Disquiet Junto 0210 Ice Coda

This is the fifth time the Disquiet Junto has proposed recording the sound of ice in a glass and making something of it, and my fourth time doing so. And it's the third time I've made a video.

In my first year I recorded the ice creaking and cracking and then added a lot of reverb, as well pitching samples to create a sense of harmonic progression. In the second and third years I recorded the ice being agitated within glasses and also ceramic mugs. Here's 2015's result, which is probably still my favourite:



This year I thought I'd let a tap drip onto the ice in the glass. I'd made a few tracks using recordings of my dripping tap last year, however I'd fixed the tap and it didn't drip anymore. So, using the wiper wrapped around the faucet, I got a steady drip and put contact mics on the glass. The results were underwhelming.

Next I found my files from last year and began looping. These sounded more promising and soon I had a rhythm that held my interest. I began jamming along with it on bass, then guitar and eventually the four-string guitar that I've been experimenting with after my recent obsession with Morphine.

The guitar uses an open D tuning, like Sandman's bass, but instead of his two strings I've added two that harmonise. My thinking was that since he uses a slide, an added drone would provide a similar sorta sound. It sounds more like a guitar chord but it's been fun, although I wonder if I haven't built a baritone ukulele. Could a bass mandolin be a bassolin? Basslin?

So, after combining my old ice cube files with the new ones and jamming along in a few keys, I ended up with a few riffs that I edited together in a way that made it surprise myself. I like the way a few different approaches has led to a Frankenstein-sorta result.