Formen’s work is rooted in the idea of the studio as an instrument. Because he doesn’t use DAWs for creative purposes and instead pursues an analog approach, it has always been a challenge for him to adequately convey his musical ideas on stage; many past performances therefore concentrated on a single facet of his practice. A Pattern Language of Phasing Turntables is his attempt to present a broader spectrum of those ideas live.

Formen’s setup consists of three turntables, a handcrafted mixing console by Varia Instruments, and an old tape machine. The musical material is played through custom-made lathe cuts: Formen develops minimalist fragments in his studio and cuts them onto dubplates. During each performance, these fragments are recombined live, with differences in timing and pitch giving rise to new compositions that Formen explores ad hoc. The tape machine acts as an analog delay, weaving the patterns together and extending their interactions.

The project unites several creative practices: intricate sound design, turntablism as a performance practice, and lathe-cutting as a technical craft. Last but not least, the concept works with the human capability of pattern recognition: the shifting relationship between dubplates generates emergent patterns that each listener perceives differently.

A Pattern Language of Phasing Turntables premiered in Basel in fall 2025 as part of the exhibition übenübenüben — Darstellungsformen für die Gegenwart. Many thanks to everyone involved for the invitation, the trust, and the opportunity.