#25


I used solely my own field recordings as the distinct phrases and arranged them according to the assignment. I added convolution reverb and just delay in places.

7 Likes
#26


For the “Phrase Shift”, disquiet0458, I wanted to capture a rapidly changing dreamscape experienced at the subway station while waiting for a train. I basically threw the kitchen sink at this one, which made me laugh - mostly from Spitfire Audio and Output software. Thanks to Marc for a fun and interesting challenge.

5 Likes
#27


Well… how to explain this… As I read the instructions, I was expecting to see the caveat “components may only repeat twice.” Or perhaps only twice consecutively, so that there would be a constantly unfolding stream of novelty that would still leave the door open to repetition that might traditionally be considered “song-like.” I convinced myself that this was the intent while realizing I would have no hope of composing such a schizophrenic fugue in a matter of days. So I decided it would have to be atonal. The stick shift reminded me of recent experiments with motors and I thought I would take the opportunity to explore that a bit further. It went as follows:

A 3v fan with brushes and a 12v fan with beaters applied to an aluminum trash can, a frame drum, assorted kitchenware, and a waterphone. From these recordings, I used Fracture from Glitchmachines to create two tracks of one second loops that play for ten seconds at various speeds, typically BP’d to occupy the low to mid range. On top of that are “lead” sounds processed by Absynth and Portal. The first minute or so is programmed haphazardly – after that I just let it run and try out some sounds. A fruitful exercise, I think. Thanks for the challenging prompt!

5 Likes
#28

So I went for a fairly direct interpretation in this case. First I designed 5 sounds to use throughout the track. I then chose a BPM and phrase length (4 bars) to give roughly the correct length. I planned out what the key centre for each phrase would be and which phrase element would remain between each subsequent pair of phrases. I played all 3 parts for the first phrase, then copied it and deleted the 2 sections I wasn’t rolling forward and played in the 2 new parts. I repeated this until I had 12 phrases (I added a one note resolution at the end of the last phrase) and recorded the result.

The elements were made on a Volca Keys, Bass Station, Peak, Skulpt and Volca FM, sequenced from the MPC with my normal effects and mastering chain. Nothing particularly noteworthy in terms of process or gear otherwise.

Overall I think I’d have liked to add a few different sounds and be a little more deliberate with how the parts transitioned, but in the whole I’m surprised how well it worked. It could do with some textural elements and perhaps some aspects to bring the track together as a whole, but I’m fairly happy with the result, albeit a fairly “safe” choice. Thanks for another fun project!

6 Likes
#29

Thanks. That’s good thinking. I considered making the instructions even more directive, but decided against it. There’s always a balance.

2 Likes
#30

The Schumann resonances, in the electromagnetic spectrum, come from the roughly 2000 lightning storms occurring at any given moment around the globe, as they excite the cavity formed by Earth’s surface and the ionosphere. The fundamental frequency has been measured to be 7.83 Hz. In theory, harmonics should be a function that is proportional to sqrt(n*(n+1)), for the nth harmonic, but given reality (e.g., the earth is not a perfect sphere), these frequencies come out differently and of course change a bit over time.

Per the Wikipedia page, I used these measured frequencies: 7.83 14.3 20.8 27.3 33.8, but stepped up 3 octaves (f*8) so the relationships are easier to comprehend. Sinusoidal signals at the precise frequencies were generated with C code. The present work alternates 4-bar sections at 100 BPM between the measured and theoretical frequencies, with a shared fundamental. Three frequencies are selected at a time, to attempt to get a sense of what triads sound like in this space.

Actual frequencies used based on observations: 62.64, 114.4, 166.6, 218.4, and 270.4. And based on theory: 62.64, 108.4956626, 153.4360375, 198.0850726, and 242.6036768.

6 Likes
#31

Track done entirely on the Polyend Tracker. The three phrases are:

  • a long jazzy piano sample from Loopmasters;
  • a built-in wavetable mono synth on the Tracker;
  • a basic 10-sample drum kit by Take A Daytrip from the Native Instruments Community Drive pack.

I assigned two tracks per phrase. The progression is as follows (bold phrases are repeated from the previous Pattern):

  • Pattern 1: piano1, wt1, drums1
  • Pattern 2: piano2, wt1, drums2
  • Pattern 3: piano2, wt3, drums3
  • Pattern 4: piano4, wt4, drums3
  • Pattern 5: piano4, wt5, drums5
  • Pattern 6: piano6, wt5, drums6
  • Pattern 7: piano6, wt7, drums7
  • Pattern 8: piano8, wt8, drums7
  • Pattern 9: piano9, wt8, drums9
  • Pattern 10: piano1, wt10, drums9

… and then it loops back, keeping the project rule of one phrase bridging the gap between patterns.

7 Likes
#32

I tried to challenge myself by only using loops recorded from my Eurorack modular synthesizer. The bass voice is the Basimilus Iteritas Alter. The supersaw sound is from the Mutable Instruments Braids. Crackling electronic sound provided by the Norns script Benjolis. Field recording loops were coming from Morphagene where they were lightly treated with Make Noise Mimeophon.
Mixed in Ableton Live.

5 Likes
#33

Cheated a bit at the end, because I let one or two things come back. This week gave me a good chance to use different soft and hard sounds together.

3 Likes
#34

Love it, what a fantastical sequence.

2 Likes
#35

I hadn’t encountered the word ‘Vaudville’ before. Incredible piece. :slight_smile:

Have a question though does this qualify as ‘Vaudville’ in style at least ?

2 Likes
#36

Hi
This is my first contribution.
The whole track is made on the Deluge. I was in a hurry… try to made something related to mood swings, between torment and serenity.
All is new, but i think i will come bacl to some phrases later.

3 Likes
#37

@earthborn.visions - I like the stylistic and timbral variation you managed to achieve while also giving a sense of coherence across the whole thing.

@Glitcher - Intersting timbres and textures throughout; I especially like the fairly distinct “sections” which give a feel of a track Vs fragments played sequentially.

@DeDe - I am really impressed with the orchestral and almost cinematic sound you managed to achieve here. The range of sounds alongside the consistent elements really has a nice feel.

@Aaah - This was one of the pieces that sounded most like a ‘conventional piece of music’ Vs being dominated by the prompt: you found an interesting balance.

@apanmusic - I enjoy the choice of relatively simple melody combined with interwoven rhythms. To me this feels atypical for a guitar, which appeals.

@wagneric - I kept wanting to add more elements and variations to my track, so I appreciate the restraint of this one: nice work.

7 Likes
#38

Hey everyone! My name’s John, and this is my first Disquiet Junto project. I’m a Sound Art MFA candidate at Columbia, and I think of myself as a composer and intermedia artist.

Whipped this little diddy up in about an hour using Audacity. I’ve started to pursue a bit of an old-school musique concrete approach as little composition exercises, and Audacity’s limited set of options actually helps to focus in on what really matters to me in these exercises: combining recorded sounds together with little to no effects processing.

For this piece, I have created 6 individual phrases of 10 seconds each. Each of these sections uses 3 different samples, recorded by myself, Anthony Sertel Dean, or Joshua M Mastel (fellow Columbia University Graduate Students). Each new phrase retains one sample from the previous phrase and adds two new samples. This process continues until all 6 phrases have been heard.

5 Likes
#39

Welcome! Thanks very much for joining in.

2 Likes
#40

Welcome! Excellent you could join in.

2 Likes
#41

Hmm, I was hoping @Richard_Townsend would stop by again and show us how this is done musically. As far as I can tell, @chalkwalk came closest to a strict musical interpretation – and pulled it off with aplomb. @RPLKTR’s interpretation was even more in keeping with the idea of continual change, but 2/3 parts being drums and samples reduces the degree of difficulty substantially.

I think if I were to approach this again I would do something Reich-like – a rhythmic pattern of notes with subtle changes, something like that Vanilla Ice interview where the extra “ding” makes it different – and then it could go on forever (there is a guy called Donnelly who composes like this – for trios even, sounding like Reich doing an Irish jig).

Otherwise, yeah… very difficult! Maybe those generative tools in Ableton would come in handy? I’ve yet to use them…

3 Likes
#42

That’s true. Then again, the assignment explicitly spells out “field recordings”, which encouraged me not to think of the phrase and its components as a single instrument part. The instructions also say “a tone and a beat and a texture”. That’s what I went for, trying to make as complete a track as can be within this framework.

This was a great prompt, more prescriptive than usual but still very open to a multitude of approaches. I especially liked the extremely constrained spiraling one presented by @Paul_Reiners. I think I will try another take at this prompt as well: a strict single instrument piece where the three shifting components would be: tonal progression, rhythm, and key.

3 Likes
#43

Totally – I bring it up because you followed the suggested structure more than anyone else (or maybe my hearing was damaged from all the pots and pans going off), and only to point out how extremely difficult it would be to do this 100% musically, in terms of a fugue or piano trio, jazz, gamelan, etc. It’s not just that I don’t really have the chops for this approach, it’s more that I can’t even imagine what it might sound like and struggle to find a starting point. Possibly my mindset was just not sufficiently experimental this week…

2 Likes
#44

I focused in on the word ‘entirely’ in the above quote. If you check the time stamp when listening you will see that every 10 secs two sounds stop and one continues. The rules were only broken at the end so that I could add a fade out. My piece isn’t super musical but it does follow the rules.

Of course different notes with the same instrument is one approach and possibly the best for a melodic result. In the end I went with changes in sound and timbre.

I did try to find similar timbres for smoother changes since fades were not used. I enjoyed this Junto very much but as others have said I would try a different approach next time.

2 Likes