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Lucier

 Alvin Lucier

Project 76 “Nothing is Real“

"Nothing is Real“ by Alvin Lucier is a rather pleasant piece to listen to, I would argue. The piano is an instrument that can hardly sound “bad“ in the first place. Additionally, the notes he plays are enjoyable for the ear. The piece in general is very slow as the notes are held very long and as there are many breaks in between a set of notes. I think for the western ear this is a piece which is easy to follow, easy to digest, and pleasant to listen to. It is comprehensible, there are no notes that sound “weird“ and no sounds that feel unnatural. It seems like a normal, easy to play piano piece.

            Yet, there comes the plot twist. The pianist stops playing at some point, closes the piano, and directs his attention towards a teapot. I asked myself then who’s playing now, as the music still continues. The pianist opens and closes the teapot by lifting and dropping the lid and I guess the idea is that the sound is captured in the teapot and is then released again. I personally, do not think that this does anything to the sound or changes the acoustics in any way, but maybe these are just my unprofessional ears.

            Lucier was all about deconstruction with this piece. He stretched out the notes and slowed them down by pressing the sustain paddle continuously. I guess he imagined sound to be of no limit. I would argue that with “Noting is real“ he showed that we are unconsciously limiting sound by playing it in a room (or keeping it in a teapot) and if we let it free, say by removing the roof of a concert hall, as Lucier once intended to do, we hear the most of it.

            I kind of like the idea Lucier displays with this piece. However, as I claim to know, music halls are architecturally constructed in a careful and very challenging way to get the most of the sound and to have the best acoustics. If one would remove the roof of such a concert hall, all sound would be lost, wouldn’t it? If one would play a piano outside in a field, I would guess that the volume and the completeness of a tone might get lost in a way and that our human ear would have trouble really hearing the complete piece; important elements would get lost and carried away by acts of nature such as wind or weather, right?

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