Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions.
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. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align.
Tracks are added to the SoundCloud playlist for the duration of the project. Additional (non-SoundCloud) tracks also generally appear in the lllllll.co discussion thread.
Disquiet Junto Project 0704: Right on Cumulus
The Assignment: Compose 8-bit music inspired by a Cory Arcangel / Super Mario video.
Step 1: You’re going to record 8-bit music (or something approximately like it). If you’re not familiar with means by which to do so, read up a bit. Also, there may be some discussion on the Lines (llllllll.co) message board for those new to it.
Step 2: In 2002, the media artist Cory Arcangel created a work of art titled Super Mario Clouds, which removed everything from the 1985 Super Mario Bros. video game except the blue sky and passing clouds. This means that Arcangel’s video was silent, because also excluded was Koji Kondo’s classic score. Read up about the work, which is well-documented.
Step 3: Part of the reason that the original Super Mario Bros. music wasn’t included in Super Mario Clouds may have been to do with how it, naturally, wasn’t aligned with how sedate the Arcangel hack turned out to be. Please now record very sedate 8-bit music that does feel aligned with Super Mario Clouds.
Tasks Upon Completion:
Label: Include “disquiet0704” (no spaces/quotes) in the name of your track.
Upload: Post your track to a public account (SoundCloud preferred but by no means required). It’s best to focus on one track, but if you post more than one, clarify which is the “main” rendition.
Share: Post your track and a description/explanation at https://llllllll.co/t/disquiet-junto-project-0704-right-on-cumulus/
Discuss: Listen to and comment on the other tracks.
Additional Details:
Length: The length is up to you. Two to four minutes seems about right.
Deadline: Monday, June 30, 2025, 11:59pm (that is: just before midnight) wherever you are.
About: https://disquiet.com/junto/
Newsletter: https://juntoletter.disquiet.com/
License: It’s preferred (but not required) to set your track as downloadable and allowing for attributed remixing (i.e., an attribution Creative Commons license).
Please Include When Posting Your Track:
More on the 704th weekly Disquiet Junto project, Right on Cumulus — The Assignment: Compose 8-bit music inspired by a Cory Arcangel / Super Mario video — at https://disquiet.com/0704/
