This was recorded "live" with the help of two computers, MuseScore, Ableton Live, a couple of Zoom audio recorders, and Logitech Z5300 speakers and subwoofer.

I've got to be honest with you. I've always been afraid of MIDI. It scares me to death. All these years of making "electronic music" and somehow I've largely avoided it. Sheet music doesn't scare me all that much, all those years of school band. Music notation software scares me, but I got used to MuseScore fairly quickly. I copied the sheet music from the image into Musescore. Well, about 99% of it. A few of the notes I couldn't figure out how to make properly in MuseScore, but no big deal in the end. 70 bpm, in case you're wondering. Very slow.

The piece played in MuseScore using the generic "piano" and "voice" sounds on a laptop which was output to the Logitech speakers. The sound was picked up by my Zoom H2 microphone and directed into a desktop computer running Ableton Live where, using a version of my "hypermiking" set, processed it into the fine spread you're hearing. That was sent out via my Tascam US122-L audio interface into a Zoom H1 recorder where I'm listening to it via my Grado headphones.

Had to do a lot of takes. When I'm "hypermiking" I have to turn the gain on the Tascam all the way down. Any sound in the room is heavily amplified and processed as well. I did intentionally shuffle my socked feet on the carpet a little bit in the second half, but I couldn't bump into my metal desk or move in my squeaky chair or that's it - have to start over. If one of my kids walks around the living room upstairs - have to start over. So it's a real gamble, this hypermiking.

I've always liked Beck's music since I heard Loser. My favorite album is probably Mutations. When my girls were little we'd watch the video for Hell Yes over and over and over again. I also remember hearing Skip Spence's Oar album years ago and thinking how much it reminded me of Beck and then he did a cover of Little Hands and then did the Record Club treatment. That was good.

As far as McSweeney's is concerned, I'd like to say that whoever green-lighted Katherine Markovich's pretentious rant complaining about people who take photos of food with Instagram was a huge misstep. Thanks to my Instagram efforts I know more people eat kale now.

You can find out more about me, my music, and free podcasts at www.markrushton.com

This track is an interpretation of a sample of the sheet music from the Beck collection Song Reader. The sheet music can be seen here:

disquiet.com/wp-content/uploads…8-beckdowewedo.jpg

More on Beck’s Song Reader here:

www.mcsweeneys.net/pages/song-reader.

More on this 35th Disquiet Junto project at:

disquiet.com/2012/08/30/disquie…35-becksongreader/

More details on the Disquiet Junto at:

soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/info