Wow! Martin, this track is simply superb!

Boxes_#1

Dubstep version of Harald Genzmer's "In the evening" (fragment) for bass recorder and electronic. My own elaboration upon the initial bars of the original for solo recorder mixed with electronic rhythms and effects.
Photograph by myself :=)

In the evening • H.Genzmer/E.Schmied

‘carthago delenda est’
Track created for the Disquiet Junto Project. http://www.disquiet.com
0649 = Concerto for [ ]. Write a piece of music informed by the concerto form.

Concerto for Noise and Noises.
- Allegro ma non troppo (cadenza by PM).
- Lento.
- Presto agitato.

Dedicated to Caterpillar.

Tools :
Pam’s > DFAM, Marbles, SIG.
- Telharmonic (N out) > Optomix > Desmodus Versio.
- DFAM (noise) > Sisters > DSP.
- Plaits (filtered noise).
- Drum2 (noise crush).

Diode Chaos, Batumi, Rnd Step, 3x MIA, Mutes.
Tetrapad, A-138s, StMix, Black stereo mixer, Listen IO.
Recorded live and mastered with Logic Pro X.

****

More on this 649th Disquiet Junto project ("Concerto for [ ]. Write a piece of music informed by the concerto form") at:
https://disquiet.com/0649

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
https://disquiet.com/junto/

Project discussion takes place on https://llllllll.co/

Associated image : Petrus Major.

Noise Concerto [disquiet 0649]

Lumière Errante (Wandering Light) / colab w/ Vincent Carlton Oscillator

RIP David Lynch.

Disquiet Junto 0681 directed us to compose a sonic scene from a thriller, a walk or run to remember. If you're familiar with my work you know that I love a good narrative piece, and recently the Junto has encouraged a bit of sound design, so I felt well-prepared.

I wanted to avoid the trope of a woman being followed late at night, and instead went with the trope of the hitchhiker who may not be all that she seems to be. I spent a lot of time on stereo orchestration so please use headphones when listening.

Instrumentation was simple: a custom pad called "Shipwreck Organ" provided the pedal tone, with a lonely live guitar following along with minimal and mournful notes. 

There were a lot of samples used in this piece. The cars passing along the highway were hidden deep in Apple's Final Cut Pro library folder. The sound of single car approaching, idling, car door slamming, and pulling away is a composite of samples from Pixabay and field recordings. The BBC archive provided the car crash sample. The night sounds were from a field recording made in rural Virginia. The crunch of gravel underfoot took a bit of foley work: a recording of a potato mashing into a bowl of granola and manipulated a bit in Logic. The under-the-breath singing and humming of the hitchhiker was a live vocal performance recorded in studio and processed.

More on the 681st weekly Disquiet Junto project, Drama Course — The Assignment: Record a piece of music to transform a walk or a run into something theatrical — at https://disquiet.com/0681/

The Hitchhiker (disquiet0681)

This week’s Disquiet Junto prompt got me thinking about the somatic vs autonomic nervous systems, and how performing music can be a dance between muscle memory and intellect, instinct and intention. In reflecting on how I could explore this tension intentionally, I set out to record a minimal number of tracks, each of which had combination of attributes that were either ignored, made without decision, or deliberate.

The tone synths are custom patches designed on Logic’s physical modeling synth, Sculpture. I largely ignored pitch and concentrated on shaping and manipulating long-held notes with combinations of mod wheel, pitch wheel, and aftertouch performances.

The bass was recorded live with my Lakland. I selected a single note played at octaves, so I was able to hold the same fingering all the way through (which hurt) and not think about it (except it hurt). I paid closest attention to the way I plucked the strings, aiming for consistent intonation.

The piano part was fun, using a tinkly detuned patch I call “Gasoline Piano”. I downplayed rhythm and paid close attention to the selection of just the right notes for the broken melody.

As is my habit these days, all of the parts were recorded live, first takes only, no looping, and little to no editing.

I have to confess that this piece represents my second attempt at this week’s prompt. I spent the better part of a day with another idea, and as intriguing as it was, I simply could not make it work. It was hard to let go, but finally I listened to my intuition, set it aside for another day, and returned to the prompt with a fresh mind.

More on the 687th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Applied Science — The Assignment: Record a piece of music that includes physiological and behavioral techniques — at https://disquiet.com/0687/

The Hand with a Mind of Its Own (disquiet0687)

The 688th Disquiet Junto prompt invited us to consider a common road sign and interpret it as a musical instruction. There's a sign in the alley behind my house that reads

SLOW 
CHILDREN
AT PLAY

So, my response. The instrumentation is simple, just four layers: my favorite grumbly piano, a juicy analog synth bass, an eerie motion pad, and a custom feedback patch on the Sculpture physical modeling synth. The percussion is a hand clap performance that I recorded for the piece. But I am most proud of the vocals: they are not synthetic, they are not samples, they are an organic vocal performance that has been heavily processed.

I really enjoyed doing the research for this piece, digging into the origin of children's rhyming, clapping, and jumprope games. 

I learned that Miss Mary Mack was a performer in a Black-owned circus and tent show that toured the American South in the 1880s. I discovered the "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" connection between Lizzie Borden and The Cat Came Back: the Lizzie Borden rhyme was often sung to the tune of "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay", a popular vaudeville song; and according to one variation of the cat chant, the seemingly indestructible cat is finally done in when he hears an organ grinder playing "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay" and drops flat dead.

Fair warning, I went full-on creepy for this one.

More on the 688th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Sign Up — The Assignment: Interpret a routine public sign as a musical instruction — at https://disquiet.com/0688/

The Slow Children at Play (disquiet0688)

This week's Disquiet Junto prompt, #0689, challenged us to perform a piece with something that we use in making music, but that is not normally considered an instrument.

I'm on the road this week and unfortunately away from all the physical materials that play a supporting role in my studio. The one tool I did have with me though was the pink noise generator in my DAW.

A mixing trick that I learned a while back involves creating a temporary audio channel with just pink noise. You then mix the levels of each isolated audio track against the pink noise threshold. Mute the pink noise and you have a balanced mix. So pink noise has a material impact on my music, but it remains invisible. That met the criteria well enough in my mind under the circumstances.

This piece uses 5 layers of the same 10-second sample of pink noise, subject to beat breaks, step sequencers controlling filters, weirdly configured noise gates, and an awful lot of live manipulation to hopefully create something of interest out of the least interesting sound in the studio.

More on the 689th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Supporting Players — The Assignment: Elevate the presence of your non-instrument equipment — at https://disquiet.com/0689/

Pink Noise Gonna Get You All (disquiet0689)

a nice mix of four different sound textures found in the archive over the last year
the first part were compsed by two midi sequences written during the functional tests of an elektron octatrack mkII 
the sequences were subsequently rearranged from their original form and assigned to four different patches created with phase plant
Also used are Korg Native Opsix, F'em Traction, xfer Serum.
daws: ableton live, cubase, adobe audition
work in progress

Tremens lux

Tremens lux   *pay attention to the volume

trying to keep the balance

diary is a container for my spontaneous and emotional electronic music. it is a mirror of my momentary mood and thoughts. I try to stay simple and pure, just recording my improvisations, using hardware devices like strega (make noise), neutron (behringer), arturia keystep pro, elektron model cycles, behringer edge etc - no computer, no cuts, no edits. The moment matters. Stay imperfect and fresh ! Enjoy!

trying to keep the balance

martin kratochwil diary

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