Disquiet Junto Project 0382: Understanding McLuhan

Disquiet Junto
1

0382%20600px
0382 600px.jpg600×600 90.6 KB

Disquiet Junto Project 0382: Understanding McLuhan
The Assignment: Remix samples of an interview with Eric McLuhan on his father and media theory.

This project is being done in coordination with Fabricatorz Foundation and ONG Record’s O.N.G.2 experiential club night on Saturday, April 27, in Saint Louis. Many thanks to Jon Phillips for having made this project happen.

Step 1: Download and listen to the provided samples of Eric McLuhan, son of media theorist Marshall McLuhan, at this URL. The following samples are made from a radio interview of Eric McLuhan about his father and media theory. The McLuhan Institute authorized use (for this one-time artistic, non-commercial purpose). Have fun!

https://ong.gg/saintmcluhan/junto

Step 2: Create an original piece of music employing one or more of those samples. Consider the theme of “media ecology” as you do so.

Background: Marshall McLuhan developed the concepts of media theory and media ecology in his seminal work Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964). Media ecology is the study of media, technology, and communication and how they affect human environments. Media ecology refers to the context and the environment in which a medium is used. Marshall McLuhan’s work on media began in St. Louis while he taught at Saint Louis University from 1937-1944.

Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:

Step 1: Include “disquiet0382” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your track.

Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0382” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation a project playlist.

Step 3: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.

Step 4: Post your track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0382-understanding-mcluhan/

Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.

Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #disquietjunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.

Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Additional Details:

Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, April 29, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, April 25, 2019.

Length: The length is up to you.

Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0382” in the title of the track, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.

Upload: When participating in this project, post one finished track with the project tag, and be sure to include a description of your process in planning, composing, and recording it. This description is an essential element of the communicative process inherent in the Disquiet Junto. Photos, video, and lists of equipment are always appreciated.

Download: When applying a license, such as a copyright or Creative Commons license, keep in mind that these tracks are for non-commercial purposes only, and only for this project.

For context, when posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:

More on this 382nd weekly Disquiet Junto project — Understanding McLuhan / The Assignment: Remix samples of an interview with Eric McLuhan on his father and media theory — at:

https://disquiet.com/0382/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:

https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0382-understanding-mcluhan/

There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.

3 Likes
2

The project is now live.

4

Same. Getting a 404.

5

Dang. It’s always something. I checked before I hit send. Lemme see what’s up.

6
7

^ This link here works.

1 Like
8

And I fixed it up above. I’ll send to the list now. Thanks again for the alert.

2 Likes
9

I got confused too. It’s the link on that page itself that’s confusing. On Step 1 it links to itself in the instructions. I think people are referring to https://ong.gg/saintmcluhan/junto - It’s linking to itself there self-referentially in Step 1, quoting:

Step 1 : Download and listen to the provided samples of Eric McLuhan, son of media theorist Marshall McLuhan, at the following URL:
https://ong.gg/saintmcluhan/junto/

But the link shouldn’t have the trailing slash, as https://ong.gg/saintmcluhan/junto/ seems to resolve to a 404 page, but https://ong.gg/saintmcluhan/junto works. So in the attempt to self-reference itself, the page broke its own link.

Quite a McLuhan quandry!

2 Likes
10

Thanks! You are right. I sent a note requesting a fix.

1 Like
11

Thanks as well - These weeklies are great stress relief for me. I no longer drink (two years without this May) so I enjoy having these challenges on Thursday/Friday evenings. Fun chop-up this time.

8 Likes
12

Thank you @disquiet for another thoughtful prompt. I played my guitar through @ithkaa 's beautiful Ultomaton:

I added five of my favourite quotes from McLuhan’s interview, some of which put me in mind of Harold Bloom.

11 Likes
13

Due this project coming together last minute (getting approvals and stuff, in time for the St. Louis event), there have been some errors. I already fixed the “/” that made the link break. Someone just pointed out to me the bit toward the end had the old deadline from last week. Needless to say, the projects are due this coming Monday, April 29. I’ve fixed above, but I’m not going to burden people’s inboxes with another email.

14

Logic X audio to midi functionality -> editing for accuracy -> creative editing -> synth parts and drum part created based on the midi.

9 Likes
15

Really beautiful piece. “Your life was rearranged” is a great sample!

One observation: Takes a few seconds to get going. For something more immediate to jump into, it could be an interesting moment if cued to begin right at ten seconds with no fade in, perhaps? But I like the slow fade, as well. Lovely work, as always.

2 Likes
16

This is an awesome observation of the prompt and really works with the dialogue in a cool McLuhan way. Really like having the music follow the pattern of the voice!

3 Likes
17

I’ve tried to create something that ended up reminding me of a (hopefully) updated version of the 80’ies Hardcastle song “19” (which I, at the time, soon grew to loathe due to too frequent visits to the local disco, who just WOULD NOT STOP PLAYING IT…).

Anyways; It is more uptempo beat than my previous Disquiet responses - made to keep practicing that particular “muscle”!

It was created in Ableton with various Sinevibes, Native and Eventide plugins - as well as a few of my own samples and performances thrown in.

7 Likes
18

The playlist is rolling:

1 Like
19

Hi Everyone!

Here’s mine:

Have a great week!

h u :slight_smile:

2 Likes
20

I liked that way more than your description led me to believe - [Warning Tangent] 19 was one of those tracks that at the time I didn’t realise was more relevant than it seemed heralding as it did a lot of dance/techno stuff to come. It was quite irritating too though…[/Tangent]

Your track reminding me of “my life in a bush…” actually - a much cooler reference :wink: nice

2 Likes
21

lovely but also very interesting choices of words!

2 Likes