Skip to main content

Listening Report- Lucier’s “Nothing is real project”

 

Alvin Lucier is not only a composer, but also a sort of scientist of sounds: almost all of his works have been influenced by science, in fact he loves to explore the physical properties of sound itself like resonance of spaces, phase interference between closely tuned pitches, and the transmission of sound through physical media. Unlike the other artists analyzed, who focus more on the nature of sounds and their artistic capabilities, Lucier plays with the sound, trying to understand which properties it has and what it can potentially and tangibly do.

His most famous experiment is without any doubt I am sitting in my room (1969), in which Lucier records himself narrating a text, and then plays the recording back into the room, re-recording it: the effect is that certain frequencies are gradually emphasized as they resonate in the room, until eventually the words become unintelligible, replaced by the pure resonant harmonies and tones of the room itself. Despite this, I found the experiment Nothing is real (1990) very interesting too, because it encapsulates the nature of performance in front of an audience, that cannot believe what is happening on stage.

At the beginning Lucier plays fragments of the famous Strawberry Fields Forever of the Beatles, which is contemporarily recorded. In the second part of the piece, the recording is played back from a small loudspeaker hidden inside a teapot. The sound of the playback is altered by different positions of the lid (e.g., open, closed, partially closed, partially open...) or by lifting the closed teapot off the piano. From time to time even “melodic lines” – as indicated in the score – are created by changing the distance of the lid to the teapot.

Lucier hides the technical details, and for the listener, the sounds coming from the teapot are somewhat ghostlike. Maybe because of this, the whole situation reminds us of the fairytale “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp”. I find Lucier’s work very interesting and It’s always amazing to listen to some good piano!

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