Skip to main content

William Basinski - D|P 3

 

William Basinski’s composition “D|P 3“ from the year 1958 is a 42-minute-long masterpiece. Basinki’s composition is a repetition of the same sound pattern over and over again. “D|P 3“ feels like an excerpt from a Debussy piece, stretched to infinity. Obviously, the sound itself is the main component. The sound itself and composition are very difficult to explain. When I listened to it for the first time, I was overwhelmed by my emotions and impressions. Basinki’s composition transfers you in such an intense calmness that your body kind of “disconnects“. My heartbeat and breathing felt like they accommodated the sound pattern. “D|P 3“ reminds me of some other masterpieces, in which the main component of the composition is sound itself. The soundtrack of the movie “Interstellar“ called “Cornfield Chase“ by Hans Zimmer puts me in the same calming and relaxing vibe as “D|P 3“. Furthermore, “D|P 3“ reminds me of a movie soundtrack. William Basinski’s composition pictures a slow process of death. It seem as if one is dying slowly ad this death does not seems to be scary or frightening, but peaceful. It gives the impression if the world goes down and life ends, still, calmness, harmony, and peace rule. This impression is supported by the cover of Basinski’s “D|P 3“, illustrating the building of a city from a certain distance in the sunset, covered by dark, black, and dusty fume. Half of the illustration of the building is covered by fume and half of the sky shows the peaceful and harmonious sunset.

Although “D|P 3“ follows the same sound pattern over and over again, I as a listener do not feel annoyed by the repetition, which seems to be caused by the moments of near silence.

From a personal point of view, I really enjoyed the listening experience of Basinski’s “D|P 3“. Generally, I am into movie compositions in which the sound itself is the key element. Certainly, each composition is a masterpiece in itself and cannot be compared to one another: “D|P 3“ is a lot different from “Cornfield Chase“, but the feelings, emotions, and impressions I got as a listener were both very calming, comforting and hypnotic. Both compositions, or generally spoken, compositions in which the sound itself is the key element, mesmerize the listener and capture the listener’s mind and soul. Overall, Basinski’s “D|P 3“ was my favorite composition and listening experience from the seminar, although each composition was a special experience on its own.

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

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

Pierre Schaeffer - Étude pathétique

  Pierre Schaefer begins the piece with sounds produced by drums and similar percussion instruments. One hears the sound of an object spinning and then coming to a stop. I assume it is a circular object, like a cymbal or hi-hat of a drum kit, that spins until it comes to a stop. Sounds of a locomotive follow, continuing with a mixture of drums and spinning objects as well as voices. There are slight parallels here with another piece by Schaeffer, "etude aux chemins de fer," in which he has the musical piece consist of sounds of trains and locomotives. I also recognize an accordion and a violin playing rapidly, accompanied by human sounds that are not really decipherable. By combining all these background sounds and using human voices, Schaeffer creates an exciting atmosphere while listening to the piece, and the listener's auditory senses are constantly challenged to decipher all the details of the sounds. At times one could be reminded of a scene from a scary movie, at l...
Post a Comment
Read more