downstream – Page 180

Dischoir: A Call for Voices

For a future Disquiet Junto project

December 23, 2019 / By Marc Weidenbaum

What does the Disquiet Junto community sound like when it sings together? Let’s find out.

We’re doing a special Disquiet Junto project beginning on January 9, 2020. What follows below are instructions well in advance of that project. (This phase is to collect material for the January 9 project. This isn’t the project itself.)

Please record yourself singing one held syllable, such as “ahhh” or “ohhh” or “ewww” or “eeeee” or whatever you choose, for between two seconds and seven seconds in duration. The note you sing and the held syllable you sing don’t matter. Just sing the note and held syllable that come to you.

Then send me a link to the audio file in the .wav format. Title the .wav file “[artist-name]–[title-with-hyphens].wav.” So, for example, something I’d share might be weidenbaum–drone-syllable.wav, or disquiet–held-tone.wav. (Please don’t send me the file as an attachment. Send it as a link. Thanks.)

I’ll then collate the files I receive into a folder. Those vocal files will be shared with everyone on January 9, 2020, when the project begins, along with further instructions.

The deadline for the vowel submissions is Tuesday, January 7, 2020, at 11:59pm wherever you are.

This all came about as a result of something Alan Bland mentioned on the Junto Slack. He pointed out that my having misspelled Disquiet as “Disquier” in the December 19, 2019, project title made him think of “Dischoir,” a possible Junto project. Thanks to Alan and to Jason Wehmhoener for helping me think this project through. It should be a lot of fun.

Disquiet Junto Project 0416: Time Laps

The Assignment: Improvise successive layers, each time reversing the previous layer.

December 19, 2019December 21, 2019 / By Marc Weidenbaum

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, December 23, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 19, 2019.

Tracks will be added to [the playlist](https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0416) for the duration of the project.

These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at [tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto](https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto)):

**Disquiet Junto Project 0416: Time Laps**

The Assignment: Improvise successive layers, each time reversing the previous layer.

The project is intended as a series of live improvisations, but certainly interpret the instructions as you see fit.

Step 1: Record a short piece of live, improvised music.

Step 2: Reverse the audio recorded in Step 1.

Step 3: Record a live improvisation on top of the reversed audio that resulted from Step 2. (Do this by listening to and responding to the playback in real time.) Then flatten the two layers into one layer.

Step 4: Reverse the combined audio (both layers flattened) resulting from Step 3.

Step 5: Record a live improvisation on top of the reversed audio that resulted from Step 4. (Do this by listening to and responding to the playback in real time.) Then flatten the two layers into one layer.

Step 6: Reverse the combined audio (both layers flattened) resulting from Step 5. This is your finished piece (unless you’d like to do additional layers, continuing the flip-flopping, for as many times as you’d like).

**Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:**

Step 1: Include “disquiet0416” (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 “disquiet0416” (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 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/disquier-junto-project-0416-time-laps/

Step 5: Annotate your track 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, December 23, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 19, 2019.

Length: The length is up to you.

Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0416” 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: Consider setting 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 416th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Time Laps / The Assignment: Improvise successive layers, each time reversing the previous layer:

https://disquiet.com/0416/

Drones & Strings

A study in contrats courtesy of RP Collier

December 16, 2019December 16, 2019 / By Marc Weidenbaum

The sleepy drone that slowly pulses and frays throughout this RP Collier track, “We Fly in Blimps Now,” hovers like its title subject. What it hovers above provides quite a study in contrasts. The drone is all muffled noise, a crunchy sound yielding softness through filters and the semblance of stasis. Below the drone unfolds the slow progression of a melody, presumably played guitar: a lonesome presence in the shadow of fierce clouds.

Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/rpcollier](https://soundcloud.com/rpcollier/blimps). More from RP Collier, who is based in Portland, Oregon, at [youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/user/tynego) and [rpcollier.bandcamp.com](https://rpcollier.bandcamp.com/).

Disquiet Junto Project 0415: Seasonal Metal

The Assignment: Tinsel is your latest instrument.

December 12, 2019December 13, 2019 / By Marc Weidenbaum

Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, December 16, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 12, 2019.

Tracks will be added to [the playlist](https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0415V) for the duration of the project.

These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at [tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto](https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto)):

**Disquiet Junto Project 0415: Seasonal Metal**

The Assignment: Tinsel is your latest instrument.

There is just one step this week: Make a piece of music that explores tinsel for its sonic properties.

Of course, feel free to interpret this as literally or figuratively as you desire.

**Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:**

Step 1: Include “disquiet0415” (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 “disquiet0415” (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 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-0415-seasonal-metal/

Step 5: Annotate your track 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, December 16, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 12, 2019.

Length: The length is up to you.

Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0415” in the title of the track, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.

**For context, when posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:**

More on this 415th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Seasonal Metal / The Assignment: Tinsel is your latest instrument.:

https://disquiet.com/0415/

Disquiet Junto Project 0414: Mod Cons

The Assignment: Compose one or more sounds for an appliance/device/gadget of your own choosing.

December 5, 2019December 6, 2019 / By Marc Weidenbaum

Deadline: This project’s deadline is Monday, December 9, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

Tracks will be added to [the playlist](https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet-junto-project-0414) for the duration of the project.

These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at [tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto](https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto)):

**Disquiet Junto Project 0414: Mod Cons**

The Assignment: Compose one or more sounds for an appliance/device/gadget of your own choosing.

Thanks to Junto member Iain Holmes for having proposed this project.

Step 1. You’re going to create sound for an appliance. Choose the appliance. Maybe it’s something you own, maybe something you don’t, maybe something that doesn’t exist and you made up. A washer, a game console, a microwave, an electric skateboard, a jetpack, whatever you’d like.

Step 2. Decide what sound or sounds you’re going to compose. Maybe it’s the start-up tone, or an alert, or maybe you want to come up with a whole suite of related sounds.

Step 3. Consider the environment in which the device from Step 1 is employed.

Step 4. Compose one or more sounds for the device you decided upon in Step 1, taking into consideration the context of Step 2.

**Seven More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:**

Step 1: Include “disquiet0414” (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 “disquiet0414” (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 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-0414-mod-cons/

Step 5: Annotate your track 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, December 9, 2019, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 5, 2019.

Length: The length is up to you.

Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0414” in the title of the track, and where applicable (on SoundCloud, for example) as a tag.

**For context, when posting the track online, please be sure to include this following information:**

More on this 414th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Mod Cons / The Assignment: Compose one or more sounds for an appliance/device/gadget of your own choosing:

https://disquiet.com/0414/

Thanks to Junto member Iain Holmes for having proposed this project.