The Romancing of Minimalism

In the hands of pianist Theo Alexander

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

It’s not for no reason that the music of Theo Alexander appears in SoundCloud playlists on occasion alongside that of Nils Frahm. Like Frahm, Alexander balances a solo acoustic piano style between neo-classicalism and post-minimalism — that is, between an adherence to a longstanding instrumental literature, and an affection for a more recent one. What makes both musicians’ work trenchant today is how minimalism, once upon a time an avant-garde school, has become, through film and TV scores as well as through the popular rise of its founding composers, a romantic form.

The pulsing of Alexander’s right hand at the opening of “Disappearing Altogether” might have been a comment on mechanization and formal purity had it been composed and performed 30 years ago, but today it is the beating heart of a romantic figure. That Alexander can balance a percussive instinct with, as the piece proceeds, a penchant for melodic flourishing is very much to his credit.

Another thing Alexander shares with Frahm is a penchant for putting the mic very close to the piano. Just listen at 50 seconds in — when the piece takes its sole, momentary pause — to how the silence isn’t pure silence, but instead a careful framing, the waveforms of a handful of notes bending and bleeding and fading together, true to the track’s title.

“Disappearing Altogether” is from a forthcoming album titled *Irresolution*. Track originally posted at [soundcloud.com/theoalexander](https://soundcloud.com/theoalexander/disappearing-altogether). More from Theo Alexander, who is based in London, England, at [theoalexander.bandcamp.com](https://theoalexander.bandcamp.com/) and [theo-alexander.com](http://www.theo-alexander.com/). I first heard the track when I was, briefly, giving the service [submithub.com](http://www.submithub.com/) a try.

Disquiet Junto 0235: Dice Music

The Assignment: Create a piece of music based on a structure determined by the roll of a single die.

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

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Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto group on [SoundCloud.com](https://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/) and at [disquiet.com/junto](https://disquiet.com/junto/), 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. 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.

Tracks will be added to this playlist for the duration of the project:

This project was posted in the early evening, California time, on Thursday, June 30, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, July 4, 2016.

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

Disquiet Junto 0235: Dice Music

The Assignment: Create a piece of music based on a structure determined by the roll of a single die.

This week’s project requires one die (that is, singular of dice).

These are the steps:

Step 1: Roll one die to determine the length of your piece in minutes.

Step 2: Roll two dice to determine the number of sections to your piece. Their length should be equal.

Step 3: For each section roll one die to determine the number of layers.

Step 4: For each layer roll one die to determine the number of different notes played. A note is only played once per layer, but it can be held for as long as desired within that section.

Step 5: Bonus: Create additional dice-based rules and mention them in the notes associated with your finished track.

Step 6: Create an original piece of music based on the result of Step 1 through Step 5.

Step 7: Upload your completed track to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud.

Step 8: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.

Step 9: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.

Deadline: This project was posted in the early evening, California time, on Thursday, June 30, 2016, with a deadline of 11:59pm wherever you are on Monday, July 4, 2016.

Length: Length is determined by the first step in the project.

Upload: Please when posting your track on SoundCloud, only upload one track for this project, 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.

Title/Tag: When adding your track to the Disquiet Junto group on Soundcloud.com, please in the title to your track include the term “disquiet0235.”Also use “disquiet0235”as a tag for your track.

Download: It is preferable 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, please be sure to include this information:

More on this 235th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Create a piece of music based on a structure determined by the roll of a single die”— at:

https://disquiet.com/0235/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

https://disquiet.com/junto/

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Subscribe to project announcements here:

http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place on a Slack (send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for inclusion) and at this URL:

https://disquiet.com/forums/

Image associated with this project by Chris Gladis, used thanks to a Creative Commons license:

Found die

Three Machines

A live performance by Dakitanmonkey

/ By Marc Weidenbaum

This is a live set by Dakitanmonkey, aka Tintao, on three machines from the same manufacturer, Elektron. What starts as a sweeping array of low-level textures slowly gains rhythmic activity. (It’s the latest piece I’ve added to my ongoing [YouTube playlist](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAgCxRbmR1MJxihgJkCPEnehAPvjoF71-) of fine [“Ambient Performances.”](https://disquiet.com/2016/04/30/a-youtube-playlist-of-ambient-performances/)) A place-marker ping is joined by a cycle of sharp static that comes and goes — and, as the half point nears, a steady, downtempo beat kicks in. That beat is enshrouded enough in the thick ambient tones to be perceived as an underlying current rather than a backbeat. Its role is more about taking the pulse of the drone than it is about emphasizing a strict tempo.

Dakitanmonkey describes what he’s up with his three tools (from left to right the Analog Four, the Octatrack, and the Monomachine) to in a brief accompanying note: “Ambient track with deep strings and basses from the Monomachine. Analog four produce only the piano, and the reverb effects for the MnM. Octatrack acts as a mixer, and radical sound change on fader.”

Video posted to the [dakitanmonkey YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0yNjOM8Lo). More at his [Google+](https://plus.google.com/114836438517148094763) account.