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 owns a copy of Ted Greene’s Chord Chemistry, an artifact from classical guitar lessons taken long, long ago. The book is like a skinny encyclopedia for guitar nerds, diving into the nuances of systematic voice leading and harmonic progressions as an approach to composition. We’d tell you more if we could remember any of it.
Suss Müsik is fascinated by the way that a singular component can be modularized and extended to create a system. The artist Sol Lewitt understood this concept very well, developing a complex visual language from a single geometric form. Chords are the linear elements that give shape to modular structures we call “songs” — it’s amazing the emotive depth a single chord can carry in the right context.
For this short piece, Suss Müsik selected the chord Eb7 for piano, mellotron and 12-string guitar. We chose this chord because it’s one of those chords that sounds ghastly played in isolation, and yet when bridged between other voices it has an almost lyrical quality.
The mellotron was played on dual “church organ” settings, creating a harsh phasing as the cycles overlapped in unison. The guitar was played with a Vox amplifier that for some reason picked up a pleasant background hum. The piano increased in force and volume as we neared the 100-second mark. The piece is titled Lewitt.
On this 300th Disquiet Junto Project, Suss Müsik extends sincere appreciation to Marc for kickstarting the endeavor, and to all who share your gifts of creativity and fellowship every week. Thank you for letting Suss Müsik be a part of it.