Bless the Temple (naviarhaiku508)

basking
in the New Year's sun...
my trashy hut
 

Among the four great masters of Japanese haiku, Kobayashi Issa was the most prolific: during his lifetime he wrote over 20,000 haiku, hundreds of tanka, and several haibun. If you want to find out more about this prolific author I suggest you check out this database of his haiku.

Seven days to make music in response to the assigned haiku: to participate visit https://www.naviarrecords.com/about/naviar-haiku

Deadline: 3rd January 2023

haiku by Kobayashi Issa https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kobayashi-issa

picture by Jonathan M. Hethey https://unsplash.com/photos/photography-of-grass-with-sun-light-ka9D9DiEVvw

Basking (NaviarHaiku521)

This was my contribution for Disquiet Junto Project 0627: Audio Journal 2023

Here’s a copy of my post on the Disquiet Junto 0627 discussion thread:

I remembered I had fun with this project last year, and enjoyed participating again this year.

Ended up using the same ice recording I made for last year’s project.  This time, I sampled it into Slate+Ash Cycles and created two tracks – one using the Loops engine and the other the Grains engine. Layered two additional tracks using Choreographs. No other effects were used except what were in the plugins. Created and mastered in Ableton Live using iZotope Ozone 11 and FabFilter Pro L-2 Limiter. Photo by Andrea Leopardi via Unsplash.
 
More on this 627th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Just Ice Society — The Assignment: Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something with it — at: https://disquiet.com/0627/
About the Disquiet Junto: https://disquiet.com/junto/ 1
Subscribe to project announcements: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0627-just-ice-society/

Glacial Morning [disquiet0627

“Earth is turned into water black and blue / And water after into air under very white,” wrote George Ripley in his 1471 work The Compound of Alchemy. “Of this Separation I find a like figure.” Heavy stuff.

Suss Müsik believes all sound to be a process of experiential transformation, a constant shifting of directional timbres and tones. Musically speaking, it’s difficult to explain why some sounds seem to have more success combined with others. It might simply be our biases at work (Suss Müsik, for example, uncovers alchemy in any classic Thom Bell production). Or perhaps something more mystic takes place on a subconsciously metaphysical level. 

The approach Suss Müsik took with this week’s Junto was to begin quite literally with blue and white noise, pushing and turning the voltages the same way an acoustic instrument might move air into water. The sound was manipulated by various self-built electronic gadgets and MIDI devices. The piece was composed (well, more like discovered) and recorded quickly to 8-track.

The piece is titled Tetraptative, a Middle English adjective whose only appearance in written or spoken form is believed to occur in Ripley’s text:

And Separation is called by Philosophers definition, 
Tetraptative dispersion of the said four elements.

More on this 628th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Alchemical Brothers — The Assignment: Explore an aspect of the ancient occult science using music — at: https://disquiet.com/0628/

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-0628-alchemical-brothers/

Tetraptative [Disquiet0628]

Piano
String quartet (harmonics) by Cinesamples
Orchestral drones by Spitfire

Photo by DD, Oslo Concert Hall.

Today I tested and old sample library and a new one I've got to compare their sounds. I used the junto prompt as inspiration for my tests.

I'm a small time alchemist, so I didn't went too far into the transformation. I just wrote a simple piano piece, I submerged the piano piece into some some string orchestra as a potion (a plugin called Fragile String Evolutions) and you can hear the piano piece already evolving. Then the theme is played one last time on some distant, noisy string quartet and low strings (from Cinesamples' Quatre Harmonics).
There's some sort of hi pitched pump organ, that's a mistake (I forgot to mute a test track) , I decided to keep it there in the background.

For this junto: https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0628-alchemical-brothers

Alchemical Academia (disquiet0628)

More on this 628th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Alchemical Brothers — The Assignment: Explore an aspect of the ancient occult science using music — at: https://disquiet.com/0628/

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-0628-alchemical-brothers/

The image associated with this project is a detail from a 16th century alchemical text in the public domain.

Turning Bullshit Into Gold (disquiet0628)

Due to winter weather in my area, I've been taking the bus.  I have a 5 minute drive to the mall where I park and then hop on an express bus for the 12 mile ride to work in downtown Des Moines.  Leaving the car behind and taking the bus is a transformative process for me because I haven't taken public transportation and been at the mercy of schedules in a long time, so it's a change.  I do appreciate the time on the bus, and I always open my iPad to sketch out some music projects, listening in earbuds.

And that's how this piece started - on the bus.  I have to compose with all the noise and heated air rushing around me.  After I get home, I run it through my boxes, and turn it into something else.  In that way, it's a kind of alchemy.

The title, "Rode Here on the Bus" is a direct lift of the beginning lyric of "Dreams Tonite" by Alvvays.  "Now you're one of us, it was magic hour."  Yep, transformative - and alchemy is a kind of magic.

A rare full track from me.  Usually I cap them at 30 or 60 seconds.

Wear good headphones.  I like Grados.  I own three pairs.

More about me at https://www.markrushton.com

Follow me on Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o7In5aHAnzK7WYGHY5Khx?si=bsotBYbgRb2uRZOSMDzMYQ

More on this 628th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Alchemical Brothers — The Assignment: Explore an aspect of the ancient occult science using music — at: https://disquiet.com/0628/

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-0628-alchemical-brothers/

Rode Here On The Bus (disquiet0628)

Disquiet Junto Project 0628: Alchemical Brothers
The Assignment: Explore an aspect of the ancient occult science using music.

I tried to work with 3 samples here, which where all separated by frequency into a bigger number of tracks (like the highs and lows of the sequencer), and all of them got transformed to be far away from the original. The rest was more of a gut feeling.

--

More on this 628th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Alchemical Brothers — The Assignment: Explore an aspect of the ancient occult science using music — at: https://disquiet.com/0628/

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-0628-alchemical-brothers/

Separation [disquiet0628]

PANEL-13

Concept:  Create a narrow gauge train engine sound as it is coming to and passing through a crossing using a Bastl Kastle 1.5 Mini Modular Synthesizer. The work is almost an experimental techno piece but I'll settle with calling it 'electronic'. After a bit of research on what these trains sound like the one sound that is quite accurate is the bell sound. The other running engine sounds are close enough too. 

Mastered on September 7, 2025 using Bandlab Mastering:  Mastering Preset is Universal, Intensity is 50%, Input Gain is -3.8 dB. Effects changed prior to mastering. 

Instrument:  Baslt Kastle 1.5 Mini Modular Synthesizer. 

Signal Path:  Kastle 1.5 Audio-out to Rucci 4-chnl Passive Mixer out to USB Audio Adapter mic/line-in to Chromebook to Bandlab. 

Kastle 1.5 Patches
Waveshape to Stepping

Bandlab Effects: 
* 120bpm, 4.4 Timing
* Guitar Input
* Feedback Killer is 2.2
* EQ3-M (3-band EQ with Mid Sweep) (Low is +2.8 dB, Mid is +6.5 dB, High is +1.6 dB, Mid Sweep is 1776 Hz)
* Gain Automation (fade in at start and fade out at the ending)
* Dimension B Chorus (Preset is 01)
* Multi-Filter (Frequency is 974 Hz, Resonance is 5.8, Gain is +2.7 dB, Filter is Peaking)
* Univerb (Mix is 29%, Type is Innovation Hall)
* Vintage Limiter (Gain is +1.38, Attack is 4.39, Release is 5.74, Knee is =7.49, Enhance is =0.98, Volume is -0.85)

File Format: WAV, 16-bit 44.1kHz

Photo "A Train is Traveling on a Railroad Track" by M. Winkelteir. Pexels License. 

"Narrow Gauge Railroad Crossing" is copyright by jtechno electronic music. Email for permission to use.

Narrow Gauge Train Crossing

1_ethereal bubbles_la collina dei ciliegi_05

Ambient electronica, Berlin School, Chillout & Kosmische Space Musik from Munich, Germany. ► Soundcloud is my musical diary - expect lightfooted drafts, soundchecks, playthings & misfits here. ► Go Bandcamp for finished pieces & more serious musical works.

Separation [disquiet0628]

Krakenkraft & Etherkraken

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