Skip to main content

Reich - It’s Gonna Rain

 

Reich’s composition “It’s Gonna Rain“ was in the first place composed differently. When Reich was walking around in a park in San Francisco with his tape recorder, he discovers a preacher laying it down about Noah and the flood. Hence, he decides to record this man with his tape recorder. The reason why “It’s Gonna Rain“ developed more or less accidentally is that Reich’s tape loops went out of synch in his studio, “exposing the sounds between the sounds, magical pulsations that he wasn’t looking for, sounds that set his ears on fire and put his mind in a trance-like state.“[1] Reich’s music would be called pulse, phase, beat, or pattern music.

The way I perceived “It’s Gonna Rain“ was as techno-like and full of rhythm composition. Reich’s composition sets me in the mood of standing up in the middle of the seminar and starting to rave, which would have been obviously inappropriate. Additionally, such kind of rhythm and music catch you in a way that you subconsciously start bobbing with the rhythm. Even though I am not the kind of person who is into techno-like music, Reich’s composition seems to be very fun and interesting. The sound that occurs between the chopped or full-length line of “It’s Gonna Rain“ somehow remembers me of Donald Duck’s quacking, which adds a funny effect to the composition.

During his composition of 8.03 minutes, the sound kind of follows the same pattern. His recording of “It’s Gonna Rain“ repeats multiple times, either in full length or interrupted and clipped in multiple different lengths. Furthermore, it seems as if the recording is played back again from different multiple distances, which causes the effect that “It’s Gonna Rain“ sounds differently. This means that Reich’s compositions somehow fade away.

What I also really like about Reich’s composition was his use of bilateral stimulation. This effect of fading away sounds is called “bilateral stimulation“, which has an impact on the brain’s neural networks. This stimulation calms the neural system. The most impact is perceived when closing your eyes and listening to the moving and fading sounds. Certainly, “It’s Gonna Rain“ does not have a calming impact on the listener, still, the effect of sounds fading away is very interesting and catches the listener.

Overall, I perceived Reich’s “It’s Gonna Rain“ as very fun, dance-like, motivating, and positive. I have to admit that I would not listen to it, when trying to learn or as an alarm sound, still, I really liked it and this experience was very joyful.


[1] Seminar Präsentation from the 11th of January, 2023 - Seminar: The Future of American Music

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

Pauline Oliveros – The Goddard in the Dan Harpole Cistern

  After watching Dan Harpole's film of Goddard in the Cistern, one is struck by how creepy the location appears and feels. In the light, you can just make out a lengthy ladder leading down into a concrete-walled area. It's absolutely dark, with only the top hatch and a small lamp providing lighting. This sequence accounts for a significant portion of the plot. Three persons are seen climbing up and down the ladder, which might be regarded the music piece's official start. Additionally, while the name "Dan Harpole Cistern" suggests a vast space, it appears to be a homemade video. A hum and other vocal noises travel across the room, bouncing off the walls. The women's voices generate a hum that contributes to the room's unique feel. The beautiful singing is interrupted by metal fragments falling on the floor. One would ask how much thought went into the sounds, given that the majority of them appear to be chosen at random. The emphasis is not on making sound...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Oswald – Plexure (Full Album)

  Jon Oswald was known for his Plunderphonics music pieces, where he created new pieces from already existing music recordings of famous artists and reworked them. Artists like Michael Jackson, who was also part of the cover on Plunderphonic, The Beatles, James Brown, Bing Crosby but also classical musicians like Beethoven and Bach were part of his pieces.   The first minute and a half of his album consists of a wild mix of R&B and hip-hop songs. They are single, very short sequences, about 2-3 seconds long, which were cut together. The first song was introduced with a sound that reminded me of Michael Jackson's Thriller. From minute five to about minute seven, the use of rock & roll music was recognizable. At the end, I recognized Madonna, Nirvana and again Michael Jackson, among others. Personally, I can hardly identify with this kind of music, because listening to the album, I felt the compilation was relatively arbitrary and not balanced with each other. I recogniz...
Post a Comment
Read more