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Listening Report – Pauline Oliveros with Goddard in the Dan Harpole

Cistern Pauline Oliveros performed her Composition with Goddard in the Dan Harpole Cistern in 2009. The hall itself was kept dark. Visitors had to use a ladder to get into the hall and use a flashlight to look through the room.

Oliveros and Goddard did not use any words or lyrics in their performance. Instead, they focused on vocal ranges and sounds in combination with the reverb that is created through the empty space that only contains pillars to keep the hall intact. Due to the reverb, the listener can not easily know how many performers are in the hall since it sounds like there are several people in different positions in the hall, producing different sounds. The sounds themselves are in harmony with each other, which gives the impression of a choir in churches or other religious institutions.

Apart from the vocal sounds, there were also sounds from different sources, that interrupt the harmony of the vocals. Giggling or sounds of objects that are being hit against the pillars of the Cistern disrupt the harmonious flow and make the performance seem more chaotic. Due to the disruptions and the echo that comes with them, the choir-like voices are drowned out by the noise.

The focus of the composition seems to be at the behavior of different sounds in the empty space of the Cistern. It can be noticed that the steady sound of a choir produced by humans seems to be weaker than the sounds that are created by object that have a direct impact with other objects such as pillars. This can be seen through the stronger echo that is produced. However, the impulsive sounds produced by humans, such as the giggles or changes in tone appeared to have stronger reverb and were therefore easier to be noticed by the listeners.

The strength of the reverb is also highly subjective and depends on the position of production and the position of the listener. If the sound is produced at the end of the hall while the listener is on the other end of the room, it is clear that the reverb will lose its’ strength on its way to the listener and therefore will be perceived as being weaker while the sounds that are produced with little distance to the receiver will be perceived as stronger, due to the short distance of travel for the echo.

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