This was my contribution for Disquiet Junto Project 0690: Knot Bad. The Assignment: Interpret wood grain as a graphic score.

Here’s a copy of my post on the Disquiet Junto 0690 discussion thread on Lines:

This was inspired from a live edge black walnut board I’ve had for many years. I used to do some woodworking, and this is a souvenir from those days. I might someday incorporate it into an art or craft project, but for now, I keep it around as something to be simply admired.

I used the horizontal grain patterns and the imperfections in the middle of the board, as the graphic score. First, I assembled a Morphagene reel using slices from various pieces I created as well as field recordings I had. Included in the samples was a recording of the sounds of a piece of wood being lightly dragged across the surface of the board that included the imperfections. This created a drone like foundation using the modular synth. I then created some tracks in Ableton Live following the “notation” of horizontal center grains and notches. Used Slate+Ash Cycles for instruments and Valhalla Delay for effects. I also added an outdoor field recording from our front yard. 

I imagined sights, sounds, music and other memories that the tree might have experienced when it was alive.  Those things, embedded within the grains of wood, are released here with this soundscape as a remembrance of those years. At least, that was my intention.

More on the 690th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Knot Bad — The Assignment: Interpret wood grain as a graphic score — at https://disquiet.com/0690/

Memory From A Walnut Grove [disquiet0690]

Somewhere on the California Central Coast

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