"Paradigm Shift" Participants

ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present a method to produce analog records with vector graphics software and cutting machines. The method enables us to engrave wave forms on a surface of diverse materials such as paper, wood, acrylic, and leather without (or with) prior acoustic information, which László Moholy-Nagy proposed in 1923. The method combines the current computational environments and the mature audio technologies to provide a way to think the new and the old in parallel lines [Parikka, 2012]. The sound quality of the resulted records is relatively lower to compare with it to standard analog records. However, especially in the case of record-without, the record is no longer a work of mechanical reproduction [Benjamin, 1936] but a craft of personal fabrication [Gershenfeld, 2005]. In the last century, “We would become practiced in selecting what we wanted to hear, but not practiced in producing stuff for others to hear” [Lessig, 2008]. As the cheap bass/drum machine (i.e. TB-303/TR-808) caused the birth of Techno music, we would like to revive people do not just “listen” music but also “cut” their own music with our method. References – Laser Cut Record https://vimeo.com/58682203 – cutting record – a record without (or with) prior acoustic information at freq2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbCLe06P7j0