A Pattern Language of Phasing Turntables is Formen’s current live project. Rooted in his interest in dubplate cutting, experimental music, and performance art, the project centres on an analogue setup: three turntables, a mixing console, and a tape machine.

The musical material for each performance consists of self-made lathe cuts that Formen prepares in his studio. He develops minimalist musical fragments or works with stems from collaborators, cutting these ideas onto dubplates. During performance, the dubplates are recombined live; minute differences in timing, pitch and frequency generate new, improvised compositions that Formen explores ad hoc through subtle manipulations within the setup. The tape machine functions as an analogue delay, weaving fragments together and extending their interactions.

Formen’s work is founded on the idea of the studio as instrument. Because he works entirely in analogue, conveying the full range of his practice on stage has long been a challenge; earlier performances often focused on a single facet. A Pattern Language of Phasing Turntables represents his attempt to present a broader spectrum of his music in a single live format. The project brings together experimental sound design, turntablism as performance practice, and lathe-cutting as technical craft.

Conceptually, the project draws on the human tendency to find patterns in randomness: the dubplates are neither locked nor synced but combined at arbitrary points, moving freely and producing emergent patterns that each listener perceives differently. The musical outcome therefore depends strongly on the curation of the dubplates and the compositional choices made during the performance.

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