Loss Rose

192kHz recordings of melting ice used as source material for rhythmic loops and software-based  resynthesis.  Time is a construct.

More on this 523rd weekly Disquiet Junto project – Chill Communication (The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something with it) – at: https://disquiet.com/0523/ 4

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

Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/ 1

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co 3: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0523-chill-communication/

KS WaterDrummingHomage Disquiet0523

In advance of a new double CD release on 14 October 2025, "Arcturus • Version" is a gentle remix of one of the new tracks from “Asterism”, an unsolicited score for James Gray’s “Ad Astra”.

kS: Piano Waves, System 500 Modules, Gong, Kite String, Software, Electronics

Arcturus • Version

Arcturus Version

This project got me thinking about the nature of a "chord", and it was fun to listen to other Junto members explorations as they came in - a chord can be held, arpeggiated, even, it would seem, described by a melody!

Since I work quite often with found sound I chose a fragment of a chord from an iconic piece and made several impulse responses of that chord; I loaded these into a convolution program, and excited the input with white noise being filtered dynamically, which brought out different partials of the impulse to keep it from sounding too "static".  This was the first layer.  The second element was the notes of this very dense chord shattered out as a gliding melody on Serge modules, with very long glide times for both rise and fall, which was then sent to very dense plex reverbs to further "smear" the distinct notes back into a "chord" of sorts.  The final element for the piece is a current favorite sound source of mine, autoharp, played with three ebows set on the strings producing a portion of our dense chord - this sound was sent to modulations in the Serge and also outboard gear; I enjoy hearing the noise floor in this element as I reach over to play the dampers on the harp - it brings the air back into an otherwise fully electronic piece, and let's me call it electroacoustic music, which is my pleasure.

There was an additional element I had planned which did not make it into this version due to the time constraints: I planned on filtering pink noise through very very narrow bandpass filters centered on the frequencies of the chord I chose.  Look for a later version with this additional sound as time permits.  Thanks for listening!  I love the Junto!

More on this 191st Disquiet Junto project (“One chord to rule them all — on several instruments”) at:

http://disquiet.com/2015/08/27/disquiet0191-heldchord/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

Image associated with this project by Max Nathan, and used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/3aL7nK


A Brief Scent [disquiet0191]

Good morning.

I wanted to compose a piece that would evoke the very gradual lightening of the sky and the increasing activity of birds and creatures known as the 'dawn chorus".

I began by creating a very fast dense sequence of notes on original patches on Roland JV880 and Yamaha TX802 synths; these sounds were then heavily processed to create a hazy wash.  This wash moves from smeared and distant to closer and more defined, and a low-pass filter opens very gradually over the course of the 14-minute piece, trying to capture the feel of the lightening sky and the early haze burning off in the East.

I next added discrete sounds for creatures awakening: autoharp played with a Paul Vo "Wond", melodica, bass, Roland System 500 and Serge Modular synths, percussion samples and piano.  All become more active and "nearer" as the "morning" progresses.

I never wake up in less than 14 minutes, so apologies to those hoping for shorter works - some Junto rules are made to be broken, it seems.

•

More on this 221st weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Compose something — quiet, peaceful, refreshing — you’d want to wake up to”) at:

http://disquiet.com/0221/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:

http://disquiet.com/forums/

The photo associated with this project is by Alf Eaton, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/8NUM/

Dawn Chorus

A late night meditation on three elements of a troubled psychology.

Composed exclusively with Roland System 500 and Mutable Instruments modules, including Edges, Ripples, Rings, Clouds, Shelves and Marbles.

Dark Triad - Single

Dark Triad

One of the nine billion names of God - in this case spelled out with a musical moiré pattern.

Excerpt from a 61-minute drift study.  Let me know if you'd like the full-length version.

Nonstop Piper (Single)

Nonstop Piper

The Assignment: Record the sound of an apartment on a large interstellar ship.

Well, this is in my wheelhouse, and since I've just completed a project I actually had the time to roll up my sleeves and make something this week, rather than just be a lurker.

In thinking about an apartment on a spacecraft it seems inevitable that one would hear constantly the thrum of the engines, air scrubbers and the necessary life support machinery whose sonic signature would be ever-present.

I began with a recording of traffic driving over a bridge roadway made of heavy steel plates, and a recording of the engine room on an old tramp fishing boat.  These were subjected to manipulations using the Serge modular synthesizer.

Next I used modules from Mutable instruments to create a soundscape of gentle beeps, processed through a vintage Bode 735 Frequency Shifter and tape delay to create an homage to the bridge of the Enterprise on Star Trek.  It seems to me that electronic "status alerts" could be a constant for life on a spacecraft.

Finally, two layers of elements were created using the Roland System 500 modular synth, one a low rising and falling engine drone, and the other a higher wash of musical harmonics;  every room has it's tones, and a spacecraft cabin would be no different.

Much time was spent mixing and balancing these elements, so that they shift subtlety over a long period of time (the repeat interval is 45 minutes).  Finally, I will say that this sound is recorded and presented much louder than I would expect it to "play" in the cabin and in your listening experience -- I would suggest playing it between 10 - 20 dB quieter than "unity"; it is, after all, meant to be an "atmosphere".  Oh, and it will most likely not survive on laptop speakers...

Thanks again to Marc and the Junto for a fun experiment.

. . .

More on this 383rd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Interstellar Ambience / The Assignment: Record the sound of an apartment in a large interstellar ship — at:

https://disquiet.com/0383/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0383-interstellar-ambience/

There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.

Image associated with this project adapted (cropped, colors changed, text added, cut’n’paste) thanks to a Creative Commons license from a photo credited to Pedro Moura Pinheiro:

https://flic.kr/p/4MpgvY

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Selene Cabin

Selene Cabin [disquiet0383]

This week's project is squarely in my wheelhouse, and I took the direction of using an "old piece" to heart: the source material here is from the very first cassette recorded on my (then) new Tascam PortaOne with my (then) newish Yamaha DX7 back in early 1985.  The sketch had never previously been further developed.

Following the instructions I slowed the piece (1/16th time) and began adding a few layers inspired by what was revealed in the sap of shifting chords.  I restrained myself from adding too many new layers for the Junto version (and also I was running out of time!), so a simple altered bell and a patch on the Serge modular were the only additions to the slowed material.  Typical mix processing produced more textures, but it is fun to note that NO reverb was added to any parts of the mix - nor was there any on the original cassette tracks - everything that 'feels' like reverb is actually the very slowed envelopes (and a little bit of TC 2290 delay).

As I have with several other Junto projects, I'll continue to develop this starting point, quite possibly for later release, since I'm enjoying the direction it's moving.  Thanks as ever to Marc and the Junto community for the nudge back into a fruitful direction.

"What Now"
kS: Yamaha DX7, Bell, Serge Modules, Electronics

More on this 389th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Long Then / The Assignment: Take an old song, and make it (much) slower, and add something — at:

https://disquiet.com/0389/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0389-long-then/

What Now [disquiet0389]

This has happened to me many times: I'm on a wide and empty stretch of road, no one in sight for miles and miles, the sky is darkening or dark, the weather unstable.  Slowly, the radio shifts from human broadcasts to something from elsewhere.  I drive on, transfixed.

This piece employs field recordings of a wildfire, contact mics on the roof rack of a car, the obligatory shortwave radio, DX7 synthesizer, Serge modules, software and electronics.  The process was unremarkable, and not worth noting to the Junto.  I did enjoy making it though, and being inspired by the other submissions.

•

More on this 407th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Dark Pitch / What do you hear between stations on the radio dial during a drive in the middle of night? — at:

https://disquiet.com/0407/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0407-dark-pitch/

There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.

Image by the Flickr account of the-difference, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/9bHnUo

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Who Failed Again [disquiet0407]

Between both states: dreaming and waking, back and forth.
 •
kS: Mutable Instruments Modules, Piano, Electronics

Recorded in California, November 2020.

Tinted Bilaval (Version)

sound. music. film. visualart. 
natural quiet. darkskies.



Kent Sparling

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