Jun 17
BFM Podcast 37.5 – I Am Sitting In a Room
In this music podcast, Tony and Andrew chose to play only one song! The song is from Alvin Lucier and it is called “I Am Sitting in a Room”.
We suggest setting aside 40 minutes in a dimly lit environment to play this show. This is not really a “song”, it’s more of a musical ‘installation’ of sorts. You’ll want to be in a quiet environment so you can listen to the changes and eventual decay. It really is quite beautiful.
For those who might be against the thought of listening to the same thing over and over again, please be reminded that it doesn’t sound the same each time. (Besides, people listen to rap and techno amirite? hurr durr)
Perhaps a quote from John Cage will be of some inspiration:
If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.
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According to wikipedia:
I am sitting in a room (1969) is one of composer Alvin Lucier’s best known works, featuring Lucier recording himself narrating a text, and then playing the recording back into the room, re-recording it. The new recording is then played back and re-recorded, and this process is repeated. Since all rooms have characteristic resonance or formant frequencies (e.g. different between a large hall and a small room), the effect is that certain frequencies are emphasized as they resonate in the room, until eventually the words become unintelligible, replaced by the pure resonant harmonies and tones of the room itself. The recited text describes this process in action—it begins “I am sitting in a room, different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice,” and the rationale, concluding, “I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have,” referring to his own stuttering.
Lucier had also specified that a performance need not use his text and the performance may be recorded in any room. The composer himself has recorded the piece in at least one room he did not find aesthetically acceptable.
Also, here’s a video version of the same concept:
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