DRIFT#01

AKA11
Initiate by Yann Leguay
with Martin Tétreault . eRikm . DJ Sniff . Arnaud Rivière

DRIFT is a record series that uses non conventional technics of vinyl cutting, inviting artists to get involved with the materiel itself. For the first issue DRIFT-01, a concert of 4 turntablists improvising together was organized and recorded on 4 separate tracks. These 4 tracks became the 4 grooves, which meet on each side. A special technique was used to cut those several grooves, and layer them over each other in order to make them intersect continuously on the whole surface of the disc.

Playing the record produces a mix between the 4 physical sources. When you hear the sound coming from the left or right, it is physically how the pickup is drifting on the surface. The same applies to the clicks and cuts that signify that the needle has jumped. The pickup continually changes groove throughout its reading. And because it is impossible to read the 4 grooves simultaneously, you listen to one musician after the other but never reach the same listening experience as live in concert.

The nature of the turntable, the quality and wear of the needle, as well as playing with different settings (cons-weight, anti-skating…) are factors that affect the reading path. The duration becomes elastic (cf1. comparative test), new passages become available while some others disappear and some phenomenas of looping or going backward may occur.

The vinyl creates its own improvisation, the content becomes unstable.