Week 6 Listening

John Cage’s piece blends sound objects with a woman’s voice. The two aspects often move together in terms of energy and feeling, transitioning from unintelligible garble to more harmonious phrases. The singer seems to change languages according to the context as well. The noise permeating some of the recordings is reflected in the inflection and pacing of the singer’s voice.

“Gandy 3” departs from any relation to human-produced sound and employs solely synthesized instruments. The scratches and tones meander about a reoccurring drone. The inequitable panning of the instruments adds another dimension to the confusion brought on by the highly active, discordant instruments.

“Persepolis” seems to use synthesized sounds that more closely represent analogue instruments. They are still employed in an aimless contour of pitch without melodic or harmonic intention. They do sound like mechanical moaning which adds a haunting element to the piece.

“Guillotine” exhibits a consistent rhythmic pattern. It uses the rapper’s adlib as instruments which contrasts with the other pieces, which use synthesized instruments and recordings. The other elements of the piece reflect the action of the vocal component.

“Water Music II” creates a relaxing ambiance with its static tone that serves to anchor the active instruments to a harmonic context. The more mobile instruments have a lower level than the pedal point, allowing the listener to focus on the center. The instruments are rather homogeneous in timbre, letting the sounds of the piece blend and create a calming atmosphere.