Bassling blog: 2021

Disquiet Junto 0522 Just Backdated

Disquiet Junto 0521 Cannon Canon

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Record a canon using (or produce a facsimile of) the sound of a cannon."

I've gone on a tangent but it was fun and gave me a reason to try recording at different frame rates.

Disquiet Junto 0520 On the Clock

Recorded this song earlier in the week and it felt close, but not complete.

When I started I thought I'd edit the shape a bit, but as I listened it seemed to have a good structure.

There were definitely bits where the drums needed to drop out though and it took a while to consider filtering them out.

Then I added some reverb and delay for movement, before trying to add effects for a similar visual result.

naviarhaiku414 – grim wartime relics

This haiku shared by Naviar Records was reason to record my jam with the gated guitar rig.

Disquiet Junto 0519 Looking Glass Remix

This is my 300th video for the Disquiet Junto and it remixes material from around the time I started following their prompts.

It was 2012 and I was about a year into my project to remix Leeton's playgrounds for the town's centenary.

I'd quit my job and was following the one idea I thought was good.

There's an early attempt at a Junto (no. 29!) in this park remix, which is a rare project that I added after the deadline passed.

It's funny but this is one of a couple of attempts at Junto projects before properly joined when I published the Tanku remix.

Then I started producing video responses to the Junto prompts with number 100, which was driven by disillusionment with Soundcloud.

One observation is the workflow is a lot quicker to produce a video now, particularly thanks to Ableton Live's video editing capabilities and my 2019 model Mac Mini.

I made a dubstep track and that seems suitably 2012.

This video was largely produced using Live and took less than a day using the raw recordings, whereas I think the earlier Enticknap Park track took a few days to complete.

naviarhaiku413 – Star-like, distant lights

Disquiet Junto 0518 Out and In

Disquiet Junto 0517 Inside Out

This weekend I'm away from home and, while the passing trucks and trains speak to the Junto theme of civilisation, when I heard the microwave I knew it was the sound I want to share.

My microwave at home sounds like a truck backing up, so the chip-tune melodies played by this little oven are delightful.

Disquiet Junto 0516 Outside In

When the Junto arrived this week, I was sitting at work and remembered a recording I'd made of cicadas while working at Griffith Pioneer Park Museum.

I've uploaded the file here if anyone wants to use for the next Junto assignment.

From the ground up

Long Distance Dan is one of my favourite producers and we both contribute to the Shinobi Cuts Remix Chains.

Recently he asked for a bassline and our collaboration can be heard on his latest release.

Disquiet Junto 0515 Talking Cure

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is to write a piece of music for a psychotherapist's office.

While I've never been in a psychotherapist's office, my impression is that it'd be good to have something ambient with enough variation to mask the possibility of hearing a voice from the next room.

Last weekend a swarm of bees arrived at the end of my driveway and I'd been looking for an opportunity to incorporate this recording into something.

I liked the idea that one might be eased out of the bustle of daily life by hearing something more bustling than human life.

As I listened to the looped bees I turned to the bowed vibraphone samples that are one of my favourite ambient instruments.

After exporting a two-minute version to loop, I realised it didn't work as seamlessly as I'd like.

So I went back and created this four-minute version, which was almost the limit of my bee recording.

Disquiet Junto 0514 Chord Channels

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Take two chords and connect them over time."

I chose Dm and G, then played them on the guitar picking out notes and shifting between them.

The result doesn't have the sustain needed, I think.

I've used the MIDI to add M-Tron and re-amped the electric guitar, which is nice but feels like it could use something more.

naviarhaiku408 – noon stillness

The haiku shared by Naviar really hit a target in terms of prompting me to create a piece of music.

Earlier this year I saw my first lyrebird at Dunn's Swamp outside Kandos.

I was visiting as part of a residency with RealArtWorks for the Cementa festival and we were working to the brief Disco Concrète.

This haiku reminded me I hadn't manipulated the lyrebird recording, so I tried to create a piece of dance music using some of the bird's phrases.

Disquiet Junto 0513 Ghost OST

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is "It is Halloween. Make some holiday-specific background music."

For some reason I thought it would be interesting to use the Fisher Price clock, maybe it's because the song is about someone dying.

Anyway, I like the idea of working with it to try and make something spooky and atmospheric.

Disquiet Junto 0511 Freeze Tag

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is to "Consider freezing (and thawing) as a metaphor for music production."

While I was pondering how to respond, it started raining and the overflowing gutters were catching the sunlight.

I set-up a camera to film it and decided it would be a visual prompt to make an icy-sounding piece of music.

When the violin solo is so damn lit

naviarhaiku404 – A red sun

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week prompted me to make a short meandering bassline.

When I went to Archive.org to find a video to go with it, I found a trailer to an unlikely western.

So I took that video into Ableton Live and rejigged my bassline to go with the little bit of soundtrack it contained, then ramped up the vibe a bit.

Triggered

Feel somewhat attacked by this meme, since I also made a three-hour ambient album.

In my defence it was back in 2010.

Sometimes I think about revisiting it to see if I can do a better job of mastering the recording, which became irritating with compression.

Disquiet Junto 0509 The Long Detail

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Create a piece of music with moments from a preexisting track."

I've selected a couple of moments from my Naviar Haiku track last week, then arranged those loops into a verse/chorus/verse/chorus kind of song.

To make it a little more interesting, I've also looped a couple of moments from the MIDI guitar part and used these to drive a toy piano (that windchime-like sound) and a Mellotron (sorta like a string quartet, I think).

The result simplifies a busy but meandering track, although both songs seem like they're a soundtrack waiting for activity to accompany.

This piece feels like it could use a bass part but I guess it will do for now.

Cicadas waiting to drop

naviarhaiku403 – On the spring equinox

The haiku shared by Naviar Records appealed to me because it described a spring equinox, which is what recently passed in the southern hemisphere.

On Saturday morning I was watching the sunrise through the trees at the end of my streeet, when I realised it formed a frame that drew attention to the glow of light behind stream rising from the nearby rice co-op.

That image seemed similar to the one described in the haiku, so I felt like I should try and record something -- although it doesn't feel fully realised in this recording.

I was performing in theatres

Disquiet Junto 0508 Germane Shepard

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Use the Shepard tone to create a piece of music."

I found a MIDI file that purported to give a Shepard tone, although it didn't sound as convincing as Hans Zimmer.

To give the tones some shape I forced them into a scale using one of Live's MIDI effects.

Then I tried a few different instruments, until it started to hold my interest.

Music critics of the Wild West

Disquiet Junto 0507 In DD’s Key of C

The Disquiet Junto project this week involves working with recordings by Daniel Diaz.

His parts were in the same key as a piece I'd recently revisited for the Naviar Virtual event.

That piece was from March 2016, when I'd walked the streets for music from the wi-fi networks.

The app Sniff_Jazzbox interprets wi-fi data as piano notes, which I'd put into the key of C and played through a string orchestra.

Diaz's recordings were in the key of C, so I stretched them to see how they could drone alongside my wi-fi symphony.

I'm just saying

Disquiet Junto 0506 Wipe Out

The Disquiet Junto project this week involves removing half of a track to create a new version.

This track I recorded to experiment with feedback has been on my mind recently, in part because the drums inspired a lovely spoken response from Sam Knot that I recently incorporated into the mix that followed my interview with Naviar Records.

In fact, I used the the original track as a piece for Naviar.

I used to like those guys

Jon Mueller on drums

The sound of drums inspires me. Fancy playing, while impressive and inspiring in its own right, doesn’t cover the whole thing. The sound of a struck drum, cymbal, or gong—its tone peaking and dissipating into silence, or piled into a dense cluster of frequencies and tones—is a thing of wonder. What does it mean, and how can it be used? The quest continues.

Disquiet Junto Project 0505 Open Up

The Disquiet Junto activity this week is to "Share a track, get feedback, and give feedback."

My track has been siting on my computer for a little while.

I can't remember when I made it but I remember why I made it.

There's a plan to make a new toasted sandwich video, but I realised I'd need a piece of music to accompany it.

Then I began playing with saturation and dynamics and maybe that didn't help.

They don't know

Naviar Virtual

My music taste

Jasamine White-Gluz Recommends

Five Ways I use memories as a creative tool:
Revisiting old mix CDs I made as a teenager: I love to listen back to these mixes and find what inspired me then. What is it that I learned from liking these songs, what are the common threads that I can trace in music I like now? 
Keeping every idea: I like to track or journal every creative idea I have even if I think it sucks at the time. I may hate it now but it might find its purpose later. As much as you can grow out of styles, you can also grow into them. 
Using all the senses: When working on sounds, sometimes I will channel specific memories by evoking the other senses that were present at that time. What were the colors I saw? What did it smell like? What did things feel like when I physically touched them? What sounds do I hear when I smell, see and feel this? 
Mixing both old and new tools: I like returning to more “primitive” tools I used when I started making music, like recording using my Tascam 4 track. Relearning how to use these machines reminds me of what it felt like using them the first time. Using my hands to physically shift knobs versus a click on a computer helps unlock different creative energies inside me. 
Remembering: Nostalgia is never cheesy if it comes from a genuine place.

Do not feed the sound guy

naviarhaiku399 – such a still water

Vaccines are a gateway drug

R. Murray Schafer on making miracles

“We are the composers of this huge, miraculous composition that’s going on around us. We can improve it, or we can destroy it. We can add more noises, or we can add more beautiful sounds. It’s all up to us.”

Disquiet Junto 0504 Transform Formula

The Disquiet Junto project this week asks participants to "Take a sound, change it, and contrast that with the original."

My mobile phone ringtone came to mind.

It's still a novelty, since I didn't have a phone before starting the job, and thankfully it doesn't ring very often -- so I don't often hear the ringtone.

To change the sound I slowed it down and converted in to MIDI, then used one of my favourite piano sample-based instruments.

Come together

Show your support

How to tell when you're a real professional

Disquiet Junto 0503 Sing Song

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is to "Record a song using only your voice transformed beyond recognition."

Maybe it was the image Marc picked, but my mind went back to the "vocal only" track 'Alright' that I recorded a while back that went on to be remixed by DJ Pnutz for my album Sing.

I've used it for a couple of previous Juntos, including a mash-up and a remix made from Ausgesuchtestenohren and mode.analogue.

I've taken those stems and run them through a variety of effects, particularly saturation.

For these kinds of Juntos I really like using Sinevibes, as their effects will quickly take the source material to a distant and alien place.

You don't hate jazz

Disquiet Junto 0502 Global Swarming

Watch The Lost World with me?

Disquiet Junto 0501 PKD Playback

Vaporwave fans be like

Disquiet Junto 500 Humming to Your Selves

The Disquiet Junto project this week introduced me to the writing of Fernando Pessoa.

The project direction is to "Play a tune by yourself and as if by two people whom you invent."

I've thrown a few ideas at the track, which began with drums I recorded in April.

On Saturday I improvised a chord progression using the MIDI guitar, then struggled to remember the key as I added a bassline.

Then I remembered a video of a visit to a rock pool with my youngest, which had been on my mind after a haiku prompt from Naviar Records.

Technically

Disquiet Junto 0499 Out of the Landscape

The Disquiet Junto project this week involves adding a tone to a field recording.

Recently I was invited on a bus ride in Lismore with RealArtWorks.

Music makes life fun

Disquiet Junto 0496 Isolation Room

The Junto instructions this week prompted me to think of this track I’d recorded a few days earlier.

A couple of weeks ago I recorded a bass part for Dan, who said it wasn’t what he had in mind.

So I added my own drums and a synth pad, then edited a short video from footage I’d recorded on holiday earlier in the year.

Me appreciating

naviarhaiku390 – for that brief moment

I've never seen a firefly but the haiku shared by Naviar Records reminded me of the praying mantis that I watched hunting while on a holiday at Easter.

Drop beats not bombs

Disquiet Junto 0495 Protip Etude

The Disquiet Junto project this week involves sharing "a tip for making music or working with sound, and record a track that employs it."

I've made a short track using wind organs, which you can learn to make in this video.

Hey

naviarhaiku389 – The ocean in June

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week reminded me that I'd made recordings at Valla Beach earlier this year.

Guys who say they're kinky

Disquiet Junto 0494 Insect Menagerie

The Disquiet Junto activity this week is to "Record a 20-second clip of the sounds of an insect that you yourself have invented."

I've managed to record the renown Australian Stutterbug (Cicadoidea Interruptus).

Delay distortion chorus

Disquiet Junto 0493 AudioCorrect

The Disquiet Junto project this week asks participants to "Think about the utility and the useful failures inherent in autocorrect and apply this to your music."

It prompted my mind to wander back to a piece of music that I've struggled to revisit.

Back in 2016 I was inspired by Morphine to explore an open tuning on my guitar, settling on four strings tuned DDAE.

Thinking back and the tuning inspired a variety of music.

Recently I'd used the song 'Reflections' in my soundtrack for The Lost World and my partner had singled out the song for praise.

So I tried to correct the piece by generating MIDI in Ableton Live, quantising and then setting a scale.

The key still eludes me, as it starts in G minor and then has a couple of changes, including a stray semitone in the melody and then it rises a tone.

Anyway, I wanted to hear it as performed on a Rhodes-style electric piano and tried to removing the bum notes (either my playing or the Live generated ones, but mostly Ableton).

Three-hour ambient album

Disquiet Junto 0492 Kintsugi Rework

The Disquiet Junto project this week employs "the Japanese technique of mending broken ceramics as a metaphor for remixing."

My source material comes from 2015 and features my son Oscar singing the soundtrack to the game Earthbound (also known as Mother).

There's this deal I have with my kids that they're entitled to a 'no questions asked' day off school each term, so I think Oscar was home for one of those days.

I can't recall how we ended up recording his a cappella, but it's likely he was singing and I suggested we try recording.

The result was fantastic!

Last weekend Oscar and I recorded another song from the Mother series for an assignment.

He had wanted to recreate a piano and we'd found that Ableton Live's conversion to MIDI produced a disappointing result.

When the Junto instructions suggested fixing a broken vessel, I had an idea I could 'break' the track using the conversion process and then repair it using softer instruments.

However, I don't think this result is "more gorgeous, and more precious, than before it was fractured."

How important is music to you?

Disquiet Junto 0491 Footsteps Sequencer

The Disquiet Junto project this week is to "Compose a piece of music structured upon a walk through your home."

My first thought was to reject the idea I might record a video walking through my home.

Then I realised I have a lot of videos already recorded that incorporate ambiences from around the house, so I downloaded ten from Youtube and ended up using nine in my composition.

My knees

Disquiet Junto 0490 In Conversation

It took me a couple of attempts to complete the Junto assignment this week, which is to "compose a piece of music structured like dialog."

Those attempts mostly involved dialing-down the number of notes, until I ended up with snippets played at the start and middle of the bars and then almost every other bar.

naviarhaiku385 – moonbeams

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week seemed suited for something dreamy.

Disquiet Junto 0489 The Prestige

The Disquiet Junto assignment this week is to "Apply some magic to ABA form."

For a spell I've applied various filters, beginning with the kick drum.

The drums alternate the sound from the camera's microphone and the Zoom H4 with kick via a bass speaker.

The B form introduces buckets from Kandos Museum, which I recorded last week as part of a RealArtWorks residency for Cementa.

Then the spells increase in frequency as the filters layer up on all the sounds.

Contact microphone at Kandos Museum

Last week I was in Kandos to contribute to RealArtWorks' residency for Cementa.

They're a post-disability collective based in Lismore and I was tasked with collecting sounds for a musical project.

This is my third play with some of my contact microphone recordings and you can see that I've manipulated loops, while adding a few filters too.

Knowing the first remix is the hardest, I thought I'd throw all the samples together and get an idea how they sound.

Almost as soon as I recognised there was only so much I could manage with this track, I moved onto another and got a better result.

But you have to start somewhere, so I appreciated the Junto prompt to get this process started.

Delay distortion chorus

naviarhaiku382 – This side of the mountain

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week speaks to me.

We're heading into autumn and I recently returned from a holiday at the beach.

It was hard to travel back over the mountain.

This carpet python was also enjoying the late summer sunshine.