dj sniff

dj sniff is a musician, curator, and producer whose musical work combines DJing, experimental electronic arts, instrument design, and free improvisation. His installation Transformer (2023) addresses the history of turntablism as distinct from the more general practice of DJing, taking inspiration from a lineage of DJ equipment that represent a form of tactile musical knowledge formalized through technology. 

Considered one the originators of Hip Hop music, Hip Hop DJing, and turntablism, Grandmaster Flash (born Joseph Saddler in 1958 in Barbados) also combined intuition with technical knowledge to reimagine consumer electronic devices into musical instruments. This led to stints designing unique DJ equipment such as the Gemini FF-1 Flash Former (1988) and the Rane Empath DJ mixer (2002). While both devices are obsolete, the Empath mixer is still used by a loyal group of turntablists around the world. However, the Flash Former is generally seen as a failed product, considered by many turntablists a “cheat” for simulating the “transformer scratch” technique. At the time, Grandmaster Flash was trying to make a comeback on to the DJ scene, which had evolved with more advanced techniques than his era. The Flash Former was another attempt for Flash to overcome adversity through his technological savviness, but in this instance it only emphasized his disconnect with the ethos of an emerging new community in the field.

“Transformer” also refers to a critical component in electronic devices that allows for their use in different regions with different electrical voltages. The installation explores the sonic aesthetics of a small network of circuits that allows for music culture to propagate on a global scale. Interestingly, Taiwan has become one of the leading manufacturers of DJ equipment today, which is foreseen in the Flash Former, built 35 years ago and marked “Made in Taiwan.”

DJs engage with technology and sound on a tactile level. One can argue that DJing is fundamentally improvisational, compositional, and electroacoustic. In 1974, Grandmaster Flash debuted a groundbreaking DJ technique to spontaneously compose and recompose music using only prerecorded material, by playing and manipulating two vinyl records simultaneously. Ironically, Flash himself considered this debut performance a failure because, instead of dancing, audience members only stood and watched! dj sniff asks what might the reception have been had such a raw and disjointed experiment with new musical technology and technique taken place at INA-GRM in Paris (founded by avant-garde composer Pierre Schaeffer in 1958) or at the Moers international jazz festival in Germany during that same period in the 1970s? How would this have altered the course of both Hip Hop and avant-garde music?

dj sniff presents a one-week program featuring four experimental turntablists from around the globe: Mariam Rezaei from Newcastle, UK, SlowPitchSound from Toronto, DJ Rex Chen from Taichung—all, like dj sniff from LA/Tokyo, experimental turntablists positioned outside of traditional DJ practice, yet also closer to Hip Hop, noise, and jazz than contemporary and academic musical fields. By bringing together artists working in similar niche fields, but who have not previously met, and engaging in a public dialog about records, memories, and creation over the course of a symposium, open studio, and performances, this program explores the liminal spaces where forces of inclusion and exclusion collide, to ask how we can gain insight into how aesthetics, technology, and cultural backgrounds shape music and its histories.

During the open studio, the artists work together on a mixtape highlighting their musical practice and influences, available in a limited edition of 100 copies featuring designs by local Taiwanese artists.

ex-DJ
Hosted by dj sniff
December 10–16, 2023
TB2023 Music Room program