Skip to main content

John Cage - Inlets

In the following, I will first describe and tell about the work „Inlets“ by John Cage (1977) and report on my impressions while listening to the work. 

In the work „Inlets“ by John Cage (1977) the players use amplified shells of different sizes that have been filled with water, producing gurgling sounds, as sounds to create a song. The player also poured water from one shell into another to create different sounds. A further sound effect the players use is sound of fire. Here, the player burns pine to produce such a sound. In addition to that, players breathe circularly into the microphone for an extra sound. 

John Cage is known for his interest in „contingency“, which he defined as „improvisating using elements in which there is a discontinuity between cause and effect“. Furthermore, Cage’s aspiration and inspiration for his musical pathway was indetermination, which meant that everything and each sound is unplanned and happens spontaneously. The special aspect of producing sounds by pouring water into different sizes of shells and moving them is that the players do not have any control over the produced sounds and neither of the sounds can be pre-produced in the same way. 

The main impression I got from listening to „Inlets“ was at first very rare, uncommon, unknown, and strange. At the same time, I felt a certain amount of calmness. However, I have to admit that John Cage’s music pieces sound completely strange and different, but I guess that it derives from his interpretation of music and sounds. This music is not the usual kind of music from nowadays that everyone knows. The usual kind of music does not only contain sounds but consists of singers, rappers, and melodic playing of instruments. In 1961, John Cage states that “[die] Musik, mit der ich mich beschäftige, muss nicht unbedingt Musik genannt werden. In ihr gibt es nichts, woran man sich erinnern soll. Keine Themen, nur Aktivität von Ton und Stille“ (John Cage, 1961, Silence. Lectures and Writings. Additionally, Cage emphasizes that the quality of certain sounds and noises is crucial for music. 

An additional aspect is the simplicity of the music video. The three players are filmed while they produce the different sounds of breathing, fire, and water. The setting of the video is very simple and is not a cod at all. Furthermore, the clothing of the players and the filming of the video was kept very plain and modest. 
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

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

Pierre Schaeffer - Étude pathétique

  Pierre Schaefer begins the piece with sounds produced by drums and similar percussion instruments. One hears the sound of an object spinning and then coming to a stop. I assume it is a circular object, like a cymbal or hi-hat of a drum kit, that spins until it comes to a stop. Sounds of a locomotive follow, continuing with a mixture of drums and spinning objects as well as voices. There are slight parallels here with another piece by Schaeffer, "etude aux chemins de fer," in which he has the musical piece consist of sounds of trains and locomotives. I also recognize an accordion and a violin playing rapidly, accompanied by human sounds that are not really decipherable. By combining all these background sounds and using human voices, Schaeffer creates an exciting atmosphere while listening to the piece, and the listener's auditory senses are constantly challenged to decipher all the details of the sounds. At times one could be reminded of a scene from a scary movie, at l...
Post a Comment
Read more