9 upvotes, 0 direct replies (showing 0)
View submission: John Cage 4’33
I used to do loudspeaker design and testing and part of that was to set up speakers in a large anechoic chamber at the NRC in Ottawa. You can definitely hear your body. Wouldn’t call it a “hum” and “high pitched noise” exactly, although with my mild tinnitus I’d hear that now for sure — about three frequencies at all times. What I heard in there was a repeated “whoosh” which was the blood flowing in my arteries with each heartbeat, and I could hear the slightly rough crunching of my shoulder and neck joints as they rotated to lift and place the speaker. I mean, if I pay close attention I can hear those things right now, it’s just that other ambient sounds — the compressor on my fridge, the fan noise from my air purifier — are louder.
When I did film sound, it was a revelation how much noise we ignore and filter out that is then impossible to get rid of in the sync sound.
So what Cage was pointing out was all the other sounds that we live with that happen both in spite of the formality of the concert event, or even because of it: shuffling of the program, clearing of throats, the involuntary sounds of people being slightly confused… Definitely a worthwhile exercise, to try to listen to what’s happening *in between* what is ostensibly happening.
There's nothing here!