Disquiet Junto Project 0635: ’Round the Bend
The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train.

Step 1: Listen to this short recording, under a minute, of a passing train, recorded by Todd (Toaster) Elliott:
https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/train-source-1

And, if you’d like, to this longer one, which is a little over 10 minutes:
https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/train-source-1020

Both are available to download.

Step 2: Record a piece of music using the field recording as the rhythm track. You can use the shorter one, or a segment of the longer one. Make sure the original is audible in your final work.

Deadline: Monday, March 4, 2024, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.

More on the 635th weekly Disquiet Junto project, ’Round the Bend — The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train — at https://disquiet.com/0635/

The image associated with this track is a photograph by Todd (Toaster) Elliott, who also provided the field recordings of the train.

Disquiet Junto Project 0635: ’Round the Bend

Disquiet0635
Epsom Downs Train on Platform 9


More on the 635th weekly Disquiet Junto project, ’Round the Bend — The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train — at https://disquiet.com/0635/

Todd (Toaster) Elliott  provided the field recordings of the train.

disquiet junto trax

DISQUIET0635_epsomdowns

added the train recording to 2 audio tracks in Ableton and 2 midi tracks converting the train to a Bass and Arp2600 Drums. added warp modes and reverbs, Corpus, echo, resonators, and various delays for this train wreck.

Disquiet Junto Project 0635: ’Round the Bend
The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train.
Step 1: Listen to this short recording, under a minute, of a passing train, recorded by Todd (Toaster) Elliott:
Step 2: Record a piece of music using the field recording as the rhythm track

More on the 635th weekly Disquiet Junto project, ’Round the Bend — The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train — at https://disquiet.com/0635/

TrainWreck disquiet0635

disquiet0635 - squeamish peptides

I extracted some of the better quality bits from the longer track and added an experimental sequence I recorded with small instruments, then added a little reverb.

More on the 635th weekly Disquiet Junto project, ’Round the Bend — The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train — at https://disquiet.com/0635/

The image associated with this track is a photograph by Todd (Toaster) Elliott, who also provided the field recordings of the train.

Train Texture (disquiet0635)

Disquiet Junto Project 0635: ’Round the Bend
The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train.

This is a remix of a track by @horsthelmood based on a recording of a czech railway staff member serving food and drinks in a train. Thanks for providing the original track for remixing.

The image associated with this track is a photograph by Todd (Toaster) Elliott, who also provided the field recordings of the train. Thank you for that.

More on the 635th weekly Disquiet Junto project, ’Round the Bend — The Assignment: You’re in a duo, and your bandmate is a train — at https://disquiet.com/0635/

Train Mantra - HorsthelMood vs. Bot (disquiet0635)

For this week's Disquiet Junto prompt, we were invited to collaborate with a train sample that was provided to us.

I've often joked that it's only a matter of time before any given artist or band makes a song about a train. I never thought that day would come for me. A moral dilemma.

To get the full sensation of being tied up on the tracks, I recommend listening to "The Trolley Problem" with headphones.

Recorded and produced at NOSIGNAL Multimedia Labs, The Shambles, Chicago.

More about Disquiet Junto 0635: https://disquiet.com/0635

Disquiet Junto

The Trolley Problem (disquiet0635)

The track I prepared probably does not correspond perfectly to the rules of the challenge....anyway.
Nothing experimental, it is a classic tonal track, totally instrumental, without samples and particular sound design.
Simple Euclidean sequencer in B flat/F key that drives percussive instruments (wood, metal).
I found an old piece (only the final master) in which each independent cell of the sequencer generates a new pattern and each pattern represents a different channel/layer (12 in total).
The variations of the layers are therefore given by the score.
This creates a game of interlocking pieces, in which the alternation/modification of the channels is given by the fragment/channel played.
The various patterns/channels are parallel (Pan and L/R).
For the continuity of the sound I created drones with  organ and double bass (long bow).

Canone XII (disquiet0696)

[disquiet0697] seq

As usual, there is an abundance of fantastic pieces to collaborate with. I finally decided on Aaron Hofman's work, because there was something about its slightly off kilter ambience that seemed to suit the later spring rain that is settling in for a few days. I added just a bit of gritty drone, augmented with a bit of reverb to further set the mood. 

disquiet0698

A guitar part added to CJ McGregor's modular rhythm part, for the second of three phases of a collaboration.

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

Second Third on the RIght! (disquiet0698) CJ McGregor x Torpid Scorpion

This is the second third of the #DisquietJunto Trios project. The left-panned section was Torpid Scorpion's contribution, while the piano on the right comes from me.

Second Third - Disquiet0698

For a second collaboration I used the track by alanblip (https://soundcloud.com/alanblip/b-drone-disquiet0697) and added another dark drone to the right.

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

Drone Double - with alanblip(disquiet0698)

This is my submission to this week's Disquiet Junto assignment. The audio panned all the way to the left was recorded by Krakenkraft as the first part of a trio. The right channel contains Boundary Objects'  contribution for the second part of the trio. My contribution can be heard panned to the center.

 More on the 699th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Third Third — The Assignment: Record the final third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0699/

Third Third [disquiet0699] w/Krakenkraft and Boundary Objects

A solo acoustic charango performed by me looking through the windows on my studio.
Two microphones, a great sounding room, some convolution reverb added.

Photo: the view through my windows this morning 29/May/2025

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0700-view-frame/

through my window - disquiet0700

Suss Müsik has been traveling a lot lately. Thus is the nature of having to work for a living, a privileged state that appears to be accelerating toward some form of extinction. That’s probably a gripe for another Junto project.

On a recent trip to a U.S. city not to be named, Suss Müsik captured this strangely bucolic view outside the hotel window. Look closely, and you’ll see evidence of gentrification in the urban landscape: a new corporate housing unit dominates the left side of the image, obscured by a rich envelope of foliage. There appears to be some sort of mosque in the background, perhaps representing one of the orthodox faiths, next to what might be a church steeple. A rustic brick dwelling sits confidently where it was built some 300 years ago. Just beyond that is a budget hotel and what is likely a corporate office building, both filled to half-capacity.

The intention of Suss Müsik’s sonic interpretation was to demonstrate this weirdly haunting mashup: a blend of classical ‘old world’ architecture residing in an environment of aggressively digital commercialization. It is a scene where progress is measured in glass panels, beige is the new brown, innovation is temporal, and humans interaction relies on the conductivity of elemental particles. If you can imagine the setting of a Milan Kundera story retold through a series of YouTube Shorts, that’s sort of the vibe this image presents. 

This piece for cello, violin, piano, and electronics was recorded quickly to TASCAM 8-track. It is dedicated to Marc Weidenbaum and all participants of the Disquiet Junto community. Here’s to 700 chapters and counting.

More on the 700th weekly Disquiet Junto project, View Frame — The Assignment: Share a peek out your window and some sounds inspired by the view — at https://disquiet.com/0700/

Urban Entropy [Disquiet0700]

More on the 704th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Right on Cumulus — The Assignment: Compose 8-bit music inspired by a Cory Arcangel / Super Mario video — at https://disquiet.com/0704/

more halF unusuaL

halF 8biT [disquiet0704]

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.

Other sounds at http://ccmixter.org/people/softmartin
and on YT a synthesizer version of IN C
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-5G1dvy3o

The Rigs involved cooperation with various musicians; in particular
Melanie Creighton ( steamengines & synthesizers)
Manuel Mario Celeste ( vcls, viola, gtr, synthesizers)
Mortimer Craddup ( bass, drums)
Carlos de Rimini : Drums, drum programming

DISQUIET0635_epsomdowns

martinsea

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