Playing Turntable
(June 5, 2006)
I had another opportunity to play turntable again this weekend in a
large improvising orchestra - it's very fun. It'd be nice to play in
groups like this more often, or smaller groups of 5 or so members.
(Another chance for that this coming friday, soundtracking movies at
Artists Television Access.)
Turntable's been one of my 3 most
frequently played instruments since I was in high school, but I just
recently figured out how to make sounds that resemble traditional
scratching. Before I discovered the telegraph-like "external source"
button on my sampler/fx unit, I had to pick up the needle to stop the
sound (most "djs" use a volume/channel slider for that). Then when I
dropped the needle again, it'd be in a different groove of the record.
So now, after 10 years, I'm finally able to 'scratch' without it being
completely chaotic. At the same time I'm learning to not depend so much
on loops, and to combine my "needlework" with fx like ring modulators
and filters to get drones or funny old man sounds.
I'm getting
the temptation to replace my 1986 JC Penney floor model Emerson
turntable (with built in tape & radio) for a more "professional"
one where the needle isn't as bounce prone, but then I'd have to give
up on that sometimes useful lo-fi machine rumble that happens when I
hold the record still.
<--- I wanna go Back
