Disquiet Junto 0742 Sensitive Math

The instructions this week are to "Record a piece of music that exemplifies the “sensitive math” genre."

I decided the sensitive part meant it was going to have a reflective feeling, while the math component would be varying time signatures.

Last night I did most of the composing and thought I'd come back and add a melody to be a focal point.

However, when I listened back it seemed like there was enough happening and decided a lead instrument would be too demanding.

Then I looked at Archive.org for a video to suit the track and realised it was perfect for a chick flick. 

Wrangling angles

Recently saw this idea to reverse the bridge pickup on a telecaster and realised I'd arrived at something similar with an upside-down stratocaster.

It really is refreshing to hear the zing on the low strings while taming the earache on the high ones.

I'm wondering if the angle on the pickup was originally a way to add more bite to dark-sounding wiring on early electric guitars?

Naviarhaiku636 – beyond the talus

 

The haiku shared by Naviar this week is another from the workshops I ran in February.

Around the time that discussion was occuring for a collaboration between Naviar Records and Red Earth Ecology, many of those who would become involved in the Stay Cool workshops attended the Haiku Down Under event that brings together poets in Australia and New Zealand.

Lisa Germay was one of the audience and we shared a few emails after the event.

Lisa is a multidisciplinary artist who writes haiku and haibun in the traditional Japanese tradition, seeking moments of beauty in everyday experience.

This Australian living in Arctic Greenland gave a presentation that started the Stay Cool workshops, so it is fitting to share her poem and also photograph.

Her presentation can be viewed here or a summary can be read at ree.org.au/2026/02/17/stay-cool-with-lisa-germany/ 

The Stay Cool project will culminate in an exhibition in the city of Griffith, Australia from 20 April that will include QR code for visitors to hear the compositions contributed by the Naviar Records community.

Mom

 

Disquiet Junto 0741 Balance Beam

 

The Junto assignment is to "Write music for bell and drone."

I shared Marc's prompt with ChatGPT and asked it to create lyrics, which I recorded while creaing music.

Sound of greasy wood

Yesterday I took my shot at installing the neck gifted by Stefan onto the blank from China. Using charcoal from a life-drawing class to mark the existing boltholes on the neck to the heel, then drilled narrow holes through a neck plate.

It might be sycamore, the body is light but I've enjoyed wiping layers of oils onto the wood grain and seeing it gain a sheen. The bolts secured the neck, which has an eco rosewood fretboard that grates a little like a blackboard under bending strings.

The pickups are yet to be wired, so I've only heard the intonation by strumming and the action is still high. However, the sound beams in a way that's like an acoustic guitar. When I lift another electric guitar the body sounds muted in comparison to this greasy blank that I only just screwed a bridge onto.

While I trying to think how to describe it, I remembered an interview with T Bone Burnett:

"I don't allow any synthetic surfaces anywhere around (in the studio). I don't like modern guitars because they're laminated. If you get an old-time guitar from the '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s or even '60s – you can scrape the lacquer off.
"The new guitars are laminated, so you're already in a plastic age. You're already in an age of controlled sound, rather than an age of raw, free sound. And that's everything."

This guitar resonates in the planks that make the telecaster-shaped blank in a way that's distinct. I look forward to hearing how it sounds in front of an amp.

 

Naviarhaiku635 – can you hear the stars?

It's great to share a track responding to this poem, as Leanne was part of the workshops last month and offered this haiku.

Originally my piece had vocals, but I thought it suited Naviar's sound to go for a more minimal instrumental.

Bass boost

 

Disquiet Junto 0740 Polychord Amorous

The assignment is to write a piece of music based on a chord progression of polychords.

Polychords were a new term and I explored combinations of three-note chords on the guitar before arriving at two progressions.

The first is a kind of A over E, I guess, which is followed by a C7 and something.

I recorded two accompaniments on guitar as I ran through lyrics, which riff on pairing chords. 

One of the influences on my playing this week is Nile Rodgers, particularly the way he'll split a big chord.