Marc Weidenbaum's Blog, page 300
October 27, 2017
A Free Album Made with a Free Virtual Modular Synthesizer
Lost Identity by The Klirrfaktor
Rudimentary sources are a thing this week. Over at pitchfork.com, Philip Sherburne surveyed albums recorded on a single synthesizer, among them three Korgs, a Clavia, and a Casio. Meanwhile on Twitter, there were endless variations on the theme of “This is where I recorded and mixed the album and all the gear I used.” The resulting memes ranged from Tron to Teletubbies. Some, like Four Tet’s tiny studio with a view, were even believable. (My own contribution was a nested loop, beginning here.)
And then, over on Bandcamp, the Klirrfaktor uploaded a nine-track album, Lost Identity, completely recorded on a single piece of software, one that is still deep in beta. Named VCV Rack, the software is a virtual modular synthesizer developed by Andrew Belt and contributed to by a growing number of module creators. You could argue that with numerous modules, VCV Rack isn’t exactly a single instrument, but Klirrfaktor gets points for putting it to substantial use so quickly — and for eschewing rote 4/4 rhythm tracks in favor of dank industrial spaces and ominous sound design.
Currently in version 0.4, VCV Rack (shown above) offers a variety of true basics, like oscillators and mixers, as well as adaptations of more specialized gear, like granular synthesizers and matrix sequencers. Both VCV Rack and the Klirrfaktor album are also entirely free. You can download VCV Rack at vcvrack.com. And if you make something you’re happy with, there’s a compilation due out that you can contribute to, details at switchedonrack.com.
Album originally posted at theklirrfaktor.bandcamp.com. More from the Klirrfaktor at twitter.com/TheKlirrfaktor and youtube.com/TheKlirrfaktor.
October 26, 2017
Disquiet Junto Project 0304: Let’s Buzz
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.
Tracks will be added to the playlist for the duration of the project.
This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 30, 2017. This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, October 26, 2017.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0304: Let’s Buzz
Create a piece of music by thinking of the structure of a bee hive.
Step 1: Consider the bee hive. Think about its structure, the activity it contains, how the hive lends form to that activity and how the activity contributes to the hive’s form.
Step 2: Create a piece of music that is based on the structure of the bee hive.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If your hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0304” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-...
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 30, 2017. This project was posted in the morning, California time, on Thursday, October 26, 2017.
Length: The finished track’s length is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0304” 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: 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 online, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 304th weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Let’s Buzz: Create a piece of music by thinking of the structure of a bee hive) at:
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-...
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
October 19, 2017
Disquiet Junto Project 0303: Out of Sequence
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.
This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 23, 2017. This project was posted in the early evening, California time, on Thursday, October 19, 2017.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0303: Out of Sequence
Pay tribute to the Roland 303 by doing something that is apart from how you think it was intended to be utilized.
Step 1: This is the 303rd weekly Disquiet Junto project since the series of compositional prompts was founded the first week of January 2012. Naturally, we’re paying tribute to the Roland TB-303.
Step 2: If you have a TB-303, well, congrats to you. If you (likely) don’t, consider one of the various emulators that have come out for it, or just pay tribute to it by other means. There are a variety of emulations out there, including this one:
http://errozero.co.uk/acid-machine/
There’s also, of course, Roland’s own tribute, the TB-3.
Step 3: Record a short piece of music that is somehow apart from how you think the 303 was intended to be utilized.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If your hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0303” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-...
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 23, 2017. This project was posted in the early evening, California time, on Thursday, October 19, 2017.
Length: The finished track’s length is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0303” 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: 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 online, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 303rd weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Out of Sequence: Pay tribute to the Roland 303 by doing something that is apart from how you think it was intended to be utilized) at:
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-...
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Photo associated with this project is by Dr. Motte. It’s used via Flickr thanks to a Creative Commons license:
October 17, 2017
Music for an Aquatic Road Movie
Music for the Answer by France Jobin and Stephan Mathieu
France Jobin and Stephan Mathieu composed this seven-part sequence, rich with sublimated internal motion, as the score to a film by Cedrick Eymenier, titled The Answer. Released in 2016 as part of Mathieu’s Radiance series,
Music for the Answer opens with certain emotional intensity, a sense of expectation as the slow-motion sounds being to whirl. The recordings that follow more than rise to the occasion. The variety in the set is striking. There is the high-pitched whistle that serves as the through line amid “Sea Song V.” There are broken chimes on “The Answer,” those shards of glisten slowly merging into a nocturnal drone. There is the insect-like white noise cycling amid on “The Answer VII.” And there is what sounds like a irrevocably warped vinyl recording of horns in the dense, kaleidoscopic “Sea Song I.” Among all the tracks, texture is paramount, from soft shadings to hyper-detailed micro-fissures.
The trailer for Eymenier’s film is online. It’s been characterized as an “aquatic road movie,” and was shot Canal du Midi in the south of France:
France Jobin is a Montreal, Canada-based composer and curator, with albums on And/Oar, Line, Room 40, and other labels. Stephan Mathieu is a prolific German sound artist and musician who has recorded for 12k, Ritornell, Lucky Kitchen, and Editions Mego, among other labels. Both have exhibited numerous sound installation.
Album originally posted at francejobin.bandcamp.com. More on Cedrick Eymenier’s The Answer at cedrickeymenier.com. More from Jobin at her website, francejobin.com, and Mathieu at schwebung.bandcamp.com.
October 16, 2017
Interview for the 300th Disquiet Junto
Back in early January 2012, when I first posted to the Disquiet Junto group on SoundCloud, I wasn’t sure anyone would take me up on the compositional prompt I had in mind, or on the idea of compositional prompts for that matter. The prompt was, “Record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it.” But people did take me up on it, and what was something of an experiment became an ongoing experiment — and then, two weeks ago, we celebrated the 300th consecutive Junto project. Each week I propose a composition as a series of steps, or instructions, and then musicians respond with tracks informed by the prompt. That is the Disquiet Junto in a nutshell.
On the occasion of the 300th Junto prompt, Matt Ackerman of the Caliper Music blog interviewed me about the Junto — about its origins, the role today of social media in music (and vice versa), keeping the prompts fresh, and my favorite sound, among other subjects. Here’s one segment of the interview:
C: What’s your favorite sound?
M: I tend to think of sound in context, not alone. I teach a course about the role of sound in the media landscape, and I structured the course that way because I didn’t want to do a sound studies project that suggested that sound must be considered in hermetic, theoretical isolation. The brain isn’t an anechoic chamber. If anything, it’s the opposite. If anything, we as humans are the opposite. Sound occurs in the context of the moment it resounds, in the way we experience it physically, and also amid the non-linear accumulation of personal and cultural associations it brings to mind. All of which said, if I had to choose one sound as a favorite, it would be the sound of ice in a glass. That is, specifically the sound of ice cubes put in a cold beverage, and especially when those cubes crackle and pop as they ever so slowly change composition. That sound is the subject of the very first Disquiet Junto, when I asked musicians to record the sound of ice in a glass and make something of it. It was already a sound I liked. I drink a small glass of iced coffee every morning, always with a couple ice cubes in it. But because of what the Junto has become, that sound has become rich with personal meaning and associations, which have in turn reinforced it as a favorite, as a true touchstone. When I did the first Junto project, that sound was the subject of it because I liked the sound. Now every morning when I drink iced coffee, I think in turn of the Junto.
Read the full piece at calipermusic.blogspot.com. Major thanks to Ackerman for having done this, especially for the gracious introduction he penned for the interview.
October 14, 2017
Talking About Talking About and Working with Sound
Last week I had a great opportunity to give a talk about various projects I’ve done in sound, from working on the score of Brett Marty’s science fiction film Youth with Marcus Fischer, Ted Laderas, and Paula Daunt; to teaching a course I designed for the Academy of Art here in San Francisco about the role of the sound in the media landscape; to helping a coffee shop make decisions about what music to play; to moderating the weekly compositional-prompt music community the Disquiet Junto; to editing comics for Tower Records’ Pulse! magazine, Red Bull Music Academy, and other publications. Those are some of the projects I walked through, and these are the title slides from my talk:
October 13, 2017
Step Inside an Organ with Claire M Singer
Step inside an organ, and then step inside one of its pipes, and then settle in for a spell. Listen as the pipes resound. Listen not just to the pipe you’re in, but to how it responds to the pipes around it, to the air current, to the shape of the majestic hall in which it resides. Listen further to the song that seems to form, out of the ether, from the beading tonalities of this magnificent mix of space and sound.
This is not how the music was made — no miniaturization was involved, no Fantastic Drone Voyage — but it is the sense of “Fairge,” an excerpt of which, two and a half minutes in all, has been posted at the website of the Touch label, touchshop.org. It’s the title (and sole) track off Claire M Singer’s forthcoming release, due out on October 20. The track heard currently on that page is about 10 percent of the full piece, which was scored for organ, cello and electronics — as well, it seems, voice, since vocal tones certainly emerge from the heavenly backdrop Singer has summoned up. (Jack Chuter at attnmagazine.co.uk also hears voices.)
“Fairge,” which is apparently Scottish Gaelic for “the ocean,” was composed for, and recorded in June of this year on, an organ installed at Oude Kerk, not only the oldest church in Amsterdam, but the city’s oldest building as well, dating back 800 years. The organ itself is far more recent, built in 1965.
Track originally posted at touchshop.org. More from Claire M Singer at clairemsinger.com. Image from spitfireaudio.com.
October 12, 2017
Disquiet Junto Project 0302: Gronkytonk
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.
This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 16, 2017. This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, October 12, 2017.
Tracks will be added to the playlist for the duration of the project.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0302: Gronkytonk
Record a single in the genre introduced in Malka Older’s novel Infomacracy.
Step 1: There’s a genre of music called “gronkytonk” in Malka Older’s novel Infomacracy. You can see the word in context on this page:
Step 2: Consider what gronkytonk might sound like.
Step 3: Record a gronkytonk single.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If your hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0302” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0302-gronkytonk/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 16, 2017. This project was posted in the late morning, California time, on Thursday, October 12, 2017.
Length: The finished track’s length is up to you.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0302” 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: 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 online, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 302nd weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Gronkytonk: Record a single in the genre introduced in Malka Older’s novel Infomacracy) at:
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0302-gronkytonk/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Photo associated with this project is by Michael Banabila. It’s used via Flickr thanks to a Creative Commons license:
October 11, 2017
Kat Estacio’s Ambient Ceremony
Kat Estacio is a member of Pantayo, an all-women Filipino ensemble that explores kulintang. Kulintang is a Southeast Asian musical form involving numerous gongs, and it has a cultural presence in the Philippines. Estacio, who is based in Toronto, also performs her own music solo, some of which can be heard in a live performance from this time last year titled I Made a Mess. It’s comprised of three live recordings from the Toronto venue the Music Gallery, which I only had a chance to visit once, well over a decade ago, but I’ve kept track of ever since. The first piece, “Debris Kiss (Movement 1 & 2),” is a splendid thing, insinuating light percussion intonations amid a tonal field of high-pitched drones. The result is ceremonial and contemplative.
Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/kat-estacio. More from Estacio at katslexic.tumblr.com. More from Pantayo, Estacio’s kulintang collective, at
pantayo.bandcamp.com.
October 5, 2017
Disquiet Junto Project 0301: Parts > Sum
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.
This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 9, 2017. This project was posted in the early afternoon, Manhattan time, on Thursday, October 5, 2017.
These are the instructions that went out to the group’s email list (at tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto):
Disquiet Junto Project 0301: Parts > Sum
Artfully reduce an album to something less than itself.
Step 1: Download the album 5 Minute Meditations by Lee Rosevere. It’s available here from the record label Happy Puppy Records:
Step 2: The album has 11 tracks. You’ll be focused solely on tracks 1 through 10. Review the material to get a sense of the music.
Step 3: Create a five-minute track of your own using audio extracted from each of the first 10 tracks on the album 5 Minute Meditations. Important: The goal for your track is that while it will contain material from all of those 10 tracks, the end result (the sum) will be less than total of the constituent parts. In other words, your own 5 Minute Meditation will take Rosevere’s source ambient recordings and produce from them something even more ethereal, more ambient, more artfully threadbare.
Five More Important Steps When Your Track Is Done:
Step 1: If your hosting platform allows for tags, be sure to include the project tag “disquiet0301” (no spaces) in the name of your track. If you’re posting on SoundCloud in particular, this is essential to my locating the tracks and creating a playlist of them.
Step 2: Upload your track. It is helpful but not essential that you use SoundCloud to host your track.
Step 3: In the following discussion thread at llllllll.co please consider posting your track:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0301-parts-sum/
Step 4: Annotate your track with a brief explanation of your approach and process.
Step 5: Then listen to and comment on tracks uploaded by your fellow Disquiet Junto participants.
Deadline: This project’s deadline is 11:59pm (that is, just before midnight) wherever you are on Monday, October 9, 2017. This project was posted in the early afternoon, Manhattan time, on Thursday, October 5, 2017.
Length: The finished track should be roughly five minutes long.
Title/Tag: When posting your track, please include “disquiet0301” 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: It is required, per the source audio’s Creative Commons license, 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 online, please be sure to include this information:
More on this 301st weekly Disquiet Junto project (“Artfully reduce an album to something less than itself”) at:
More on the Disquiet Junto at:
Subscribe to project announcements here:
http://tinyletter.com/disquiet-junto/
Project discussion takes place on llllllll.co:
https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0301-parts-sum/
There’s also on a Junto Slack. Send your email address to twitter.com/disquiet for Slack inclusion.
Image associated with this project is the cover of the Lee Rosevere album 5 Minute Meditations, which was the source audio. The music and image are used thanks to a Creative Commons license:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
More from Lee Rosevere, who is based in Vancouver, BC, at
https://twitter.com/LeeRosevere
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/
http://happypuppyrecords.ca
