This week's Disquiet Junto involves creating a track using the 'zero-input mixer' method - which means that no overt sound sources are allowed - the noises are created using feedback loops form the mixer and any effects that are applied to the loops. 

I have done some ZIM work  before (https://soundcloud.com/ikjoyce/zero-input-mixer), so know just how important it is to be careful with levels! You have to really be ready with the kill switch / faders when feedback ramps up! It is usually advised to add a hard limiter to the end of the chain to prevent massive volume spikes. 

I did mine in my modular - using an A-138-m matrix mixer - this allows me to route four inputs into four outputs in various levels. It also allows me to send the signals either right-way up or inverted, which can help tame the feedback a little by letting me add in the inverted signal to the chain. I ran the loops through a few filters, a BBD delay module, and a Springray reverb unit (on large tank). The output went via a filter to the mixer, and had a large reverb added courtesy of the Strymon BigSky.  I then recorded as I played around with the various mixer knobs, filter cut-offs , tone controls on the springray, and delay length on the BBD.   The resonance controls on the filters was was turned down to avoid putting the filters in self-oscillation, which would have been contrary to the idea of a ZIM I feel!

A related idea is to use no patch cables between modules- just to play with the self-oscillations that can be created in individual modules:  -  and also a similar concept of using no patch cables: https://soundcloud.com/ikjoyce/self-oscilation 

Zero Input Mixer - (Disquiet0232)

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.

Quando eu morrer batam em latas,
Rompam aos saltos e aos pinotes,
Façam estalar no ar chicotes,
Chamem palhaços e acrobatas!

Que o meu caixão vá sobre um burro
Ajaezado à andaluza...
A um morto nada se recusa,
Eu quero por força ir de burro.

Mário de Sá-Carneiro

C H E A P  C O N C R E T E  |  C O N T R I V E D  G L I T C H E S™ | C O N T EN T  S O L U T I O N S

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.