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.