"I know too much about how to make music now. It's really good when you don't actually know anything and you're just fucking around—but you got good ears."
Disquiet Junto 0176 Walk It Out
My 100th junto asked for a track inspired by an idea recorded on a walk. While I've recently acquired a cellphone, I opted to record the initial idea using a camera -- leading to my 35th junto video.
Over the weekend I started to think about collaborating. My son and I recorded a song he chose. My daughter and I talked about using one of her recordings. Then I remembered the silos nearby and thought how they could inspire something, so I invited my regular collaborator to do something irregular.
My partner and I went to this abandoned site in my semi-industrial suburb. The silos were accessible, it appeared kids had been practicing their spray-painting there. We each sang a few notes and enjoyed the ambiance.
The mic I used didn't sound as good as the one on the camera. I added more reverb once I opened the recording in Ableton Live. Then I remembered the 'create MIDI' options and added a couple of Native Instruments synths. The result sounds a bit operatic to me, possibly inspired by the chapel-esque reverb.
My 100th Junto project
The Disquiet Junto is an "association for communal music/sound-making" with weekly projects that foster experimentation and learning.
Today I uploaded my 100th track that has resulted from Junto instructions, although that century is not reflected in being the 100th project. Because I submitted two tracks for a project earlier this year, I still have another project to complete before I reach 100.
I also feel a bit cheated on the century because I've stumbled on a couple of Junto projects. The first time I attempted a Junto I realised I'd misinterpreted the instructions and didn't submit my track. Another time I thought I drifted too far from the spirit of the project and didn't submit it. I'm not sure I'd feel that way these days because it's the tracks that fail that help me to learn my limits.
One thing I like about the Junto is having regular deadlines to develop work. My last couple of albums have been collected from these projects and many of my videos on Youtube too. See the playlist below for my Disquiet Junto videos.
Disquiet Junto 0175 Rough Play
The Disquiet Junto instructions this week were to combine part of the process of recording a piece with the result.
When the suggestions mentioned patching I thought of the circuit bent Casio I recorded recently. Here I've run parts through a Ring Thing pedal again for stereo.
While recording the patching I quickly moved from the auto-chord part to bends that would allow the drum part to play alone with a few glitches. Then I recorded a take of the drums, which I ended up looping and fading in later in the piece. These have Space Echo added, decaying at the end.
Once I'd recorded the backing, I realised I didn't have a piece in mind. So I improvised, sticking to the black keys. I recorded a pipe organ part, riffing on a few chords, and then a couple of vocal parts.
Because I forgot to record one of the vocal parts, the final piece has four takes layered up: patching, drum loop, pipe organ chords and vocal notes. The 'rough' part with the mangled auto-chord at the opening, ends a bit earlier than the final note before the decay on the drums. The video showed the chord could've continued for a bit longer, I think some parts went for another half a minute.
I added different effects to the video parts as well as the audio. The pipe organ part was widened with the pedal and then reverb and compression. Visually it gains an 'overdrive' effect. The drum loop is a lot more beefed up than the original drum sound on the Casio, although I ended up leaving out the loops video part because it cluttered the screen.
Naviar Soundbook 007 The Sea Nymph
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Many of the sounds came from the circuit bent Casio SK-1 video I posted earlier in the week. Others came from Drumax and V Station VSTs.
Naviar haiku 069 Silently observing
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Disquiet Junto 0174 Glove Songs
The Disquiet Junto this week had me returning to a bass arpeggio from project 0102 and handling it like one would handle archival material with cotton gloves.
In hindsight I think it was drinking coffee that gave me exzema because it would ease up when I stopped drinking caffeine that way. And, aside from doing the dishes just now, I've been getting stuck into coffee again. I blame Aeropress.
The bass piece was written as musical tinsel and just today I was saying that it was a favourite piece. When the Junto arrived it was the first idea to come to mind. The feel of the piece is better than my usual plodding approach to arpeggios.
When I recorded it in 2013 my daughter led her two friends into the kitchen as I started and began to dance along with my bass playing. It really changed my approach, I should do that again sometime. The piece was looped to play for longer when it appeared on my album AND as Mistletoe.
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