen. I recorded three different rapid arpeggios with discordant notes, making tweaks to the sound as I went to follow the intensity curve, and with each take suddenly stopping at the appropriate moment.  I also recorded a gradually building bass note to give a bit of extra intensity to the sound. I had one of the takes use a much shorter reverb tail - this was so that I could leave that in for a bit of 'air' in the sudden stop. The other takes were deliberately 20 second long reverbs - I wanted to cut the sound with a sharp volume envelope in AcidPro, and then gradually build the volume back up so that the reverb tails made a nice gentle bed for the second part of my impulse curve.  Over the top of the quiet moment, I recorded a simple phrase that represented the relaxing of the mind. I then took reversed copies of the original sequences and gradually brought them back in and out, as a reminder that it was only a brief respite from the cacophony of life.   Once again, all sounds were made on the BassStation2, and Strymon BigSky reverb. 

Brief Respite (Naviarhaiku120 - Momentary halt)

This week's Naviar Haiku was a little different for me, as it was one of my own poems being set! I have never tried setting them to music before (I had actually forgotten I had written them until recently), so this is my attempt. I am really looking forward to hearing what everyone creates! 

My track was created using multiple ad-libs on the BassStation2, plus some piano, and a little bit of Dark Energy. 

Poem by ikjoyce: "Hush descends / Darkness envelops all: / Dreamers soar" 

http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/143476960738/naviarhaiku121-hush-descends 

Dreamers Soar (Naviarhaiku121 - Hush descends)

For this week's Naviar Haiku, I improvised at the piano, imagining looking at the rippling waters below. I tried also to represent the bridge as a rising and later falling motif. This is the best performance I did, but annoyingly it was recorded too hot and distorts :-(  So - here is another recording which is cleaner but maybe not as interesting in my opinion : https://soundcloud.com/ikjoyce/the-river-naviarhaiku122-mid-point-of-the-bridge-take-2

Poem by r-d-w: "Mid-point of the bridge / I hover above / the river's currents"

http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/143836265323/naviarhaiku122-mid-point-of-the-bridge


The River (NaviarHaiku122 - mid point of the bridge) Take 1

For this week's Naviar Haiku, I improvised at the piano, imagining looking at the rippling waters below. I tried also to represent the bridge as a rising and later falling motif. Annoyingly the best performance was recorded too hot and distorts :-(  So - this is a different take, which is cleaner but not as interesting in my opinion. 

Poem by r-d-w: "Mid-point of the bridge / I hover above / the river's currents"

http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/143836265323/naviarhaiku122-mid-point-of-the-bridge


The River (NaviarHaiku122 - mid point of the bridge) Take 2

This week's Naviar Haiku from Max St John, inspired by playing with his son on the beach: "In his eyes / sunlight glistens / the universe reflected"

For this, I imagined looking at the sparkling sun reflected in the child's eyes, and then getting drawn in and seeing there is more depth, and then drawn in further starting to see the child's universe opening up - all the memories had and those to come, overlapping in space and time... then a sudden jolt back to reality on the beach. 

I had the perfect sample of a child being extremely cute, a short snippet from a much longer recording of a park in Brussels (I was recording a violinist busking, but the brief noise made by the cute kid stole the show!). The beach was a recording I made in Brighton,  and the rest of the 'memories'  were raided from the last few years worth of field recordings, quite haphazardly overlaid with a few choice ones carefully placed for effect (like the swans flying overhead - an amazing sound!).  I didn't have as much time to work on this as I would have liked, otherwise all the samples might have been more carefully chosen and placed - but then a little aleatoric influence is not a bad thing.  

The shimmering synth is a BassStation2 playing an arpeggio of the Tristan chord, using a high pass filter to gradually add more lower frequencies, and the attack/decay/sustain constantly changing to adjust the type of sound from sharp points of light to smooth clouds of imagery. 

A Universe Reflected (NaviarHaiku123)

This week's NaviarHaiku is by Back Roads Haiku: "North of the mountains / alien and dangerous / - darkening clouds" .

I wanted to express the feeling of clouds, which usually involves a certain amount of lightness, but for this haiku it needed an element of darkness too, some 'grit' to make them a little menacing.  I created a patch on the BassStation2, which starts out as just noise and distortion, but gradually I bring in the other oscillators. The dry BS2 signal is not present - it is totally through the Strymon BigSky reverb, so has a nice 'pad' sound even though it is monophonic. As the track progresses, I add some delayed signal, which means you get to hear some of the notes as they play. Over the top of this, I am also playing ad-lib on the modular.   This is a 100% live take, recorded straight into the computer, no post processing or overdubs.  

I am also preparing for a live gig on 4th June, and I think this piece may form the basis of the opening section....


North Of The Mountain (NaviarHaiku124)

This week's Naviar Haiku is courtesy of Frank Jaspers: "Ink-black birds scatter / writing lines of free verse / across a paper sky"

I took this fairly literally - I chose to improvise at the piano, using fairly straight-played white notes to represent the sky, and more freely played black notes to represent the birds and their 'free-verse'.  I also tried to give it a sort of 'late summer evening' feeling. 

This was actually my first take but I was really happy with how it came out.  Apologies for the noisy background - my PC seems to have caused a bit of a ground loop that I couldn't shift. Working on it!

Ink Black Birds In a Paper White Sky (NaviarHaiku127)

This week's Naviar Haiku is by Subtle Seas:  "Evening light / sipping from the glassy rim / of high moon". 
For more information visit: http://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

To prove how much of an inspiration these Haiku are:
The sound ideas came to me straight away on reading it, I sat at my un-patched modular, took aim, and there it was - from my head, into a bundle of wires, and recorded in the space of an hour.  I think that is a record for me :-) 

My track was made using my modular synth - I wanted to create a sort of glassy tone, but also to evoke evening. I find that the sound of a slowly played harmonica evocative of evening, so I aimed for a sort of harmonica / glass hybrid as my main 'melody'. I added another voice making some random twinkles to evoke the stars and twinkling lights.  This all needed something to contrast against, so a deep bass was added to add the weight of the evening shadows.  I then added a field recording of some birds to add a bit of air to it all.  

The Glassy Rim Of the High Moon (NaviarHaiku128)

This week's Naviar Haiku is by Geoffrey Wilson, author of 100 Mississippi Delta Blues Haiku, a collection of haiku that explore the similarity of life in the Mississippi Delta, even the Blues, and everything Southern, to the agrarian life which spawned Japanese haiku:
"I saw prisoners / Sowing wildflowers /By the road today"

I took a different approach this week, as when I saw the haiku I had just come back from a trip to Krakow. While there I visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. The remains of the camp at Birkenau were covered in a vast meadow of wild grasses and flowers, and skylarks were singing in the air above the death road- it was a very strange sensation, as though nature had chosen to ignore the horror that happened there.  Seeing the haiku, I could not help but make the connection with the prisoners there, and how their ashes have undoubtedly fertilised the meadows that now cover the site.  

I tried to get some recordings of the skylarks, but only managed to get a few very short snippets accompanied by the tramping of the visitor's feet as they walked. So I stretched these samples using Paulstretch in different ways to get some tonal washes from the noise. 

Details of Naviar Hakiu here: http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/post/146305769953/naviarhaiku129-i-saw-prisoners

Prisoners Sowing Wildflowers (NaviarHaiku129)

This week's Haiku was by Angelee Deodhar:
"In the mist / lost on mountain / temple bells"

I had just received my A-110-4 QZVCO this week, which is perfect for making bell like sounds. I used a combination of FM and AM to achieve the temple bell. I also used some of the output to create long modulated drones to represent the mountain, with some very subtle sequencing to add beating rather than actual notes. Also some long notes from the Dark Energy with a bit of envelope control over the pitch to evoke   'Tibetan horn / OM' like sounds. I added some filtered white noise to add atmosphere and represent the mist. Cliche I know, but hey it works.   None of the clocks on this are strict time, everything is modulated so it has some sort of structure but with some free movement too.  This is a single take recording, no overdubs.  

Details here: http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/

Temple Bells (NaviarHaiku130)

This will be my place for Naviar Haiku and Disquiet Junto entries.
-Experiments may appear on YouTube from time to time: 
https://www.youtube.com/user/ikjoyce
-Albums will be released on Bandcamp: 
https://ikjoyce.bandcamp.com/

New album "The Endless Solitude Of A Skylark's Song" now available:
https://ikjoyce.bandcamp.com/album/the-endless-solitude-of-a-skylarks-song

Album 'Selene' now available on Cassette / Download from Naviar Records: 
https://naviarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/selene 

**Albums now available on iTunes, Amazon, Deezer, Spotify, and Google Play**  

I make electronic ambient and drone music using modular synthesis to explore themes of nature, space, isolation, man/machine interaction, and the borders of the sleep/wake cycle.