The Disquiet Junto is a group in which musicians respond to weekly, fast-turnaround projects to compose, record, and share new music — and provide feedback to and receive feedback from fellow participants. The idea is to use the constraints inherent in these assignments as a springboard for creativity. The first Junto project began on the first Thursday of January 2012, and the series has continued weekly since then. It was founded by and is moderated by Marc Weidenbaum.  Find out more at https://disquiet.com/2013/04/25/disquiet-junto-faq/

My Disquiet Junto

I recorded throwing ice cubes into the best crystal glass I own. a long stem glass which is the last of a set of six. It makes a beautiful ringing sound no matter how you hit it. All the sounds are made from the ice and the glass, including the ringing, and my voice.

I used a 32 bit float field recorder that I bought recently to test turning up very small sounds, like the glass ringing. Works well. The sounds are treated with Ableton to vary them (played back on a midi keyboard, then mixed and moved around), and for my voice I used, also for the very first time, a Korg Kaoss Pad 3 that I just acquired.

See photo of the glass.

Disquiet0627 ICE NINE

Took an old piece - is is music? Well, I came to “music” from a reverse angle. I was a spoken word radio producer in the 80’s, then got attracted to audio art, moved to Europe, tried installations, and found myself in the experimental music world. So this piece is from about ten years ago, and has been rejigged by me. I did it simply, using Ableton but not enhancing with synth.  Next time.

Disquiet0629DaysAreShort

Collaborative work with Marjorie Van Halteren and Jeff Gburek

Hands Up Don't Shoot

A poetry collaboration with Jeff Gburek, me in France, him in Poland. 

You're Alive (For Jeff Gburrrrrrrrek)

Response to Junto 0650 - a chance to try out Granulator III in Ableton 12, and my Korg Monolog, which of course has sirens - and to sing crazy

Disquiet0650SheppardsSirens

Singing fridge and fan - and couldn't resist singing along.

More on the 661st weekly Disquiet Junto project, Consumer Drone Product — The Assignment: Record a piece of drone music using sounds from your home — at https://disquiet.com/0661/

Fridge vs Fan (Disquiet0661)

Autobiography Of A Tree

[What I Found on Pluto](https://on.soundcloud.com/2vcNNmGgdCa2ujddA)
I made this track by selecting my favorite little recordings from many years - all recorded by me - many of them are my voice, some are animals, tiny snippets harvested from past field recordings, many accidental - then I did a survey of effects in Ableton that I wanted to explore and treated everything, learning about various parameters until I got the atmosphere I wanted - a great practice opportunity. The photo is one I took of a balloon flight, altering the colors.

What I Found on Pluto (disquiet0671)

Made for Disquiet Junto 0685 -"Treat a set of sounds like a game of pick up sticks."

More on the 685th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Pick-Me-Up — The Assignment: Treat a set of sounds like a game of pick up sticks — at https://disquiet.com/0685/

STICKSandSTONES(disquiet0685)

14 electronic layers improvised and handed off. Response to Disquiet Junto: The Assignment: Make music change by altering its layers.

Step 1: Record 10 to 15 layers of continuous sound.

Step 2: Create a piece of music in which you only change the relative presence of those individual layers from Step 1 over time. Some light effects and panning are certainly fine, but the majority of the impact should be how the prominence of the individual layers changes.

More on the 696th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Chain of Layers — The Assignment: Make music change by altering its layers — at https://disquiet.com/0696/

Disquiet0696 electro layer cake

This is a response to Junto 0698. Record a piece of music to mix with another piece of music contributed last week - it's a trio project - next week will be the third part. Mine contributes a simple voice improvisation. 

More on the 698th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Second Third — The Assignment: Record the second third of a trio — at https://disquiet.com/0698/

Disquiet0698 second with Torpid Scorpion

Disquiet0699 For Love Of Ska with xhg and FrankH

Disquiet0699 Intruder in the Aftermath (with he_nu_ri)

I read about making 8-bit music, watched a couple of videos and found a simple Japanese plug-in called Magical 8-bit, which I used in playing my midi keyboard. It is probably not exactly the assignment, because I added another element: files from a teaching colleague's class on Sonification, meaning that these files are not 8-bit, but they create a kind of hommage to something. 

More on the 704th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Right on Cumulus — The Assignment: Compose 8-bit music inspired by a Cory Arcangel / Super Mario video — at https://disquiet.com/0704/

Disquiet0704 Unforgettable

a radio piece featuring sound discovered in the WNYC archives and the recorded voice of Jan Kerouac. 

Jan On Jack

Response to Disquiet Assignment: What rhythm do you hear in a barcode? The first :30 of the piece consists of the barcode: vocal sounds to represent each size of the lines, and one sounds for the biggest space - followed by improvisational vocal sounds repeats of the barcode. More on the 712th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Zebra Code — — at https://disquiet.com/0712/.



disquiet0712 Al Dente

Brut quartet: Metronome, Me, Me and a couple of comments from a 3-string boxy dulcimer.

More on the 719th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Riding on the Metronome — The Assignment: Play with and against a steady beat — at https://disquiet.com/0719/.

disquiet0719 taktell tak tak

From Telegraph Road in Detroit up to a Michigan Rainstorm in the suburbs from the perspective of the carport, with a bit of voice and synth sprinkled in. 

More on the 721st weekly Disquiet Junto project, Well Weathered — The Assignment: Play along with a storm — at https://disquiet.com/0721/.

Michigan Rainstorm

Using the Oblique Strategies card deck app (based on Eno and Schmidt, 1975), I drew "humility of intentions" and "organic machinery."
I used my Orba 2 (pictured, at right) , which is a handheld synth, but it is really a bit of a toy. (I also have an orba 1, which only uses factory settings- but like the Orba 2 can also be a midi controller. I don't have an Orba 3, which also has a microphone onboard). The Orba 2 allows me to use my own files create an 8-part set in the drum track, plus takeovers in the bass, lead and chorus tracks. It has a litte speaker on the bottom which is not bad at all. Organic machinery: my voice.

Humble: silly improv. But it is a portable toy that I have used in performance and I like it.

More on the 727th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Polar Strategies — The Assignment: Celebrate the 50th anniverary of the Oblique Strategies card deck — at https://disquiet.com/0727/.

disquiet0727 Orba and me

A composition performed by me, using actuality sounds, voice, efx. Like most of these tracks, these are sound poems but also designed as short live sets to be performed with other players or solo.

Give Us This Day

Response to Disquiet Junto 0728 Delete a note at a time.

Record a piece of music with a slow melody that repeats. Each time the melody cycles around, remove one note, until during the final repeat none of the notes in the melody remain.

The Junto projects are how I teach myself new skills. This one was synth and midi editing.

More on the 728th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Note Down — The Assignment: Delete a note at a time — at https://disquiet.com/0728/.

Disquiet0728 BahEEtaTA

Poetry collaboration with Jeff Gburek, Him in Poland and me in france.

LIVES OF THE POETS

Van Halteren & Gburek The Rain Is

Lives of the Poets, collaboration with Jeff Gburek. This edition features poetry elements from Poland.

Lives Of The Poets Two

Story improvisation with Raphaelle Duquesnoy on stand up bass with effects. Excerpt from That Tuesday sound art podcast.

Man On The Corner From That Tuesday

audio poem performed at Offbeat in Lille March 8, 2018

FACES

This a recording of the 20 minute improvisational performance from September 11, 2012 at artconnexion Lille - sounds recorded on the P&O ferry composed and played back with vocal performance. Some sounds might be too small to be heard properly on laptop speakers. Try headphones! Thanks.

FAERIES

Sound poem using field recording mix and voice.

The days grow short

Sound artist and poet - American, living in the North of France. Member of Muzzix Collective.

Marjorie Van Halteren

Pinned to spotlight

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