project dirigent selections

Disquiet Junto Project 0226: Bucky Ball
Compose music for a fictional greatest-hits collection of the electronic music of R. Buckminster Fuller.

This is an early tape piece created by Fuller in the 1950s; a collage of electronic sounds and musique concrete from the period when he was influenced most by Cage and Stockhausen. There are moments that are reminiscent of Oram, Babbitt and Varese. 

The title “Pentagonal Transmigration” is a Fullerism referring to the movement along the edges of intersecting polygons. Specifically, the movement from one adjoining vertex to another. 

Analysis:
Fuller based the structure of the piece on the idea of interconnected polygons where sounds follow the movement between adjoining vertices. Each vertex is associated with a unique sound. Movement from one vertex to another causes a short segment of sound to be heard. 

[Created from excerpts of classic electronic music pieces of the era. Composers include: Cage, Stockhausen, Varese, Ussachevsky, Messiaen, Babbitt, Barron (Louise and Bebe), Maxfield, Oram and Xenakis. A total of 20 sounds are played in a Pure Data patch that follows the path of adjoining vertices in a 20-fullerene. This was done twice, the second time following a different path. Edited in Audacity.]

Creative Commons license granted.

More on this 226th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Compose music for a fictional greatest-hits collection of the electronic music of R. Buckminster Fuller”) at: http://disquiet.com/0226/

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


Pentagonal Transmigration [disquiet0226]

Naviarhaiku125 - rhythmic woodpecker

Late winter, northern wilderness. Snow and ice beginning to melt. Afternoon light through trees. Wildlife stirs.  

Woodpecker (and friends) is a canon at the minor second, also the interval of the sustained motive. Headphones recommended. Lots of subtle low frequencies. 

New Calmoldoli Hermitage, Big Sur, May 2016.

Special thanks to Freesound.org especially: dobroide, Ephemeral_Rift, mystiscool for sounds used in this piece.  


A Separate Place [Naviarhaiku125 - rhythmic woodpecker]

Disquiet Junto Project 0232: No Input
The Assignment: Record a piece of music exploring the concept of “no-input mixing.”

This was the first time I’ve tried “no input” mixing. I was really surprised at the variety and complexity of sounds that came out. Very cool. 

Equipment: Mackie 1202 (I used 2 channels of feedback) and a voltage controlled delay (Ray WIlson design) modulated with a Wogglebug (mostly random step). Edited in Audacity. 

Creative Commons license granted. 

More on this 232nd weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Record a piece of music exploring the concept of ‘no-input mixing.'” — at: http://disquiet.com/0232/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

No Input Mixer [disquiet0232]

Disquiet Junto Project 0238: Magnifying Contact
The Assignment: Record a piece of music, emphasizing the sounds of production over the music itself.

Open the case, assemble the instrument, check the reed, wind up the metronome...

Got out my bassoon and recorded the first thing that came out. I wanted to start the piece with the sound of the bassoon fading into a dreamy texture. I captured a few notes and stretched them to make a long A minor drone to go under other sounds.  The minor second (e to f-natural) ended up sounding really dark and mysterious. Layered the notes and faded them in and out using the envelope tool in Audacity. 

I went back and recorded a bunch of key clicks and instrument noises and stretched them a bit to blur the sound. They came out sounding like gasps! Added an intro and ending.

This turned out sounding really different from my original plan but I went with it. A bassoon in need of exorcism. Use headphones for maximum heavy breathing. 

Recorded on a Zoom H5. Edited in Audacity. 

Thanks to carroll27 on Freesound.org for the metronome sound. 

Creative Commons license granted. 

More on this 238th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Record a piece of music, emphasizing the sounds of production over the music itself” — at:

http://disquiet.com/0238/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/


The Performance, "Strumento Infestato" for bassoon and processed sounds [disquiet0238]

"Daisy"
Disquiet Junto Project 0239: Code Requiem
The Assignment: Compose a short composition in memoriam for a piece of recently deceased software.

The software that first came to mind tended to be old and related to music in some way such as Steve Dompier's "Fool On the Hill" code for the Altair 8800. 

That made me think of Max Mathews' version of "Daisy Bell" created with John Kelly and Carol Lockbaum on an IBM 7094 at Bell Labs in 1961. That led me Kubrick's use of the idea in the film "2001" where the HAL 9000 computer slowly dies while singing "Daisy". 

I found an excerpt of the HAL 9000 scene and audio from Mathews' "Daisy Bell" on YouTube. 

I processed the HAL 9000 audio with a bit of delay and also played the track with Samplr on an iPad to create a random, spacey sound as HAL loses its mind.

I created a tonal drone by stretching the first few notes of "Daisy" and bring that in toward the end as a transition before HAL begins to sing.

Created with Samplr on an iPad and assembled in Audacity. 
Max Mathews (1926-2011).

Creative Commons license granted. 

More on this 239th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Compose a short composition in memoriam for a piece of recently deceased software” — at:http://disquiet.com/0239/

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



"Daisy" [disquiet0239]

Disquiet Junto Project 0256: Music in Place
Record a short piece of music using the sounds around you.

En Place "The Desk" [disquiet0256]

I sat "in place" at my desk and recorded the sounds of objects around me: the spring on my desk lamp, some paper clips, a crumpled piece of paper, a rubber band and worked them into this track.

Recorded and played in Samplr. Edited with Audacity. Creative Commons license granted. 

More on this 256th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Music in Place: Record a short piece of music using the sounds around you.” — at:http://disquiet.com/0256/

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

En Place "The Desk" [disquiet0256]

Head In The Clouds: The Cloud Appreciation Society [disquiet0267]
Disquiet Junto Project 0267: The Metronomic Society
Create a theme song for a fictional organization.

Noble clouds: cumulus ("fair weather" clouds, the humble cumulus humilis), stratus (dark and low) and cirrus ("mare's tales" or "fall streaks", the fastest clouds). Created with a small modular synth. Recorded and edited with Audacity. 

The Cloud Appreciation Society is actually a real organization. More on the Cloud Appreciation Society: https://cloudappreciationsociety.org

More on this 267th weekly Disquiet Junto project, “The Metronomic Society: Create a theme song for a fictional organization”:http://disquiet.com/0267/
More on the Disquiet Junto at:http://disquiet.com/junto/

Image by celin-web.com.

Head In The Clouds [disquiet0267]

Black Rain [Gomel 1986]
Submitted to Naviar Records/Clouded Lands Gomel 1986 project.
 
Artillery shells carrying silver iodide explode over Gomel seeding clouds to precipitate radiation from the atmosphere before it drifts towards Moscow. It was described as black rain. Alerts and news bulletins follow. The final voice is Gorbachov's announcement of the disaster. 

You Tube news compilation excerpts were from NewsFromUkraine.  Distant artillery sounds thanks to: Aegersum on Freesound.org.

Black Rain [Gomel 1986]

Osteo Fractus: Fantasy for Broken Bones and Piano [disquiet0274]

Disquiet Junto Project 0274: Broken Sound
The Assignment: Record a piece of music in the genre called "broken sound".

A brief improvisation using the sounds of broken bones and piano. Created on an iPad with Samplr and Garageband. Broken bone sounds courtesy of batman6661 and qubodup on
freesound.org.

Asilomar, Pacific Grove, California, March 30, 2017.

More on this 274th weekly Disquiet Junto project "Broken Sound: Record a piece of music in the genre called "broken sound" at: http://disquiet.com/0274/

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

Osteo Fractus- Fantasy For Broken Bones And Piano [disquiet0274]

harmattan moon
a leafless tree leans on
its shadow

Haiku by Celestine Nudanu.

Photo by: keepingeyesfixed.blogspot.com

Harmattan Moon (naviarhaiku185)

Naviar Haiku 190, Disquiet 0295
Poisoned Waterhole, for 2 pianos (naviarhaiku190)[disquiet0295]

For Western Riverina Arts and the Crossing Streams project.

Poisoned Waterhole:
Violent disregard echoes.
Keenly felt today.

Poison Waterhole Creek near Narrandera owes its name to a tragic story (one of many) which happened when Europeans claimed the land, 200 years ago. In the 1830s, several groups of Aboriginal families used to camp by the waterhole. Annoyed and eager to get rid of them, the local homestead owner poisoned the waterhole, killing many of them.

Haiku by Peita Vincent https://www.frankandearnest.com.au/our-story. Image by Jason Richardson http://bassling.blogspot.co.uk.

Poisoned Waterhole, for 2 pianos (naviarhaiku190)[disquiet0295]

A Gathering: Five Improvisations for Tenor Saxophone and Piano (naviarhaiku193)
Five improvisations or "gatherings" inspired by the Haiku:  

Now gathering,
Now scattering,
Fireflies over the river.

Haiku by Natsume Sōseki
Photo by Anton Romanov

A Gathering- Five Improvisations For Tenor Saxophone And Piano (naviarhaiku193)

"Disquiet 300" for Piano, Wind chime, and Oboe Obbligato [disquiet0300] 
For the Disquiet Junto 300th project.

Disquiet Junto Project 0300: The 300th Project
3 chords x 100 seconds

Three note chord: B-flat, F and G, strummed and plucked inside a piano, played on a wind chime and again on the keys of the piano. Piano and wind chime were looped in Samplr. Oboe obbligato improvised over the tracks. The piano is used twice but the sounds are completely different. 

More on this 300th weekly Disquiet Junto project (3 chords x 100 seconds) at:
https://disquiet.com/300/

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

"Disquiet 300" for Piano, Wind Chime, and Oboe Obbligato [disquiet0300]

Disquiet Junto Project 0362: Operational Surrealism
The Assignment: Make a piece of music informed by a key text from the art movement.

The Sewing Machine and the Umbrella for Piano and Percussion disquiet0362

Naviar Haiku 269

Before the crossroads
not a stir across the land
a sunrise moment

The sounds I hear when standing before the crossroads: the gentle movement of air, soft sounds nearby, the memory of sounds, my movements, the ringing in my ears, the sound of my thoughts, a distant freight train, the sound of a bird soaring, the sound of my imagination, distant ambiance, my breath and heartbeat, the sound of light in the sky. 

Haiku and image by Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Before The Crossroads (nariarhaiku 269)

Particles of Me for Mallets and Strings (naviarhaiku270)

snowing
through the blizzard
particles of me

haiku by Alan Summers www.callofthepage.org
picture by Ian Battaglia https://unsplash.com/@ianjbattaglia