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.emusic
27.02.04 Tectonic Plates, microgeography of sound.
If the vinyl records truly are the last organic medium for listening to music, the analysis of their structure and physical properties using digital means metaphorically attempts to extract their souls from their bodies and represent them on a screen. Tectonic Plates is a work by Calum Stirling which maps the microgeography of a record, showing an original perspective of its mechanisms. The video scientifically simulates the passage of the needle over the surface, enormously magnified, in slow motion and complemented by the music. This acoustic microgeography zooms at the heart of the physical reproduction of sound through a carefully made simulation which peeks at an unusual dimension. It's a visualization of sound on a different level if compared to the several other approaches made by most electronic artists, because it builds an adequate model to tightly link sound and images, as well as being yet another digital interpretation of vinyl records. This work is the first step towards an installation, which is in the process of being built, whose goal is to show the whole trip of the needle on the vynil through a powerful electronic microscope.