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Inlets by John Cage

 

Reem Zedan 7711552

Prof. Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath

The Future of [American] Music

02 February 2022

 

Inlets by John Cage

John Cage’s music is without a doubt very experimental. An example of that is his piece “Inlets.” The piece consists of water movements that produce different sounds because of different positions. The listener hears drops of water at first and then water that is moving in an unknown container. I was also able to detect the sound of bubbles in there somewhere. Interestingly, a form of static noise is later added to the list of sounds and then a loud long horn-sounding tune can be heard. This tune marks the end of the piece.

Watching  “Inlets” being performed looked absolutely ridiculous. It was played by four men, who had shells that were filled with water. These men then proceeded in shaking the shells to create different sounds next to a couple of microphones. Again, a very bizarre way to create sound. Even though the movement did create a multitude of sounds, could they really be considered as music? I do not necessarily agree or disagree. My personal definition of music includes harmony, rhythm and a beat. “Inlets” on the other hand was more spontaneous than harmonic. It evidently supports more of a free-spirited approach than what I am used to.

Although I stated that this kind of music is not my cup of tea, I still can not disregard it as a piece of music. The definition of music varies from one person to another and music tastes, in general, are differently more subjective than objective. I personally am not able to imagine someone working out or sitting on a sofa while jamming to a mixture of water sounds, static noise and a shell horn. Yet, to rule that out as a possibility would be very ignorant of me as I have not met every person on this planet and I will never be able to.

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