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, May 11, 2020, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, May 7, 2020.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0436: Planetary Headspace The Assignment: Share a recording of your local environment to create a communal soundscape.
This project is a collaboration with the artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats.
Step 1: Make a field recording, indoors or outdoors. Your recording may be of any length. If you make your recording outdoors, be attentive to sounds of nature that are now more audible due to restrictions on human activity during the pandemic. If you are under strict quarantine and cannot go outside, create your soundscape indoors, capturing the domestic sounds that you consider characteristic of your current circumstances.
Step 2: Upload your recording per the standard Junto instructions below.
Step 3: Download field recordings by other Junto members. Play the downloaded tracks in one ear, leaving your other ear open to hear the sounds in your midst. As you listen to the stereo soundscapes, your hearing will be extended, situating you in acoustic environments that you’ll share with other participants.
Note: This method may also be used beyond the Junto as a means of aurally transcending social distancing in your own community. Simply send your field recording to a friend and ask your friend to reciprocate.
Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0436” (no spaces or quotation marks) in the name of your tracks.
Step 2: If your audio-hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to also include the project tag “disquiet0436” (no spaces or quotation marks). If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to subsequent location of tracks for the creation of a project playlist.
Step 3: Upload your tracks. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your tracks.
Step 4: Post your tracks in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0436-planetary-headspace/
Step 5: Annotate your tracks with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 6: If posting on social media, please consider using the hashtag #disquietjunto so fellow participants are more likely to locate your communication.
Step 7: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Additional Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, May 11, 2020, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, May 7, 2020.
Length: The length is up to you. Let nature take its course.
Title/Tag: When posting your tracks, please include “disquiet0436” in the title of the tracks, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.
Upload: When participating in this project, 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: Given the nature of this particular project sequence, it is best to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., a Creative Commons license permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution, allowing for derivatives).
For context, when posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:
More on this 436th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Disquiet Junto Project 0436: Planetary Headspace — The Assignment: Share a recording of your local environment to create a communal soundscape — at:
This project is a collaboration with the artist and experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats.
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-0436-planetary-headspace/
There’s also a Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.