Naviarhaiku 137 - Meteor shower
A memorable experience was when I first moved to the country earlier this century and was living in Wagga.
I awoke at 3am to see the forecast meteors and drove north, where the best views where supposed to be found. Must've got most of the way to Temora before I spotted a road that seemed dark and facing in the direction I wanted.
I recall lying on the bonnet of my Honda Accord, feeling the warmth of the engine and looking up to see a dazzling display of multi-coloured streaks across the sky. It amazed me to see the white, yellow, orange, blue and green dashes.
For this track I've used the four-string guitar that's inspired a number of recent tunes, as well as my five-string bass. It's a simple chord progression with higher tapped notes to convey the sense of light streaking across the sky.
Specific Ocean
This track began with a view to responding to Naviar Records' Renku project, which I think is meant to involve a collaboration.
In the end though, we didn't record her vocals and I guess I've moved onto another chord progression -- which maybe I'll record later this week.
Disquiet Junto 0241 Foreground Effect
The Junto instruction this week speaks of flipping hierarchies, particularly between background and foreground.
There are different ways to get this effect and here I've mostly used reverb.
My piece takes three of the parts from last week's Junto and shifts their positions in the mix, particularly between the background and the foreground.
There are also resonators in places, which end up creating a kind of space-less drone.
I like that this track returns to drone a piece that was recording emerging from drone. This week I also produced this crisp instrumental version.
There's also a weighting that I shift with the AM Radio preset on Lumonix effect mentioned on lines last week. It's on the bass, the guitar and the drums.
Then Valhalla Shimmer adds that pad-like swell.
Naviarhaiku135 - The loneliest sound
Do you know what sounds lonely? The mix of a song with most of the bright parts missing.
The track above uses all of the stringed instruments from the last Junto piece except the guitar but only one bass and drum track each and no vocals.
The video below also has three vocal takes and additional drum and guitar parts.
Door_slam_2.wav is a triumph
"Pro Tools 'guru'"!
Disquiet Junto 0240 Emerging from a Drone
The Junto this week described a song emerging from a drone. I feel I've skimped on the drone and could've stretched it out further, however.
I'd been jamming in the key of G when the Junto instructions arrived and I couldn't escape it, although I switched to my 'Nashville' tuned guitar.
There I recorded four minutes playing a G minor chord first -- which I thought would play the drone but that ended up being the fretless bass.
The idea to record vocals was impromptu but I had the foresight to use a decent mic rather than the camera. Then I recorded two takes on my four-string guitar.
There are four drum takes layered up and they're mostly in time. Mostly. The two bass parts were recorded last and in each the strap fell off the bass, so it drops out in places.
Before I started recording today I'd logged into llllllll.co and added a few free VSTs in the thread. I used Rough Rider (Pro though) on the drums and Frohmage on the one part too.
Reverb is Audio Damage's Eos and Valhalla's Shimmer. The delay is an Ohmboyz reverse preset on the four-string, same as I used last week.
Recorded and mixed quickly, then mastered with Ozone 7.
Disquiet Junto 0239 Code Requiem
The Disquiet Junto this week sought to capture the announced retirement of Soundcloud's Groups function.
This requiem was recorded with a four-string guitar after the weekend was spent trying to find the right notes.
On Monday morning I was able to record one take of a progression that had taken shape the night before. Knew I was onto something when I noticed liquid appearing in my partner's eyes while I strummed a chord progression.
When I added Ohmboyz delay it seemed to be a good effect with the reverse preset for the recording and one that hides a bum note, I think.
Naviarhaiku133 - Lightning Strike Pulses
I'm less enthused about Soundcloud, as they've announced an end to 'Groups' which has been intrinsic to my music-making and listening for the last few years.
Anyway, this track features hair clippers and a clothes dryer. I recorded these last week after reading the haiku but for my Disquiet Junto track. As I was listening to the parts, I thought on the electric sound the clippers were making and thought it might share something in common with the sound of lightning within a cloud.
Pioneering Projections
Below is a short video showing some of the results. See more at fiveofseven.rocks
Disquiet Junto 0238 Magnifying Contact
The Junto this week asked for a recording of a recording of a piece of music.
Does recording electric hair clippers adrift the basin top count as music? I had planned to record a loop to pitch musically before adding percussion.
In the end I think the clippers add a good texture to the sound of their motor through its electromagnetic field and then reverb.
I've also recorded the vibration on the basin with a cheap contact mic, as well as recording the sound through a Rode on the camera to capture process.
Also in the mix is a recording of a clothes drying-rack using both my cheap and expensive contact microphones, the latter is a Barcus Berry Planar Wave.
The bars all resonate, as do the floorboards of the house and the result is pleasing. It reminded me of the coast house stairwell I used in the last Junto.
P.S. I had a comment from a listener that they couldn't distinguish the 'music itself' from the 'production' and it made me wonder if I should've picked a more standard musical instrument. My approach was to include sounds of the clipper recorded during the process via the camera as well as via EMF and contact microphones, then include more of these than I normally would but it's not the usual handling noise that one gets playing an instrument.
But maybe distinctions between 'music' and 'process' aren't helpful when a non-musical process is given musical treatment via effects like resonators, reverb and delay?
P.P.S. This got me thinking how I'd have mixed the track if I wasn't emphasising handling noise and process. The audio in the video below doesn't have the audio from the camera, only the EMF and contact mics.
Lee's Kitchen
Thought I'd make music in the kitchen while visiting Brisbane recently. The noisy taps caught my ear, although they're not obvious in this piece.
I also recorded myself tapping the pots on the stove top, then I heard a birdsong in the backyard and recorded it too.
Valla Beach House
The wires next to the stairs at this beach house have always sounded musical. It's a place of many happy memories.
Case IH
An International Harvester tractor was part of the farmyard I recorded in April for the Junto's serial composition.
There are many interesting noises among that collection but I decided to stick with tractor sounds in this composition.
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