Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto group, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have just over four days to upload a track in response to the assignment. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required. There’s no pressure to do every project. It’s weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when you have the time.
This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, October 6, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, October 10, 2016.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0249: 80 Phases Wish the minimalist composer Steve Reich a happy birthday.
Major thanks to Neil Stringfellow for proposing and helping to craft this project.
Project Steps:
Step 1: October 3 marked the 80th birthday of composer Steve Reich. Prepare to record a tribute to him.
Step 2: Select a short segment of sound or music that can be looped and, per Reich’s own technique, “phased.” Fortunately, the song “Happy Birthday” has entered the public domain. Consider using it.
Step 3: Take the segment from Step 2 and play it on repeat, layering the loop with slightly different timing to create a phasing effect. Play around with this, editing the loops until you have some successful or interesting sounds/accidents.
Step 4: Add some extra sounds or textures if you think the piece needs it.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Per the instructions below, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0249”(no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track. (Assuming you post it on SoundCloud, a search for the tag will help me construct the playlist.)
http://llllllll.co/t/happy-birthday-steve-reich-disquiet-junto-project-0249/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, October 6, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, October 10, 2016.
Length: The length is up to you. Four minutes feels about right.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0249”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: It is preferable that your track is set as downloadable, and that it allows for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution).
Linking: When posting the track online, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 249th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Wish the minimalist composer Steve Reich a happy birthday”— at:
https://disquiet.com/0249/
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:
http://llllllll.co/t/happy-birthday-steve-reich-disquiet-junto-project-0249/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Rain image by Rory MacLeod, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
flic.kr/p/bVJFJb
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/