Bassling blog

Disquiet Junto 0679 Ice Age

It's a new year, and we start it just like we have every year since the very start of the Disquiet Junto, back in January 2012: "Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it."

This year I've mixed together tracks from the previous years and it was surprising the variety of styles and instruments.

naviarhaiku573 – Year’s end

This haiku shared by Naviar Records led me to revisit a process from previous years.

I sampled my daily writing practise, then quickly recorded a reading to go with a piece of music.

The words are below, since you can't really hear them:

Clear a space for truth 
put demons on the table  
we all have monsters
The familiar 
our lived experiences  
we never escape
Preoccupation 
knowing unmentionables  
hiding maligned forms
In these descriptions 
old paraphernalia  
wrestling for new life
Anchored ideas 
peppered onto bathroom walls  
I read the comments
My steps unbalanced 
finding a new way forward  
these steep learning curves
Personal essays 
images that resonate  
using metaphors
It leaves me beaten 
along branches of wisdom  
stick with what I know
Dulled by the moment 
anything is possible  
love profound boredom
Title on the door 
master procrastinator  
holds me to account
I don’t play tennis  
when the ball is in my court  
I’m hitting it back
The role I’ve taken 
allowed to fully occupy  
where I’m meant to be
Sometimes giving up 
letting loose parts of myself  
and it’s positive
I’ve backed myself in 
wet paint around the corners  
I’ll spend some time here
A love of the thing 
not really a career  
expert of nothing
Enjoy the journey  
it’s different for everyone
like so much guidance

  interpretations vary  
so I guess words will travel
Robust narratives 
explaining our lives away  
it’s not magical
Without little words 
sensibly made into thoughts  
would I know myself
Finding small spaces 
unused outlooks on the day  
to make a window
My opacity 
hiding in the everyday  
beliefs are porous
We can save those gifts 
people don't want those insights 
lies are easier
We hold opinions 
underestimate vastly  
how truths destroy us
That crushing feeling 
to hold a sensitive heart 
wishing it weren’t mine
Something in my chest
resonates with emotion
reciting your words
It’s the easy thing 
seeing only what I know  
can you really blame me?
A slippery slope
I can go down a wormhole
lose myself a while
These are summaries
so when revisiting them
I'll find my own words
Thinking of my poems
as conversation partners
go let them mingle
We sometimes struggle
as our own brand of magic
fails to charm ourselves
Sometimes I’ll look back 
some will say I’m different  
but it’s just I’ve grown
Through a world of sound 
the only filter I have  
my discerning ear
Scanning the dial 
your radio call signal  
I’m the antenna

It seems obvious 
that lozenge rhymes with orange  
but maybe that’s me

Synthetic synthesisers

Readers will know that I'm predisposed to write about musical instruments, so I want to share a few thoughts that draw trends in consumer culture by looking at a product category that I like

In this case, synthesisers.

There are three broad ideas to identify: cloud-based products, cheap knock-offs and declining quality among established brands.

The first concerns those subscription-based services one can access online and you might be surprised that synthesisers are a thing to rent in your internet browser.

My favourite recent commentator about synthesisers is Florian Pilz and he says that cloud instruments are a bad idea, so that's good enough for me because I love buying good musical gear.

A benefit of having physical hardware is having something to sell when the good gear is not as good as you hoped it to be.

It's getting harder to find the good stuff among all the Bad Gear that Florian reviews among the jokes he doesn't make about Uli Behringer, whose company has been making cheap versions of classic and contemporary synthesisers and drum machines.

Behringer is notoriously litigious but has been successful in making new models of popular secondhand gear, some of which is stuff like the synths that a company like Roland rents in their cloud subscription.

For many consumers Behringer is the answer to the question why Roland aren't selling versions of the classic TR-909 and TB-303 machines.

Critics have quoted the weirdly translated words of Roland's CEO that the company "doesn't chase ghosts" as a way of explaining that they've moved on, but others point out that the engineers who designed analogue intruments have probably all retired.

I have Roland's "Boutique" range and also Behringer's colourful copies of these XOX-boxes that gave rise to genres like Acid and Techno, as well as all the subgenres that emerged under them.

Given how those musical styles developed beyond the scope of Roland imagining these little machines to play basslines and drums, it shouldn't be a surprise that the company hasn't been able to read the marketplace.

It's said that the 909 drum machine was discontinued before it found a role in the rave revolution.

However, what surprises me is how often I reach for the Behringer models, despite them being cheaper and sounding rougher.

So I think Behringer is providing a great service for people who want to make electronic music and who doesn't? I think it was Uwe Schmidt who described techno as modern folk music.

One of the key observations that Pilz makes in the Bad Gear episode above is that Roland probably doesn't care too much about these products.

He estimates they might be less than 10% of Roland's business, but it was Florian's comparison with Nestle that really drove home an analogy for those who aren't analogue synth lovers.

This showed Roland's synths and drum machines are about as significant to their corporate reporting as chocolate is to Nestle.

The company that makes Cadbury is clearly making a different product to the confectionery that I ate in previous decades, which goes some way to explain why I still have my TR-707 as it hasn't had a reissue or imitation yet.

In conclusion I realise the declining brands are a factor in the decision of Roland to make software imitations for the cloud and watch as other companies make the products that consumers want to buy.

It leads me to wonder what other celebrated brands are letting their legacy and IP go to waste?

The desire is strong to have those celebrated sounds in one's home studio, although perhaps it's better for musical innovation if one has to search further afield for the potency they once showed.

Noon sun

electric kalimba

The previous electric kalimba video was popular, so I went back to the material recorded that day.

It features the Chase Bliss Audio pedal called Onward, as well as a patch on Empress' Zoia and an Electro Harmonix Bass9 pedal with the Behringer RD6 drum machine.

Every now and then

Sometimes a video seems to take on a life beyond whatever meaning it had when recorded.

An example being the comments in a recent, badly-shot recording.

All because I lazily took a 50mm lens instead of a wider angle, which cropped out the chair that I was sitting on.

The results in how people interpreted the image were unexpected.

I'll do whatever

Disquiet Junto 0678 Commonplace Playlist

The Disquiet Junto project this week is a diary sharing snippets from activities through the year.

Many of these are on Youtube.com/bassling but some are from university assignments.

One of the biggest changes for me was moving from working as a curator to training to become a teacher.

Just before I finished at the Museum we held a great event that focused on projection-mapping.

Some weird synth music

naviarhaiku572 – cool breeze

The coolest thing I could think of recording for the poem shared by Naviar Records this week.

Effect pedals make everything sound better.

Disquiet Junto 0677 Jeux d’enfants

The Junto project is to record a short piece of music inspired by a childhood game.

All the mention of spinning and I could only remember wanting to be dizzy.

There’s a tenor guitar going into a parallel mixer called ‘the kilter’ and then through a EHX Mel-9 as well as Chase Bliss Habit with an Empress patch that I think had a symbol like Prince.

Hours of not fun

Wet wet sweat

Money minimizer

naviarhaiku571 – stillness

Dear Old Spice

Disquiet Junto 0676 Sub Melody

The Junto project came as I was exploring the kalimba through guitar effect pedals.

Tonight

Looks like tonight I'll be playing my only live set this year

I'm open to playing another show, but we're almost halfway through December now.

2024 has been an interesting year for me and the live set tonight opens with the track that I put in the Junto time vault back in April.

That track was recently unlocked and it's incredible to think about the change in my career since then.

When the song was written I was a museum curator and now I'm on my way to becoming a qualified teacher.

You know what this adultery needs

Disquiet Junto 0675 Arc of the Drone

The Junto this week is to "Record a drone that goes from simple to complex to simple."

People see Xmas trees

Disquiet Junto 0674 Cerberus Sample

The Junto assignment this week is to "Make a song from just one sample."

Since my name is Bassling, I thought to use a bass sample.

The kick, snare and percussion, as well the screeching guitar part and bass -- they all come from the one plucked open E string.

Country music makes plants grow

Mystery Box

For better or worse the Black Friday phenomena has taken a place in my calendar in recent years.

The upside is finding something cheap and then selling it when I realise that I don't need it, which happened last year with a delay pedal that I sold for a small profit.

The downside is missing out on something and then becoming obsessed with owning it, which led me to buy a synth that I've only used once and keep thinking I should do more with it.

This year I have been thinking about the Mystery Box a lot more than I need.

It's a clever pitch from a company that has been innovating guitar pedal effects. (Edit: I have since learned that Wren and Cuff had the idea last year.)

I had been patiently waiting for months to buy their Onward pedal and last weekend let myself visit their website, where I became curious about the mysterious link and arrived at the video above.

Over the weekend I kept pondering the offer and checked in on their social media, where the pitch became even more irresistible.

Some boxes will contain effects pedals from other companies, while a few will contain a Willy Wonka-style golden pin for future pedals.

Within days it became clear that Chase Bliss had hit a sweet spot in marketing, as they closed the offer.

It looks like it took three days for the company to generate so many orders that they expect to be still fulfilling them for the coming months.

I'm surprised this hasn't been observed on one of the many websites that promote musical gear.

Then again, maybe it's common for a Black Friday sale item to sell out.

However, I am now wondering how many other businesses will pitch a Mystery Box?

In many ways it's perfect for people who are difficult to buy gifts for, or who don't get the gifts they want.

The cynic in me also thinks it's also a great way for companies to push out old stock.

Seeing that Chase Bliss are in the process of redeveloping much of their product line, as the EU won't allow components that contain cadmium, I worried that I was going to find a boring flanger pedal when I opened my box.

(Then again, maybe a MIDI-synced flanger is exactly what my drum machines need?)

Anyway, seeing how CBA pedals are ridiculously expensive -- $719 retail in Australia -- I expect the secondhand market will soak up a lot of these mysteries.

And I really love the concept.

I think it packages a kind of lucky dip experience that consumers will find appealing, at least until it's diluted with disappointments.

In the meantime, I like that the company is using the platform to introduce other brands -- which is a great form of promotion since I bought a bunch of Goodhertz effects after getting their Lossy pedal.

And I am thinking almost obsessively about when my Mystery Box might arrive as Chase Bliss' social media spruiks a huge variety of possibilities.

Country for Old Men

Disquiet Junto 0673 Switch Back

The assignment this week is to "Make the quiet part loud, and vice-versa."

This track started as a riff for my class to practice writing raps, so it's sparse and gives scope to speed it up.

The keyboard part was an afterthought, but I realised it was perfect to take the foreground for the Junto project.

As a result, I've pushed the drums and bass into the background, which is the opposite of my usual approach.

Meanwhile, the kids in class have been happy to practice along with a mix by Bobby Corridor instead.

My babies

Herb Alpert on Quincy Jones

"...one of his true gifts was that he knew a good tempo – he put the tempos in a place where it penetrated your body, you could feel it move."

Psy

naviarhaiku565 – springtime woods

The haiku shared by Naviar Records this week reminded me that I had a recording of bushland waiting for a soundtrack.

My track is busier than the poem might suggest, but I like to think the bubbling bassline reflects the dreams of the raptors.

No noise music

Disquiet Junto 0670 Right of Way

The Junto prompt this week is the turn signal on a car.

I like the symbolism, since it's the US election.

So I promote turning left, but acknowledge that the left-leaning choice isn't far from the centre-right.

Chris Barker on gearlust

“I’ve met artists that have rooms full of synthesisers and don’t use them on the records, which sounds mad. They use computers but the synths are an inspirational tool.”

This machine

Disquiet Junto 0669 Phonosynthesis

The Junto assignment this week is to "Make music to help a forest regenerate."

I went looking through my recent ideas and liked the way the organ holds this piece together with a sense of soul like that I can imagine is the role of fungal activity.

There's also the steady rhythm and I decided to give a sense of decay to the melody line, which is a significant contribution from fungi in a forest.

New password

Burial on drums

“I know when I’m happy with my drums because they look like a nice fishbone. When they look just skeletal as [feck] in front of me, and so I know they’ll sound good.”

When you hit

Disquiet Junto 0668 All Right Then, Keep Your Secrets

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is fun: "Bury a secret sound until it is no longer identifiable."

Not sure how much to share about my process as the sound is still intelligible to my ears, however it does have an accompaniament that makes it feel at home.

Oof

Disquiet Junto 0667 Neighbor of the Beast

The Junto this week prompted a few ideas, but I settled on listening at the door.

In my mind it was a reference to a Junto from a decade earlier, which was a haiku Marc wrote about the door clicking unlocked.

I made a cool video at Modifyre to go with a track that's been a feature of live shows.

Jiminy Hendrix

naviarhaiku562 – Through a world of sound

Naviar Records have given me an honour and shared a poem of mine this week.

I used the prompt to incorporate a filter into this track, applying it to the crashing waves but burying it in the mix.

Goddammit Amelia Bedelia

Disquiet Junto 0666 Beauty and the Beast

Prepared piano

naviarhaiku560 – daybreak!

The haiku shared by Naviar Records comes as I'm enjoying the return of sunlight.

Six bands

Disquiet Junto 0665 Clicks + Cuts Music Factory

The Junto assignment this week is to "Record a track in honor of the late Achim Szepanski."

I liked the industrial minimalism and the emphasis on sampling, so I found some recordings made on my old work phone that I'd been meaning to remix.

Flashback

Nine years ago I played a live set at a Burning Seed event the organiser later described as "an all-female line-up," which just goes to show how useful it is to have a pseudonym.

The same women went on to form Lunachicks at the decompression event in Melbourne that followed.

Come on guys

naviarhaiku559 – misty spring rains

My mind turned to the haiku shared by Naviar Records when I came up with this wry chord progression while playing with ideas in a 29/16 time signature.

After developing my Junto track I kept thinking I should do more with this draft.

I exported it a few times after marrying it with a video I shot at the Marea Bright exhibition currently in the Museum of the Riverina.

Today I pushed myself to add a lead part and developed a melancholy kinda melody to suit the haiku.

When you work on your mix

Disquiet Junto 0664 Mother Beat

The Junto assignment this week is to "Record a piece of music in 29/16 time."

It was about six months ago that I was talking with my son Oscar about how much I enjoy using strange time signatures as a prompt.

He started to talk about a Mother videogame, which is one that he's often discussed, explaining there's a penultimate level where the music is in 29/16.

I thought it sounded wild, so I played around and wrote some songs in Live using this time signature.

Then I told Marc that I thought it would be a fun prompt for the Junto.

This week he came back to me and, as Oscar is home from uni for the holidays, I got him to look at the wording and we added the detail about the name of the original tune in Mother 3.

Last night I began composing with the time signature and came up with a couple of ideas.

I might get back to working on the other, but thought I'd publish this one in the mean time.

Unfortunately I still have uni homework to complete.

Ambient nature sounds

Disquiet Junto 0663 Drive Way

The Disquiet Junto assignment this week is to "Record a piece of music that complements the hum and whir of a hard drive."

I have a laptop with a noise hard drive, so first I recorded it.

Then I found a take I'd recorded on the drums and added organ, 303 and bass.

Finally, I gated the hard drive and automated effects.

After all why

Disquiet Junto 0662 Spin Cycle

The Disquiet Junto prompt this week is to "Record a piece of music that pits one bicyclist against another."

After a big weekend I had time to record one take before the space ran out on my digital media.

Then I threw a bunch of effects onto the duplicated takes to make them sound like rivals.

10 years

naviarhaiku557 – I write, erase, rewrite

The haiku shared by Naviar Records was an opportunity to revisit an earlier recording.

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.

As a musician

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.

Art is not created

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.

This was my third take as the sunlight was starting to fade and I like how the birdsong came through.