Alvin Lucier - Music On A Long Thin Wire

In his own words (1992): "Music on a Long Thin Wire is constructed as follows: the wire is extended across a large room, clamped to tables at both ends. The ends of the wire are connected to the loudspeaker terminals of a power amplifier placed under one of the tables. A sine wave oscillator is connected to the amplifier. A magnet straddles the wire at one end. Wooden bridges are inserted under the wire at both ends to which contact microphones are imbedded, routed to the stereo sound system. The microphones pick up the vibrations that the wire imparts to the bridges and are sent through the playback system. By varying the frequency and loudness of the oscillator, a rich variety of slides, frequency shifts, audible beats and other sonic phenomena may be produced."

However, Lucier admits a long thin wire is only used to impress, a short thin wire would have worked as well if not better, and he discovered that the best way to produce variation in the sonic phenomena was to pick a setting and leave the setup alone. He praised David Rosenboom for his ability to pick interesting settings. -Wikipedia

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Experimental
• Music

[IgorSavtchenko]

This is my favorite work/album by Alvin Lucier. "I am sitting in the room" is second. "Still and Moving Lines of Silences" is third. "Crossings" is great, too. These works are so worth having on CD with the liner notes, etc. Thanks for posting! Maybe more people will be compelled to learn more. By the way, I think that this is the third track from the CD. My favorite.

[Asymmatrix]

@IgorSavtchenko Cool :)

[Davesax1965]

Wanted to hear this since I heard about it in Omni magazine in the early 80's. Thanks !!!!!!

[Asymmatrix]

:-)

[Mnlsnk]

This is awesome =)

[Asymmatrix]

Glad you like it

[germaniclaketroll]

does he still teach at wesleyan? it would be so nuts to take a class from him.

[LAGOZY]

i created something simillar /watch?v=CswKsIrN8Tg

[TomBandfield]

Stunning. Otherworldly ♥

[NevinJarek]

It has always been an infinity of abstractness, more than Picasso and Braque. But if I had to say that there's a 'reality' in music, the most fundamental objective realist blocks of its prime matter, it must be what Lucier is doing here, music with the sound phenomena. This is to music like a color to Doesburg's paintings. And music has always been like Doesburg's but based on affective processes, not mathematical ones. Am I losing my time here or did I nailed it??

[NevinJarek]

Lucier's music is very fundamental, physically, like staring into colors. When I think of how some people dared calling Schoenberg and Debussy expressionists and impressionists, I always think of how the musical language was never forged in reflection to an objective realm, like a painting of Picasso can be forged in reflection of a woman. Absolute music alludes to no objective element, it doesn't transfigure a 'reality'. Diatonic functionality was never a reality, it has always been abstract.

[NtRpsz]

@germaniclaketroll Yeah he does, and I'm in the class. It's amazing.

[IgorSavtchenko]

This is my favorite work/album by Alvin Lucier. "I am sitting in the room" is second. "Still and Moving Lines of Silences" is third. "Crossings" is great, too. These works are so worth having on CD with the liner notes, etc. Thanks for posting. Maybe more people will be compelled to learn more.