Under Construction Journal Issue 6.1 UNDER CONSTRUCTION JOURNAL 6.1 | Page 18

conductor's 'shush', storing these sounds for future use. Then, by allowing both decks to spin at different
speeds, one at 45rpm and the other at 33rpm, the DJ produces a series of five stepwise notes. The
turntablist's melody starts from the low C#, progressing upwards through D#, F#, G# and A, with each new
melodic step achieved by simultaneously manipulating the desk's pitch control and crossfading between
decks. Accompanied by hushed winds and muted strings, the turntables perform a fluid melody with
classically undulating contours, resembling at this point the ethereal, 'other-worldly' sound of the
theremin. The DJ introduces the sampled 'shush' and 'inhale' in to the mix, and a moment of tranquillity
prevails. With the turntables and orchestra now symbiotically balanced the music builds in intensity,
ultimately achieving a powerful climax. After sampling this climactic moment, the turntables explode with
a pyrotechnic, double-deck cadenza and the on-the-beat dance rhythm gives way to a syncopated, offbeat
reggae groove, harking back to the Jamaican origins of 'The Remix' itself.
Allegro Gavotte 'Snow Time'
And so, with a joyful affirmation of this cross-pollination between 'old-school' classical and 'new-world'
hip-hop, between art music and folk-dance, the final movement opens with a French Gavotte overlaid
with heavily syncopated Afro-Brazilian rhythms. Now, with the full orchestra and turntables in full voice,
and the rock drum kit, samba bass drum, triangle and shakers leading the procession, the Carnival arrives.
After a concluding cadenza, and a final instruction of 'slow to zero', the soloist alone brings this Concerto
for Turntables to a quietly distorted and grimy end.
Postlude
"I really believe in the classical tradition.
There's a lot more that can be done with it."
Gabriel Prokofiev 16
Maybe this 'low-art' club-land artist, with their Bronx-soiled box of conjure, was viewed initially with
suspicion by an uninformed 'high-art' audience comfortably situated, as they were, within their luxurious
Italianate and Neo-Renaissance surroundings? From the outset, however, and with eloquent virtuosity,
Mr Switch manipulated his hip-hop apparatus as any classically trained musician might 'play' their
16
Gabriel Prokofiev, interview with Thom Andrewes. Andrewes and Djuric, We Break Strings, 53.
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