Disquiet Junto 0272: Exoplanetary Intervals [repost]

Someone suggested that Suss Müsik repost our contributions to the weekly Disquiet Junto projects, because they enjoy reading the explanations of the tracks. While you’re reading the original post, make sure you check out the other contributors’ works as well.

Suss Müsik is fascinated whenever a new planetary system is discovered. We imagine the excitement must be similar to a child finding loose change while building sand castles, albeit at a much grander cosmic scale. It’s evidence that life could have existed before we entered the scene, giving resonance to our actions.

According to an article on Gizmodo, a new Harvard University study raises the compelling evidence that the TRAPPIST-1 planets are close enough to each other that microbes could hop from one planet to another, skipping over rocks suspended in space between forms. Some scientists even suggest that life on Earth could have started this way, but don’t tell your Sunday School teacher that.

For this short piece, Suss Müsik created a series of simple polyrhythms on piano: 3:2, 4:3, 5:3 and what we think is sort of close to 8:5 (we lost count). These phrases were cycled “in orbit,” giving the effect of emerging and receding into listening distance. Individual notes were then allowed to “travel” from one phrase to another within a four-octave range.

The piece is titled Panspermia, named after the theory that life on our planet originated from chemical microorganisms who traveled through outer space searching for an environment suitable for habitat. The image is a chunk of marble pilfered from the cliffs of Carrara, Italy.