Composition for eight turntables with effects, using 6 different versions of The Planets by Gustav Holst. Performed 14.12.2104 at OCCII in Amsterdam by myself, Eric de Clercq, Wilbert Bulsink, Paul Glazier and Natalia DomÃnguez Rangel from composers group Monoták.
It it a remix? Is it a composition? No, it is Planet Holst. I have 10 different versions of the Planets, a result of endlessly looking for records at thrift stores and garage sales. I have experimented with playing them all at the same time to create drony sound fields, with me running around the turntables like a madman mixing and applying EQ as fast as I can. The result was quite interesting, since every version is different of course and the record players all play at a different speed. Out of this grew the ensemble piece: 8 different record players with scored instructions for when to drop the needle where, when to stop or slow down the record manually, when to bang a fist next to the record player or apply delay or other effects. Using the piece as raw material is quite interesting. I wanted to treat a turntablist as an ensemble player and a musician. It was also an attempt to to demonstrate the musical potential for sampling, and to visualize for the audience what we are trying to do when we sample and manipulate audio in our laptops.