Skip to main content

Response to Reichs It_s Gonna Rain Future of American Music

 Future of American Music

Lecturer: Mr. Prof. Dr. Herzogenrath

Student: Ahmad Deyhimi 7167063

10 Hearing Responses for the Hausarbeit

Response to a piece of work by Steve Reich – “It’s Gonna Rain.”

Listening to "It's Gonna Rain" by Steve Reich for the first time evoked many different initial reactions within me. From the background that I come and my taste, the repetitive nature of the music does not suit me. Even though some listeners may find the repetitive nature of the composition to be hypnotic, meditative, and soothing, I find it somewhat monotonous, disorienting, irritating, and even overwhelming. In addition, the voice used is also jarring and unsettling. However, I can understand that for those familiar with the minimalist style of Reich and its techniques, "It's Gonna Rain" may be appreciated for its innovative use of tape loops, phase shifting, and found sounds. While listening to the composition intensely the first time, I noticed that it can create a hypnotic and trance-like effect but also a sense of boredom and repetitiveness. Furthermore, the repetitive, trance-like quality of the music somehow created a sense of impending doom or a feeling of being stuck in a cycle of destruction and renewal. Reich's experiment created a complex and ever-changing pattern of rhythm and sound, causing it to be a challenging composition that can elicit a range of reactions from listeners. Moreover, the use of found sounds and non-musical sources in "It's Gonna Rain" challenges traditional notions of what constitutes music and what does not, which can evoke curiosity and fascination. Still, for me, it caused more confusion and fear. Overall, I can state that the composition did provoke a range of mixed reactions in me, like fear and anxiety, but that did not stop me from recognizing the piece as a complex and multi-layered work. All in all, Reich's "It's Gonna Rain" is a significant piece of music that explores repetition and rhythm and may also be interpreted in a political or social context.
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