Alvin Lucier

"I try to compose as little as possible, but that means that I have to think about each piece a lot, to avoid any kind of pre-existing musical structures that would take away from the perception and focus of the sonic phenomenon in which I'm interested"

On a very still and beautiful morning we went down beside the lake to listen to a recietal of a piece by Lucier. It was held in the temple where about ten people stood round in a small semi circle. They then began humming into everyday objects such as pots, vases and cans. At first the situation seemed very strange but then after a while as the piece continued and the sounds filled the temple I became transfixed. When I stopped focusing on what was actually happening and listened it became a totally different experience. You could also hear examples of beat frequencies when sound from two of the resonant objects danced around similar frequencies. I thought it was brilliant and not what I had been expecting at all!

Lucier says this about his work with resonant objects:
"I think of the vases as small rooms, in which the sound of the cello gets trapped. We know that every room has a set of resonances, determined by its size and physical dimensions. It’s the same for a pot, where there is one strong resonance frequency. I think of the pots as resonant environments. The theatrical and visual aspect that goes with the piece, comes afterwards. Each player that plays the piece uses a different set of pots. So, there isn't only one visual image, it’s just sounds of the cello getting trapped in the pots, and each pot has its own resonant frequency."

So what else did Lucier get up to?

Well he was fascinated by sound, tone, resonance and the relationships between frequencies. He refered to sound as a sonic phenomenon and this is something that I quite often feel. Sound blows my mind and I would so love to have a deeper knowledge of the physics and maths behind it. Lucier set about conducting several experiments to highlight various qualities that we so often take for granted. We listened to one of these experiments in class "I am sitting in a room"

Alvin Lucier was interested in highlighting the resonant frequencies within the room he did the experiment in. He recorded himself reading a passage in the room, he then played it back into the room and re recorded that. He continued this process until "the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of (his) speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech."

Ah, sound is fascinating, I agree with you Lucier. Bellow is something that I have wanted to show on here for a while. I was shown this a few years ago and was given an explanation that left me more puzzled than before and I'm sure it included words such as frequency, standing waves, resonance but how it all fits together I'm not sure! Since then I have just decided to accept that its funky and I don't quite understand it! So maybe you lot can help me.......



Sources:
Interview with Lucier
Lucier's Website