Hail fell earlier and unexpectedly, the small, tight drops pinging like a cellphone alert, like a nap had come to an end and a pre-selected digital signal was looping, looping in a way that the brain, still at best halfway out of that nap, could not quite process. On a walk afterward, not even a mile, the hail just a stain on concrete: an unusual quiet, as if more people than normal for the hour, not long after dark, had elected to stay home. The sense of decreased population was not confirmed but at least acknoledged at the burrito shop, where the three-person crew huddled near the counter, the tone of their chat suggesting they were deep into a conversation, that not only was no one else here presently, but that no one had been for some time. On the walk back: very few cars passed, and the few that did seemed to register that fresh rain following so many weeks (months?) of drought made for unsafe streets. Stop signs, newly reflective thanks to the brief shower, accepted the careful pause made by each vehicle, all electric, all emitting at most a low level hum. The hail had provided a moment to marvel; the afterward, a time for communal caution. Back home: the rush of the dishwasher, the creak of a house settling in for the evening, the TV making that crackling, torque-like noise as it cooled once turned off. No dialog from pedestrians outside, and the self-imposed moratorium on cars largely still in effect. When an engine is heard many homes away, it is less a disturbance than an echo that charts just how empty, how vast, the area is — the exception that lends scale to the rule. There is a major avenue a couple blocks away, lined with businesses. In another direction there is a rapid thoroughfare, its lights timed for maximum traffic flow. And yet the neighborhood is a hush. Even the gearheads have stuck to their garages tonight, rather than risk their beloved machines on the still slick ashalt.
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about
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Marc Weidenbaum founded the website Disquiet.com in 1996 at the intersection of sound, art, and technology, and since 2012 has moderated the Disquiet Junto, an active online community of weekly music/sonic projects. He has written for Nature, Boing Boing, The Wire, Pitchfork, and NewMusicBox, among other periodicals. He is the author of the 33 1⁄3 book on Aphex Twin’s classic album Selected Ambient Works Volume II. Read more about his sonic consultancy, teaching, sound art, and work in film, comics, and other media
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Upcoming
• December 13, 2022: This day marks the 26th anniversary of the founding of Disquiet.com.
• January 6, 2023: This day marked the 11th anniversary of the start of the Disquiet Junto music community. -
Recent
• April 16, 2022: I participated in an online "talk show" by The Big Conversation Space (Niki Korth and Clémence de Montgolfier).
• March 11, 2022: I hosted a panel discussion between Mark Fell, Rian Treanor and James Bradbury in San Francisco as part of the Algorithmic Art Assembly (aaassembly.org) at Gray Area (grayarea.org).
• December 28, 2021: This day marked the 10th (!) anniversary of the Instagr/am/bient compilation.
• January 6, 2021: This day marked the 10th (!) anniversary of the start of the Disquiet Junto music community.
• December 13, 2021: This day marked the 25th (!) anniversary of the start of the Disquiet Junto music community.
• There are entries on the Disquiet Junto in the book The Music Production Cookbook: Ready-made Recipes for the Classroom (Oxford University Press), edited by Adam Patrick Bell. Ethan Hein wrote one, and I did, too.
• A chapter on the Disquiet Junto ("The Disquiet Junto as an Online Community of Practice," by Ethan Hein) appears in the book The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning (Oxford University Press), edited by Stephanie Horsley, Janice Waldron, and Kari Veblen. (Details at oup.com.) -
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• My book on Aphex Twin's landmark 1994 album, Selected Ambient Works Vol. II, was published as part of the 33 1/3 series, an imprint of Bloomsbury. It has been translated into Japanese (2019) and Spanish (2018).
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disquiet junto
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Background
Since January 2012, the Disquiet Junto has been an ongoing weekly collaborative music-making community that employs creative constraints as a springboard for creativity. Subscribe to the announcement list (each Thursday), listen to tracks by participants from around the world, read the FAQ, and join in.
Recent Projects -
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• 0543 / Technique Check / The Assignment: Share a tip from your method toolbox.
• 0542 / 2600 Club / The Assignment: Make some phreaking music.
• 0541 / 10BPM Techno / The Assignment: Make some snail-paced beats.
• 0540 / 5ive 4our / The Assignment: Take back 5/4 for Jedi time masters Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond.
• 0539 / Control Breath / The Assignment: Let your slow breathing guide a piece of music. -
Full Index
And there is a complete list of past projects, 543 consecutive weeks to date. Archives
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