This is my keyboard miniature response to this week's @naviar-records haiku challenge. Here's more information about that:

"an autumn nightfall
the skeleton of a huge fish
drawn back by the sea."

Saitō Sanki (1900 – 1962) was a dentist who discovered his passion for haiku poetry in his mid-thirties, when his colleagues at the hospital in Soto Kanda convinced him to write a haiku for a collection. Later, he became one of the most important exponents of wartime haiku: he was imprisoned in 1940 during the government’s World War II persecution of controversial artists, and was officially forbidden to write until the end of the war.

haiku by Saitō Sanki

image extract from a picture by John Jason

Submission deadline: 5th November 2025
To find out more and participate, visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

the skeleton (naviarhaiku617)

the harp player
moves under cover
market day

kjmunro cultivates poetry on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation & the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. She founded & facilitates ‘solstice haiku', a monthly haiku discussion group in Whitehorse, & manages a weekly blog feature for The Haiku Foundation called Haiku Dialogue. She is the recipient of the 2023 Borealis Prize – The Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, & her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019).

haiku by kjmunro

Picture by Indira Tjokorda

The Naviar haiku music challenge invites artists to make music in response to a weekly assigned haiku poem. Participation is free and there are no limitations in the songs’ length or genre. To find out more and participate, visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

SONG 125 - NaviarHaiku618 - The Harp Player

Part of the Naviar Records Haiku Music-Challenge:
https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku618-the-harp-player/

the harp player-naviarhaiku618

the harp player
moves under cover
market day

kjmunro cultivates poetry on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation & the Ta'an Kwäch'än Council in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. She founded & facilitates ‘solstice haiku', a monthly haiku discussion group in Whitehorse, & manages a weekly blog feature for The Haiku Foundation called Haiku Dialogue. She is the recipient of the 2023 Borealis Prize – The Commissioner of Yukon Award for Literary Contribution, her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, & her debut poetry collection is contractions (Red Moon Press, 2019).

haiku by kjmunro

Picture by Indira Tjokorda

Submission deadline: 12th November 2025
To find out more and participate, visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

The Harpist (NaviarHaiku618)

Made in response to this haiku:

the harp player
moves under cover
market day

Naviar haiku challenge 618, details here: https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge

I already had the field recordings I needed to frame the track, a combination of a food market in Catania Sicily and Brixton Market south west London. Recordings from this sound pack: https://www.luftrum.com/free-field-recordings Sold in aid of WWF Denmark.

I then used VCV Rack to build an evolving sequence and a self generating melody, the main elements of the track. To these I added minimal background elements also VCV to form a bridge between the sequenced elements and field recordings.  

With all the synthetic elements ready to go I mixed and assembled the field recordings that open the track, having done a "Dry run" to test my mapped physical controls and multi track recordings setup for the VCV elements I took a guess and mixed the field recordings that close the track. When I hit record and did the live mix I found I was wildly wide of the mark so while the opening and all the synth elements are as performed I'll admit to sliding the closing set of field recordings into place after the event. 

The Harp Player - (naviarhaiku - 618)

https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku619-almost-black/

almost black
deepening purple
ripe grapes

by: Masaoka Shiki

Regarded as the father of contemporary haiku, Masaoka Shiki was a poet and literary critic during the Meiji period Japan.

He advocated realistic observation by “sketching” (shasei) poems and going out into nature with notebooks, thus abandoning the traditional subjects of haiku of the time. His advice for an aspiring poet was, “Use both imaginary pictures and real ones, but prefer the real ones.”

Haiku by Masaoka Shiki

Picture by Hassan Anayi

anthocyanin [ naviarhaiku619 ]

made for the naviar haiku challenge n.619: https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku619-almost-black/

(almost) black (naviarhaiku619)

Inspired by Naviar Haiku 691:
www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku619-almost-black/

Thanks to Marco Alessi from Naviar Records for the weekly challenge!

Photo by zenbytes (La Palma, Spain, 2015)


deepening purple - Naviarhaiku619

This track was created for the Naviar Haiku group.
621
https://www.naviarrecords.com/naviarhaiku621-deutzia-in-full-white/

2025-11-27

Deutzia in full white  (Naviarhaiku 621)

For naviarhaiku 621 entitled "deep in the night" taken from the haiku.  Milky Way  Photo by Chris Prasol

deep in the night               Naviarhaiku 621

My submission for the Naviar Haiku Challenge #621.

More on the challenge here: https://www.naviarrecords.com/haiku-music-challenge/

Deep in the Full White Night - naviarhaiku618

I'm primarily a visual artist both 2D and 3D, for the last decade I've operated almost exclusively in the digital 3D realm.   since the late 80s I've made periodic forays into the sonic world, MIDI sequencing, minimalism, musique concrète, found sounds  and improvisation. I am seldom happy with anything and seldom consider a piece finished.

The Harp Player - (naviarhaiku - 618)

Mr_Lamppost