Bassling blog: 2025

Disquiet Junto 0705 Book Start

The Junto assignment this week is to "Let the beginning of a book help you begin a new piece of music."

I've read the opening to Andrea Wulf's Magnificent Rebels, which I began this week because I enjoyed her book on Alexander Von Humboldt.

Lyra Pramuk on putting art first

I went to public school in Pennsylvania, and as is the case in many American public schools—especially in small towns—art and music are side things. Like, “Okay, you don’t really have time for these; it doesn’t really matter.” I’m like, “If art, music, therapy, and all these other things that are put on the side were actually put in the center, it would drastically affect culture and how we live our daily lives.” If we’re stuck surviving, it’s because we live in a world that does not value creativity. And I value creativity, and I believe that creativity is for more than just arts and crafts, or music or dance or painting, or any of these things. Creativity is essential for being alive. It’s essential to create culture. It’s essential to being a sentient human being in community, in ecosystem with other living beings on this planet.

Disquiet Junto 0704 Right on Cumulus

The Junto prompt this week is to "compose 8-bit music" and I was kinda stumped.

I looked at using some of the Nintendo-sounding presets on the Kaossilators that my son has been using recently for an assignment, then decided to try the Bitquest pedal that arrived this week.

It's being run through the Chase Bliss Habit pedal for delay/looping, while I cycle through a few settings.

Dr No Raven

Another pedal that I couldn't resist buying for the design.

Has a cocked wah-kinda effect, but with more resonance.

Stan Grant Jr on being called

In the end, I don't know that I served journalism as well as it served me and that's probably true of all of us, whatever we do. We are never the equal of our calling.

Maybe I never respected the craft. There is something shallow, ultimately un-serious about it all. Journalists think events determine our world, yet events tell us nothing.

If we follow events we miss what the French call questions d'existence. We miss the meaning of it all.

Disquiet Junto 0703 That's How You Got Killed Before

The Junto assignment this week is to "Revisit something that you just couldn’t get to work last time."

I've gone back to my track 'Wanderer' to try layering a couple of takes that I noticed were close in their tempo, despite not using a clicktrack.

Disquiet Junto 0702 Chain of Application

The Junto this week asks participants to misuse music software.

Usually I use Ableton Live by composing in MIDI, then exporting those notations as sound.

Today I thought to record a song called 'Inner Bitch' using my Suzuki Omnichord to play the MIDI parts.

naviarhaiku596 – spring dream

The poem shared by Naviar Records needed something with spring, then I set about trying to make it more unhinged.

Disquiet Junto 0701 Gap Ear

The Disquiet Junto assignment is to "Break apart a piece of music and fill the resulting spaces."

I've gone back to my surprise hit from Easter, Innuendo.

Carefully the ukulele part has been cut away, then a moody synth added.

Pedalboards in bloom

What’s the difference between a lead guitarist and a terrorist?
You can negotiate with a terrorist!
What do you do when you see a girl on the arm of a guitar player?
Say "Nice tattoo"!
What’s the difference between a guitarist and a savings bond?
Eventually, a savings bond will mature and make money!

Meanwhile, a FB group who share photos of effects pedals lost around one hundred followers when they put up a rainbow earlier this week.

Uncle Jimmy on culture

Well culture – you can't experience culture, you can't learn it, you can't describe it. You've got to live it. You've got to live it. If you want people to like you you've got to like them. If you want people to respect you you've got to respect them. You can't force your ideas on people. It mightn't be the right way for you. You might have to travel another trail to get to the right meaning and in culture you know that, you know that way. It's more like – I suppose culture was a religion or something similar to religion. It's a way of life, yeah, it's the way you live your life.

Disquiet Junto 0700 View Frame

I couldn't resist recording this piece for the 700th Junto project.

The directions were to show people a glimpse outside my world, so here's my backyard and some of the laundry that I washed today.

As I haven't packed away my drumkit yet for winter, I decided to have a bash.

A 303-style bassline has been added because it was the easiest thing to consider at this time.

One bit of reflection is how I began recording videos for Junto projects at number 100.

Since then that playlist has grown to over 450, which means I've responded to three-quarters of the prompts in that time.

I was first introduced to the Junto community around 027, which involved music from text but I worried my response had misinterpreted the instruction and didn't share it.

Straya by Kink

Bought this pedal because I was amused by the graphic.

For anyone reading who isn't an Australian, the character represented is the kind of lower socio-economic figure that might be considered a "redneck" -- although I wouldn't use that term with them directly.

The signifiers are the mullet haircut, "Jackie Howe" blue singlet and Southern Cross tattoo.

As for the sound of the pedal, I was pleasantly surprised.

On the right-hand side is a tubescreamer-style boost, while the left has a throaty overdrive.

It had me playing rock riffs as soon as these were engaged.

I tried it alongside my CopperSound Foxcatcher and Ly-rock King of Clone, which revealed the former to have a bassier boost and fuzzier overdrive (running at 9v, as I haven't tried the 18v option yet).

The Ly-rock pedal has an okay boost and fuzzier distortion, but has sounded way too trebly for my liking.

A friend introduced me to Kink pedals last year, when he brought a Dozer along to a jam.

While graphics on pedals have been a weakness for me, I really like the sounds that I'm getting from Straya.

Wanderer

In my backyard is a mint plant that I hoped might grow to replace my lawn.

Many butterflies land on the flowers when it blooms.

I started researching their varieties as I began photographing them and became interested in the Wanderer, which is the Australian version of the Monarch.

It has distinctive white spots on a black body and magnificent wings coloured like autumnal leaves.

This type of butterfly arrived in Australia around the time my father's great-grandparents migrated here.

It is thought it may have been blown here by a cyclone, but found the imported milkweed plant that supports Monarch caterpillars and was able to survive.

My parents were both born in North America, so I've come to adopt the Wanderer as a symbol for my identity.

I've performed the song using a ukulele, as it is an instrument from the Pacific – the ocean that unites Australia, Japan and the USA.

Pictured here is the (so-called) Plain Tiger butterfly, which I understand to be an Australian relative of the African Monarch.

Ouch De Derriere!

Green light

The second round of the 2025 Disquiet Junto trio project has been a delight.

Once again Sam Knot has added prose to my drums and I love hearing his gentle voice bringing colour to my beats.

unclewaybaaack · green light (disquiet0698)

May the Source be with you

naviarhaiku592 – slanting sunlight rays

It was the mention of sunlight in the poem shared by Naviar Records that reminded me of this sunrise I filmed at Valla Beach.

The track was produced with Ableton Live, after I recorded takes for different parts and arranged them. I'd listen to this in a forest.

KICK BASS

Disquiet Junto 0697 First Third

The first in a trio for the Junto this week.

The amazement on her face

naviarhaiku591 – steady spring rains…

my laptop

naviarhaiku590 – dreadful the stream

The dreadful stream in this case is an estuary, and the rain was elusive.

Being happy with my mix

Disquiet Junto 0695 Clean After Each Use

The Junto assignment this week is to "Put a piece of music through the dryer."

While I've been holidaying at the coast I'm making happy associations with a chord progression in A# on my ukulele.

A week ago I tried making a song based on lyrics about cupid's arrows and innuendoes.

It was rough and didn't entirely work, but I've used the backing here.

(This chord progression worked better with my Easter Sunday song, I think.)

For the Junto I've taken my backing track and tried to put it through the dryer, but I'm not a fan of those machines for the energy they consume and the uselessness they have in my life.

(There isn't much rain where I live and lots of opportunity for me to get my washing on the line.)

I considered a granular approach to represent lint, but when I decided to use a video from swimming in the Pacific off Valla Beach, arrived at a result more akin to a washing machine.

There's some rotary speaker emulation added, as well as Goodhertz' Lossy effect and DelayCat.

Mixing in headphones

naviarhaiku589 – rising sun

On Easter Sunday I convinced my partner to take a trip to Valla Beach for the sunrise.

There we met a group of people gathered around a fire with guitars to sing medicine songs.

My partner joined them while I took photos, then I sang a little and one of the group offered a jar of "eggs".

The handwritten message on the slip of paper I drew said "Wisdom is crystallised suffering," and the woman who offered it explained she'd heard this from a Buddhist giving a talk.

As we continued to walk among the waves at sunrise I had words form around the scene, which I've drafted into the song here:

First verse:
With each breath to caress the earth
at the start of every day
the seasons have a rhythm
of sunshine and rain
like shifting sands
under the movement of waves
as morning light will break
through clouds in a golden ray

Chorus:
Everything will change
nothing stays the same
all of your wisdom
crystallised from pain

Second verse:
In the rumbling of the ocean
a rhythm as old as time
a melody in the roar
song of ebb and climb
as the storm can leave behind
a peaceful breath of calm
from chaos we make meaning
dance like fire to our song

Bridge:
We crash like the waves and we break
then we rise again and learn from mistake
build a home in the unknown, make peace in the storm
finding strength in lessons we learn from being born

Chorus

Since the haiku shared by Naviar is about the rising sun and the sea, it seems appropriate as a response.

Chorus

Maggie Nelson on fortitude

You can feel frustrated, disgusted, agitated, hopeless, every day, on and off, but you can’t necessarily believe all your moods. You just have to keep on working.

Disquiet Junto 0694 5/4ify

There is one step for the Junto project this week:

Take a pre-existing piece of music that is in 4/4 — either your own or something in the public domain — and add a beat to each measure, transforming it into 5/4.

As I'm preoccupied with homework, I listened to a few of the sketches on my desktop for inspiration.

This bass riff is a bit uneven, so the extra beat in the drum loops hardly seems to unsettle it.

Which meant that I added more feedback to the delay on the synth!

Trying to appear like I am listening

Disquiet Junto 0693 Melody Sorted

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Reorganize a familiar song note by note."

It outlined a process using sheet music, but I thought I'd use a MIDI file instead.

So I downloaded Hall and Oates' 'I Cant Go for That' and rearranged the melody into an ascending sequence of notes.

It was a process that I stopped after running out of space, so there are still some of the higher notes in place -- particularly at the start of verses.

Then the song seemed to need a bit of rearranging, so I muted a couple of parts, such as the organ.

I also added some randomisation to the MIDI for the drums.

Connor's ASMR board

One of the fun things about returning to school has been making art and trying new things, like watercolours.

In the middle of our recent Easter hat-making one of the students declared that he was building an ASMR board.

I hadn’t seen these before and Google results suggest it is more likely a fidget board, but I like the concept and am thinking about building my own with a piezo pickup embedded.

One for the jazz fans

Thinking of famous fights between jazz musicians, you might be interested in this discussion of Charles Mingus settling a score with Duke Ellington.

Disquiet Junto Project 0692 Combust a Move

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Record a piece of music in which the sound of fire — match, burner, cigarette, etc. — provides the primary source for the rhythmic track."

This morning I recorded the matches and lighter, then used a video from the 2016 Queensland Burning Man event to create a bass with Sinevibes Reactive.

What are your skills?

Swimming

Looking up

That was amazing, Jason!

Disquiet Junto 0691 Un-Ravel

In hindsight I can see how I got here, as there's been a lot of interest in my rapping recently. The kids at the primary school where I work often ask me to rhyme.

As I listened to Ravel I admired the strings and thought they would be great in a hiphop-style track. Then I slept on it and woke up thinking about putting words to it.

When I went to publish the result I looked again at the Junto assignment and wondered if I'd strayed too far?

When no one

There's no One Way

Last weekend I recorded a quick vocal performance and then spent the week making it work in two different tracks.

I like the rawness of the version above, then it was surprising how much the arrangement in the version below changed the tone of the delivery but I went further with edits and going pop.

My lyrics

Disquiet Junto 0690 Knot Bad

The Junto assignment this week is to "Interpret wood grain as a graphic score."

Funnily enough, wood grain has been a motif in my household in recent weeks.

My son and I brainstormed a short story idea about someone reading the rings on a slab of timber used as a table.

The River Red Gums in our region are long-living trees and often prompt my pondering about watching centuries pass.

Over the years I've used the image of these trees and the rings as a record, so it wasn't difficult to interpret wood grain except to keep the idea to a graphic score.

Here is an earlier recording of a River Red Gum.

Freddy after

Disquiet Junto 0689 Supporting Players

The Junto reminded me of the musical squeaks of my drum stool, so I set about loading up a bunch of samples and then put a bassline to it.

Then I got cold feet and re-read the instructions and wondered if it really considered other studio furniture.

Anyway, I woke up in the morning and wanted to honour the squeaky stool.

Me finally

Werner Herzog on guilt-free viewing

Occasionally, I watch trash TV because I think the poet shouldn’t avert his eyes.

naviarhaiku583 – out of the blue

The haiku shared by Naviar this week left me wondering about paulownia.

Apparently these tress have been introduced in the last 30 years, but require more rainfall a better quality soil than is generally available in our landscape.

However, I know the peachy quality of morning light and often appreciate it in the bathroom, so I made a track to give a sense of that ambience.

Just apply

Disquiet Junto 0688 Sign Up

The Junto assignment this week is to "Interpret a routine public sign as a musical instruction.

Step 1: Think about signs you see near where you live or work, the sort of routine public signage one generally takes for granted. Consider in particular signs that, unintentionally, are open to broader interpretation than might have been intended.

Step 2: Choose a sign from Step 1.

Step 3: Willfully interpret the sign you selected in Step 2 as a musical instruction of some sort.

Step 4: Record a track in which you follow the musical instruction you inferred in Step 3.

I thought about my drive to work and remembered the sign for ducks near the McCaughey Park in Yanco.

This ducks crossing sign is one that I remember first seeing when I went to university in Canberra and later incorporated into this video I made after becoming a parent.

The ducks suggested a delay, as they lined up with smaller ducklings as the decay.

So I took the track that I'd been playing with and edited the ukulele part to a series of snippets, making it the mother duck.

Then I found a delay after looking around in my effects.

Most of those I have at hand emulate analogue tape-based delays and this called for an effect more like a digital delay.

Eventually I settled on an Eventide VST as it had a preset named "Marching Rhythm" that sounded okay and seemed to suit the assignment.

Drumsticks

Disquiet Junto 0687 Applied Science

The Junto assignment is to "Record a piece of music that explores physiological and behavioral techniques."

Last week I had a lesson in playing djembe and the teacher introduced a rhythm based on a heartbeat with two hits and a rest, so I thought to use that in this track.

The behavioural aspect is how I can't help but make a dance track with a steady rhythm like that.

Video from a recent project at the Leeton Pool, which addresses many needs for me.

Heartbeat

naviarhaiku582 – here and there

The haiku shared by Naviar this week led me to reflect on current setbacks and how new opportunities will emerge.

I know that probably looks vague, but the results are still developing and won't be known for a little while yet.

Delay analogy

naviarhaiku581 – plunging my hand

A funny thing happened when I decided to film a video for my response to the poem shared by Naviar Records.

I'd misread the poem and planned to film myself blowing bubbles at the pool, then my camera wouldn't record.

It wasn't until I decided to read the poem again that I realised it said "hand" and not "head" as I first thought.

Me listening to a song

Disquiet Junto 0686 Catch Your Breath

The Disquiet Junto instructions this week:

Step 1: Sit for a moment and slow your breath.
Step 2: Continue with Step 1 for a bit longer.
Step 3: Pay attention to your breathing, in and out, in and out. Don’t record yourself. Just listen, and feel.
Step 4: Consider how the process of breathing in and out slowly can lend shape to a piece of music. Again, just do this through personal consideration of the act of breathing. This project isn’t an exercise in audio sampling.

This has been a glass-half-full-kinda month for me.

So as I sat and considered a bunch of nagging thoughts arose in me.

Since my favourite way to distract myself has been jamming on instruments, it wasn't much of a leap to lending the breathing activity to shape a piece of music.