I took this cloud photo last week whilst sitting on the beach in the early morning attempting to gather my thoughts, just before work. I had just captured a field recording of the sea when I noticed this cloud looming above the cliff edge, so I’ve chucked that in here too for good measure. 

I wanted to somewhat try to capture the mood I was in when I noticed the cloud. 

In response to the prompt I used:

Free image to MIDI Max for Live device in Ableton - to turn the cloud photo into midi data

https://tomcosm.gumroad.com/l/ZiGjZ

(White areas of cloud photograph image were rendered as absences of MIDI data i.e. 0s)

Probability gate on a Kontakt Irish Harp freebie VST I picked up recently which I'd been curious to try out and the prompt seemed as good a time to do so as any. I don't normally used sampled instruments much but this one was quite fun to work with. The multiple probability gates helped to make the rendered image to MIDI data less dense and more listenable to:

https://maxforlive.com/library/device/6982/mm4l-probability-gate

Disquiet Junto Project 0604: Heaven’s Gate
The Assignment: Use a picture of the clouds as a plan for adjusting your sound.

Step 1: Think about the use of a gate in music production. A gate can be described as an “on/off switch, allowing signals over threshold to pass while muting everything below.” (It’s likely that discussion will occur during this project regarding useful explanations of the concept.)

Step 2: Take a picture of some clouds.

Step 3: Think of how to interpret the clouds as a model of a gate.

Step 4: Record a track employing the approach you determined in Step 3 using the picture from Step 2.

I took the cover photo in Ashland, Oregon, earlier this year; no filters were employed. Regarding the title, I’m a Michael Cimino admirer.

Source: https://tapeop.com/interviews/33/noise-gates/ 2

Eight Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:

Step 1: Include “disquiet0604” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your tracks.

Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0604” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation of a project playlist.

Step 3: Upload your tracks. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your tracks.

Step 4: Post your track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0604-heavens-gate/

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

Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #DisquietJunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.

Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Step 8: Also join in the discussion on the Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to marc@disquiet.com for Slack inclusion.

Note: Please post one track for this weekly Junto project. If you choose to post more than one, and do so on SoundCloud, please let me know which you’d like added to the playlist. Thanks.

Additional Details:

Length: The length is up to you. How fast are those clouds moving?

Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, July 31, 2023, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, July 27, 2023.

Upload: When participating in this project, be sure to 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. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.

Download: It is always best to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution, allowing for derivatives).

Cumuliform disquiet0604

Sinny: cymbal screeches, knives, knocking, stomps, growls, whimpers, gasps, icicles, Logic synths

Thesoundcatcher: waterphone sample

More on this 617th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Haunt Scape (The Assignment: Halloween is coming up. Do your thing), at: https://disquiet.com/0617/

The cover image (enlarged, type added) is from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull#/media/File:3d_CT_scan_animation.gif

That image is credited to Arielinson and used thanks to a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0617-haunt-scape/

Screeching Spirits (disquiet0617)

hello everyone,

i took one of my favourite lines from wallace stevens

"sad men made angels of the sun"

and converted it to morse code midi, which i then used to trigger the different parts of a sampled drum kit.

kick = steady beat

sad = hihats
men = snare
made = floor tom
angels = rack toms
of = ride cymbal
the = agogo
sun = finger cymbals

the drums slowly fade into a return track (shifter at -12st >> reverb >> distortion)

the cymbals slowly fade into another return track (arturia efx fragments) which then slowly bleeds back into the first return track

- - - - - - - -

More on this 619th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual (The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch), at: https://disquiet.com/0619/

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0619-beat-accrual/

[disquiet0619] beat the sun

Years ago I made this patch in VCV Rack (version 1, mind you!) to show how easy it is to make polyrhythms using Frozen Wastelands BPM LFO. Now I only had to add some kind of build-up to comply with this week's assignment from the Disquiet Junto. I chose Squinky Labs Graycode, so that any possible combination of instruments will be heard. 

There are eight instruments. A kick is heard on every first and third beat, a snare on every second and fourth, a tom between the beats and a hihat plays eighth notes. Then the fun starts: a ride plays triplets, a rimshot quintuplets and a cowbell septuplets. Finally there is a "swoosh" for which the BPM LFO was set to (well, why not?) 11:73.

There is a video available at  https://youtu.be/BDX4Wte-ErY 

More on this 619th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual (The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch), at: https://disquiet.com/0619/

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0619-beat-accrual/

Beat Accrual (disquiet0619)

This track started from a 2 drum loops that I chopped and separated into more tracks. Then I applied different settings to them such as EQ and distortion. For the arrangement, each elements is added at regular interval until the beat is complete. Later I added additional synths, all with a certain rhythmic feel to them.

More on this 619th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual (The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch), at: https://disquiet.com/0619/

About the Disquiet Junto: Disquiet Junto F.A.Q. – Disquiet

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0619-beat-accrual/

Don't Give Her Your Number (disquiet0619)

I created the bass drum sound using my microvolt, the hi hat from noise going into the WMD Geiger Counter into the 292t, the snare from noise into the 292t, and some bleeps / bloops from a resonant filter.

I faded the elements in over a short period of time. From there, I evolved it further - dialed up the distortion from the Geiger Counter on the hi hat, modulated the envelope on the snare, and on the bleeps and bloops I crossfaded in an oscillator, heavily fm'd which interacted nicely with the resonance. From there, I fed it into the delay no more, which added some distortion and chaos to the mix.

After that, faded everything out but the delay'd signal until it died out.

More on this 619th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual (The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch), at: https://disquiet.com/0619/

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0619-beat-accrual/

Sunday Drum Jam - disquiet0619

Rhythmic doodle created on my iPad in Patterning 2, then modified in GarageBand. 

I started initially with a 6/4 framework but hopefully the meter is fairly unclear and confounding throughout.

Disquiet Junto Project 0619: Beat Accrual
The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch.

As is generally the case with any instructions, it’s best to read all the way through before beginning.

Step 1: Create a complicated beat (define “complicated” as you see fit). Keep track of the individual parts.

Step 2: Record a track in which the beat from Step 1 slowly accrues over time. For example, break the original beat into its constituent parts and then add one at a time, repeating the arrival of each addition for four beats (assuming you’re doing the project in 4/4). That’s just one way to accomplish this.

Also: You might adorn the beat with other elements while it’s accumulating, or after, or you might simply leave it on its own.

More on this 619th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual (The Assignment: Rebuild a complicated rhythm from scratch), at: https://disquiet.com/0619/

About the Disquiet Junto: Disquiet Junto F.A.Q. – Disquiet

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0619-beat-accrual/

Additive Interplay disquiet0619

Hey, I worked on this track by @fake-genius
https://soundcloud.com/fake-genius/disquiet0619-ritm

I like it because it’s the sweet blend between demented and easy to follow.
I spent the whole day recording my upright bass, bowed, for a different project. I did 16 tracks of a repetitive thing, with rhythmic delays, so I am hot with the bow.
Here I did 8 tracks, so 4 stereo pairs (everything double tracked) and added two delays, one in 1/4th and another doing 1/8th notes.

For this junto:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0620-beat-accrual-accrual/

Fake Beat Accrual - Disquiet0620 w/Fake Genius

I took the track by x i i i x x I  from project 619 & simply added a compatible bass drone.

More on this 620th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Beat Accrual Accrual (The Assignment: Turn someone’s slow-build beat into a finished track), at: https://disquiet.com/0620/

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0620-beat-accrual-accrual/

Beat Accrual Bass - With X I I I X X I (disquiet0620)

More on this 621st weekly Disquiet Junto project, The Leftovers (The Assignment: Use recently discarded material to make something new), at: https://disquiet.com/0621/

About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0621-the-leftovers/

The Leftovers

Disquiet Junto | The Leftovers - disquiet0621

Just kidding - of course there was going to be a chiptune track in the game. This is the only pure chiptune in the game, though I did include elements of it in other songs. The tutorial area of the game takes place inside of a computer simulation, which lent itself nicely to this compositional style. I wrote it largely using tritones, augmented 5ths, and the whole tone scale to make it sound deliciously dissonant. 

Key: C (though just barely)
BPM: 160

Gravity Storm OST - Tutorial Stage

Independent producer-composer from France, based in the UK

Don't Give Her Your Number (disquiet0619)

Oryndax

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Jimmy Lem

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