Bassling blog: June 2022

Disquiet Junto 0547 Genre Melee

The Junto assignment this week is to "Combine two seemingly different genres."

I had this kinda ragtime-sounding preset from the Hainbach soundbank for the M-Tron, then thought to try and find a thick dubstep-sorta bass.

My son assures me the genre is called Ragwave, so I found some surf footage to add to it.

Never going through his computer

naviarhaiku441 – Microbiota

Naviar Records shared one of my senryu this week.

I had an idea to create a track with loops of differing lengths, then ended up improvising a melody as a single take.

The video comes from footage I shot at Griffith Regional Art Gallery as the dioramas sorta suited the idea of microbiota.

On Thin Ice is an arts-documentary collaboration between journalist and author Ginger Gorman, photographers Hilary Wardhaugh and Martin Ollman, sculptor Tom Buckland, and printmaker Jess Higgins that tells the stories of seven people who have been living with or recovering from addiction to crystal methamphetamine.

Noise artists

Disquiet Junto 0546 Code Notes

The Disquiet Junto project this week is "to compose music that includes coded information."

It brought to mind the Solfa Cipher, which converts text to MIDI.

I've entered into it a few journal entries and then set those as clarinet, organ and bass.

The drums I recorded last year, but I like the butterfly shirt as a symbol of transformation.

The title 'Backstairs' was offered by Google as a synonym for 'clandestine' but isn't one with which I'm familiar.

I will always love you

Disquiet Junto 0545 Unself-Awareness

When I mentioned to Marc that I'd taken note of the constructive criticism offered by the Junto last week, I think I also wrote that I'd incorporated the ideas into a new track.

So I'm only cheating a little bit by offering this new song for the Junto activity this week, as it follows the directions by choosing "feedback, and think about how you might apply it to your own music."

Which specific feedback?

See the comments quoted here.

While I rushed my Junto track last week, this time I spent a while trying to get something sorta lyrical.

The melody reminded me of the song from a blackbird during spring.

My partner isn't so keen on blackbirds, but I was pleased to see one has returned to our backyard in recent weeks.

Hope to hear him singing through the early hours when the weather eventually begins to warm again.

Spring mornings
blackbird sings
demanding sex

Divorce

Disquiet Junto 0544 Feedback Loop (Revisions)

This morning I suggested to Marc that it might be interesting to hear the tracks from the last Junto after participants had incorporated the suggestions from the community.

He agreed, although acknowledged the it couldn't be the next Junto project since it required prior engagement (and I think it's good the way the projects are open for anyone to join in).

I've gone back and reworked my track based on the following suggestions:

Apanmusic wrote:

"Really enjoyed the sounds at the very end. Perhaps that could be the basis of a mellow mid section?"

RPLKTR wrote:

"At 2:20 you’re fiddling with the drums and from then on the most interesting things happen in the track. This could start sooner, and then a comeback to the initial structure for a finale would make this track a winner. Now it disintegrates which isn’t entirely satisfying."

Tetkik.ve.tedavi wrote:

"The pad in the first half bothers me a bit for some reason (I think I intuitively want something smoother in its place.

Fakeg3nius wrote:

"I would introduce some variation on the drum/percussion."

In response I've changed the mix a bit and:

put Beatrepeat on the drums;
brought forward the second pad;
started the arpeggiated synth from around 2.20, when it went into triplets, and;
repeated the chorus part from earlier as a finale.