Carl Ritger closes the year with four large, encompassing, engrossing sound environments that get ever more brutalist as the album containing them draws the listener in. Their procession on *Glance White into the Dark* is, like the music itself, expertly glacial, profoundly still. This is slow-motion music for slow-motion listening. By the time Ritger gets to “Coiling the Golden Loop,” all boiling cauldron, melty warbling melody, and woolen feedback, the listener has already made way through simpler, more placid surroundings — the droning, whistling realm of “Aspen Phase,” the static-laden, watery, echoing facets of the suite-like “Linger at the Well,” and the transformed bells that resound throughout much of “Hail, Isais!” Ranging in length between nearly 23 minutes and just shy of half an hour, each of the four pieces is less a composition than a texture map, less a musical recording than an assemblage of layered elements left to find their own uneasy peace.
Disquiet Junto Project 0570: Key Change
The Assignment: Make music that changes keys
Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, 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 the end of the day Monday, December 5, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 1, 2022.
Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks appear in the [llllllll.co discussion thread](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0570-key-change/).
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0570: Key Change
The Assignment: Make music that changes keys
Step 1: There’s been news of how, in the past decade, the newest most popular music doesn’t change keys as often as the most popular music used to. (I’m being cautious by being specific that this is about the most popular music, because the data relates specifically to No. 1 singles.) Read about it here:
[https://www.npr.org/2022/11/25/1139232684/why-the-key-change-has-disappeared-from-top-charting-tunes](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/25/1139232684/why-the-key-change-has-disappeared-from-top-charting-tunes)
[https://tedium.co/2022/11/09/the-death-of-the-key-change](https://tedium.co/2022/11/09/the-death-of-the-key-change)
Step 2: Record a piece of music that does change keys. (Don’t feel required to record music that aspires to mass popularity.)
Eight Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0570” (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 “disquiet0570” (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 track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0570-key-change/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0570-key-change/)
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.
Step 8: Also join in the discussion on the Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to [email protected] for Slack inclusion.
Note: Please post one track for this weekly Junto project. If you choose to post more than one, and do so on SoundCloud, please let me know which you’d like added to the playlist. Thanks.
Additional Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, December 5, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, December 1, 2022.
Length: The length is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your tracks, please include “disquiet0570” 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: It is always 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 570th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Key Change (The Assignment: Make music that changes keys) — at: https://disquiet.com/0570/
More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0570-key-change/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0570-key-change/)
The cover image for this project is from DALL·E 2, where “key change into another key” was the prompt.
Reznor and Ross, Bones and All
A new score
There is a new movie score out from the team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: Bones and All, the “coming-of-age romantic horror road film” by director Luca Guadagnino (*Call Me by Your Name*, *Suspiria*) and screenwriter David Kajganich (*The Terror*, *Suspiria*).
Early on in Reznor’s film-score career, 20-plus years after the debut of his band, Nine Inch Nails, he made a comment about how he didn’t intend to do many scores. I need to find the reference, but he was quoted as saying something along the lines of not necessarily having enough “ideas” (I believe that was his word) to do more than maybe one a year, if that. Fortunately, his ideas have flourished, and we’ve had another 14 scores — all with Ross, who has numerous of his own, as well — since the breakthrough that was 2010’s *Social Network*.
*Bones and All* is an hour and nearly a quarter of characteristically exquisite attention to detail. The melodies are simple. The textures are rarely muddied. The motifs are persistent. And it’s all committed as if the microphones are inside the instruments. Just when you think a particular string part is getting routinized, you realize the sheer variety of nuance with which Reznor and Ross are working.
And then there is “Unfinished Business,” the 22nd of the *Bones and All* soundtrack album’s 24 tracks. It is hypnotic, even darkly psychedelic, with its industrial noises, plucked strings, warped vocals, and shimmering faulty-circuit feedback. And then those voices come fully into sonic view, and they are, by all appearances, lifted straight from the movie itself. Diegetic and non-diegetic — on-screen and off — converge emphatically. These are horrific sounds (it is a horror film; it is about cannibalism), all gnashing and moaning. The voices peek out of the thick noise bed like arms violently grasping for prey.
And then they disappear. At one point in “Unfinished Business” there’s a gap, a pause, a near silence, just the quiet of what I presume to be the dark of night, and then the score comes back strong. It’s a startling moment in a score that otherwise hints at rather than underlines the goings-on. I’m not a big horror-movie viewer, even though I do count George A. Romero’s *Dawn of the Dead* as one of my favorite movies of all time, but I’ll be watching *Bones and All* at some point soon for sure.
Disquiet Junto Project 0568: Slumber Mill
The Assignment: Make music inspired by a key chord from sleep research.
Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, 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 the end of the day Monday, November 21, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks appear in the [llllllll.co discussion thread](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0568-slumber-mill/).
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0568: Slumber Mill
The Assignment: Make music inspired by a key chord from sleep research.
Thanks to Glitcher for proposing this project.
Step 1: We’re going to make music inspired by recent research on sleep habits. Read the article here:
[https://www.sciencealert.com/nightmares-can-be-silenced-with-a-single-piano-chord-scientists-discover](https://www.sciencealert.com/nightmares-can-be-silenced-with-a-single-piano-chord-scientists-discover)
Step 2: Think about the hallmarks of a nightmare.
Step 3: Spend some time with the C6/9 chord. The notes are C E G A D. (In other words: the root, major third, perfect fifth, major sixth, and major ninth.)
Step 4: Create a piece of music that begins with the hallmarks of a nightmare and then gradually transforms into a more positive piece through the use of piano chord C6/9.
Note: Feel free to use other chords or whatever but keep C6/9 primary in the transformation.
Eight Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0568” (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 “disquiet0568” (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 track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0568-slumber-mill/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0568-slumber-mill/)
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.
Step 8: Also join in the discussion on the Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to [email protected] for Slack inclusion.
Note: Please post one track for this weekly Junto project. If you choose to post more than one, and do so on SoundCloud, please let me know which you’d like added to the playlist. Thanks.
Additional Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, November 21, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
Length: The length is up to you. Keep sleep in mind.
Title/Tag: When posting your tracks, please include “disquiet0568” 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: It is always 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 568th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Slumber Mill (The Assignment: Make music inspired by a key chord from sleep research) — at: https://disquiet.com/0568/
Thanks to Glitcher for proposing this project.
More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0568-slumber-mill/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0568-slumber-mill/)
The cover image for this project is from DALL·E 2, where “piano chord, sleep, vaporwave, green, pink” was the prompt.
Disquiet Junto Project 0567: Three Meters
The Assignment: Make music in 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 time signatures.
Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, 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 the end of the day Monday, November 14, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks appear in the [llllllll.co discussion thread](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0567-three-meters/).
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0567: Three Meters
The Assignment: Make music in 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 time signatures.
Thanks to Łukasz Langa (aka RPLKTR) for instigating this project.
Step 1: The week this project is published, the Disquiet Junto will be doing its 567th consecutive weekly project. Think about those digits and how they relate to each other.
Step 2: Record a piece of music that moves between — and perhaps even overlays — 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 time signatures.
Eight Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: Include “disquiet0567” (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 “disquiet0567” (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 track in the following discussion thread at llllllll.co [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0567-three-meters/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0567-three-meters/)
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.
Step 8: Also join in the discussion on the Disquiet Junto Slack. Send your email address to [email protected] for Slack inclusion.
Note: Please post one track for this weekly Junto project. If you choose to post more than one, and do so on SoundCloud, please let me know which you’d like added to the playlist. Thanks.
Additional Details:
Deadline: This project’s deadline is the end of the day Monday, November 14, 2022, at 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are. It was posted on Thursday, November 10, 2022.
Length: The length is up to you. Perhaps something to do with 5, 6, and 7?
Title/Tag: When posting your tracks, please include “disquiet0567” 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: It is always 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 567th weekly Disquiet Junto project — Three Meters (The Assignment: Make music in 5/8, 6/8, and 7/8 time signatures) — at: https://disquiet.com/0567/
More on the Disquiet Junto at: https://disquiet.com/junto/
Subscribe to project announcements here: https://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co: [https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0567-three-meters/](https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0567-three-meters/)
The cover image for this project is from DALL·E 2, where “three rulers, colorful photograph” was the prompt.