Scratch and mix: Sampling the human voice in the metaphorical phonograph

Abstract

This paper elucidates the practice by which composers and DJs use the turntable to 'scratch and mix' samples of recorded female voices, thereby reframing them into new contextual forms. The paper focuses on two pieces: 'Got 'Til It's Gone', a pop song by Janet Jackson and Q-Tip which samples and manipulates a fragment of Joni Mitchell's 'Big Yellow Taxi'; and Christian Marclay's turntable scratching on the voice of the late Maria Callas. The discussion is interpolated with a reading of Jean-Paul Sartre's novel La Nausee, for his literary embodiment of the recorded voice. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.