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Home , Turntablism

Turntable and Computer Composition

Eoin Smith Music Department National University of Ireland, Maynooth Ireland [email protected]

In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of , Sight, Space and Play 2009 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009

Abstract This paper sets out to explore the area of turntables and composition. New attention, directed towards the turntable by software developers and academic institutions, has provided more original and creative environments for composition and improvisation using turntables. The hybrid of computer musician and turntablist could give rise to a new generation of computer based turntablists, who have their roots firmly in the techniques of the pioneers of turntable based composition and its respective sub- genres. It is my belief that the sonorities and innovative techniques of these computer-based turntablists will provide the next stage in the history for the turntable. I will discuss the use of the turntable in today's technological environment, while attempting to decouple the connection between DJ and the turntablist. This will help me to better discuss the next possible stage in the history of the turntable and the type of artist that will usher it in. Where applicable, I will discuss some broader concepts, like the notion of gesture in relation to the area of turntables and . I will conclude by analysing a recent interactive installation of mine, which focused on the fusion of turntables and computer music tools.

In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 37 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition

Introduction Serato Final . However, the majority of DJs tend to opt for the non- Over the past sixty years, the turntable vinyl, laptop approach. has enjoyed a symbiotic relationship 'Tape and computer music, , with musical/cultural revolutionary , do-it-yourself record manufacture movements. Consider Musique and distribution – all these seizures of the Concrète, the Hip-Hop revolution (with means of (re-) production add up to a its offshoots into turntablism), and cataclysmic system-hack made all the the /Techno generation of the more devastating by its invisibility.' early nineties: the catalyst and creative (Shapiro 2000, unpaginated) common denominator was the turntable. If one was to hypothesise, in the light of From the headquarters of the this recent influx of software, on the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française in future of the turntable and its use in 1948, the Block Parties in 1970’s composition, how would it look? Peter America, the explosively colourful, Shapiro suggests a relationship between energetic clubs of the disco era to the prominent musical movements and their heaving and throbbing warehouses of 'invisibility' within the culture around the Acid House generation, the them. Although the use of the turntable technology of the turntable has by commercial DJs has waned, I do remained more or less the same (with believe that there is new attention being the exception of Qbert's QFO design), directed towards the turntable by but the different contexts in which it was inconspicuous sources. used have given rise to some of the boldest and most creative musical and cultural statements in history. Computer Based Turntablists Aside from being a tool of the innovative pioneers, one must not forget that the The popularity of the turntable, as a turntable, as a ‘record player’, was a record player, diminished with the domestic product for decades. The introduction of CDs but the instrument turntable was ultimately replaced by the maintained popularity within the Hip-Hop new and more convenient technology of community, acting as an intrinsic the audio compact disc, causing the use element of live performances. of the turntable to diminish significantly. Turntablism has been the exception in In correlation to this, the recent influx of the present day shift away from vinyl; it software available for DJs has created is concerned with the use of turntables an equally convenient situation, where as musical instruments. DJs are now opting to use more laptop ‘Lead by pioneers like orientated means of performing, as it and , who started to allows the artist to operate and arrange play the turntable in the late 1970's, sets in a quicker and, some say, a more turntable performance has become a creative manner. One can appreciate the distinctive form of musical expression. The benefits this type of technology brings, primary interest of the turntablist is to the most obvious being that it alleviates generate from the turntable and the DJ mixer, rather than playing and the stress associated with transporting mixing pre-recorded music as a typical DJ an immense amount of vinyl. However, does.’ (Mizuta Lippit 2004, p. 211) this convenience destroys the physical relationship between the DJ and the In the light of ‘playing’ and generating vinyl. There are programs to cater for sounds with turntables, I feel it those DJs desiring an interactive appropriate to include noise artists such element, using time-coded vinyl, such as as and Emil Beaulieau, Ms Pinky (whose motto is, ‘It may not be whose primary instrument, or sound the real thing, but at least you're playing source, is the turntable. There is a with vinyl’) (Ms Pinky website) and significant difference between the In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 38 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition ideologies and practices of the more was created was as important to the conventional turntablist and these outcome of as the sounds themselves.’ experimental strands of turntablism, (Holmes 2001, p.93) however I think that it is important to The whole studio became a musical include every form of turntable art, to instrument for ; here the improve our understanding of the interaction with technology was just as various ways one could possibly important as the concept of the piece. In incorporate turntables into computer comparison, turntablism relies on orientated composition. physical interaction. The genre Computer technology in the 1970s was incorporates a plethora of physical and not as advanced nor as easily sonic gestures, primarily emanating from accessible as it is today, making it an the manipulation of the mixer and unattractive medium of experimentation. records under the styli. This leads me to believe that this new In terms of laptop improvisation and attention directed towards the turntable performance, physical gesture is a will result in a cross-pollination of characteristic which can often be turntablists and aficionados of computer omitted. As there is a shift away from music. Artists like Daito Manabe and DJ hardware environments and older Sniff are prime examples of such cross- technology such as the turntable, there pollination, both working with turntables has been a greater need for controllers and Max/MSP in creative compositional to develop some level of interaction with environments. the computer interfaces. Few of these are helpful to the turntablist: ‘because the turntablist use both hands when Gesture in Turntablism he/she plays, these devices are impossible to use at the same time.’ ‘The brushstroke a painter makes onto a (Mizuta Lippit 2004, p. 211). Similarly, screen can be understood as a visible mark of his or her gesture; likewise, in not using controllers like this can create music, sound materiality and its movement a distance between the performer and in time can be understood as an audible the audience, because the mark of a gesture onto an instrument.’ listener/audience does not know what (Zanpronha 2003) aspect of the sound the performer is controlling, as Emmerson notes, Any genre of music that incorporates turntable technology in performance or ‘performer-triggered real-time composition places an emphasis on the computations give no guarantee that the concept of gesture. As the use of listener will perceive that a human being turntables is decreasing somewhat, the has initiated or influenced a musical element of gesture is also a notable event.’ (Emmerson 2007, p. 93) casualty. Physical gesture was an Integrating turntablism into the world of intrinsic element in the production of computer music means the turntable Musique Concrète, the first turntable becomes accessible as an interactive ‘inspired’ genre: Holmes noted one such middle ground, maintaining the physical gesture, ‘he used volume control to element, which certainly, in a create -in and fade-out effects’, performance aspect, confirms the real- (Holmes 2001, p. 92). This relationship time cause and effect of the sonic result between technology and composition for the audience or listener. Sonically, was a prominent factor in the turntablism's most notable gestures revolutionary face of the genre, as emanate from the manipulation of the Holmes explains. vinyl under the stylus, contributing to the ‘The act of composing music was genre’s (and the instrument’s), accomplished by technological means; the unmistakable sonic fingerprint. With the way in which the organization of sounds introduction of computer processing, the In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 39 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition conventional sonic gestures will be the ? Organized Sound most notable change. As I will mention Too Rarely Heard (Landy 1991, p. 32) later, when analysing an installation, the 1. What can be the justification for using sonic gestures associated with this technology as a compositional tool? fusion of technologies, become completely original and unrelated to the In justifying the system technology used instruments associated with the audio. for the installation, we can draw similarities between the symbiotic Up to this point I have discussed the use relationship which exists between the of the turntable in a variety of contexts; computer musician and his/her the genres, the artistes who have compositional tool. In this specific style adopted it and the more discrete topics of composition or improvisation, where at play when using turntables. The turntables are integrated into computer performance and sonic possibilities music, each possesses properties which when integrating turntables into compliment each other. In terms of the computer music are vast and I will now installation, the turntable made the analyse one such event, an installation installation approachable and engaging, of mine which took place in The Lab, primarily because turntables are Dublin, as part of the EAR-Plugged recognised by a varied demographic and Festival 2009. also because a person could interact with a tangible object, ultimately, making the participant the artist. Installation: A Turntable and Computer based Interactive 2. Which aspects of technology are System applicable to the making of the music and in what way? The inspiration for this installation The answer to this question will allow evolved from a Max/MSP patch which me to delve into the more technical was my primary environment for aspect of the installation and to de- composing and improvising, when using construct a computer-turntable based turntables. It became apparent that the environment. The Max/MSP patch can patch could be operated by anyone, be broken down into two main sections: making it feasible to present it within the context of an installation. It would allow . Real-time Sampler/Sequencing me to break the divide between the artist Section. and the audience and allow participants . Processing Section (Csound). to interact freely with the software using The real-time sampling section consists turntables as an interactive middle of four buffers which take a snapshot of ground and it would expose them to the the input every second. Coinciding with notion of computer based turntablism. these buffers, there are five step My main objective for this project, (prior sequencers. They read from these to presenting it as an installation) was to buffers and output the contents employ the synthesis language Csound corresponding to where the various in conjunction with Max/MSP, with toggles are placed in the sequencers. turntables as inputs and, to a certain extent, controllers. The first two sequencers will play the contents of buffer one, the rest will play their respective buffers. Depending on System Technology the speed of the playback and size of the recording buffers, a variety of effects In discussing the system make-up, I will can be achieved. Small buffers and fast operate within the confines of questions playback speed will result in a staccato posed by Leigh Landy in his book effect with the contents of the buffers What’s the Matter with Today's being quite unrecognisable. Slower In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 40 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition speeds and larger buffers will mean a producing values between 0 and 123, larger proportion of the buffer can be which resulted in a glitchy, grainy sound played and more of the input sound will when the values produced were quite be audible. The context in which this high. The ‘wet’ feed of this buffer was section of the patch could be used can fed to a resonator in Max/MSP, which vary dramatically. For instance, one was outputting the same grainy, glitchy could use this instrument with sound as above, but, this time it was percussion, to generate very resonating at user-defined frequencies, syncopated, rigid bass lines. making the glitchy sounds completely inaudible, resulting in harmonic, bell-like Aside from the sequencing buffers, I was sounds. also writing to a separate buffer, which can be broken down into two feeds. The The Csound section of the patch was ‘dry’ feed of the buffer was constantly really the foundation of the sonic result recording a live feed from the turntables, and catered for immediate sonic gesture but unlike the above concept of produced once someone interacted with sequencer with toggles, this was the installation. Both concepts in constantly outputting its contents. question catered for pitch shifting the Feeding into the playback speed of this input sound (records). buffer was a random number generator,

Figure 1 Figure 1 displays the main concept the inputted signal with different behind the first Csound instrument (the times. In this particular Csound code of which is somewhat beyond the instrument, we will need to implement a scope of this paper). The circular buffer variable delay line, which as the name is a computational method of suggests allows us to vary the delay implementing digital delay lines and a time during performance. In variable place to store delayed samples. Where delay lines (and in order to achieve the samples are released depends on pitch-shifting) the read pointer the delay time used. Shorter delay times (playback) is moving at a constantly would mean that the buffer would be varying speed than that of the writer ‘spitting out’ a delayed version of the pointer (record), which is moving input sound relatively close to the consistently at the sample rate. Should original input sound. One can also tap the two pointers meet, an audible click the buffer at different intervals to hear would be present. To alleviate this

In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 41 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition problem, we use two delay lines with the spectral processor and it functioned to same varying delay times, however one tie every sonic aspect of the patch delay line will be offset by half a buffers together. An extremely useful parameter length and we fade between the two. here was the threshold. Setting a higher The instrument implements a threshold meant that the plug-in would harmonising/arpeggiator-like effect on only begin processing audio once the the inputted signal, with a number of input sound had reached a particular user defined parameters such as the level. When the threshold was not ratio of pitchshift, the max delay time reached, there would be no output from and a feedback parameter, which caters the VST. This was an engaging aspect of for the recycling of the delayed signal the patch, as audio was not always between the read and write intervals. being produced and upon its introduction to the resultant sound, an element of The ratio parameter of the instrument surprise was evident among the allowed me to pitch the input sound participants. The original intention was to down to a quarter of the original input. have only one turntable involved in the There was no ‘dry’ sound included in the installation. However, in order to achieve resultant output so when this was used the maximum level of interaction, the in conjunction with a very short delay patch was divided up between two time of 0.25 seconds and a high turntables. The high frequencies and feedback value, there was an instant low resonating sounds were assigned to one frequency drone heard once interaction turntable, while the other catered for the commenced. Because of such low frequency drone and ethereal sound processing, to the point of making the of the spectral plug-in. original sound unrecognisable, in theory, one could use any record and still end up with this low, breathing-like drone. Critique The other Csound instrument used in This was my first foray into the world of the patch was based around the installations and I was pleased with the pvsadsyn opcode. This opcode reception mine received. It exposed a resynthesises an input sound (in this varied demographic of participants to the case real-time input from one of the notion of turntable and computer based turntables), with the option of scaling the interaction/composition. From an frequencies (resulting in a pitch shift) objective standpoint, it was interesting to which were analysed from the phase note how engaging the sonic result was vocoder analysis using pvsanal. Using to both aficionados of the genre and the csound~ object in Max/MSP, I could those participants unfamiliar with the connect a control rate value of the technology. I think that this is a Csound instrument to the pitch~ object testament to the presentation of the in Max/MSP. This particular Max/MSP installation, as it was presented in such object is a pitch estimator which, once a way that, to the participant, the fed with an input, will output pitch computer and software were not the information in numerical values. This dominant components; instead they was meant that the users had a certain merely catalysts for an immediate sonic amount of control over the sonic result: result, based on the participant’s the faster they manipulated the record, interaction. Trevor Wishart restates the the higher the pitch values produced by importance of this ethos, noting: pitch~ were and they controlled the ‘The translation of performance-gesture amount by which to shift the frequencies into the gestural-structure of the sound of the input sound. object is most complete and convincing The final element of the patch was a where the technology of instrument VST plug-in by composer and developer construction is does not present a barrier.’ (Wishart 1998, p. 17) Michael Norris. The plug-in was a In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 42 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Eoin Smith: Turntable and Computer Composition

The successful presentation and the oscillator. I could have automated the resultant sonic gestures produced were parameters of the patch and there would components of the installation that have been a greater variety of sonic became a huge interest to me and events, as opposed to one collective seemed to be an engaging factor for sonic result. This could also retain the many participants. The placement of the interest of returning participants. Another installation meant that it was not suggestion made to me was to consider immediately visible to visitors as they the possibility of changing the sonic entered the gallery, although they could results as the records changed. In hear the low frequency drone as soon as hindsight, this is feasible, with some they entered the foyer. It was a very spectral analysis of the records and it is prominent sound, unmistakable to my definitely another area which would ears, but visitors would not have easily merit some further investigation. recognised the association between the sonic gesture and the instruments used. Conclusion An interesting anomaly, which became Composition, incorporating turntables, is apparent to me and a few participants not a new concept and there have been during the course of the installation, was experiments in this field, conducted prior the relationship between the sensitivity to the inception of Musique Concrète in of the turntable styli, the wooden the late forties. The sonorities turntable stands and the wooden floor associated with each turntable-based on which the installation rested. Upon genre transverse an extremely varied approaching the installation, one’s sonic terrain, each one as innovative as footsteps would make the wooden floor its predecessor. The advances in resonate, causing the turntable joists to technology, in terms of computers and move, in turn making the styli of the software have caused the use of turntables move, creating sonic events turntables to diminish significantly as if someone was intentionally among traditional users but new artists interacting with the piece. This seemed are emerging and they are exploiting to work better in the case of the higher these advances. frequencies, which needed less It is my belief that the future of turntable manipulation to produce audio. It composition lies in the academic and reminded me of a Leafcutter John research institutions which continually installation I had seen, where promote and develop means to were placed under the improvise and experiment with the floorboards of a gallery. The artist then turntable. One must not forget the entered the gallery, with a number of extremely innovative and creative sub- friends, and began manipulating objects cultures which continually experiment like pipes and bouncing balls on the with musical tools and instruments, floorboards, resulting in sonic events operating as an invisible entity within the from the algorithm that the microphones parent culture. With this in mind, it is my were feeding. I think that this idea would aspiration to develop my own style and merit further investigation in relation to sonic imprint, by fusing computer music integrating a number of areas of software and turntables, combining the performance, such as dance, visuals physical and computational algorithms. and sound into a live performance. As an aficionado of both turntablism and In terms of the technology, I initially computer music, I believe that this wanted the turntables to ‘control’ the amalgamation of technologies will usher computer instrument more, but the a new era in the history of the turntable range of fluctuations in such objects like and a new context within which to view pitch~ in Max were too small to apply to it, resulting in engaging performances anything meaningful like a filter or and fresh sonorities. In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 43 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009 Bibliography

HOLMES, T. (2001) Electronic and Experimental Music. 2nd ed. London: Routledge. EMMERSON, S. (2007) Living , Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. LANDY, L. (1991) What’s the Matter with Today's Experimental Music? Organized Sound Too Rarely Heard’, Chur: Harwood Academic Publishers. MIZUTA LIPPIT, T. (2004) Realtime Sampling System for the Turntablist Version 2: 16padjoystickcontroller, Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on the New Interfaces for Muscial Expression (NIME04), Hamamatsu, Japan. SHAPIRO, P. (Ed.) (2000) Modulations, New York: Caipirinha Productions, Inc. WISHART, T. (1998) On Sonic Art, Amsterdam: Harwood Academic publishers. ZANPRONHA, E. (2005) Gesture In Contemporary Music On the Edge Between Sound Materiality and Signification. [WWW] available from: http://www.sibetrans.com/trans/trans9/zanpronha.htm [accessed 14/02/09]

Internet Sources Ms Pinky website, available from: http://www.mspinky.com/shop/ [accessed 10/03/09]

In: Motje Wolf (Ed.) Proceedings of Sound, Sight, Space and Play 2009 44 Postgraduate Symposium for the Creative Sonic Arts De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom, 6-8 May 2009 http://www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/events-conferences/sssp2009