A Duet: Music Made with Nothing But Leaves and a Turntable

The notion of making real music with record players isn’t new: DJs and turntablists have been creating everything from original scores to jazz-like improvisations for nearly three decades. But musician and artist Diego Stocco has created a new twist: he doesn’t use the turntable to play and manipulate records, but to play with tree leaves.   

He says, “Recently I bought a turntable to use it for an experiment, but that didn’t turn out as I was expecting. Then, I noticed the equally spaced ridges on the plate and got an idea for something else. For about an hour I recorded short musical phrases by rubbing leaves against the turntable (the type of leaf, angle, pressure and fold determined the sound), then I combined the different takes together.” 

Sure, he used some EQ and effects to shape the sound, but wow. Watch the technique in the video below:

Diego Stocco – Duet for Leaves & Turntable from Diego Stocco on Vimeo. [via Sauna]