Experiment 4: Painted, Scratched & Taped CDs

The next stage of audio experimentation featured a number of CD manipulation techniques – Painted, Scratched and Taped.

I used the following materials to achieve my desired results –

- CDs

- Acrylic paint

- Small paintbrush

- Clear tape

- A sharp compass 

Scratched CDs (1): I started by using the compass to lightly scratch vertical lines (1 inch in length) randomly around the CD. As I hadn’t used this technique before, and because there is little detail regarding CD scratching techniques, I decided to use a light scratch to see the effects.

Result: Normal playback - no change in sound.

CD: Steve Thomas – Trade Disc 1

Scratched CDs (2): Again, using the compass I decided to test the effects of deeper scratches / horizontal lines (1.5 inches in length) randomly around the CD.  

Result: Normal playback with skipping and glitching.

CD: Tony De Vit – Trade

Coded Scratch: I used a CD single (Gandam Style) for the next scratch based experiment. I found a digital copy of the song and transferred it into code, and printed out the first page. I then took this code and scratched (using the compass) as much of if I could fit onto the CD with a medium amount of pressure.

Result: Normal playback with mild skipping / glitching effects.

CD: Psy – Gangnam Style

Taped CDs (1): For this experiment I took three long pieces of clear tape and placed them on the CD, making sure that the pieces reached and overlapped the edge of the disc. This technique is similar to that used on the vinyl experiments, as I was interested to see if the audio output results were similar.

Results: CD – unreadable.

CD: Rock and Roll Origins – Homemade CD

Taped CDs (2): Next, I took small sections of tape (approx. 1.5 inches in length) and randomly placed them around the disc ensuring that they were fully stuck down. I wanted to use an alternative technique to test out how different amounts of tape would effect the playback.

Results: Skipping effects.

CD: Janis Joplin – Pearl

 Painted CDs (1): For this CD I used basic white acrylic paint and a small brush to pain random patterns onto the disc. To test the effects of smaller randomised paint marks.

Results: No change in playback.

CD: Madonna – Music

Painted CDs (2): I wanted to use larger amounts of paint for this experiment to test how more paint would change the playback. I added blobs of paint that looked like black clouds; to ensure a greater surface area was covered with paint.

Results: Glitched and skipping effects.

CD: Various Artists – Simply Swing

Overall: None of these approaches were particularly time consuming, and most took just a few minutes to complete. However, it was surprising to find that whilst some of the effects heavily affected the sound, others had little to no effects on the outputted sound. I was certain that all approaches would have an effect, and was extremely surprised with the results.  

I found that the three most successful approaches were –

Deep Scratching

Painted (Black large sections)

Tape (Smaller sections of tape)

I intend to use all of these techniques in the glitch orchestra, as they produced the most interesting audio outputs.

Experiment 3: Changing the Needle

Whilst the broken needle of my tester turntable was an annoying set back, it did however allow me the opportunity to test out another planned experiment – replacement needles. This technique requires a change in the physical player rather than the audio / visual format, which made this experiment a little different from all the other tests I had planned. The changing of the needle was again chosen to test how different material could potentially change the outputted sound. During my research into Knizak’s work I discovered various needle replacement techniques that he and other Glitch artists have employed, using a variety of replacements such as toothpicks and shape metal implements. I decided to try both these and a few techniques of my own.

I found some basic instructions here - followed these, and set about making my own replacement needle record player.

Needle (a): Paper Cone

To kick off with I took an A4 piece of paper and rolled it into a cone shape with a sharp point. I then borrowed a sewing needle from my girlfriend and poked this through the point, securing it there with clear tape. I then taped the cone and needle to the arm and started the record. This was extremely wobbly and didn’t work as well as I had would have expected. At one point I held the needle in place to ensure that it was in full contact with the grooves, and it began to pick up more sound. The cone was working as an amplifier, yet the sound was extremely quiet. As the cone was so unsteady, needed my help to stay in place, and the fact that the output was so low makes this technique an unsuitable addition to the glitch orchestra. Perhaps a thicker needle, thicker card, a larger cone and stronger tape may have made this a little more successful. I will not be exploring this option any as I don’t feel that the changes will make a great deal of difference to the outputted sound.

Needle (b): Cocktail Stick

I started this process by snapping a cocktail stick into two pieces and securely taped one end of the stick to the needle arm. I placed an undamaged record onto the turntable, as I wanted to be able to gauge the full effects of the needle. Whilst this was an extremely simple way to create a new needle, there were some issues with weighting. Because of the size of the new needle the balance became off, and it was difficult to keep the needle down on the record. The needle worked when I held it into place and added pressure, but the outputted sound was muffled and crackly. The thickness of the needle made it difficult for it to find a groove, causing the needle to constantly move around. When I tired playing the needle without the extra weight I provided by holding it in place the needle slide across the record to the end of the disc, and created no audio output.

Needle (c): Plastic Knife

For this experiment I used a disposable knife, which I again securely taped to the arm of the player. Again, there were immediate issues with weight, and the knife only worked when I held it into place. When I tried the knife without assistance it couldn’t find a groove as it was too thick, and jumped to the end of the disc without creating an audio output. The results were very close to those produced with the cocktail stick.

Overall: All three of the techniques I tried did not produce the expected results, and therefore will not be used as part of the final orchestra. However, in the future I would like to try this technique again, using a variety of different techniques. I feel that there is a great deal of experimentation needed with this approach, and unfortunately, due to limited testing time, I cannot dedicate any further time to this technique.

Experiment 2: Breaking Records

This is the second set of experiments that involve the manipulation of vinyl records. This process involves the snapping/cutting of various sized discs into multiple pieces and then taping them together with piece from other disc. This technique originally featured in Knizak’s piece “Broken Music”. In his works Knizak snapped/cut his discs into halves. I decided to build on this approach, and incorporated 1/3 and 1/4 in order to create a variety of new sounds.   

Snapped in ½

For this initial experiment I began by cutting two different 12” singles in half. Using a cut and paste technique in order to create a “mash up” of the two songs, which would result in an entirely new composition. Unfortunately, due to the larger size of the discs the two halves would not stay together and the two pieces continually fell apart on play back. I decided to try this approach again, and instead used 7” singles, as I thought it was more likely that the two halves would remain stuck together. I began by trying to break the two records in half. This proved to be extremely difficult as snapping did not result in a clean break, which would make taping the two halves together difficult. I decided to cut the records with scissors and this technique proved to be far more effective and created a clean cut down the middle of the disc. The two precisely cut halves made it far easier to reassemble the discs with tape. Initially, I was going to use glue as an alternative technique to the tape, but quickly found that tape was the better solution, as the tape helped to bridge the any gaps between the two halves. I decided to use records from different musical genres, as I believed that this would help to produce an interesting result. I chose to use Breed 77 “World’s on Fire” (heavy metal) and Michael Jackson “Thriller” (pop). I set up my camera and placed the record onto the turntable, and was surprised by the results. The output sounded like two different songs were being badly mixed together. As before, the needle slid across the tape that was holding the two halves together and jumped to find a groove. The sound would cut in and out as the needle jumped between the two halves.

I believe that this was an extremely successful experiment, and an effective way to glitch audio. The audio output was unexpected, and is certainly a technique that I intend to use again. I would like to experiment with other different halves, but I am extremely please with the way these two songs work together to create an entirely new piece.   

Snapped in 1/3

This follows on from the previous broken and reassembled record experiment. However, this time I wanted to find out how the shape of the broken sections affected the audio output. For this experiment I took the following 7” singles, cut and pasted them together - Breed 77 “World’s on Fire”, Phil Collins’ “A groovy kind of love”, and Elaine Page with Barbra Dickson’s “I know him so well”. Both Collins’ and Paige’s records where cut into quarters and taped together with the half of the Breed 77 record. Resulting in a 1/2 and 2 x 1/4’s. 

Again the record was placed onto the turntable and the results where recorded. I found the result were very similar to the broken halves as the needle skipped over the taped sections and cut between the three songs.

Unfortunately, this method was less effective than the 1/2’s as the one half of the record dominated the output, whilst the 2 x 1/4’s were lost. During the playback of this disc took its toll on my turntable causing the needle to break off. This unexpected turn has set me back, as I wanted to test all of the records on my experimental record player. I don’t want to use any of the untested experiments on my main record players, as I worry that they will cause damage. In order to continue I will need to secure another test record player with a cartridge needle. In the meantime, I intend to continue to create new discs ready for the new player.

Snapped in ¼

Fortunately, I was able to pick up another record player, allowing me to finish off the record based portion of my experiments. This time I decided to use equal quarters, and used the following discs - Michael Jackson “Thriller”, Phil Collins’ “A groovy kind of love”, Elaine Page with Barbra Dickson’s “I know him so well” and Spunge’s “Roots”. Due to the brittle nature of the discs it was extremely difficult to ensure that all of the four quarters were clean cuts. This resulted in some overlapping of the vinyl, which I assumed would be difficult for the needle to deal with. I place the disc on the turntable and dropped the needle, and as soon as I did it jumped off straight away. I tried again by placing the needle neared the centre of the disc. The needle stayed on for longer, but it jumped off after just a few seconds. The smaller the piece the more difficult they are to cut and paste back together. As it is difficult to ensure the clean cuts of the disc, it causes overlapping. The needle is just too delicate and cannot move across overlapped vinyl. I don’t think the smaller cut will work for my final project, as the playback time is simply to unpredictable and short.

Overall (Snapped 1/2, 1/3 & 1/4):

Overall I feel that these techniques are an effective way of creating new “mash up” versions of the songs. Whilst the breaking and reassembling of the discs produces a unique result, I am cautious that the record playback time is just too short in order to be effective. The unpredictability of the needle often results in the arm jumping to the end of the record. Further experiments will need to take place to measure if another cutting technique will produce more effective playback results.

Experiment 1: Scratching, Taping and Burnt Records

In order to complete these initial experiments I needed to collect various records that I could break, cut, burn and scratch. I gathered material from both my parent’s house and local charity shops. I managed to pick up a number of 7” and 12” vinyl records. I tried to vary the genres as much as possible to ensure that glitched outputs would be varied.

Scratched (Random)

Scratching records was a technique made famous by Hip Hop DJ’s in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I knew this was an effective technique that manipulated the sounds of a record, but I wanted to take this technique even further by adding multiple permanent scratches to the record. This technique was originally used by Knizak in his piece “Broken Music”. He used the scratches to create glitch audio outputs by causing the needle to jump and skip. To recreate this experiment I chose to use a 12” single so that the scratches would cover a larger surface area, allowing the results to be recorded more effectively. I used Paula Abdul’s “The Way that you love me” and began by using a compass needle to scratch sections onto the record across the grooves, which would result in deliberate skips of the needle. After I had made multiple scratches of varying sizes and depth I placed the record onto the turntable and recorded the results. I found that this technique made the sounds incomprehensible and created pure noise. The technique caused the needle to jump large distance across the record, and resulted in the needle frantically jumping to the end of the record in order to find a groove.

 This technique certainly changed the outputted sound, creating an entirely new set of sounds. During the short playback the original sounds were unrecognizable, and it would be almost impossible to detect the original sound source. I think it is important to retain some elements of the original sounds, and fear that this technique would make this impossible. If the piece I create is too noise based, it may be uncomfortable to experience for the viewer. Whilst I aim to rework the sounds, I still aim to maintain elements of the original to ensure that the new sounds that I create are musical based rather than completely noise based. Even though this technique did produce some interesting results, I am not sure that this technique would be suitable for my orchestra, as the needle jumped to the end of the record very quickly.

I will try this technique again at the end of this project with smaller scratches and I will also try an alternative technique and use sandpaper.

Scratching (Code)

For this experiment I decide to use a similar technique to that used in my last unit. I decided to use a 7” vinyl copy of C+C Music Factory song “Gonna Make You Sweat”. I downloaded a digital version of the song and converted the audio file into code. I then printed out the code and scratched the code into the vinyl with the needle of a compass. I was careful to leave gaps in the record to correlate with the gaps in the code, which would allow the needle to easily fall back into the groove after each scratch. Once the code was engraved onto the record I placed it onto the turntable and once again recorded the results. Again, the playback only lasted for a couple of seconds before the needle jumped to the end of the track. The code caused the needle to frantically move around trying to find a groove. The needle managed to find a groove a couple of times but the sounds created were indistinguishable from the original version of the song. 

 It seems that the 7” discs are simply too small to be scratched in such a way. Even the smallest scratches cause the needle to jump to the end of record, as there is too short a distance for the needle to move around on. As the scratches were quite light and not too deeply carved, I feel that this technique would work better on a 12” or LP and I intend to test this technique again in order to establish if it will be suitable to use in my final piece.

In addition, I will also need to look at how I can make the needle return to the beginning of the record to create longer playback. This is an area that will require further research and testing.

Taped (Strips - 1/3s)

This is another experiment influenced by Milan Knizak’s “Broken Music” where he employed the use of tape to alter original compositions. For this technique I will be experimenting with both 7” and 12” records in order to test the effectiveness of this approach. I started by placing three pieces of tape onto the record making sure the tape ran from the edge of the disc to centre. This would ensure that the needle would slide across the tape in order to find a groove. Both the 7” and 12” records did not have labels, so I am unsure of the record details (artist, song, year etc.). The 7” was Ska and the 12” was a garage dance. Once the records where securely taped I then placed them onto the turntable to record the results. I guessed that the needle would slide across the tape creating a section of noise before it found a groove and returned to playing the song until it slide again. The sliding of the needle across the tape was far more rhythmic than I had expected. The noise and music cut in and out at the same points each time round. I found this technique to be extremely successful on both disc sizes, and I will definitely be incorporating a version of this technique into my final piece.

I aim to experiment with this technique further buy varying the size, texture, shape and amount of tape used.

Taped (Mini Pieces)

To continue with my taping experiment I decided to use smaller pieces of tape that did not run the length of the disc. I employed a similar technique as before, but this time I added extra smaller pieces of tape in order to change the outputted sound. I wanted this to be less rhythmic than the previous experiment and create a more randomised audio output. I placed ripped pieces of tape onto the records surface along with three large pieces of tape that I fashioned into the shape of a triangle. I was unsure as to whether this technique would be as effective as I was using substantially more tape, and covered more of the record. I once again set up the disc to play and recorded the results. I found that the results from this new technique where only slightly different from the previous taping approach. The needle skipped over the taped parts and created a distorted noise as before, but the addition of the extra tape result in inaudible noise that I don’t think would be suitable to use as part of the orchestra. I conclude that too much tape causes the needle to jump around too much.  

 Burnt Technique

I wanted to extend Knizak’s approaches further by exploring the physical warping the vinyl discs. I know from personal experience that if you expose vinyl to extreme temperatures it can become warped. One of the records I collected was already quite obviously warped (A white label dance record), and decided that this would be the perfect record to warp even further with the application of heat. In order to perform this technique it would require a naked flame. I used a large kitchen lighter that I held directly onto the disc. I opened the windows, held the disc over the sink and had a bucket of water on standby in case the disc caught alight. I heated the disc for quite some time. I removed the heat and physically tired to bend the disc. I may have been a little heavy handed with my approach as I ended up snapping the disc in half. I decided to try this technique again with a 7” of The Beastie Boys “She’s on it”. This time I heated the disc for the same length of time and allowed it to cool slightly. I tried to bend the disc, but it was difficult to change the shaped as the discs are quite fragile. If you bend them too much they easily snap. Even though the shape of the disc did not change substantially, the burning caused the surface of the disc to change, melting the record in places. The contact of the open flame onto the vinyl flattened out some of the grooves. On playback the needle rapidly rose and fell as it skipped and tried to fall into a groove. This audio output created a warped phased version of the original song. Again, the needle quickly jumped to the end of the disk, and the playback was too short.

Once again, I feel that this technique would have been more effective on a larger disc, which would have resulted in a longer playback. Whilst I feel that this experiment was a success the outputted sounds did not produce effective audio results, and for this reason I don’t think this technique would be suitable to use in my final piece. The manipulation of the disc was harder than I have anticipated, and application of a naked flame makes the technique dangerous and produces unpredictable results. It is difficult to heat the disc without burning the groove away completely and bending the disc successfully is almost impossible.

Records (Scratch, Taped & Burnt) Overall:

Overall I feel that these experiments have given me a far greater insight into record based audio-glitching techniques. They have afforded me the opportunity to assess each of these techniques individually and to test if they are suitable audio options. Whilst there is still more experimentation needed, I feel that each experiment was a success. Whilst some techniques did not produce the desire results, I feel that these are all starting points that will allow me to build on these approaches further, and will allow me to perfect each technique in order to produce the optimal glitched audio output. I feel that the grouping together of these techniques within my installation will produce a unique collection of sounds. Placing the record players together and varying the outputs will be like creating a string section of like sounds.