Transcript I Am Sitting in a Room Alvin Lucier

I AM SITTING IN A ROOM
ALVIN LUCIER
Fenn Macon
ALVIN LUCIER
Born May 14, 1931
American composer of experimental music and sound installations.
Explores acoustic phenomena and auditory perception.
Influenced by science and the physical properties of sound itself.
Resonance of spaces, phase interference between closely tuned pitches,
transmission of sound through physical media.
I AM SITTING IN A ROOM
Made in 1969
Originally features Lucier recording himself saying a paragraph.
This recording is then played back and re-recorded.
This recording is then played back and re-recorded.
This recording is then played back and re-recorded.
This process is repeated for as long as necessary.
After awhile, the words lose character and start to take on the specific
resonant tones of the room itself.
Because all rooms have certain resonance frequencies, this would be different
in every room that it is recorded in.
THE TEXT
The text describes the process in action.
“I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording
the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room
again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce
themselves so that any semblance of my 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. 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.”
A performance doesn’t need to use his text and can be recorded in any room.
EXAMPLES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icruGcSsPp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jU9mJbJsQ8&feature=related