Q R Ghazala's Tape Canvas

Qubais Reed Ghazala, father of circuit bending, has posted a flickr set on the OddMusic list showing many details of his Tape Canvas device, conceived independently from the Nam June Paik's Random Access created in early 60s. The instrument functions by having segments of tape stretched out on a board next to each other, played by a tape head extracted from the tape player. The movement can be across those segments in all directions at various speeds: fast, slow, or sideways is sure to produce interesting sound combinations. The possibilities do not stop with tape, floppy disks and VHS tapes can also be attempted with this setup. No sounds or videos that I can tell, but if someone knows more info please comment. Update: Ghazala's responce to Paik's comparison.

ghazala@anti-theory.com

Wow! That's a cool Paik link. But I don't think it's really a "very similar" device, even if sharing the same "engine" ...stationary tape and moving head. Look deeper... Paik and I are after very different things here, as persons familiar with Paik's concepts of the era will understand. And I'm sure all thinking persons presume that the history of tape recording involved lab tests where all kinds of head/tape experiments were performed before either Paik, or you or I, got our chances, no? Maybe artists should be happy lab techs don't have agents! More on this in a moment. My idea (admittedly less academic) came from thinking about what's happening here (though I'd never seen such a thing before, just a nerdy kid in high school). I imagined the head moving and a strip of tape staying still, ala Paik, as just another reversal-of-theory thing. But the artistic limits of this were obvious, and it seemed, to me, a first step toward a larger idea. Paik's piece, while thought provoking, is yet rigid and highly-prescribed (as compared to much of his other work, and that's coming from someone who's browsed Paik's private art warehouses and holds a real respect for the man). But it was appropriate for the times and right-on for the piece: Paik's idea was not to create a musical instrument, per se, but rather a viewer-participation (very hip then) concept piece - tape manipulation was an academic focus at the time, reflected in the diagrammatic arrangement of Paik's installation. In that light it was very cool, and certainly successful. More successful than my tape canvas, in this regard. But as I say, we were after different things, and at different times in history. The tape canvas (an entire surface of magnetic media) was the finalization of my perusal of this idea (including the variants discussed), but with end result more as experimental musical instrument and less as concept piece. I wanted to allow a fluid approach to the reversal of the tape/head motion situation, but in a way that allowed expression in the classic sense of interaction with an instrument, and without the hassles of "keeping on track." A wide magnetic canvas allows all kinds of approaches to head path and composition impossible in the Paik installation (isolated strips are impractical for seamless sound production). But... first? Like with circuit-bending, I just assumed when I began to explore the tape idea that I couldn't have been the first to examine such a simple concept... it's just too obvious (I call this principle "the threshold of invention" and discuss it in my book). How important is this? Being "first" at something? If two people think the same thought, in the dark and years apart, and each develop the same idea, is the latter the lesser? What if the latter was working in a darker environment with greater hurdles? Perhaps that late arrival is more the genius? I know we like to drive stakes here, but I've always thought application to be more important than inception. If something is first, sure, let history note it. But, even as recognized by patenting principles, use of the wheel may be more important than its origin. Nam June Paik himself mocks this concept of judging art by time... "Art is just fraud. You just have to do something nobody else has done before." Our society, in an effort to validate things, often reaches toward the simplest handholds. Don't worry too much about it. I think Paik would agree: just keep inventing. reed