Disquiet Junto Project 0510: Cold Turkey

disquiet · 2021-10-08T04:54:46.232Z

The project is now live.

klaatuberada · 2021-10-08T08:16:35.695Z

The only piece of gear I’ve recently considered getting rid of is… an old fridge. I think I can claim this old fridge as a bit of kit as I’ve utilised the noises it makes multiple times as a sound source to make music. The fridges compressor/motor made a series of nice drones as it gradually failed.

I used the sound it was making last year as the starting point for disquiet 0438 (Stream APOB - Surface [disquiet0438] by APOB | Listen online for free on SoundCloud).

It got steadily worse over the last 12 months, I recorded the sound it was making last week, before the new fridge arrived and old faithful was finally sent off for recycling. The recording was manipulated using EQ’s and a “melody” was played using an Eventide Harmoniser. This was layered with a synth part for emphasis. I made rhythm and bass parts, and layered some other pitch manipulated samples to flesh things out. The fridge sound is used for the lead bit in the chorus.

The track is structured 2 bars verse, 2 bars chours - 3 bars verse, 3 bars chours - 4 bars verse, 4 bars chours. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th harmonics were quite strong in the orignal sound, so I used that as an arbitrary basis for the structure of the track. I’m planing on working this a little more and I’ve tried to leave room for a vocal part.

krakenkraft · 2021-10-08T13:59:19.360Z

The makenoise Phonogene has to go. It’s a rack module I use very seldom, and when I started this track, it even had the sample from a former disquiet on it. Because I instantly fell in love with the loop (again), I based this track on it. Most other tunes are from different patches with the same Phonogene recording, just split and LFOed. With the exception of one track of a small battery-driven Theremin (which I since years want to sell, but it’s just too handy …) (… and the phonogene … I don’t know, it has something … )

Glitcher · 2021-10-08T19:29:55.046Z

I will now be keeping the wonderful Hyve Synth after I got my build working today thanks to Skot Wiedmann.
As it happens my hot air gun soldering session blew some solder paste where it should not have been. Stuck to the playing surface and causing a continuous tone. I looked at the surface with a good torch and spotted the tiny smudge. Wiped it away as advised and now my Hyve synth is fully working. (Except I haven’t tuned it yet)
Track was made with DIY Hyve synth and Korg NTS-1. With unfiltered audios Silo and Dent 2

euclidian · 2021-10-08T22:11:19.747Z

ray_cobley · 2021-10-09T14:45:33.319Z

disquiet · 2021-10-09T14:58:05.017Z

The playlist is now rolling:

davidstelfox · 2021-10-09T15:07:55.564Z

First Junto I have done in a long time, moved house at the end of 2020 and most weekends are now spent fixing up the new house but I got a lot done this morning so had some time to spend on this.

I’ve been toying with getting rid of my Maximal Drone for a while - can never seem to work out where it fits. Opened one of my many old half finished Ableton projects which had a track using it and reworked it a little adding some OP-1 and other bits to get to this.

Paul_Reiners · 2021-10-09T18:06:43.795Z

This project went through two stages of planned/unplanned obsolescence for me. First I tried using the two instruments pictured below.

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I finished the piece last night, but it sounded horrible. I was playing out of time and trying to improvise, which I’m not good at. At least not on those instruments. The idea was that those instruments were given to me by a former girlfriend and I never use them anymore. So they satisfied the project rules.

I then decided to try something more thought out. I decided to use this exercise from my piano teacher, Andrew Quartermain, of the Piano Sanctuary.

“Dream Song.” This one will end up sounding a bit like Benjamin Britten (!) and is all about creating a weird and wonderful sound word and also dynamic control together with intricate sonorities.
Hold a low C in the pedal with LH before playing a split white key octave anywhere centrally on the keyboard with 1 and 5 with RH. While doing so, and within complete relaxation, bring your LH over the centrally positioned RH to strike – with 4th finger – any black key at top of the piano (and changing each time.) Pedal with sustaining pedal each cycle of above in one, and then re-take pedal for new phrase. Keep repeating building up long crescendos and diminuendos.

So I composed/arranged something using this idea.

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I used a harpsichord instrument in Ableton Live because harpsichords are (mostly) obsolete. I finished that. I spent a lot of time on it—all morning, basically. Over that time, the sound of the harpsichord became more grating and annoying and really got on my nerves. I think there’s a good reason why the harpsichord was replaced by the piano. (I know that the harpsichord is still used in historically informed practice, but still. (Admittedly, it was used well on a couple of Beatles tracks.))

I ended up replacing the harpsichord with an Ableton Live bright marimba, which is not obsolete. So, in the end, I didn’t follow the main rule. But, I tried, and I think I ended up with something better than if I had stayed with the harpsichord (although I suppose I could have had a third go at something completely different). And I will probably use the bright marimba instrument again. (I think it sounds really good with a clean delay effect.). So, anyway, that’s that.

Noimspartacus · 2021-10-09T19:46:25.164Z

I’m not planning on getting rid of it because it’s not mine to give away but for the Junto I dug out my daughter’s Casio full sized digital piano from the spare room.
It was dusty and the keys still had the note names biroed on in her wobbly handwriting.
First mistake was hauling the thing downstairs, it had the weight and manoeuvrability of a concrete coffin.
I banged around on the keys, it sounded nice enough but my piano skills are limited to banging out major and minor chords. I liked the velocity / pressure response of the keys and recorded three loops without using midi or quantisation and then messed with the playback speeds before adding reverb to blur some of my timing fluiffs.
It’s not polished at all, but made a stimulating change from modular spaghettification.

Glitcher · 2021-10-10T19:45:34.315Z

I agree that firing up a DAW and getting stuck into music making can be easier than using hardware. What if though, you had a dedicated small space with a minimal mixer and a small portable recorder elsewhere from the computer ? You could try out out different configs of hardware there and then perhaps let go of or decide to keep some of them. Sometimes nothing can stifle creativity more than a DAW and for me hardware is a great alternative.
I know how you feel about the kids one of mine has gone off to Uni and the place feels empty now

wasabicube · 2021-10-11T09:24:29.757Z

I’ve had a Korg Monotron Delay for a while but more recently bought the Monotron Duo but was a bit underwhelmed by it. This was a good reason to see if it deserved to stay. I think it does. The Duo was passed through the Delay and then recorded into Ableton. Then the track was subjected to Unfiltered Audio’s Silo and Lo-Fi-AF as well as Wavesfactory’s Quantum.

deadshrine · 2021-10-11T14:23:31.463Z

We made this one quite early this morning entirely with the Behringer Neutron and Monsoon. The Neutron has been a faithful servant for some time now but it is time to let her go.

disquiet · 2021-10-11T14:23:49.870Z

Playlist is up to date. If your track is missing, lemme know:

derangement · 2021-10-11T14:32:06.835Z

Bit of a lively one - revived my Dreadbox Lil’ Erebus - most sounds and effects in this jam from this module with some percussion added - it was one of the first DIY modules I built (and it shows). As a result it’s been living in the Bardo Drawer with other modules that are on their way out.

Great prompt - thanks Adam Boyd / @disquiet!

haebbmaster · 2021-10-11T19:59:00.234Z

The equipment is an M-Audio Venom Synthesizer. I bought it several years ago, to make ear training and lern how to play some chords. I never did it, it’s in the cellar since then.
Of course I won’t throw it out. I need it for ear training.

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fakeg3nius · 2021-10-11T21:10:04.156Z

Long time ago I bought a Tenori-On, which - after initial enthusiastic use - I have not touched for a considerable period. Every now and then I consider selling it, but never do. I thought I’d combine it with a virtual version of an instrument I’ll probably never own, a CS80. And if I would, I’d probably not sell it either.

JochenEdmund · 2021-10-11T21:31:14.281Z

I’ve been meaning to get rid of this old ball and chain laptop, trade it in for one of these.

33per · 2021-10-11T22:06:49.690Z

Sitting here on my desk gathering dust for way too long is an old Maschine Jam that I keep around as I use it as a midi controller for visuals now and then.

I fired it up, always its best feature, and then proceeded to free-fall for an hour trying to remember how to load a sample and create a track.
It’s workflow is very tight and rigid if you do not use it a lot. That said once I was underway it was pretty enjoyable and as the name implies you do tend to jam things out.

When starting out on a track I like have to a few different paths I can take be it a synth or a field recording or a piece of junk I found. The Jam dropped as an option for inspiration a long time ago but I now I think I will give it another try before it goes back to sitting on my desk gathering dust.
Great concept. It strained my tiny brain which is always a good thing.

nsinnenberg · 2021-10-12T01:27:47.565Z

Sinny: 20’’ ZBT Zildjian ride cymbal

For this song, I selected the ride cymbal from my first drum kit. While all other components were eventually sold, this ride cymbal stuck around several years later before getting retired. However, the drum store I brought this cymbal to didn’t even want it, so I stored it underneath a workshop table, where it would lay dormant for several years.

To get in the true spirit of this project, I decided that I would only record with the ride cymbal to compensate for its time collecting dust. Three different types of sticks were used: brushes for some eighth/sixteenth note bursts and cymbal rubs, a triangle beater for various accents, and a thick SDI General drumstick for cymbal screeches, accomplished by applying friction on the groove of the cymbal.

Seven tracks in total were used, with three of those dedicated to the cymbal screeches. Of those three, one was pitched down 36 semitones, with the end result somewhat resembling a whale sound. Cavernous reverb and rolling delay plugins were also applied to some of the remaining tracks to create a unique atmosphere. One of the tracks was also reversed for a shimmering and warping effect.