Skip to main content

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.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure

 Sarah Kumar Dr. Bernd Herzogenrath The Future of (American) Music 06 Mar. 2023 Listening Report on John Oswald: Plexure According to John Oswald, “[a] plunderphone is a recognizable sonic quote, using the actual sound of something familiar which has already been recorded” (Lecture Slides 18). However, only if the source stays recognizable can it be called plunderphonics. In his album Plexure , several songs are played back and mixed together, thus creating a new sound. This is interesting because while the excerpts of songs that are used are recognizable or at least sound familiar to some degree, played backwards and mashed up as they are in Plexure , they create a new sound. Like on the cover of the album, on which a collage making up a man can be seen, the mixing of different songs played backwards gives a new feeling to something known. The way the songs are mixed makes them unintelligible. The meaning of the words of the original recordings are not able to be compr...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Cage – Inlets

  This does not sound like music to me. Depending on the interpretation of different players or performers, this piece will always sound different. In this case, it sounds to me like someone is walking through a cave with water at the bottom, dragging their feet through it. Sometimes it sounds like water in a toilet bowl, especially when we hear the water in a bigger shell being swished around. These sounds are relaxing in the background, it is like a gentle stream of water. I just wonder what went through the head of the composer while writing this piece. But I guess he had some experimental ideas that are interesting to try out. Those shells are quite pretty, I have never seen such big ones that are not broken. I was surprised when something else happened towards the end of the piece. That tone which came out of the one shell was so clear, it sounded like a trumpet. I didn’t know that shells can sound like that. It was quite beautiful. It was a nice way to end the piece. I di...
Post a Comment
Read more

William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops III

  The Disintegration Loops is a quartet of albums published in 2002 and 2003 by American avant-garde composer William Basinski. The pieces are made up of tape loop recordings that were played over time, with noise and crackles rising as the tape deteriorated. Basinski noticed this effect when attempting to convert his older recordings to digital format. The completion of the recordings coincided with the September 11, 2001 events, which Basinski witnessed and adds a deeper meaning to the composition. The composition is fascinating in many ways and makes the listener lose track of time. The tape loop recording had a very calming effect on me and put me in a trance-like state when I listened to it in its entirety. The tape loop is really soothing, so much so that I didn't even notice the loss of quality when I first listened to it. It makes you forget about time and allows you to really get into the piece capturing the calmness it exudes. You forget or don't really notice how i...
Post a Comment
Read more