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Alvin Lucier – Sitting in a room

 

Alvin Lucier's 1969 composition "Sitting in a Room" is a significant piece of experimental music. A recording of Lucier's voice is played back and re-recorded in a room, creating a resonant feedback loop that gradually emphasizes the space's acoustic properties.

The recording begins with Lucier's speech explaining what he hopes to achieve with this activity. The first thing I notice, aside from Lucier's voice, is the hiss or crackle of the recording. I am also aware of his stuttering. On the second playback, the recording has a slight reverberation. On the third playback, the echo becomes more intense, as if he were speaking through a pipe or something similar. The crackle is still perceptible, and the irregularities in his pronunciation can still be heard. Each subsequent recording of his speech sounds increasingly tinny and muffled. After the fifth recording, his speech becomes increasingly slurred and the tinny sound becomes more pronounced. I almost don't notice the stuttering anymore, and in the following recordings the sound of his voice fades completely and is completely replaced by the tinny sound. The crackling becomes more intense, and it almost sounds like a campfire, if it weren't for the now annoying squeak of the re-recording. 

I didn't feel much listening to these recordings, except that the shrill and squealing sounds at the end bothered me so much that I stopped it before it became too painful for my ears.

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