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.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, August 13, 2018, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on. It was posted in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 9, 2018.
Tracks will be added to the playlist mini-album for the duration of the project.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0345: Sample Time The Assignment: Make your own drum machine sounds, do something with them, and share them.
Major thanks to Matt Nish-Lapidus and Jason Wehmhoener for helping put together this project.
Step 1: Today is August 9th, meaning yesterday was August 8th, or as it has come to be widely named: 808 Day, celebrating the Roland TR-808. In slightly belated celebration of that day and that device, we’ll be devising our own drum machines.
Step 2: Think about making your own drum machine. What basic set of sounds would it come with? (If you would benefit from additional structure, consider one for each of these categories: Accent, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Low Tom/Conga, Mid Tom/Conga, Hi Tom/Conga, Clave/Rim, Maracas/Clap, Cowbell, Cymbal, Open Hat, Closed Hat.)
Step 3: Based on your thinking from Step 2, create those dozen or so sounds that are the basis for your imaginary drum machine.
Step 4: Record a piece of music using your new drum machine. At the start of the track, before the music begins, put the full sequence of sounds you created in Step 3, one after another, with a little silent space before and after each. (For next week’s project, people will be making music with your imaginary drum machine.)
Six More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0345” (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 “disquiet0345” (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-0345-sample-time/
Step 5: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Other Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, August 13, 2018, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on. It was posted in the afternoon, California time, on Thursday, August 9, 2018.
Length: The length of your track is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0345” 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’s important for this project 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 345th weekly Disquiet Junto project (Sample Time / The Assignment: Make your own drum machine sounds, do something with them, and share them) at:
Major thanks to Matt Nish-Lapidus and Jason Wehmhoener for helping put together this project.
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-0345-sample-time/
There’s also a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet to join in.