I am Sitting In a Room...

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...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 r-r-r-rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity nnnnnot so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to s-s-smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.

― alvinsimontheodore, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

x 32

― alvinsimontheodore, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

ummm. have fun.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Words and Music by Paul Morley

― Bumfluff, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't be so sure I'm not sitting in the same room as you. I'm mysterious and crafty as fuck.

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

When you go to play back your voice, I'm totally gonna slip in a copy of David Lee Roth's Skyscraper.

― martin m. (mushrush), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

i always thought the stutter was for rythmic effect or to give you something to hook onto but i heard an interview with him and it's genuine.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:32 (twenty-one years ago)

lol played ad nauseam on the cllg radio.

― thorJESUHOY (Thor), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:33 (twenty-one years ago)

what is that?

― peter smith (plsmith), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:34 (twenty-one years ago)

http://a.parsons.edu/~mateo/thesis/plates/fAlvin.jpg
(webcam image updates every hour on the hour.)

― alvinsimontheodore, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm ashamed to admit I called a (college) radio station to request this piece at least once.

I'm not really ashamed. It's pretty good, but not the sort of thing I think I'd come back to repeatedly, for obvious reasons.

― Rockist Scientist, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

isn't this alvin lucier? or was he "music on a long thin wire"? or both? maybe i am mixed up. the gathering's most memorable lyric hook says "i am sitting in a chair," for whatever that's worth...

― chuck, Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

yes alvin lucier. college radio? i find that incredible.

― jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:42 (twenty-one years ago)

played untold times on WKCR

― common_person (common_person), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:49 (twenty-one years ago)

has anyone heard the new surround recording yet?

― (Jon L), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

At my first encounter with it I thought it was one of the most fascinating pieces of music I'd ever heard. I still do, maybe. I listen to it about once a year.

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 23:29 (twenty-one years ago)

you can d/l get the first recording of it free from UBU

― jed_ (jed), Thursday, 22 July 2004 00:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I really liked his interview for the wire, especially the bit where he talks about how cage/tudor would tour anywhere, play shows and not sit around and wait for ppl to pick up on what they were doing.

It's a shame I missed the opportunity to see him live a few weeks ago.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 22 July 2004 09:54 (twenty-one years ago)

baw-rin

― Enrique (Enrique), Thursday, 22 July 2004 09:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Milton (or anybodee) have you picked up any wergo DVDs? I think I read a review of one a while back.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 22 July 2004 10:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Also used to begin Strictly Kev's Raiding the 20th Century mashup.

― Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Thursday, 22 July 2004 10:21 (twenty-one years ago)

i listened to all of this. once.
im not sure im douchey and new age enough to enjoy it.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Thursday, 22 July 2004 12:32 (twenty-one years ago)

what is so 'new age' about this?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Thursday, 22 July 2004 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I wanna know what douchey means.

― thorJESUHOY (Thor), Thursday, 22 July 2004 13:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to haze prospective girlfriends by slapping this one on in the morning.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 22 July 2004 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I wanna know what douchey means.

I want you to show me!

― Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Thursday, 22 July 2004 13:30 (twenty-one years ago)

thats abuse, dancer.
unless its supposed to be comic.
then thats brilliant.

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

ok, I'll write a program that crapfloods the board then!

― thorJESUHOY (Thor), Thursday, 22 July 2004 15:14 (twenty-one years ago)

embarrasing sibling anecdote:
didnt you toad'lly swoon when you saw orgy AND sugar ray playing together?

i cant imagine this going anywhere positive.

-- tom cleveland (guitar68...), June 21st, 2004.

― alvinsimontheodore, Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

so there goes the "not douchey enough" theory

― alvinsimontheodore, Thursday, 22 July 2004 16:07 (twenty-one years ago)

>wergo DVDs?

haven't picked up any yet. don't own DVD player, though I am slowly collecting DVDs I can't play. am idiot.

was very happy with the wire cover story for its own sake, even if almost all the quotes came from previous Lucier essays. the article led me to rediscover still lives, which didn't make a dent in me when it came out, but now it strikes me as the best of the sweeping sinewave + instrument pieces.

― (Jon L), Thursday, 22 July 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

i'd rather let my bruise blood come out to show them

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 22 July 2004 17:55 (twenty-one years ago)

come out to show them

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 22 July 2004 17:59 (twenty-one years ago)

come out to show them

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 22 July 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Will somebody explain why i i´m playing "Deeper" by Orbital in my mind right now?

― NUXX (NUXX), Thursday, 22 July 2004 19:06 (twenty-one years ago)

even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 22 July 2004 19:08 (twenty-one years ago)

three years pass...

ummm. have fun.

-- Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 21 July 2004 22:09 (3 years ago) Link

― ian, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:05 (eighteen years ago)

it's going to rain.

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

i am having fun! different from the fun you're having now. i s'ppose. but i'm not recording the sound of the fun i'm having. so I am not going to play it back into the room again and again either.

i did once interview alvin lucier though. in a much different room and speaking different words. and did record all that and played it back a few times in my kitchen later the same night. in the kitchen that is now basically the same kitchen it was then. though not quite.

― t**t, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:14 (eighteen years ago)

Is "Shut Up Little Man" in the same genre?

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:17 (eighteen years ago)

(i'm not that little!)

― t**t, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:20 (eighteen years ago)

You w w waste, you l l little man.

― ian, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:21 (eighteen years ago)

You have drank all the wine
You have drank all the vodka

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:23 (eighteen years ago)

EXTENDED VOICES, new pieces for chorus and for voices altered electronically by sound synthesizers and vocoder (Brandeis University Chamber Chorus; Alvin Lucier, director) In the series, "Music of Our Time," CBS Odyssey Records, 32 16 0155 (mono), 32 16 0156 (stereo), 1968.
—SOUND PATTERNS (P. Oliveros)
—NORTH AMERICAN TIME CAPSULE (1967) (A. Lucier), for voices and vocoder.
—SOLOS FOR VOICE 2 (J. Cage)
—SHE WAS A VISITOR (R. Ashley)
—EXTENDED VOICES (T. Ichyanagi)
—CHORUS AND INSTRUMENTS, II (M. Feldman)
—CHRISTIAN WOLFF IN CAMBRIDGE (M. Feldman)

Do multiple versions of this exist? I don't think my copy of the LP has the Oliveros and Lucier pieces on it, but I could just be misremembering or confusing two separate LPs.

― ian, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:25 (eighteen years ago)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ALVIN-LUCIER-SITTING-IN-A-ROOM-SAYING-THE-SAME-THING_W0QQitemZ350027443003QQihZ022QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

― ian, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 19:27 (eighteen years ago)

showandtell shreds

― sanskrit, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 21:18 (eighteen years ago)

There's two pressings of Extended Voices (CBS and Odyssey, I think) but both have the same tracks. The CBS pressing has Lucier's name HUGE on the cover, but everyone gets equal billing on the Odyssey press (which is the one I have.)

honestly I have not listened to it too much. Is it worth revisiting? I only have vague memories of what it sounds like.

― s. morris, Wednesday, 20 February 2008 22:51 (eighteen years ago)

one year passes...

i am sitting in a room fyi

― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:31 (sixteen years ago)

different from the one you are in now iirc

― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:32 (sixteen years ago)

I am recording the sound of my speaking voice btw

― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:32 (sixteen years ago)

http://www.bernhardgal.com/iamsHittinginaroom.html

― ambience chaser (S-), Sunday, 16 August 2009 12:59 (sixteen years ago)

gonna listen to this today. thanks for reminding me, ILx.

― ian, Sunday, 16 August 2009 15:10 (sixteen years ago)

ummm. have fun

― （　´_ゝ˙） (Dr. Phil), Sunday, 16 August 2009 16:13 (sixteen years ago)

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 fwiw

― jed_, Sunday, 16 August 2009 18:29 (sixteen years ago)

OMG so good. Thx ILM for reminding me to listen to this.

― Sundar, Sunday, 16 August 2009 18:41 (sixteen years ago)

tbh you need to be reminded from time to time

― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Sunday, 16 August 2009 18:45 (sixteen years ago)

I am Sitting In a Chatroom lol...

― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 16 August 2009 18:45 (sixteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo9Fx8WTJu0

― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･)　　　°~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta), Sunday, 16 August 2009 18:47 (sixteen years ago)

two years pass...

he's performing it for free at bang on a can fest in nyc this weekend

http://bangonacan.org/bang_on_a_can_marathon/schedule

― bene_gesserit, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 18:09 (thirteen years ago)

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