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.
Tracks will be added to this playlist for the duration of the project:
This project’s deadline is 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, June 12, 2017. This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, June 8, 2017.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0284: Creative Commonfield Make ambient music from the sound of clay bowls.
Step 1: We’ll be making ambient recordings this week based on source audio from the artist Chris Kallmyer. He recorded the music using bells and bowls he constructed from clay sourced on the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis. Download the source audio from here:
Note: That file is an MP3. If you’d like to use a larger, higher-fidelity recording, I’ll have it available later today. Just shoot me an email at [email protected]
Step 2: The goal is to make recordings that can also be played in the San Francisco gallery FraenkelLAB, where Kallmyer’s work is currently on display as part of the exhibit “Listening Is a Luxury.” I’ll be giving a talk there on Friday, June 16, and I’ll have some of the music audible in the background as well as before and after the talk.
Step 3: Among Kallmyer’s sonic objects made from the St. Louis clay are ceramic bowls. When making a piece of music from the source audio please do the following: (A) use no additional source audio, (B) aim for a sound that is just as gentle as the source audio, (C) consider using stereo effects to reflect the circular shape of the bowls. (Note: I might make an edit of the tracks — a ceramic chime mixtape, as it were — for the event.)
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If you hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0284” (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:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0284-creative-commonfield/
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’s deadline is 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, June 12, 2017. This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, June 8, 2017.
Length: The length is entirely up to the participant, though roughly three minutes is suggested.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0284” 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 284th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Creative Commonfield: Make ambient music from the sound of clay bowls. — at:
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0284-creative-commonfield/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image courtesy of fraenkelgallery.com and the artist Chris Kallmyer, who created the bowls and the source audio. More from Kallmyer at: