Before actually conducting the performance I had planned, I decided it was important to even experiment with using multiple mediums at once. I connected one turntable and my laptop (with Logic open) to my mixer. I decided to use each channel as though I was mixing in a DJ setting in terms of EQing and volume levels, and blending into each channel. However, I did not adopt constraints of timing and using tracks of the same genre, or even tracks at all at some points, that there would be within DJing.

I begun my experiment by playing this vinyl I bought in El Salvador a couple months back. This was to signify that the work is about my heritage, a mark of my own sonic mapping. I have Vestax PDX-2300 turntables, which means that I can manipulate the vinyl to slow down and speed up in very large amounts, as well as reverse tracks. I decided to use these functions to manipulate the sound of the vinyl from El Salvador.

I started off by playing with the pitch functions, and then reversing the record where there was a drone-like loop. I thought about how I could apply this as a technique when producing music, as a sort of “live chopping” technique when sampling. I then played with this idea of live chopping, thinking about how I could incorporate splices from other tracks to sample. Using Maria Chavez’s techniques in abstract turntablism, I used my cracked vinyl to add variation of samples used on the one turntable. I then added a second instrument, my laptop, with Logic open, to trigger samples from tracks I created. It was difficult to do so without having pre-organised a set of samples or loading them onto a sampler, I was just attemppting to work with raw audio. I found it was easier to play synthesisers I had created, as there was less ryhthmic clashing, and I had more control over what was being played. I added a third instrument, flute. I thought whilst experimenting, it would be easier to use than a saxophone because it is quieter.

DOCUMENTAATION OF EXPERIMENTATION.

This video displays a “rough sketch” of what my performance would look like. To improve, I will pre-load synths in one project in logic so that I can access them more easily, and switch between them with ease. I thought about how my saxophone is broken, and this is a big reasoning as to why I am reluctant to use it. I then thought about the use of broken vinyl, and how the rhythms of the different elements clashed with each other. The idea of incorporating the broken saxophone then adds to the aesthetic of the work, and allows me to conceptualise it.