Now that Andrew has premeired my remix of "Toy Typewriter" in his radio show/podcast/dj mix, I can let the rest of you in on it. This is a completely unauthorized remix, where I use Raymond Scott's piece in it's entirety. 14 minutes of uncleared sample may be a new record. But anyway, my work on it is in the public domain, since no one can recover anything by suing me for something I never made any money from. You're free to use it however you like, with the proviso that in the unlikely event you use it commercially, you'll have to clear it with the estate of Raymond Scott. Scott himself has been dead for a while and beyond caring.
It started when I re-visited the "Soothing Sounds for Baby" series by Raymond Scott, and became fascinated with the song "Toy Typewriter," which comprised a single electro-mechanical drum loop tweaked through filters for 17 minutes. This was made in 1962, around the dawn of the minimalism movement in modern classical music, and reflected a sort of isolated, monomaniacal obsession of Scott's. Who in 1962, besides Scott, would dare to make a piece of music this unrelentingly minimal? Even more amazing, who would conceive of such a piece as proper listening for a baby? Given Scott's large and varied body of work, was this Scott's greatest mistake, or something spookily compelling? My idea for this track was that it follow a single rule: The original "Toy Typewriter" would play beginning to end, unmodified except for some subtle low cut EQ and adjusting the tempo upwards to 120 BPM. My additions comprise a bassline (from a Roland Juno 60), some minimalist percussion, and some additional sounds and rhythms produced live with the EMS Putney. It ends up being 14 minutes long, and while it effectively realizes what I set out to produce, I have no idea if it is compelling or mind-numbing. I leave it to others to judge. During production, I've heard the track for many hours, and I'm not tired of it yet, but I have no idea how it will affect anyone else. http://www.cornwarning.com/chaircrusher/RaymondScott-ToyTypewriter-ChaircrusherRmx.mp3
