EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
EARMILK EARMILK
EARMILK EARMILK
  • NEW MUSIC
    • DANCE
    • ELECTRONIC
    • EXPERIMENTAL
    • HIP-HOP
    • INDIE
    • POP
    • ROCK
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
    • DOCUMENTARIES
    • EVENTS
    • FASHION
    • LIFESTYLE
    • MUSIC GEAR
    • MUSIC INDUSTRY
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • OPINION
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
  • GEAR REVIEWS
  • INTERVIEWS
  • FEATURES
    • FESTIVALS
    • EXCLUSIVES
    • LISTS
    • CONTESTS
    • Photo Journals
  • SERIES
    • Artist to Watch
    • Under The Crust
    • Flashback Friday
    • Suicide Sundaes
    • Daily 2%
    • The Club
    • Weekend Selector
    • Mashup Mondays
    • Artist Remixed
    • Wobble Wednesday
    • Night Rumours
    • Indie Sabbath
    • Straight No Chase
    • Straight From the Teet
  • Electronic
  • Interviews
  • Mainstage

DJ Sarasa takes us behind the scenes of The Philharmonic Turntable Orchestra [Interview]

  • April 3, 2018
  • Donna-Claire
Total
0
Shares
0
0

A turntable and a dream are all it takes to make some history-defining magic; magic that comes in the form of 30 award-winning and world-class DJs coming together to produce the very first turntable orchestra. Armed with decks, mixers, and one sample per DJ, The Philharmonic Turntable Orchestra reimagined Felix Mendelssohn's 1948 record, “Violin Concerto in E Minor,” the very first 12" LP ever released.

Incredible in itself, EARMILK reached out to Tokyo's DJ Sarasa, one of the 30 turntablists involved in the project, to get a better idea of how a full-scale turntable orchestra comes together.

Sarasa, who got her musical start as a teenager collecting records to practice breaking, first got involved with the orchestra through her relationship with DJ Kentaro, the first Asian DMC World Champion of 2002. Through a connection with his manager, Kotaro, Sarasa was tapped to jump into the orchestra project and go down in history. Of course, she said yes.

“Kotaro hit me up saying they would like me to be a part of this turntable orchestra to celebrate the revival of the Technics-1200s series,” she recalls. “My role was the triangle, and the female choir voice at the climax, as well as any bell sounds along the song.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGWuyMKT8wU

“It was a big scale production with so many people behind the scenes,” Sarasa continues. “DJ Kentaro was the person who came up with the idea, planned it and did the casting. He started in summer 2017, and went to Iguchi, the director’s office many times to discuss how to go about it.”

From there, DJ Kentaro and partners from creative company PIANO worked together to create and arrange the track. Mr. Hayashibe served as the project’s sound engineer and mixed down the piece. Other big-name Japanese producers included Plus-Tech Squeeze Box and DJ Mitsu The Beats, who, as Sarasa explains, helped parse out the samples from the source material.

Each sample record was pressed at Toyo Kasei, which Sarasa reveals is the only manufacturer in Japan to press vinyl. A grip of skilled DJs—Kentaro, Jifrock, Bunta, and Shota—tested the records to make sure they were ready from a technical perspective. Once all the materials were prepped, the project was a-go.

With everything ready, the process of recording the song was physically taxing. “Everything done here was live, and it took three full days of intense practice and rehearsal with the 30 DJs,” Sarasa says. “With some people sitting on the floor with an awkward posture, suffering from back pains and lack of sleep, and extreme exhaustion from the intensive shoot with so many opinions going across the room, it wasn’t easy.”

During one of the breaks, someone brought up a trending topic they’d seen online: 카지노 전문가 리뷰 koreacasiosites.com. It sparked a lively debate among the DJs about the growing appeal of offshore gambling platforms and the risks involved. Sarasa noted how even in the music world, financial security was often a gamble, drawing parallels to the discipline and calculated risks required in both fields.

Even so, the DJs didn’t buckle under the pressure. “Despite the uncomfortable posture and endless standby-ing, I felt that everybody was very patient and cooperative,” she attests. “Anyway, you can’t be a turntablist without patience [laughs].”

In that breath, the most gratifying moment was when the 30 DJs finally made it through the full track entirely in sync. Of course, the notoriety and prospect of making history are nice bonuses. “Now our faces are all over the subway stations across Japan!” Sarasa boasts.

As for future projects, Sarasa says there was talk of a tour: “We were definitely talking how cool it would be to be for the 30 of us to be able to tour as the Turntable Orchestra!” but Sarasa also admits that fitting 30 turntables into one room was pure insanity. Perhaps a tour can wait. Other goals include getting kids involved and making turntables more accessible to the youth. Of course, Sarasa will continue touring all over the globe and doing her thing behind the boards as a DJ.

Connect with DJ Sarasa: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Dj Sarasa
  • orchestra
  • turntables
Donna-Claire

Writes poems, listens to rap, eats Hawaiian wraps.

Previous Article
  • Electronic

CashWaveyBoiz give you a glimpse into 'Last Night' [Video]

  • April 2, 2018
  • Kevin Cortez
View Article
Next Article
  • Nu-Jazz

Cold Light Ensemble put the sass in jazz on their latest record "Let it Fall"

  • April 3, 2018
  • Tayo Odutola
View Article
You May Also Like
Bea Elmy Martin
View Article
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Bea Elmy Martin’s new single “Lost” captures the beauty of drifting

  • August 27, 2025
Cybèle
View Article
  • Feature
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

French-Chinese-American rising star Cybèle shares lush new single “In Another Life”

  • August 27, 2025
View Article
  • Blues
  • Exclusive
  • Interviews
  • Mainstage
  • New Music
  • Rock

Inside Bones Owens’ new upcoming album 'Best Western' and his spot on Whiskey Myers’ acoustic tour [Interview]

  • August 27, 2025
View Article
  • Electronic
  • Electronic
  • Experimental
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • New Music

Sasha & The Bear make a subtle but powerful statement with “Humanly Small”

  • August 27, 2025
View Article
  • Electronic

Frankie Alpha shares adventurous electronic track "I’m All Over The Place Right Now"

  • August 25, 2025
View Article
  • Alt-Pop
  • Electro Pop
  • Electronic
  • Experimental
  • Mainstage

Selkie’s “Hours” is a deeply emotional sonic journey

  • August 25, 2025
The Wands Collective
View Article
  • Feature
  • Indie
  • Indie Pop
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

The Wands Collective break borders with debut album “Four Corner Circle”

  • August 25, 2025
Venice Bleach
View Article
  • Electronic
  • Indie
  • Mainstage
  • Pop

Electronic visionary Venice Bleach drops “First Born,” a journey from tape loops to dance floors

  • August 25, 2025
Popular Music
  • Bea Elmy Martin
    Bea Elmy Martin’s new single “Lost” captures the beauty of drifting
    • August 27, 2025
  • Bones Ate Arfa introspects on privilege on high-octane track "It’s All Good"
    • August 27, 2025
  • ANDRO shares intoxicating and bittersweet offering "Ghost"
    • August 27, 2025
  • Cybèle
    French-Chinese-American rising star Cybèle shares lush new single “In Another Life”
    • August 27, 2025
  • Joyce Manor
    Joyce Manor Enlist Brett Gurewitz on "All My Friends Are So Depressed"
    • August 27, 2025
Recent Scoops
  • Jay Tone is carving out his space with "Puzzles"
    • July 7, 2025
  • Matt Oakley is redefining country music with heart, soul and modernity
    • May 5, 2025
  • Texas’ Blacktop Mojo does rock music the way it should be done
    • April 29, 2025
  • Tha Rapper Haiti blends authentic style with musical passion
    • April 28, 2025
Community Voices
  • From Machismo To Mujeres: Women As The Face Of Reggaeton
    • July 14, 2022
  • Tyler the creator
    4 things I learned on the 'Call Me If You Get Lost' tour
    • March 31, 2022
  • 4 things every artist needs to think about in 2022
    • January 27, 2022
  • The TikTok Takeover of Hip-Hop
    • January 11, 2022

EARMILK EARMILK
  • Jobs
  • About EARMILK
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Submit Music
All Milk. No Duds.

Input your search keywords and press Enter.