Record Breakers - (Series No. 1-4)
FEATURES
| YEAR | 2019 - ONGOING |
| MEDIUM | Sound sculpture |
| MATERIAL | Modified and prepared record players, various motors, microphone, custom 3D printed parts, ground vinyl records, steel, microcontrollers, and various custom electronic circuitry |
| DIMENSIONS | No. 1: 14 x 14 x 4 in. (LWH) No. 2: 15 x 12 x 3 in. (LWH) No. 3: 18 x 12 x 5 in. (LWH) No. 4: 18 x 12 x 5 in. (LWH) |
DESCRIPTION
Record Breakers are a series of modified turntables that explore different modes of composition, mixing, performing, and breaking. Influenced by early Hip-hop and the golden ages of sampling, the series integrates new ways of performing, visualizing, and listening to records. The turntables’s modes of playback are modified with various analog and digital electronics, equipped with proximity detecting sensors, as well as other discrete circuitry that modify its sound output.
Record Maker (No. 1) is a modified turntable that traces its needle along a bed of ground 12” vinyl recordings -- activated by listening to sounds in real-time. The work registers the amplitude and ambient sounds in the space and etches its own iteration of “grooves” that would be found on a traditional record. This piece challenges the original function of a record player by reversing its defined purpose of something to be heard and instead, operating to attentively listen and create its own record according to the sounds that it hears.
Record Repeater (No. 2) is a modified turntable that feeds its output back into its own, creating a feedback loop that is controlled by the proximity of your hand to the base of the tonearm. The work allows itself to be used as an instrument (separate from the conventional notions of DJ'ing), as opposed to a a device only meant for listening.
Record Shifter (No. 3) is a prepared turntable that shifts its tempo in the frequency of the tonearm’s actuation, fixed with a motor that rotates in approximately 33 RPM. It produces shifts in pitch due to the small changes in the linear position of the tonearm, as opposed to the rotational movement of the bed itself.
Record Scratcher (No. 4) is a collection of modified turntables with proximity sensors that allow the audience to scratch the record without physically touching the record. The turntable, similar to Record Shifter, also has a motor attached to the tonearm, which along with the turntable’s motor are only activated in changes of proximities.
EXHIBITION HISTORY
2019 - ARTSIDEOUT, University of Toronto, Scarborough, ON
2019 - Gallery 1265, Toronto, ON