PROCESS
The task to create a friendly “Hi” to the Juno probe based on the Morse Code for “Hi” (…. ..) became the perfect excuse to duet with my Teenage Engineering PO-16. I’ve owned it for a while and though I am fascinated by it and screw around with it at times, it hadn’t yet found its way into the studio. Part of that is because it’s one of those pieces of equipment I don’t fully understand and really can’t do much with, but its mystery deepens my affection. Kind of like astrophysics.
In any case, the PO-16 generated all the Morse Code beeping in various notes around the key of D. The rest of the piece fell into place around the syncopated and stacked tones. Diving into my effect library, I found a sample of a countdown and liftoff of a Saturn I rocket, and the track crescendos around that. Built basic basic drum and bass tracks to keep it moving (one of these days I have to try to loose myself from rhythms) and dropped in a few sweeping pads from the archives. Ended up a bit longer than expected but there’s not much difference between 1 minute and 2.75 minutes in light years, you know?
RIG
Teenage Engineering PO-16 factory, Peekamoose Guitars Custom M2, SmallSound/BigSound Sparkle Motion, tc electronic flashback delay, Earthquaker Devices Afterneath, Strymon blueSky reverb, Line6 POD-XT, MOTU 828-mk2, DAW: Sony Acid Pro (Win 8.1), Mastering: Harrison MixBus (OSX)
PROJECT
The Assignment: Say hi to the Juno Spacecraft by embedding Morse code in an original composition.
In this project we’re going to send a friendly signal to the NASA probe, the Juno spacecraft, that just entered orbit around Jupiter. Well, we’re going to compose such signals. Sending them is a separate endeavor. We’re going to build on the “Say ‘Hi’ to Juno” endeavor, which had thousands of ham operators sending a message to Juno during its five-year voyage. The “Say ‘Hi’ to Juno” message was Morse code for “Hi” — that is, four dots followed by two dots (…. ..).
Step 1: Listen to the Morse code for “hi” (four dots followed by two dots) on repeat for a short time.
Step 2: Create an original musical composition that in one or more ways interpolates that Morse code.
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More on this 236th weekly Disquiet Junto project — “Say hi to the Juno Spacecraft by embedding Morse code in an original composition”
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