A composer wrote a three-hour piano piece using just one note(nytimes.com)
nytimes.com
A composer wrote a three-hour piano piece using just one note
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/16/arts/music/listen-to-three-hours-of-music-from-a-single-note.html
55 comments
I wouldn't really call that Arvo Part piece especially "minimalist".
It's sparse and tonal. And it's quite long. But I would say it's less deserving of the description "minimalist" than say Philip Glass in his earlier style: (anything prior to Satyagraha where he changed a fair bit) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2H1Ipr9FA or Steve Reich (most stuff before maybe Desert Music) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P_9hDzG1i0 - which I'm guessing is not the kind of thing you're after.
I do really like most Arvo Part. You'd probably also like John Tavener (not Taverner who was someone else entirely) and Gorecki. Those three often get lumped in together. From there I discovered Alan Hovhaness who is a kind of precursor - much less minimalist again but the music comes from a similar place.
It's sparse and tonal. And it's quite long. But I would say it's less deserving of the description "minimalist" than say Philip Glass in his earlier style: (anything prior to Satyagraha where he changed a fair bit) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ2H1Ipr9FA or Steve Reich (most stuff before maybe Desert Music) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P_9hDzG1i0 - which I'm guessing is not the kind of thing you're after.
I do really like most Arvo Part. You'd probably also like John Tavener (not Taverner who was someone else entirely) and Gorecki. Those three often get lumped in together. From there I discovered Alan Hovhaness who is a kind of precursor - much less minimalist again but the music comes from a similar place.
Sure, here's a few I quite like:
Nils Frahm, Phillip Glass, Peter Broderick, Ólafur Arnalds, Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran
A few highlighted tracks:
"Eyes Closed and Travelling" — Peter Broderick
"20:17" — Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm
"Opus 20" — Dustin O'Halloran
"Improvisation for Coughs and a Cell Phone" — Nils Frahm
Nils Frahm, Phillip Glass, Peter Broderick, Ólafur Arnalds, Alva Noto + Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dustin O'Halloran
A few highlighted tracks:
"Eyes Closed and Travelling" — Peter Broderick
"20:17" — Ólafur Arnalds and Nils Frahm
"Opus 20" — Dustin O'Halloran
"Improvisation for Coughs and a Cell Phone" — Nils Frahm
yeah, I was doing yesterday more research into this, end up downloading Light & Motion which sounds best from what I heard, not that minimalistic but nice optimistic and Tony Anderson was also pretty good
I will check few of those I haven't heard, thank you
I will check few of those I haven't heard, thank you
It's a different kind of minimalism, but I've found Philip Glass' Akhnaten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAiv-LU82t4) and Piano Etudes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pe7Lelts8g&list=PLVyiUXw5ED...) to be excellent background listening.
I am familiar with Glass, was listening him already like 10-15 years ago, but it's not really minimalistic as I would like to find
btw. that 1st link you posted is pretty much opposite of minimalism, very complex
btw. that 1st link you posted is pretty much opposite of minimalism, very complex
Entirely different yet very much the same: if you're into it, I also recommend some decent minimal techno.
Example: Phobos EP by Näköradiomies [1], especially the first track. The genre reminds me particularly much of Steve Reich, who after all uses human musicians like they're tracks in Ableton Live. Pärt isn't too far off either.
[1] http://catnappers.net/nakoradiomies-phobos-ep.html (free, legal download)
Example: Phobos EP by Näköradiomies [1], especially the first track. The genre reminds me particularly much of Steve Reich, who after all uses human musicians like they're tracks in Ableton Live. Pärt isn't too far off either.
[1] http://catnappers.net/nakoradiomies-phobos-ep.html (free, legal download)
Looking for a Peano joke here.
If you'd like to explore the ideas further:
Carter's 8 etudes and a fantasy's 7th etude is just the note G (1949) and Ligeti's Musica ricercata's (1951-3) first movement almost only A (the entire work explores having a limited number of notes).
In terms of playing with harmonics, the spectralists (starting with Grisey and Murail in the 1970s) originated the idea formally whilst it is informally explored by many minimalists (the most relevant to this article's piece would be Terry Riley's In C, 1964).
In terms of mammoth piano works, seek out Sorabji's Opus clavicembalisticum (1930, 4 hours) by John Ogdon.
Carter's 8 etudes and a fantasy's 7th etude is just the note G (1949) and Ligeti's Musica ricercata's (1951-3) first movement almost only A (the entire work explores having a limited number of notes).
In terms of playing with harmonics, the spectralists (starting with Grisey and Murail in the 1970s) originated the idea formally whilst it is informally explored by many minimalists (the most relevant to this article's piece would be Terry Riley's In C, 1964).
In terms of mammoth piano works, seek out Sorabji's Opus clavicembalisticum (1930, 4 hours) by John Ogdon.
>> Ligeti's Musica ricercata's (1951-3) first movement almost only A (the entire work explores having a limited number of notes).
Just to clarify regarding Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, each successive movement incorporates a new interval. First movement only deals with unisons (and octaves), the 2nd movement adds minor 2nds, and so forth.
Just to clarify regarding Ligeti's Musica Ricercata, each successive movement incorporates a new interval. First movement only deals with unisons (and octaves), the 2nd movement adds minor 2nds, and so forth.
Also worth mentioning Terre Thaemlitz, who wrote a nearly 30 hour piece with two chords.
"The resulting MP3 file is an edit of a 31+ hour piano solo recorded in sittings averaging 4 to 6 hours in length. The theme is "Meditation on Wage Labor and the Death of the Album.""
You can listen to an excerpt here: http://www.comatonse.com/writings/2012_soulnessless.html#c5
And here's the sheet music: http://i.imgur.com/DoD1Ew4.jpg
"The resulting MP3 file is an edit of a 31+ hour piano solo recorded in sittings averaging 4 to 6 hours in length. The theme is "Meditation on Wage Labor and the Death of the Album.""
You can listen to an excerpt here: http://www.comatonse.com/writings/2012_soulnessless.html#c5
And here's the sheet music: http://i.imgur.com/DoD1Ew4.jpg
All sound samples on the page start playing at once when visiting it. A bit disconcerting but I guess that counts as involuntary experimental music in itself.
It's quite pleasant and I can imagine listening to this for pleasure occasionally.
Equate it with a piece for untuned percussion and then maybe it's not quite so unusual. The first sections of Steve Reich's Drumming are pitchless and very listenable. It's composing purely with rhythm.
Equate it with a piece for untuned percussion and then maybe it's not quite so unusual. The first sections of Steve Reich's Drumming are pitchless and very listenable. It's composing purely with rhythm.
So, there are two sides to every story and maybe the truth is somewhere in the middle. What follows is just a counterpoint to your experience:
I put the piece on and after realizing it is quite suited to background music I switched tasks and did something else, intending to have it on in the background.
For me it failed this usage, because despite my initial impression I had to stop it after a few minutes. I rarely have to do that with any music I put on in the background - so it's not like I have high standards.
On a different note: when I read the title I imagined it being a percussive use of the note, like drums, with a repetitive techno-like approach - so I thought it would be quite easy to fill three hours with just the one note.
The part I listened to had no such percussive beat either. So within the constraints of the I suspect someone else might take a wildly different and end up with something in some sense better. I know, I know, "everyone's a critic..."
I put the piece on and after realizing it is quite suited to background music I switched tasks and did something else, intending to have it on in the background.
For me it failed this usage, because despite my initial impression I had to stop it after a few minutes. I rarely have to do that with any music I put on in the background - so it's not like I have high standards.
On a different note: when I read the title I imagined it being a percussive use of the note, like drums, with a repetitive techno-like approach - so I thought it would be quite easy to fill three hours with just the one note.
The part I listened to had no such percussive beat either. So within the constraints of the I suspect someone else might take a wildly different and end up with something in some sense better. I know, I know, "everyone's a critic..."
see also: lots of techno music
It turns out it's really 7 notes, not one. If you're not already good at identifying tones, there no one-ness about it at all.
Yeah, It's a single pitch class if you want to be pedantic.
As regards to one-ness, I'd be curious to know what proportion of people don't hear the relationship. Cause I guess I'd call not hearing octaves on a piano something like tone deaf, but maybe it's more learned and less innate than I think.
As regards to one-ness, I'd be curious to know what proportion of people don't hear the relationship. Cause I guess I'd call not hearing octaves on a piano something like tone deaf, but maybe it's more learned and less innate than I think.
There's some evidence that perception of consonance and dissonance is innate:
http://www.brainmusic.org/MBB91%20Webpage/Evolution_Zentner....
Restricting your notes to octave intervals makes dissonance impossible, assuming you're using timbres made with vibrating strings or columns of air, or simulations of them.
http://www.brainmusic.org/MBB91%20Webpage/Evolution_Zentner....
Restricting your notes to octave intervals makes dissonance impossible, assuming you're using timbres made with vibrating strings or columns of air, or simulations of them.
Yeah, this is pure semantics.
We attached certain names to certain frequencies in western culture and made rules about 'proper music'. It is quite fascinating how culturally influenced we are on what is beautiful sound. Other cultures will have different frequencies and composition rules they consider good or artistic. Seven different D notes is how you say 7 unique frequencies, not one.
We attached certain names to certain frequencies in western culture and made rules about 'proper music'. It is quite fascinating how culturally influenced we are on what is beautiful sound. Other cultures will have different frequencies and composition rules they consider good or artistic. Seven different D notes is how you say 7 unique frequencies, not one.
It's how you say 7 unique frequencies with a specific mathematical relationship between each other. You can ignore the names of the notes, and it's still interesting, considered in those terms.
Can you point me to a culture whose music doesn't acknowledge octaves? It sounds interesting.
Sorry, inherently hard to find again again on google, so no links, but I remember 2 different studies, one in Central- or Eastern Africa and another in the Amazon rain forest: People who where never exposed to harmonic music don't have an innate preference for harmonies over disharmonies. IIRC they preferred whatever was closest to what they knew, which was interpreted as a clue that music perception is heavily influenced by the expectations of the listeners.
China I think.
Why was this downvoted? I was right. Traditional Chinese music is in pentatonic scale.
Chinese pentatonic scale is just a subset of major heptatonic scale used in western music.
I'm no expert on Chinese music, but every Chinese scale I'm aware of is still based on the harmonic series and still observes octave equivalence.
Along the same lines, "Four Violins": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY9RTSXki8E
IIRC, this stuff influenced the Velvet Underground.
IIRC, this stuff influenced the Velvet Underground.
If you play "Four Violins" alongside Four Pillars you get quite a pleasing result.
For a great, down-to-earth discussion on another great minimalist piece, check-out this great episode of Classical Classroom where they discuss Steve Reich's "Piano Phase"[0].
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-iIHUBpYTc
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-iIHUBpYTc
Here's a great visualization of the piece that helps you see the structure: http://www.pianophase.com/
It's really funny if you leave that tab and then come back. Probably some wackiness with Chrome's new disabling of background CPU usage.
Christ. Grind out two drably mediocre bits of three-chord moon-June-soon pop for no greater purpose than to fill out an album, and they will be better than that piece.
It truly does sound horrid. Not sure why it's noteworthy.
> Let's only use a single note.
> But it might sound terrible.
> Let's do it anyway.
> Let's only use a single note.
> But it might sound terrible.
> Let's do it anyway.
> noteworthy
Even the author thought it wasn't notesworthy. 490
Even the author thought it wasn't notesworthy. 490
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Not if they are sung by Katy Perry!
yes, you said in a few words what I hemmed and hawed at.
That's odd. I heard my four year old playing this piece just the other day.
Yeah I'm pretty sure I composed this same piece like 30 years ago.
Edit: the real art is being able to get published in the NY Times with this boring music.
Edit: the real art is being able to get published in the NY Times with this boring music.
I listened for 4 minutes and it sounded like the same note for 4 minutes.
One note? So indulgent. How about zero notes?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
Bandcamp page with the music: http://recordings.irritablehedgehog.com/album/randy-gibson-t...
In college orchestration class we were required to write a piece using one note (octaves like this piece) for whatever instruments we had in the class, which in this case were three string basses and a violin. It really does require a lot of thought process with such sparse harmony.
It sounds like a recording of a piano tuning.
Along with the other contemporary examples, here's another one, though from a completely different genre: Spastic Ink's "See, and It's Sharp!" (1994) consists of only C and C# notes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY11_tgAhQs
Atrocious title.
Pulse Width Modification
Meanwhile, at the shallow end of the meme pool, this entry from the baffling but, to me, fascinating microgenre of "'All Star' by Smash Mouth but", in which case the entire song is in one note:
https://soundcloud.com/vagidictoris/all-star-by-smash-mouth-...
The thing that surprised me is how much it sounds like 'real' music, like this could have been an entirely deliberate and valid choice by a composer. It has a sort of surly, menacing urgency to it that i'm sure i've heard in some kind of rock/metal music, although i can't think of any examples.
https://soundcloud.com/vagidictoris/all-star-by-smash-mouth-...
The thing that surprised me is how much it sounds like 'real' music, like this could have been an entirely deliberate and valid choice by a composer. It has a sort of surly, menacing urgency to it that i'm sure i've heard in some kind of rock/metal music, although i can't think of any examples.
Can anyone recommend something else minimalistic and so beautiful? I am fan of instrumental music but it is really difficult to find something really minimalistic, for instance Max Richter is great (Perfect Sense score for instance) but far from minimalism.
EDIT: seem Olafur Arnalds is relatively minimalistic, Tony Anderson not so much but very nice