Sweeten my mix

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.

Anyway, I get the impression that Youtube has changed their algorithm recently as my material has mostly been homemade music videos and yet the audience grow ten-fold within a week.

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

 

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week couldn't help but resonate with me.

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.