Jack Jack’s no-input
Published December, 2013
by Easterndaze
The unpredictability of the ‘no-input’ technique is one of the most intriguing things that you can come across when playing with your mixing board. And the worse the mixing desk, the better the feedback that your ‘instrument’ can produce. It is an enjoyable and affordable way to expand your sound arsenal when producing music.
And this is the area in which the Czechoslovak noise duo Jack Jack operates, their output is purely based on the no-input technique. Therefore, their release is based on improvisation and soundclashing of two mixing boards; noisers all-time favorite Behringer brand (crap, but feedbacks coming out of this thing are just amazing) versus the more decent Soundcraft offering some extra features like echo or flanger. When twisting EQ knobs and messing around with built-in effects a miracle happens: beeps, massive harsh noise soundwaves, chaotic scratchy sounds and even really raw and primitive melodies can be found. And it works pretty well in hands of the Jack Jack members. They have been already doing this for a couple of years and what you hear here, is a surprisingly rich selection of noisy variations. If you listen to the release carefully, you will be able to recognize the sounds of the mixing boards quite easily. The way Jack Jack react to each other is really organized in its own chaotic way and there is a real passion in what they do. And they don’t hesitate to try scruffy ambiences, massive walls of sound or really silly and primitive tunes, or well-timed silence.
I felt bit cheated when I hear the sound of the drum machine in one of the tracks, as Jack Jack claim that they are no-input purists (at least I think that I hear it, cannot imagine that you can produce such stable sound when feedbacking, if I’m wrong then I’d like to offer my deepest apologies). But in the end, track D is an awesome noise techno jam swimming through bursts of harshness and screwed flanger which can be easily compared to the likes of Metasplice or Container, but still with its own, unique sound because of the cheap sounding noise that mixing boards produce. Also, it’s a bit of a shame for the fans that the release was put out only in two pieces (the jams were recorded straight to the vinyl), but if you are a true noise afficionados you can purchase a 10 edition of blank vinyls into which you can carve your own noises. All this encapsulated in the true spirit of D.I.Y. I want more of this stuff, please!
by B.Arctor