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Alvin Lucier - I am sitting in a Room

 

In the song “I am sitting in a Room“ by Alvin Lucier a male voice is speaking to the listener in which the speaker constantly repeats the following sentence: “I am sitting in a room, different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.“ Alvin Lucier pretends in his recording to speak to the listener directly as if he and the listener are physically in the same room.

The piece shows Lucier recording himself while narrating the text, playing the recorded piece back, re-recording it, and constantly repeating this progress. Lucier’s song is 15 minutes and 24 seconds long. In the first five to six minutes, it is quite easy to understand and follow the speech. The more the song proceeds, the vaguer and fuzzier the speech becomes and the listener cannot understand the sentences anymore. These difficulties to understand the speech during the song is additionally caused by Lucier’s stutter. In this regard, my impression is that from the middle of the recording on, the stutter of Lucier’s voice is no longer recognizable to the listener anymore. Additionally, it seems as if Alvin Lucier develops into security and safety regarding his speech and stutter. The more often he repeats the sentences, the less he stutters. Furthermore, the “I am sitting in a Room“ illustrates after the tenth minute an interplay of strident tones, that may be described as unpleasant and unbearable.

From my point of view, it seems as if Lucier tries to battle his insecurities regarding his stutter. He is aware of his stutter since he sarcastically says „ … but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.“ He plays the recorded piece back, re-records it, and constantly records this progress so that his speech dissolves in “alien-like“ and strident tones. Generally, “I am sitting in my room“ is an uncommon song that does not correspond to the overall taste of society, since it gets out of line. For me, Lucier’s song causes feelings of discomfort and stress. The more the song continues and comes to an end, the more these feelings strengthen. These negative feelings arise from the inharmonious tones and sounds of the song. Each tone, even the way Lucier speaks, is rather deep than high on a scale, creating the impression of sadness, discomfort, and escape.

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