'Wow' 7" Physical Remix series
Janek Schaefer
Diskono: catalogue no. 011
Vinyl cut and mastered by barry Gint at Alchemy Soho
Initial release of 289 presented in a hand modified and numbered white 12" sleeve [2000]
Archive Edition release of 10 copies in a black 12" sleeve with optical print inner sleeve [2006]
Track Listing:
A. Eccentrically cut version of other side Play sample: Eccentric cut:..[with Real Audio]
B. Normal cut track Play sample: Normal cut:
Running time: 2:30 each side. Recorded at 33rpm, play at any speed.
This is part (a) of "Wow" by Janek Schaefer, released by Diskono. Part (b) consists of the same 7" 'physically remixed' by various artists
chosen by Diskono and Janek and given away free to all those who bought part [a].
In the process of 'physical remixing', the chosen artists are given the 7" and instructed to do anything they wish with it in order to change the sound or appearance of the record.
We encourage you to 'physically remix' this record yourself, along with all your other records, if you think it would improve them.
As this was, at times, quite a technical project, I thought that it would be interesting to explain a few things about how it came to be.
'Wow' is described as the slow fluctuation in the pitch of long sounds when a record is rotating unevenly. The more uneven, the greater the effect. In sound reproduction this is seen as an imperfection. My idea was to simply magnify this error and use it as both a compositional device and as my own 'Physical Remix' for the Diskono series.
The original composition [side B] is made up from four sounds in development, focusing on the idea of pitch variation. Sound one [recorded using a Nord Micro Modular] begins as a flat tone and then evolves into ever deeper oscillation cycles. Sounds two and three were recorded on my Tri-phonic Turntable using a modified Cardas Sweep record [the sound of a progressively rising tone used to cleanse your Hi-Fi]. By making a new off-centre hole for the spindle in the disc, the smooth tone becomes an oscillating one due to the resulting uneven rotations = Wow. One rises as the other descends [reverse play]. The fourth sound is a locked groove of a slightly fluctuating test tone which concludes the composition.
Side A is my 'Physical Remix' of this track. During the cutting stage of the 7" I made a second hole in the lacquer and cut the track around this new centre. This meant that when it came to press the disc using the initial/original centre hole the actual sound is positioned off-centre on the record [aural/visual remix]. This in turn enforces the music to fluctuate slowly in speed/pitch [= Wow]. By removing the 'spider' from the dinked centre hole you can increase or decrease the amount of wow imposed on the recording to maximum effect.
Technical Warning:
Please note that some record players will not be able to play side A.
The Wire Nov 2000
Wow 7" [on Diskono] + Above Buildings
>
"Wow", a limited edition single released by Scottish label Diskono, revisits territory first opened up by Non’s Boyd Rice in the late 70’s. Non’s "Knife Ladder" and "Pagan Muzak" album, both on 7" vinyl, offered a second hole away from the centre, allowing for off axis playback. Schaefer, architect and sometime master of the Tri-Phonic Turntable, is similarly interested in the possibilities opened up by vinyl’s physical properties. Here the two sides of the 7" record contain essentially the same recording of a succession of smooth electronic tones, which work as an involving snatch of full bodied dronecore in itself. But one side is pressed off-centre to demonstrate with remarkable clarity the effect that ‘wow’ – the slow fluctuation of a pitch produced by uneven rotation - can have on sound. Diskono describe the off-centre pressing as a ‘physical remix’, remarking in a neat sleevenote: "We encourage you to physically remix this record yourself, along with all your other records, if you think it would improve them". Its deadpan hint that all this is playful rather than pretentious is a wry reminder, like "Wow" itself, that music, for all its ineffability, is at base just a specialised branch of physics.
Everyone who bought a copy the original release was invited to send off for another copy of the vinyl that had been physically remixed by another person... A non exhaustive list of some of the individuals who completed "wow" physical remixes : glasgow music collective, karen x, bridge & tunnel, christopher bishop, neil christie, mild man jan, irdial discs, dj ra, jackie shearer, object, ultraphonist, urawa, antz, wunderkind collective, gordon dalton, simon vincent, phactory collective, luke fowler, modern institute collective, digital cow, farmhand, dj ex spengo, disinformation, janek schaefer, david cotner, dieter scheying, christina kubish, zoviet*france, urban salon, bump, oi ma, matt wand, martin tetreault, phillip jeck, alejandra salinas, aeron bergman, opopop, erik m, ashtray navigations, jabes labelle, ttocshagg, docktor barnes advocaat, joel ongthorne, ruti random, uter, wwjd?, data, antenna farm, graham mack, torquil paterson, surface effect, robert lorrigan, colin currie, sico carlier, caz mcintee, radboud mens, staalplaat sound system, todd a. carter, phillip von zweck, fuz fon, vertonen, immedia, mari caballero, jason soliday, frederick wells, christian marclay, phillipe gusching, radian, peter rantasa, max tundra, peter boyle, alison boyle, dj weckbecker, neil cooper, koodos, host productions, steve roden, gavin lawson, elaine parker, aporia productions, rob kennedy, wobbly, scientific support dept, douglas mcintyre, joshua norton cabal, douglas benford, christophe taupin, gayle brogan, stephen kuester, paul rooney, godspeed you black emperor, david cotner, robert hayler, klunk, frog pocket, Danielle Lemaire .....
Janek Schaefer - Instructions for Remix Artists
Thanks very much for agreeing to do a physical remix for us. Our eternal thanks is all you get, unfortunately no money, as this is a no profit project.
Furthermore, when you do the remix, you have to send it back to us! And when you do give it back, we give it away again!! Everyone who bought the original 7" will be entitled to one copy of the physical remix.
So what's in it for you? Well, we hope it might be an interesting project to be involved in. You of course get the authorship credit and you will also have our eternal gratitude/buying of drinks/etc and are noted down on our FRIENDS AND ALLIES list.
WHAT TO DO
1. Take the record given to you and do something physically to it, in order to change the way it plays or the way it looks. You can do anything you want to it.
2. Write down answers to the following questions:
a) WHO are you?
b) WHAT tools/processes did you use to remix the record?
c) WHY did you choose these particular tools/processes: what was your inspiration/motivation?
3. Send the record and the information from part 2 back:
4. We would like to get all the remixes back by 1st November 2000.
NOTES
1. Let us know if you are going to miss the date, or any other questions to: gask@findo.freeserve.co.uk
2. The statements we get (WHO/WHAT/WHY) will be published on our internet site, along with photographs/mp3s of the records. It will also be sent, along with the remixed record, to one of the people who bought the original 7". Your statements should therefore only contain information that you are happy to have publicised.
3. DO NOT FORGET TO SEND US THE RECORDS BACK!!
MANY THANKS FROM DISKONO AND JANEK