Disquiet

This is a short note at the start of the fourth year of the Disquiet Junto. Right now, as I type this, musicians around the world are working on the 157th consecutive weekly music assignment in the Junto. As of this writing, there are already [25 tracks](https://soundcloud.com/disquiet/sets/disquiet0157-icemusic2015) in the project, by 25 different musicians from places like Murwillumbah, Australia; Norwich, England; Munich, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Bolzano, Italy; and, in the United States, Denver, Colorado; Brooklyn, New York; Montpelier, Vermont; and Iowa City, Iowa, just to name a sample of the locations.

The first project this fourth year is the same as the [first project the very first year](https://disquiet.com/2012/01/30/disquiet0001-ice/), and at the start of the series’ [second](https://disquiet.com/2013/01/03/disquiet0053-ice2013/) and [third](https://disquiet.com/2014/01/02/disquiet0105-ice2014/) years: “Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.” The point of repeating this same project at the start of each year is to note the ritual of it all, the macro annual ritual that wraps around the weekly ritual that is the Disquiet Junto, which itself suggests a potential model for the everyday ritual of making music, of producing creative work. Each Thursday there is a new project, and each following Monday there is a pressing deadline. Few combinations prove as effective in getting creative people producing new work as the trio of a firm deadline, a firm assignment, and the awaiting support of a collegial audience — in the case of the Junto, fellow makers of music.

Many months into the launch of the Junto, back in 2012, I came to recognize that one of the key factors in the group’s welcome acceptance by so many musicians — at this stage almost 500 actively participating SoundCloud accounts, over 800 [email list](http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto) subscribers, nearing 2,000 SoundCloud group members — is that the Junto provides a place where people feel comfortable risking failure, even pursuing failure. A deadline is both an impetus and an excuse, both a taskmaster and an alibi. The deadline is an opportune means to explain that a posted piece of work is unfinished, incomplete.

And speaking of incomplete, I started writing this note to mention something specific, which is that there should be no pressing sense on the part of any Junto participant that they do every Junto — all 52 — in a given year. The point of the Junto’s weekly schedule is that it’s there, dependably, when participating members have the time to drop in. The projects are structured, as well, so that they are self-contained. You can show up at any point between a Thursday and the looming Monday and start and complete the project. Occasionally there is a specific task that may take some time, such as [visiting a shopping mall to make a field recording](https://disquiet.com/2012/09/13/disquiet0037-asrealasitgets1/) or [recording oneself sleeping](https://disquiet.com/2013/06/13/disquiet0076-dreamsound/), but never does a Junto project require any time beyond the time frame of the given project. Almost every project can be started and completed within an hour or so, though many musicians give far more time to them.

Anyhow, this explanation is sort of having it both ways. On the one hand, I’m saying don’t worry about doing every project, week in, week out. On the other, I’m saying don’t worry that the work doesn’t feel done, which is to say don’t hesitate to post something. Either way, I hope you feel [welcome](https://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/).