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"I Am Sitting In A Room"
The online project "Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music" classifies minimalism as "music that rewards the listener for paying attention." And rightfully so. I think the definition is a little bland, but that's another discussion. Whether or not this piece is minimalism is also something up for debate. The process is simple enough and definitely requires paying attention, but the results are very complex. Anyway, I'm not going to wax philosophical for once. I'm going to describe it and link to it. Alvin Lucier sits in a room and recites the text "I am sitting in a room... (you can find the complete transcript on the wikipedia entry)." This recitation is recorded by a microphone placed in the room. Lucier then broadcasts his recording back into the room with the same microphone turned on and recording that signal. After successive repetitions you are less able to hear the text and more able to hear the room's natural standing frequencies resonating.
Listening to this piece today reminded me largely of the article I read yesterday by Metronomikon. In a sense this piece is very modular with clearly distinguished segments, but rather than containing modules of dramatic action this piece is a constantly developing complexity. The end result in the listener, or at least me, is not a traditional emotional response, but absolute wonderment. Enjoy.
http://ubu.artmob.ca/sound/source/Lucier-Alvin_Sitting.mp3
2 comments:
This piece really does have a magical quality to it, and the effect is totally unexpected. Lucier has been described as more of a downtown composer than a true minimalist, but I can see why you'd use that term to describe him: gradual processes culminating in aural epiphany. It is also modularly conceived, as you mention - there is literally no change in the fundamental sound material.
For another interesting study in overtones and resonance frequencies, check out the Silver Sessions by Sonic Youth. This recording was made in the 80s when the group put down their instruments in the studio then left. When they got back an hour later, they realized that they had been recording the whole time they were gone, and the sympathetic vibrations on the guitar strings produced a gradual escalation of sound, from timid murmuring to full out cacophony at the end. It was totally unintended but the effect is somewhat akin to "I Am Sitting In A Room."
You mean kinda like Beck's "Truck Drivin' Neighbors Downstairs," where Beck had to leave his apartment because his fighting neighbors were getting too loud for him to record, and when he came back some time later he had their entire trucker fight on tape, including the axe battle that lost one of them an arm. Well, not really.
Maybe I used minimalism incorrectly, but the piece uses one sound-source idea and has one approach to its development. At very least it's minimalist in its concept. And it has a similar listening requirement. Regardless, I like the approach. I personally prefer to do as little to my material as possible. If it didn't have good stand-alone qualities I probably wouldn't have selected it to compose with.
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