Infinite Loops by Levni

A classical concert stage filled with instruments. The performance of the symphony is already over, the musicians and then the audience have left the hall, and now... the next act: The skilled workers begin to remove and store the instruments from the stage. It is these resulting sounds, in a figurative sense, that Levni's Infinite Loops project focuses on.

Levni pays attention to such recurring sounds without planning; they serve as the raw material for his Infinite Loops. However, he does not extract them from field recordings of the described concert stage scene but from a sound phenomenon that can occur in the everyday use of commercially available records.

A record spins on the turntable, the needle is placed, and music/sound plays until the last chord/note. And then? If the tonearm is not lifted (for example, by a built-in automatic mechanism in the player), the following happens: Towards the end of (almost) each side of the record, a spiral-shaped locked groove is pressed, which continuously returns the needle to the same starting point. This prevents the needle from leaving the intended area of its operation—the grooves containing audio information—, "skipping," and potentially damaging the paper label in the center of the record. However, this automatic return of the needle in the locked groove also generates a sound—a recurring, unplanned sound. It consists of milliseconds of unintended audio information. Levni recognized these infinite loops, these audio phenomena, as the primary material and subsequently recorded them as samples.

Aras L. Seyhan, also known as Levni, has extensive experience as a producer in the field of experimental music (including The Friendly Guitar Trio, Ferro Taylor, Örs/İleri/Seyhan) as well as for hip-hop and pop tracks (such as Asifeh, Ethnique Punch, or Lara di Lara). He has also served as a studio owner and tech wizard/CTO (Chief Technical Officer) for the Vienna-based Well Gedacht Crew.

Now, here comes the exciting part: Levni applies this technique to his source material—the sounds of the locked groove—in his Infinite Loops project. Sometimes, you can still hear the lingering audio remnants of sustained notes, while at other times, there are only brief clicking moments of the needle in the locked groove of the record's groove. Skillfully utilizing his production skills, Levni intricately weaves together this found audio footage into new rhythmic textures and new music.

Thanks to the "unclear" starting point of the audio material, new perceptual spaces emerge through Levni's artistic arrangement. And the incredible thing is: It might sound like dub-techno or industrial or any musical structure that each listener individually associates with. Where is the snare? Is that a sub-bass? The music of the Infinite Loops is influenced not only by the listener's own musical socialization but also by the producer's intention.

The loop would only be endless if the power never ran out. However, what Levni has accomplished here is something different: he has constructed imaginative and individual audio spaces. They need to be captured on record in order to generate further Infinite Loops.

Holger van Dordrecht,
the Doppio Kid of SISSYSOUND Record Store, Vienna

Record label and collective from Vienna

wellgedacht.com
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