Disquiet Junto 0267 The Metronomic Society

Create a theme song for a fictional organization.

Step 1: There’s a fascinating book from 1988 titled The Metronomic Society. Written by the Michael Young, it is an academic study of the rhythms of human existence, with an emphasis on organization and societal systems. It’s not necessary to read it. It’s just helpful to know where we’re borrowing the term from.

Step 2: Imagine there is an actual group called the Metronomic Society. You might also imagine what they’re up to. Maybe it’s a Man Ray fan club, or a bunch of disgruntled piano tuners, or maybe they explore arcane theories about quantum mechanics. Who knows?

Step 3: Now compose and record a short piece of music — a sound cue, a theme, a sound logo, a jingle — for the Metronomic Society.

My meeting with the Metronomic Society coincides with a week exploring 5/4 time signature, as well as dabbling in 9/8 this weekend. 

There were three different songs I started in 5/4 this week but this one got structured further than a single loop, probably because I experimented with a key change to lead back into the chorus. That bit still feels rough though.

The track challenges me to count along and I think one horn riff is in 4/4, which means to evolve the piece but might feel wonky.

The instruments were programmed with Ableton Live's Suite.



Generating music in-the-box meant casting my eye about for visuals and I remembered filming the play of light in my garage. The sun setting behind a tree and through the cracks in my brickwork created patterns and the zigzag crack looked okay for a change too.