By Nicole McLaughlin
Disquiet Junto 0661 Consumer Drone Product
The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Record a piece of drone music using sounds from your home."
It reminded me that I'd recorded my washing machine, because I liked the rhythm it was making.
I took the video and stretched, then pitched it down and used Live's MIDI function to create the notes being played by a couple of VST synths.
Then I tried a few instances of Lossy and other effects to make the parts all sound like they fitted together.
Disquiet Junto 0660 Louis Blues St.
This week’s Junto project is a communal remix using either the original or the “denoised” version of this 1922 recording of the classic 'St. Louis Blues.'
The "denoising" was remarkable when I went back to the original!
Marc's instructions state:
Break the track into segments. While you may be inclined toward tiny granular slivers, consider emphasizing bars or phrases. Experiment with segments of equal length and of varying lengths.
I found a number of bars that interested me and, given it was a remix, immediately set about adding percussion to drive my engagement with the piece.
Before long I'd started to apply my usual remix methodology, particularly gating sections and using Live's Beatrepeat function.
Some sections were reversed as well.
Finally, I applied Goodhertz' Lossy effect to add dynamics and give the drums a grittier sound that sat better with the source material.
The result gives me an early Kid Koala vibe and that's a good thing.
Metrics
I still remember the early days of Youtube, when a simple video could reach thousands of people and it wasn't showing me smacking my partner's arse.
The video-sharing website has tweaked and changed its algorithms any number of times and you can no longer easily find my affectionate slap on her backside.
A couple of simple videos are still among my most-viewed content, despite the efforts that have gone into more thought-provoking material.
I guess it's possible that my mother wrote the URL on strips of paper and handed them out in the bus interchange again.
Disquiet Junto 0659 Reading the Body
This week’s project is to interpret the markings on the back of a cello as a graphic score.
After a couple of weeks without a Junto, I jumped on the drumkit and put down a rhythm on Friday afternoon after finishing my uni assignments.
I thought the score looked busy and decided on something upbeat.
Then today I recorded the chords and bass between sessions of Haiku Down Under.
To finish I spent my evening mixing it and am now waiting for the video to render.
naviarhaiku552 – Stretching ahead
I liked the idea loneliness is a feeling that comes and goes, so I added a reversed part along with reverb and delay for more whelm.
Disquiet Junto 0657 Straight Edged
The Disquiet Junto project this week asks for "a piece of music that consists of nothing but held tones of varying lengths that start and end suddenly and that overlap as the piece unfolds."
I reached for my bowls, as I knew I couldn't spend too much time working on this piece now that I've returned to full-time study.
This was my third take as the sunlight was starting to fade and I like how the birdsong came through.
Disquiet Junto Project 0656: Soothing Sounds II RMX
I misunderstood the assignment sometime between reading the Junto instructions and recording a track today.
The instructions said to "Make music for babies’ parents" and I read them on my way to Canberra on Thursday, then this morning spoke with my partner about a song idea that I'd been meaning to develop.
It was on an earlier trip to Canberra that I was driving past Lake George and had a lyric and melody pop into my head, so I recorded a short video using my phone.
This musical snippet suited a message I have for new parents.
When you become a parent there are various ways that your life changes and it's important to remain focused on your relationship with the person with whom you had a child.
There are stresses like sleep and bodily changes and also the shift to becoming a parent can trigger things, so you have to make a conscious effort to support each other.
It was this idea of presenting a united front to the world that I wanted to put into the song.
The lyrics go:
This beautiful life that we’ve embroidered
you be a needle to carry my thread
so tightly the patterns intertwined
it is tempting to see it as divine
Weaving together our new family
tentative plans clothe our bed
on life’s loom a fabric known
we work with what our hearts have grown
And I know our family grows
a new world, a new world
and I know our love will show
to the world, to the world
Inside our home we commit our time
choosing to bring each other a shine
take change in circumstance in our stride
I follow your moonlight like the tide
Each day is a season in our lives
we plant words with care so they may thrive
in consultation we share our pride
to present a prime they can’t divide
Then they know our family grows
a new world, a new world
Then they know a love we show
to the world, to the world
Disquiet Junto 0655 Soothing Sounds II
The Disquiet Junto project this week asks for music for babies.
I'd begun thinking through different ideas and then spoke with my oldest son, who's home from uni for the holidays.
As I explained the Junto project I remembered my attempts to soothe him as an infant.
First-time fathers learn a number of lessons, from how hospitals view them as a liability to feeling inadequate when a baby wants to be fed.
I can't remember how I arrived at this technique but it sometimes worked.
I would hold my baby close and sing while turning on the spot.
The key lesson I would impart to first-time fathers is the importance of skin-to-skin contact at every opportunity.
With my first child I was too worried to hold him, but subsequent kids got stuck to my chest at the first opportunity and it seemed as though they knew who I was much earlier.
It's not easy being a father and working through the changing dynamic from being a couple to becoming a family.
The best thing is to be ready to provide comfort, ensure your partner has a glass of water during breastfeeding and let go of expectations.
That last point is one that becomes obvious as soon as you enter the hospital and the birth plan is forgotten as the staff do what they think needs to be done to cure the pregnancy.
As you become accustomed to being the least important person in the room, you begin a journey that's different for everyone but entirely your own opportunity to revisit your own upbringing with a new perspective.
It's no wonder that many relationships don't survive this shift, so be ready to play a new role and marvel at the little joys as they arrive.
The smell of the newborn; the moment you feel they see you; that first smile; and then the months of teething,
And shit -- so much shit.
Literal, metaphorical and it's a fertiliser that makes life grow.
Disquiet Junto 0653 Break a Rule
The Disquiet Junto project this week asks participants "Stop doing something you always do."
As a longtime contributor to the Junto, I have shared so much of my life in various recordings.
If you were to go through previous projects you'd find everything from making my favourite dish (kimchi) through to having a bath and also making love.
There really isn't much that I haven't already tried and shared with the Disquiet community!
I arrived at the idea of not contributing to the Junto this week, however it seemed as though that would go without notice if I didn't record something for the prompt.
So I've arrived at the idea of sharing an update on a recent activity that's taken me in a different direction and have decided that I won't publish it on the forum where contributors are encouraged to share.
naviarhaiku547 – night deepening…
As for the video, it's another that I downloaded from Archive.org for a different project and was available on my desktop.
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