J.ayD.ubble.U

I’ll be needing this space for my cv/portfolio site soon, so I’ve moved the Permanent Drift project blog to http://prmnt.tumblr.com/

February is closing in, and I’ll be spending this weekend finalizing the arrangement and mix-down of beats/skratch sentences. On Monday, the files will be sent to Dubstudio for cutting. I’m also continuing to build a Live Set which will be used in performance. Next up: start designing comps for the promo pack.

This is my final attempt at cutting and re-assembling records. For this iteration, I used tin snips (shears). The results were better than my previous attempts, but these re-assembled records are just not viable for the kind of DJ performance I want to use them in. The problem is that when the needle is pulled back and forth across the seams of the record, it causes the turntable tonearm to fly away and bounce around like a super-ball. There is no combination of tracking force, tonearm height, or anti-skating that will remedy this.

Here’s a picture mapping the time it takes for the needle to make one complete rotation around the record, and the breakdown of useful sample lengths and BPM of a battle record:

First batch of vinyl dubs from Dubstudio arrived today.

When it comes to “found sounds” and “readymades” and “performance art” and “things I like”, I still prefer this to anything I’ve seen the art world produce.

After spending a couple hours with a Dremel tool and some junk records, I’m now more frustrated with this project than ever before. The Dremel melts the vinyl as it cuts, making it impossible to cut a straight line and also impossible to re-assemble the records in any kind of functional way. I’m now convinced that this part of this project is a pointless sidetrack and unless I can get access to a machine shop, I’m abandoning it.

Also, before someone suggests the brilliant idea of using the laser cutter:

After some research, it turns out that laser cutting vinyl records and vinyl in general produces toxic fumes and will not be allowed in the future.

This is my second attempt at physically chopping and reassembling records. I cut two Israeli folk music records into quarters and re-assembled them using krazy glue and a soldering iron. The results were interesting, although the seams in them caused uncontrollable clipping when recording. These first two attempts were made using a ruler and linoleum knife, and I definitely need to find a more precise cutting technique.

That being said, I like the little compositional edits that occur while the needle is finding it’s way into the loop, and interestingly, the seams in a quartered 33 1/3rpm record count out at roughly 132bpm, which is almost the tempo of dubstep (140).

Next time i’ll use 45s.

*edit* These records fell apart as soon as they were taken off the turntable. They are completely useless as performance tools.

I don’t have the tools to do this properly.

After yesterday’s presentation for OOK I realize that I’m faced with a few communication problems.

1. Not everyone is equally aware of the inner workings of DJ culture. I need to find a quick and effective way of delivering some background information at the beginning of the presentation to get everyone up to speed. What dj’s look for in the musical content of a record, is something which affords a connection between two other records (one mixed into, one mixed out of) and which also enables them to strategically structure the flow of their set, for instance, moving between aggressive and polite sounds to change the dynamics of the mood without changing the tempo of the beat. This means that dance music producers are constrained to certain compositional restrictions (such as tempo and tone) based on their chosen style. In the style of OOKrecords, the contraints are 140bpm and substantial low-end information.

1.5. For amateur, sample-based musicians, solving technical problems can be a nuisance. By providing a compact, diverse and flexible toolkit for them to use, I can step back and assume the role of audio engineer. This allows me to quickly address any problems they encounter in their workflow and keep the session moving. The people I’m working with frequently have ideas about making a sound, for instance a vocoder effect or a wobble bass, but they don’t know how to actually make it. I can also assist there, by delivering that solution in the studio and enabling them to get their idea out before it’s lost to technological frustration.

2. Anonymity is important to some of the participants, and is also an underlying theme throughout electronic music. While they’re working with OOK, they can produce without pretense, and be heard without association with their public personas.

3. This is a work in progress, and is therefore changing in both form and process. I need to explain more clearly that my goal is to curate this record label as a brand representing music I believe in, resulting from the efforts of a small collective of amateurs. For me, this project is about contributing to the continuum of EDM, and attempting to form a small community, free from outside commercial influence, which is about having fun with DJ stuff.

4. The final product is subject to change, but it will definitely be a vinyl record in some form. At this point in the project, I don’t think it’s terribly important for the final product to be a literal representation of the ideas which inspired the creation of the content. That concept has served it’s purpose as an idea generator, and I think it will continue to do so throughout this project.

5. FUN. This project is about having fun and making dj music with your friends. It’s a post-modern bromance, Walt-Disney-Meets-Kaiser-Soze kind of a ting. Ya get me??

Also, some of my critics were asking if the work would be tested in the field, and indeed it will be. Three dubs from this project made their debut on last night’s Renegade Medicine Show. These tracks will also be played in front of a live audience twice before the end of semester. It’s market research, I guess.

I’ve made a dj mix featuring some the tracks from OOK and Permanent Drift, along with some released tracks. Hopefully this demonstrates how these tracks will be used in a live dj set.

Tracklisting (artist/track/label):

1. Kryptic Minds: Life Continuum – Osiris Music
2. unknown: untitled 1 – Permanent Drift Recordings
3. Planas: Agbekor – Ranking Records
4. unknown: untitled 2 – Permanent Drift Recordings
5. Tes La Rock: Gunshot – Narco.hz
6. unknown: untitled 3 – Permanent Drift Recordings
7. Silkie: Illegal Immigrant – Anti-social Entertainment
8. unknown : untitled 4 – OOKrecords
9. SP:MC: Taiko Dub – Tempa

Click the playlist to unwrap the player.