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.