My name is Dragonfish Killswitch, that is the name I use as a sound artist, both poetically and on my turntables. I tried making a living off of my poetry for a while but it was just too depressing!
Being a Dj/turntablist is both better pay and in general more uplifting than performing poetry for groups of people. I would be a starving artist but I got a job as a chef and a good woman so I dont exactly miss meals!
I am looking forward to moving forward to making a living from my craft and gaining enough exposure to get some regular giggage! I vow to tour at least the west coast this summer!! Here is a link to my profile!
or if you are not a fan of myspace
or if you wanna join my tribe
Have a look and listen! Did I mention Im a proud member of the Cyberpiratefunk syndicate known as The Daily Dose of Funk?
So in order to introduce myself I will introduce you to my artform: sound sculpture via turntablism.
Turntablist, as far as I know, is not a name applied to Dj's until the 1990s. I have heard that Djs Grandmaster Flash, Babu, and Disk were all seperate creators of the term. This is part of a mythology which I personally enjoy, the basic essence of Hip-hop is about fusion/piracy, the beauty of the hustle, the flash of your wit, your hands and your mouth.
The assignation turntablist is used to say the person is devoted to blending, cutting, chopping and yes scratching of the frequency ranges which have been deemed "music" by the great jazz police on high. Nearly anyone can dj, get up up and play music at a party or on the radio, but few djs can truly call themselves turntablists. Hours upon hours must be spent in front of the decks before even the most basic skills can be mastered. If you havent seen anybody really tear up some tables recently check out Dj Woody, hes the most amazing dj youve probably never heard of. Check out some of his videos theyre utterly amazing even to veteran Djs.
The best turntablists work with a range of sounds in a pallette as a maestro leads his orchestra, combining and recontextualizing all frequencies and samples into one or many movements. A sample can be any sound from any recorded source. The art of sampling is best described by one Dj Spooky in his book and lecture series called Rhythm Science. Check out the podcast about halfway down the page, the first time I heard it I listened to it three times in a row its also downloadable, you know Im always on the hunt for new samples!
"Rhythm Science is not so much a new language as a new way of pronouncing the ancient syntaxes that we inherit from history and evolution, a new way of enunciating the basic primal languages that slip through the fabric of rational thought and infect our psyche at another, deeper level. Could this be the way of healing? Taking elements of our own alienated consciousness and recombining them to create new languages from the old"
Another great reference for this subject is "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life-the history of the disc jockey" an actual text by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.
Here are some great quotes from them about real turntable skills.
" To really pull it off you need to understand records in terms of their precise effects upon an audience---you need to hear music in terms of its energy"
" The truth about djing is that it is an emotional, improvisational artform and here the the real scope for artistry lies. "
" Obviously the medium is music , but thats just a means to an end. In a very real sense the primary medium is emotion, the dj plays the feelings of a roomful of people."
Fun Fact: The cylinder phonograph was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 but it was only loud enough for one person to hear it.
More fun next time!!!!!!
DF
1 comment:
Quite Interesting words!
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