Disquiet Junto Set 2013 (Mark Rushton)

This past week I created The Chill, a 14 minute ambient piece based on a number of sounds originally created in Ableton Live.  It's available here:  https://soundcloud.com/markrushtoncom/the-chill as a free download.

In preparing the audio loops, I had to add a fade to the end of each one.  The original composition sounded terrible with harsh breaks because of imposed silences.  The fades improved the piece.

More on this 81st Disquiet Junto project, in which generative music is produced with four loops of differing lengths, at:


http://disquiet.com/2013/07/18/disquiet0081-cheapgenerative/


Original source track at this URL:


https://soundcloud.com/markrushtoncom/the-chill


More details on the Disquiet Junto at:


http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Nervous Chill (disquiet0081-cheapgenerative)

Disquiet Junto Project 0138: Video Sonic Void

Amniosis [disquiet0138-videosonicvoid]

I had the serendipitous experience of watching the video while a track I’d been working on was playing. To me, it just worked. I timed what I considered to be “events” in the video, found an appropriate section, grafted the opening (reversed) to the end so that it could be played as a loop like the video, and selected a short section from within to be used about 1 minute in, significantly altered and mixed down so that its effect was almost subliminal.

Amniosis is (in layman’s terms) a condition whereby the developed foetus is unable (or unwilling?) to leave its amniotic sac and be born into the real world.


----------------------------------------------


The Assignment: Compose a 2.5-minute soundtrack to complement a work of silent video art.

Many thanks to the San Jose Museum of Art for inspiring and encouraging this project.

This week’s project involves writing music to accompany a short video. The video is “Untitled #8, 2004″ by the artist Josh Azzarella. His original work is silent, and we’ll be adding music to it that complements the source material. Do note that the video is intended by the artist as a “Never Ending Loop.”

The instructions are straightforward:

Step 1: Watch the following video.

Step 2: Compose and record a piece of audio that matches the video in length.

Step 3: Upload your piece of audio to the Disquiet Junto group’s SoundCloud page, following the instructions below.

Step 4: Listen to and comment on the other tracks posted by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

The “Untitled #8, 2004″ video is archived along with other works on the following page at the artist’s website. “Untitled #8, 2004″ is the fourth video in from the left. Its length is 2:31 (2 minutes and 31 seconds):

http://www.joshazzarella.com/videoworks200408/

https://vimeo.com/21678371

Background Information: The “Untitled #8, 2004″ video by Josh Azzarella is part of the permanent collection of the San Jose Museum of Art in San Jose, California. This Disquiet Junto project is the result of an invitation by the Museum for me to develop a sound installation to be displayed on its second floor from October 2014 through February 2015. Tracks submitted to this project will be considered for inclusion in that installation.

Restrictions: Please do not, at the museum’s request, post the video online with your audio.

More on this 138th Disquiet Junto project — “Compose a 2.5-minute soundtrack to complement a work of silent video art″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/21/disquiet0138-videosonicvoid/ 


More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588


Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/    




Amniosis [disquiet0138-videosonicvoid]

About three years ago I got really interested in field recording as the main sound source for my pieces... especially different techniques to listen to hidden sounds in structures and trees. I made the piece "Inaudible Communications" from two recordings. The main sound throughout the piece is a contact mic. recording of a wire mast (approximately 150 feet tall) holding cell phone antennas and satellite disks. The other sound is a coil pickup recording of the electromagnetic radiation from a cell phone...panned and positioned in time...

Disquiet Junto Project 0139: Tech Technique
The Assignment: Create and upload a track that exemplifies explain one key process you’ve developed.

The Junto is as much about musicians listening to and communicating with each other as it is about making their own music. This week’s project aims to combine those two goals. The instructions are simple:

Step 1: Think of a specific technique that you are proud of having developed, perfected, or in some way folded into your work.

Step 2: Produce a short track that includes that technique.

Step 3: Upload the track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud, and in the notes field associated with the track describe the technique.

Deadline: Monday, September 1, 2014, at 11:59pm wherever you are.

Length: Your finished work should be between 1 and 4 minutes.

Information: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, 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.

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please include the term “disquiet0139-techtechnique″ 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 139th Disquiet Junto project — “Create and upload a track that exemplifies one key creative process you’ve developed″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/28/disquiet0139-techtechnique/

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/

The image associated with this track is by Wesley Fryer and was used thanks to a Creative Commons license. Originally posted here: https://flic.kr/p/2xz92x

- end -


“disquiet0139-techtechnique″ Inaudible Communications

Disquiet Junto Project 0139: Tech Technique

Gamalien [disquiet0139-techtechnique]

Audacity plugin: Sliding time scale

This is a simple plugin that is part of Audacity. It can also be used to provide a glissando, sliding pitch change. 

The time scale change stretches the duration of whatever piece of sound you sample, but in an irregular way – the longer the time selected, the more the sound is stretched at completion. It does this without breaking the sound up (as Tempo Change does, also a useful effect). Used over and over, and applied to a large sample, it stretches into something approaching a sine wave, but retaining the tonalities of the sample. Used to extremes, it begins to take on very strange characteristics and pulls the sound apart like toffee being stretched, with odd grains and sub-melodies appearing. You can take this further by repeatedly applying the effect to the tail end of the stretched sample.

This track is made from a random sampling of gamelan sounds (see http://ketuk-ketik.com/ ), treated in a number of ways using Audacity plugins. The first half is me having fun. The second half displays the Sliding time scale effect better than I can describe it.


----------------------------------------------


The Assignment: Create and upload a track that exemplifies explain one key process you’ve developed.

The Junto is as much about musicians listening to and communicating with each other as it is about making their own music. This week’s project aims to combine those two goals. The instructions are simple:

Step 1: Think of a specific technique that you are proud of having developed, perfected, or in some way folded into your work.

Step 2: Produce a short track that includes that technique.

Step 3: Upload the track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud, and in the notes field associated with the track describe the technique.


More on this 139th Disquiet Junto project — “Create and upload a track that exemplifies one key creative process you’ve developed″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/08/28/disquiet0139-techtechnique/ 


More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588


Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/    




Gamalien [disquiet0139-techtechnique]

My Technique may not be so fancy. This is created from only one breakbeats, one midi note triggered of each.  5 layer of samplers applied various controls. the pitches and harmonies you can hear are all processing results, extremely short loop oscillations, colored ambience from the snippet of drums. as usual such way is so hard to soften wild artifacts. bit heavy compression still harsh.

More on this 139th Disquiet Junto project — “Create and upload a track that exemplifies one key creative process you’ve developed″ — at:
disquiet.com/2014/08/28/disquie…139-techtechnique/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
disquiet.com/?p=16588
Join the Disquiet Junto at:
soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

photo: https://flic.kr/p/n5zXm8 by Jonathan Potts


Cold War Kids [disquiet0139 - Techtechnique]

After reading the Disquiet Junto assignment this morning I knew that I had to perform a duet with my soundboxes and the birds, wind and distant traffic... I live en a rural area so there isn't a whole lot going on apart from the above mentioned sounds...I found it to be sufficent to perform a piece, though. The picture show the soundboxes and the stage where i performed... My amigo Derek Holzer (American, living in Berlin) invented the soundbox and holds workshops around the world, where participants build their own. It's a small (0,5W) amp build into a woodenbox with a speaker. You use it to create feedback with a piezo pick up...my pickups have springs and strings glued ontop. You can alter and filter the sound by placing various objects on/in the speaker or on the box.... I really like my piece around the middle (1:10) where I get a conversation going with a crow... 
Check out Dereks page here: http://macumbista.net/ 


Disquiet Junto Project 0143: Tuning the Hood
The Assignment: Play a live duet with the world outside your window.

The steps this week are straightforward, and fairly open-ended. You’ll be recording a live performance of between two and five minutes.

Step 1: Choose a single musical instrument that you feel comfortable performing on solo for an extended period of time.

Step 2: Position yourself near an open window.

Step 3: You’ll be recording your performance, as well as the sounds outside your window. Position the microphone in a manner so that, to whatever extent possible, the outside is at a volume level somewhat equal to that of your instrument. This might best be accomplished by using two microphones simultaneously, and adjusting the volume after the performance and recording process are complete.

Step 3: Upload the finished track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.

Step 4: Listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow participants.

Deadline: Monday, September 29, 2014, at 11:59pm wherever you are.

Length: Your finished work should be between two and five minutes in length.

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.

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please include the term “disquiet0143-tuningthehood″ 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 143rd Disquiet Junto project — “Play a live duet with the world outside your window″ — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/09/25/disquiet0143-tuningthehood/

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/



“disquiet0143-tuningthehood″ feedingthebirds

I wanted to stack more firewood today and figured one load would take about 3 minutes round trip. It seemed to encapsulate the nature of my recent walks, that being fall.

Processed channel was the original recording run through wah>phaser>comb filter>reverb

http://disquiet.com/2014/11/06/disquiet0149-processingthepresent/

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 project by Jerolek and used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/9piCmd

Getting Firewood [disquiet0149-processingthepresent]

A shimmering soft, meditative fragrance from Forelight Laboratories.


More on this 150th Disquiet Junto project — “Record a subtle personal mobile score” — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/11/13/disquiet0150-sonicperfume/

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 project by Ben Crowder and used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/B5gLF

Parfum no.2 [disquiet0150-sonicperfume]

The Disquiet Junto project #150

My notes:
If this music is something that would be with us all of the time and be heard by others, I wanted to create something that I liked, but would not be offensive to others. Also, I wouldn't want something too up or too down, too dark, or too distracting. It had to have movement, but not rushed. That led me to the title, because my requirements are similar to the Buddha's teaching of The Middle Way. 
- I used six synths - 5 Alchemy and 1 Zebralette.
- During mix down I ran into a situation where one track just would not make it into the recording, yet I could hear it in the DAW (ReNoise) playback. I wasted about three hours trying to figure it out - and have yet to. I ended up pushing the audio output to Audacity. The irony of this challenge was not wasted on me, given the title and concept for this piece.

More on this 150th Disquiet Junto project — “Record a subtle personal mobile score” — at:
http://disquiet.com/2014/11/13/disquiet0150-sonicperfume/

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 project by Ben Crowder and used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://flic.kr/p/B5gLF

The Middle Way [disquiet0150 - Sonicperfume]

I used the track: Nightpatterns https://soundcloud.com/dascott/disquiet0350-nightpatterns      
vcvrack

R.e.m(disquiet0351)

I hope this helps you get to sleep...

I used Ethan's It's Oh Disquiet:
https://soundcloud.com/ethanhein/its-oh-disquiet-disquiet0350

 separated out the left and right channels to mono tracks, chopped it up and stretched it various amounts. added in the Shhhh from the Bjork track originally sampled and a ticking clock from freesound.org:

343130__inspectorj__ticking-clock-a

It's Oh Disquiet (Lunesta Mix) [disquiet0351]

This week’s project is as follows:

Please record the sound of an ice cube rattling in a glass, and make something of it.

Background: Longtime participants in, and observers of, the Disquiet Junto series will recognize this single sentence as the very first Disquiet Junto project, the same one that launched the series on the first Thursday of 2012. Revisiting it a year later provides a fitting way to begin the new year.

Description of my process in planning, composing, and recording Addition/Reduction (disquiet0053-ice2013):

I wanted to make this very fast.  I didn't have much time to devote to the Junto this weekend, what with all the sports on TV, obligations, chores, etc.

Not including uploading and writing the description, I completed everything in about 30 minutes.

I knew I was going to use the Samplr app for iPad for the composition, so I could record one WAV file, about 20 seconds in length.  This file was added to Samplr and multiplied across the six available sections for a project.  Then I played around with the various settings until I had 6 different interesting sounds.

The recording was a simple addition/reduction of the mix.  I added the six sections together over the course of the first minute, then slowly reduced the individual sections.

It took a little longer than expected because Samplr crashed once after some graphics started overlapping, something that hasn't happened before, but I saved the project before it fully crashed and nothing was lost.

The first half of the piece is intensely rhythmic.  The last half morphs into a shuffling, kind-of-ska beat.

More on this 53rd Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/03/disquiet0053-ice2013/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Addition/Reduction (disquiet0053-ice2013)

This week's project involves a shared set of source material. The source audio is the free solo piano album 'Screws' by Nils Frahm. 
 
Frahm, who's based in Germany, posted the nine-track album of short solo works for free download while he was recuperating from busting one of his thumbs.  He subsequently created a site to house all the remixed/reworked versions that admirers sent to him, as well as the videos and other responses that he received. 

This remix almost didn't happen.  I made a number of attempts, but was unhappy with the results.

Initially, I chopped out some sections of the tracks "Do" and "Re" and put them in the Samplr program on my iPad.  Later, I recorded off some of the altered (and not-so-altered) unmixed sounds within Samplr into my Zoom H1, and then transferred those files to my DAW for mixing.

After some false starts, I watched the movie The Descendants, which I hadn't seen before.  It was a really sad movie.  I like sad movies.  I figure it was the saddest movie I've seen since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, except the Diving Bell movie was much artier.  

So I thought I'd try to come up with something based on the idea of a Sad European Movie Soundtrack.  I wanted the recording to be real stark.  Minimal piano.  Like you're watching a lonely old French or Italian black and white movie where the soundtrack was transferred from an old worn out print.

It was fairly straightforward to create once I got the idea down.  And I got lucky with a brief dissonant section about 2/3s of the way through.

More on this 55th Disquiet Junto project at:
http://disquiet.com/2013/01/17/disquiet0055-twoscrews/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

More on the Frahm project at:
http://reworked.nilsfrahm.com/

Sad European Movie Soundtrack (disquiet0055-twoscrews)

This week's project requires you to make a field recording to serve as the source audio. These are the steps:

Step 1: Locate a clock that has an audible, even if very quiet, tick to its second hand. A watch or other timepiece is also appropriate to the task. 

Step 2: Record the sound of the clock for at least 30 seconds, and do so in a manner captures the sound in the greatest detail. A contact mic is highly recommended.

Step 3: Adjust and otherwise filter the recording to reveal the various noises that make up its tick. The goal is to get at the nuance of its internal mechanism.

Step 4: Create an original piece of music employing only layered loops of that sound. These layered loops can individually be transformed in any manner you choose, but at least one unaltered version of the original recording should be included in your piece. 

*

For this project, I had to rely on a recording by J. Siemasko (@Schemawound) since we don't have any mechanical clocks.

I edited out a 20 second piece of the recording, loaded it into the Samplr app on my iPad, and eventually crafted the arrangement you're hearing from 6 versions of the same loop.

What I ended up with was kind of like another "fake field recording".  This piece sounds like I stuck a microphone in the middle of a clock shop, but it's also picking up the sound of a motor or fan in the distance, and that recurring low whirring.  

I think the low whirring is essential in breaking up the strict tempos of "other clocks" and causing the listener to refocus every few seconds on the variety of rhythms produced, as each segment is completely different.

For years I've worked on many pieces that are largely defining that line between an ostinato and the point in which it becomes generative with the addition of layers, edits, processing, or delays.  A good early example of this from my work was the track "Flow", which I created in 2007 and released in 2008:  http://markrushton.bandcamp.com/track/flow

And in a way, Clockticktickclock is reminiscent of other Junto projects I've done, like Central Discount (disquiet0037-asrealasitgets) https://soundcloud.com/markrushtoncom/central-discount-120915 and In Our Dream Department Store (disquiet0038-asrealasitgets2) https://soundcloud.com/markrushtoncom/in-our-dream-department-store - although the technology used to create those pieces and this piece were entirely different.  I like how certain ideas can transcend technology.

More on this 56th Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/01/24/disquiet0056-matteroftime/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Clockticktickclock (disquiet0056-matteroftime)

Hi, this is Mark Rushton of Markrushton.com.  Since 2000 I’ve been making music, sound art, field recordings, and, since 2004, albums and podcasts of my work.

I create these sounds largely to get me through my work day.  I’ve worked as a software tester for almost 20 years, and so I need to have the ability to eliminate distractions, get into the flow, and focus on my work.  And this music does it.

Most of it is relatively unobtrusive – for lack of a better term – “ambient” music.  It works for me.  Maybe it’ll work for you.

Music in the background includes:

"Beneficial" - the title track from http://markrushton.bandcamp.com/album/beneficial

"Office Ghosts" - the second track from http://markrushton.bandcamp.com/album/hide-yourself-in-plain-sight

"You've Got Less Time Than You Think" - the final track on http://markrushton.bandcamp.com/album/vacation-sketches

If you want to check out more of my music, follow those links to Bandcamp.  Most of my albums at Bandcamp start at $1.  Or you can subscribe to my free podcast at http://www.markrushton.com

More on this 60th Disquiet Junto project at:

http://disquiet.com/2013/02/21/disquiet0060-audiobio

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

More details on the SoundCloud "audiobiography" project at:

http://blog.soundcloud.com/2013/02/06/audiobiography/

Audiobiography: Mark Rushton (disquiet0060-audiobio)

This was recorded on Saturday, March 23rd in the late morning.  I went for a run and took along my Zoom H2 in case there might be any interesting sounds for this junto.  It was colder out than what I like to run in, upper 30's, but sunny with only a light breeze.  It was a good run and I did about 3 miles.  Not bad for not having run all winter.  I hate running when the temps are below mid 30's and won't run on snow or ice.  There's always my indoor recumbent cycle and weights instead, or a trip to the natatorium for a swim.

I've been in a creative funk lately.  No desire to do anything new, edit anything old, or even mess around.  I hate that, but I go through those kinds of times.  It's nice to have the junto emails to at least consider, and this week I figured I'd try to break out by working on this one.

There were a number of 1-minute recordings made, but I picked this one.  I must admit that I couldn't take notes at the time when it was recorded live, so I listened once when I got back and scribbled on an index card.  In the mean time I had lunch, a shower, watched some college basketball and then attempted to make sounds based on what I wrote down.

Rochester Ridge is a new set of homes built just to the north of my 70's-era neighborhood.  They're big and quite expensive, about double the average price for a typical single family home, and most of the lots are the size of a postage stamp.  They're selling like mad, though, and perhaps 20 of the 53 planned homes have been put up in the past 16 months and most are sold.

Two homes recently got roofs put on, and I was lucky to capture the tail end of some nail gun action on one of them.

Additionally, there are sounds of birds, a plane overhead, a car passing by, and other sounds typical of a neighborhood.

I composed my non-field recording piece using Samplr on the iPad.  These were based on recordings I created using Ableton Live.

*****

Disquiet Junto Project 0064: Composing from Memory


This week’s project's theme is composing from memory. It is recommended that you read through all the steps in the project before proceeding to attempt to execute it.


These are the steps:


Step 1: Find a place, preferably outdoors, where you can sit for five to fifteen minutes without being disturbed. This place should have a fair amount of inherent noise to it, and that noise should be variable, not static — i.e., not the long held drone of an overwhelmingly loud HVAC system, but the bustle of a street corner, or of a playground, or, if weather or other circumstances keep you indoors, perhaps of a busy cafe.


Step 2: Bring with you a portable recording device as well as something on which you can quietly take a small number of written (or typed) notes. You may wish to do a test recording to be certain that your note-taking isn't part of the audio recording.


Step 3: Settle into the space and get a sense of its sounds. Listening closely.


Step 4: Make a field recording of one full minute, or a little longer, of continuous sound in this place. While recording the sound, use time codes to make note of any memorable sonic instances.


Step 5: Trim the field recording to exactly 60 seconds.


Step 6: Without listening back to the field recording, compose and record a 60-second piece intended to complement it. Refer back to your time-code notes to align composed instances with those real-world instances that you recall having distinguished your field recording. You can use whatever instrumentation you like, but it is recommended that you use no more than one or two instruments. You should not employ any field recordings in your composed piece.


Step 7: When your composed piece is completed, layer the two tracks together into one new 60-second work. They should be played back at equal volume, more or less. You can adjust a little to achieve the impression of balance between the field recording and the composed work. The only editing you can do is to fade in and out, if that is so desired.


Deadline: Monday, March 25, 2013, at 11:59pm wherever you are.


Length: Your finished work should be 60 seconds long.

More on this 64th Disquiet Junto project at: http://disquiet.com/2013/03/21/disquiet0064-halflive 

More details on the Disquiet Junto at: http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto

Nervous Chill (disquiet0081-cheapgenerative)

Mark Rushton

Related tracks