Skip to main content

William Basinski - Listening Report

 

William Basinski is an American avant-garde composer, clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist. One of his most known projects is “Disintegration Loops” which is a series of albums that consist of tape loop recordings. Tape loops are loops of repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns of sound played on a tape recorder. An example for that is “Disintegration Loops 2” by Basinski.

“Disintegration Loops 2” by William Basinski is a very comforting song in my eyes. While listening to it, I went through a process of self-reflection and concentration on myself.

The song makes me feel like entering a very deep and harmonious space because of its calmness and harmonious sounds. Even though there is not much variation in used instruments, speed, sounds, etc. the song does not get boring. Instead, I feel like the more I listen to it, the more I get involved.

“Disintegration Loops 2” is a perfect example on how to evoke different emotions. The song has some sense of darkness, isolation and depression while still creating comfort, warmth and inspiration. It is a mixture of so many different possible emotions. Therefore, the interpretation depends on the position of the listener.

Additionally, the song carries some kind of angelic character. I cannot clearly determine which instruments exactly are used but they create this kind of angelic,

 

majestic and heaven-like sound. Actually, this song is similar to my imagination on how entering heaven (if there is any) would sound like.

The repetitive rhythmic musical patterns are very minimalistic, yet very fascinating and captivating. I would even say they have some kind of hypnotic character because one can get lost in these repetitive patterns of musical sounds.

For me, this play is very fascinating because I cannot remember ever hearing anything like this. There are many songs with repetitive patterns and lyrics for example, but I have never heard a song that is so captivating while being very simple and minimalistic. Most of the time, I get really annoyed when not hearing much variation in music because I get easily bored. But this song is so easy to listen to and to follow

 

along the whole 40 minutes. I can imagine myself listening to the song while studying and reading, but also while running errands and taking a walk. “Disintegration Loops 2” has so many different levels of meaning and interpretation and therefore suits so many different situations. Usually, I listen to different genres for different situations but in my opinion, “Disintegration Loops 2” suits so many different situations.

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

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

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