Assignment 3: Christian Marclay-Style Vinyl Performance

Records

The pieces of records used during the performance:

• Andre Kostelanetz - Sounds of the Grand Canyon
• A Documentary: John F. Kennedy - The Presidential Years (1963)
• Harry Belafonte - Calypso
• Sir Harrison Birtwistle - Verses for Ensembles (f/ the London Orchestra)
• Glenn Miller - Memories of Glenn Miller (1959)
• Al Hirt - That Honey Horn Sound (1965)
• Dionne Warwick - Golden Hits Part 2 (1970)
• Various Artists - Rhythm Heritage (1976)
• Irish Rovers - The First of the Irish Rovers (1966)
• Czech Language Record Course (1961)

Vinyl Modifications

Staying true to the Marclay-style of vinyl manipulation, the following strategies were used to create new sounds:

• Vinyl 1/2 Flip - One vinyl record was split down the middle using a soldering iron with a hot knife tip. Once the record was split into two equal pieces, one piece is flipped (Side B joins Side A). These pieces are then re-joined using hot glue and blue tape. This modification made it so that, when played back, the listener can hear parts of both Side A and Side B simultaneously.
• Sticker Strips - Six white sticker strips were attached equal-distance from each other around the record at the following clock positions: noon, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, and 10pm. Not only did this cause the record to pop every time the needle hit a strip, it also created unpredictable loops as well.
• Alternate Center Holes - Record players are surprising resilient to bent/warped records. To combat this, I created four new center holes on a record, each of which would allow the record to be mounted onto the record player slightly off center-axis. The record players we used still managed to keep the needle on the same track, however the new center holes caused the currently playing track to speed up and slow down depending on how much resistance the movement was causing against the needle.
• Scissor-Cutting Outer Edge - Mostly an aesthetic modification, this technique caused the record to have a "saw-blade" style appearance. This was done in conjunction with the Alternate Center Holes modification (above) in order to prevent the outer edge of the record from hitting the side of the record player (which would cause the record to stop playing).
• Green Star Stickers - For this modification, I put a row of six green sticker stars across all tracks on a single record. This modification would cause the needle to create a "popping" noise when hit, which created an additional, consistent rhythmic beat. Also, depending on where the needle landed within a groove on the record, these stars would sometimes cause the playing track to loop.
• Pizza Slice - Two different records were merged together for this modification. Specifically, a triangle wedge was cut out of one record. This slice was then traced onto another record to create a path to cut. The record with the tracing on it was then cut using a hot knife, the loose piece was removed, and the new piece was put in its place. The seams were then smoothed over with hot glue and reenforced with tape. This modification caused the needle to play 75% of a track from the main record, and 25% of the track from the new slice that was wedged in.
• Embedded CD Shard - Purely experimental, this modification required a piece of a broken CD to be embedded within the vinyl record. To do this, I smashed a used CD with a hammer and extracted a shard that was about 1.5 inches in length. I then used this shard to cut away an opening in a record that was the same width and length as the shard. The piece of CD was then wedged into this opening and secured with glue and tape. The result of this modification was a jarring pop, and sometimes would cause the needle to slide down the length of the shard and resume playback on a completely different track.
• Vinyl Double 1/3 Flip - The same record was cut into 3 equal pieces. The two end pieces were then switched across from each other, and then were flipped over to their alternate side. During playback, this caused each track to be almost unrecognizable. A listener would hear about a beat from Side A, followed by another beat from Side B. This would then alternate over and over again.
• Hot Glue Design - To induce some more unpredictability, I drew a symmetric design on a record using hot glue. The hot glue sat on the surface of the record, causing an obstacle that the needle would have to deal with when it got there. At times, the glue would cause the needle to simply jump and resume playback of the same track, while other times it guided the needle down the length of the glue to another track. There was no way to know what the needle would do once it hit a patch of hot glue.

Other Experiments

• Aluminum Foil - During my performance, I decided to try putting aluminum foil on the record platter, while it was spinning, to see what noise it would make. I wanted this to be spontaneous, and a discovery for the audience at the same time it was for me. The foil was hard to control, but when placed below the needle, created a harsh scratching noise.
• Wax Paper - Similar to the aluminum foil, the wax paper did not want to stay on the record platter. It was too light and slick. I experimented further with the paper, however, by placing it beneath an actual record. This made it so that I could more easily manually spin a record, as there was reduced friction between it and the platter beneath it.
• RPM Adjustments - While all records used for this performance were meant for 33.3 RPM playback, I experimented with adjusting the playback speed to 78 RPM and 45 RPM. This would cause the record to spin faster, creating more tension and variation in the performance.
• Manual Scratching - Lastly, I attempted to create more unique sounds with the record players by holding a record in my hands and manually moving the needle across it. This created the traditional 'scratching' noise that hip hop DJs are associated with, however was a bit more tedious to do while simultaneously changing out records on the other players.