@abeno-matto: i second your thought on this.

the sound of this synth has a strange emotional, voice-like quality to it.

m a y b e y o u h a v e i n s p i r e d m e t o c r e a t e a g a i n.

Disquiet Junto Project 0220: Rhythmic Arrhythmic

For the rhythms I used a collection of 6 loops randomly chosen from my collection of found sounds and noise samples. Some samples were cut into smaller chunks, repeated and layered until something rhythmic appeared. I used a very short chunk from one of my earlier tracks, chopped it up, resampled and time stretched to create the backing "chords". I used a recording of a crowd in a sampler, repeated across the keyboard with various loop lengths. These were "played" to create a glitchy vocal texture. Little melodic bits and a descending bass added for flavour. 


Disquiet Junto Project 0220: Rhythmic Arrhythmic

The Assignment: Make overtly rhythmic music from short loops of overtly arrhythmic source audio, following instructions from Dennis DeSantis.

Dennis DeSantis adapted this week’s project from the chapter “Implied Rhythm in Short Loops” from his excellent book Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers. The project explores how rhythm emerges from almost any audio material if short fragments of it are repeated incessantly enough.

Step 1: Find or make an audio recording of the arrhythmic material of your choice and gradually reduce its loop length until rhythmic patterns begin to emerge.

Tip: This usually works well with loops that are no longer than about two seconds.

Step 2: Use the inherent rhythm in these short loops as the basis for a piece of new music in which the “discovered” rhythm is clearly audible.

APOB - Shrink Spin Chop [disquiet0220-rhythmicarrhythmic]

This week's Disquiet Junto project: Sight Read a painting as a graphical score. 

I examined the painting, noting the different types of symbol. I interpreted them thus:  
Black = Octaves and fifths
Red = Minor chord
White = Major chord
Horizontal line = broken chord (i.e linear) 
Vertical line = chord stab
Square = Held chord with broken chord underneath.
Where there were two lines above each other, I played two lines together. 

Examining the score closely, and you will notice that the third vertical line on the fourth row is actually more to the left than the other vertical lines - in that way I realised that each black line is three units long (hence the broken chords being three notes long). Each stab occurs at the third unit of a block of three , except that one on the fourth line that is on the first position. That is what gives rise to the unusual little syncopation just before the two major chords. 

This recording is of me literally sight reading the score at the piano.
I have tried a different one without the gaps as well, but I made a mistake so I need to re-record it when I have time. 

More on this 225th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score”) at:

http://disquiet.com/0225/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

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

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image originally posted (and viewable in larger scale) at

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

Serial Killer (disquiet0225-serialcomposition)

This week's task was to transform the image attached to this track into a graphic notation. There were 12 symbols, so following the concept of Serialism,  I transposed each symbol to a note within an octave, which I played by hand into Ableton Live via Push. I used Operator for playback and then to add embellishment I found an old piece of audio from my archives, which I hosted in the granular sampler the "Mangle", which was automated semi-randomly and triggered by the same midi notes. Some compression was added to the Operator track to add kick to the sound and some delay was added to the Mangle track to add atmosphere. Finally I used instances of Eventide's UltraChannel plugin on each channel and the master to add some depth and texture.

More on this 225th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score”) at:

http://disquiet.com/0225/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

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

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image originally posted (and viewable in larger scale) at

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

+*~ism [disquiet0225-serialcomposition]

**Production Notes**

Okay, conceptual it is. I went back to my Disquiet Junto 133 submission https://soundcloud.com/analoc/0714-disquiet-junto-133-little. 

Every little symbol on the score got its own sound now, panning and FX track. I isolated 8 different symbols and added sounds accordingly. 

1. Black horizontal lines:  Absynth
2. Black vertical lines: Chromaphone
3. Red full dots: Chromaphone
4. Empty dots: Kontakt Una Corda
5. Empty horizontal lines: Rhythmic Robot Orgatone 601
6. Red half vertical lines: Absynth
7. Empty vertical line: Absynth
8. Empty vertical line: Absynth

Musically, I stuck to the same simple chord I used for „Calm“. Note values were played just by chance. 

After 6 notes, there was a slight pause, then the next six notes started. I tried not to stick to a beat or metronome. 

* * * 

**Disquiet Junto Project 0224: Cold Embrace**
Disquiet Junto Project 0225: Serial Composition
Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score.

This week’s project takes as its subject a painting recently posted by art critic Blake Gopnik. Seen here, it dates from around 1948, he writes, and is by the Argentine artist Lidy Prati (1921-2008). In his description, Gopnik references Piet Mondrian, whose music is often associated with musical scores. Both the grid-like structure of Prati’s piece and its title, “Serial Composition,” suggest it as the subject of sonic investigation. Gopnik connects the piece to computers: “[I]t speaks of a system that can generate them. Computers and their algorithms seem on this painting’s mind, at a moment when computers still filled entire rooms with vacuum tubes.” (Note that as I was researching this project I came across work by Marcelo Gutman, who has created colorful score tributes to Prati.)

These are the steps for this week’s project.

Step 1: View the circa-1948 painting “Serial Composition” by Lidy Prati at this URL:

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

Step 2: Consider it as a musical score. Think about the sort of musical composition that “Serial Composition” might be.

Step 3: Record yourself performing “Serial Composition” as a graphically notated musical score.

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

Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.

Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Deadline: This project was posted in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, April 21, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, April 25, 2016.

Length: The length is up to you, though between two and three minutes feels about right.

(…)

More on this 225th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score”) at:

http://disquiet.com/0225/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

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

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image originally posted (and viewable in larger scale) at

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364


Eight Lines [disquiet0225-serialcomposition]

Disquiet Junto Project 0225: Serial Composition
Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score.

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

Looking at the painting it reminded me of a Baroque Fugue, perhaps due to the implied plodding pace of the symbols within the 6 by 6 grid. 

I started by arbitrarily applying notes to symbols, horizontal dashes were C, vertical dashes were F, double dashes were C + E and so on. Keeping with the Baroque theme I used four parts, each part identical, but played at different tempos. The result is OK and gives some interesting note clusters. If I had more time I was thinking of rotating the image 90 degrees clockwise and using the same rules to create a counterpoint... something for a slower day. 

This week’s project takes as its subject a painting recently posted by art critic Blake Gopnik. Seen here, it dates from around 1948, he writes, and is by the Argentine artist Lidy Prati (1921-2008). In his description, Gopnik references Piet Mondrian, whose music is often associated with musical scores. Both the grid-like structure of Prati’s piece and its title, “Serial Composition,” suggest it as the subject of sonic investigation. Gopnik connects the piece to computers: “[I]t speaks of a system that can generate them. Computers and their algorithms seem on this painting’s mind, at a moment when computers still filled entire rooms with vacuum tubes.” (Note that as I was researching this project I came across work by Marcelo Gutman, who has created colorful score tributes to Prati.)

These are the steps for this week’s project.

Step 1: View the circa-1948 painting “Serial Composition” by Lidy Prati at this URL:

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

Step 2: Consider it as a musical score. Think about the sort of musical composition that “Serial Composition” might be.

Step 3: Record yourself performing “Serial Composition” as a graphically notated musical score.

APOB - If It Aint Baroque, Don't Fix It [disquiet0225 - Serialcomposition]

I've used the various symbols on the painting to create a generative sequence. With each symbol representing a different "operation" or movement in the melody.
The operations used are:

Horizontal dash = Up a semitone
Double Horizontal = up a tone
Vertical dash = Down a semitone
Double vertical Dash = Down a tone
Red box = An downward three note turn (inverted gruppeto)
White box = A upward three note turn (gruppeto)
White dash = Inverted mordant
Red dash = Mordent 

With these operations I constructed a tone row beginning on C and the first 8 bars of the piece follows this "set", I then extemporised and extended the basic pattern for the remainder of the piece.
Not a "serial" work by the strictist definition, as there is much repetition within the tone row, but it does use all twelve tones. 
 Some interesting colours being generated and actually quite a recognisable melody. The harmonies are mostly quartal or quintal voicings  alternating between C-F-Bb and D-G-C with chromatic movements here and there.
  

More on this 225th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Sight read a late-1940s painting by Argentine artist Lidy Prati as a graphically notated score”) at:

http://disquiet.com/0225/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

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

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image originally posted (and viewable in larger scale) at

http://blakegopnik.com/post/142806762364

Twelve Tone March (disquiet0225-serialcomposition)

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Disbelief

An experiment with the WBL5515 that turned into something musical.  Whodathunkit?

Wbl5515-3

Chad Taylor is a composer, performer, songwriter, and producer who currently lives in the middle Tennessee area.

A member of ASCAP, he has composed for independent film and his music has been featured on PBS's History Detectives, MTV's True Life, A & E's Biography, and satellite radio all over the world. As a bassist he has performed with Wind-Up Records artist, Evanescence; Austin, TX indie rockers Ivison; and currently performs with Speak Music Media artist, Death Comesto Matteson.

He plays bass, guitar, keys, cello, and sings and holds a Bachelor's of Music Composition from Middle Tennessee State University.

Wbl5515-3

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