Disquiet Junto 0351 Selected Insomniac Works Volume II

This week the Junto asks participants to work with a track from last week's Selected Insomniac Works.

I listened to a few responses before settling on Sevenism's 'midnight solo (falling leaf)'



I was hoping for one of those Aphex Twin-style deceptively simple piano pieces, so I could add my upright electric bass that I've been playing a lot lately.

I was probably in the mood for Mr Twin because Marc couldn't help but make the Junto this week a play on the title of his ambient albums.

Music was better

naviarhaiku246 – a ladder

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week reminded me of a drum journey.

When I lie down and listen to drumming, it often leads me to climb a tree to meet a spirit guide.

Angel of mirth

I don't like the sound of those drums

Disquiet Junto 0350 Selected Insomniac Works

The Junto this week asks for music to treat insomnia.

Fortunately I've done a lot of recent research into this phenomena and know that what I like is to hear something soothing.

The sounds come from a Kawai GMega run through a Line6 delay pedal and a Waldorf Streichfett.

Viewer discretion is advised

Disquiet Junto 0349 Got Glitch?

The Junto this week asks "what 'glitch' means in music/sound."

Since my responses are shaped by what I can show in a video, this prompt led me to use my circuit bent instruments.

I have a few machines that have been bent by Diabolical Devices, including two Casio SK-1s and a Kawai drum machine.

The gear is being driven by MIDI and I've recycled a piece from earlier this year but looped it a few times while trying different bends.

I then added a few glitchy effects in Ableton Live, particularly Beatrepeat and Audio Damage's Automaton.

The result could use an edit but time ran out.

Disquiet Junto 0340 Porta Party

A couple of months ago I was invited to contribute a track to a compilation of music made with mobile equipment.

It was an idea that interested me but I thought I'd be more likely to record something if it were a Disquiet Junto project, so I shared it with Marc.

He thought it was a good idea but the project happened while I was camping at Modifyre.

So today I've recorded a belated Junto project.

Allan Walsh on musical solace

"Music's helped me a lot through my life. There's been times when I've given up playing music, but I've always gone back to it."

Fancy myself a bedroom DJ

Professor Mauskapf on pop music

"For most songs, once you are into the Hot 100, once you are into that popular realm, you want to distinguish yourself as much as possible," Professor Mauskapf says.[...]"Our analysis suggests that, yes, you can certainly listen to what's around you and try to match it and that will certainly serve you well, but there is an element of randomness and an element of art — for lack of a better word — that means you can't just scientifically determine what is going to become a hit."

Pass the aux

Disquiet Junto 0348 Hot Mise en Abyme

The Junto this week asks for a musical equivalent to an art term describing "when a work of art includes a copy of itself, maybe more than one copy."

Before I'd had time to consider what it might be my partner suggested a mash-up.

Then I remembered the different interpretations of Offenbach's "Doll Song" 'Les oiseaux dans la charmille' from Les Contes d'Hoffman.

My quick edit combines versions by Natalie Dessay (twice), Diana Damrau and Rachele Gilmore.

Gilmore's performance is famous for being her debut at The Met and I love watching the response from the bloke over her right shoulder at the four and a half minute mark.

That performance is one I watch every now and then, enjoying a response that can include goosebumps and sometimes watery eyes.

The Burn

As preparations for Burning Seed begin, I recorded a lovely reflection my friend and fellow burner Alicia Boyd posted on Facebook recently.

This started as a response to the haiku shared by Naviar Records last week, but didn't sit with my music.

So I revisted an earlier piece, which had over a dozen takes layered together, picking out two similarly paced parts.

This year Alicia invited me to contribute music to her Threshold installation and I'm getting excited to experience the result.

This weekend the Threshold is getting it's first trial run at an event in Sydney.