Workshops in London and Margate: Modified Records for Mechanical Techno

UPDATE: the Margate workshop has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. The Hackney Wick workshop will go ahead as planned.

Two opportunities to make some modified records and blast them through the Mechanical Techno machine, to make some beats, samples and synths into a new tune. You get a digital recording and get to keep the records too.

Sunday 21st July: Vinyl Pimp, Hackney Wick, London [email for tickets] – £20
Saturday 27th July: Joseph Wales Studios, Margate [tickets] – £22.15

Full details follow:

Graham Dunning Mechanical Techno Workshop
Vinyl Pimp, 14 Felstead St, Hackney Wick, London E9 5LT
Sunday 21st July
Workshop: 16:00 – 18:00, followed by performance

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/387417118570614/

We are pleased to bring you a very special event with a local techno master. Graham Dunning will host a one off Mechanical Techno Workshop for 10 students.

If you would like to learn how to make a physical loop out of vinyl records, simply send a private message or Email VINYLPIMPLONDON@GMAIL.COM to reserve your space.

The class will roughly takes 2 hours and Graham will play a special 1 hour set afterward to finish things off.

Here is a quick outline of the class itself

– demonstration of the setup
– selecting records
– making three modified records:
1. Sampling record: adhesive vinyl covers parts of the playing surface so only snippets of samples of the original sound are heard. The patterns determine the rhythm of the playback samples.
2. Optical trigger record: patterns made of adhesive vinyl send a gate/clock signal to a synth, which plays acid basslines according to the rotating sequence. Each record can have several ‘tracks’ of sequences on it.
3. Mechanical trigger record: bolts drilled through the record are used to flick piezo triggers, creating synth drum patterns.
– Finally, put the three records together on the turntable, add FX and mix the track in a live dub.

— participants can:
keep the 3 records
keep an audio recording of their track (sent via email after the event)

Email VINYLPIMPLONDON@GMAIL.COM now to reserve your space.

~~Graham Dunning’s Mechanical Techno Workshop~~
~~Joseph Wales Studios, 2 Dane Hill, Margate, CT9 1QP~~
~~Saturday 27th July~~
~~Workshop 16:00-18:00; performance 19:00~~

[Event cancelled]

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/graham-dunnings-mechanical-techno-workshop-tickets-65034500943

Learn how to make techno… But without a computer!

Modified old records are played on a specially adapted turntable. An optical sensor and contact mics are used to pick up sounds and make a beat.

Each unique composition will be recorded with a live mix down.

The workshop is part of Salon des Refusés 2019, an exhibition of artworks refused from the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.