Nagoya Steve

[Jorge Blank <jorgepiaget@xxxxxxxxx>]

hi a few comments on Steve Reich

>The advertising (targeted at the youth market)
>describes him as "the
>godfather of sampling."
>I can't understand why anyone would say this.

yeah me either.  everybody knows King Tubby is the
godfather of sampling.  no but really, his most
innovative electronics work (in my opinion) is the
phase-pulse gate he went to the trouble to have
fabricated and then abandoned in favor of live
performers.  You can read about this in almost any
collection of his writing (I've seen it in all of
those that I've seen, as a writer he isn't too
prolific so most of those books have the same stuff). 
Its interesting to consider why he abandoned it (and
then to go listen to my friend spikes music at

http://www.noblerbees.com

anyway, it doesnt seem like Reich's sampling work was
either his best work, nor that he was a major
innovator in this realm (outside of the beautiful It's
Gonna Rain, Come Out and Violin Phase which could be
considered sampling sort of).  Looping yes. 
Sampling...?  of his works with a sampler may favorite
is Different Trains.  The Cave and a subsequent opera
I heard in SF where both basically the same device but
taken (for me) to a point of nausea.  Of course, I saw
the later (a portion of the new opera) the day after I
met him and it could have been his personality which
was still creating the nausea.  which brings me to:

>the Q & A if I go on the tuesday.

just don't actually ask him anything meaningful or he
will try and humilate you or get really huffy.  One of
the most famous composers ( and one of my favorite) in
the world and the guy acts like a big baby.

On a last note, I think both programs look incredible.
 Someone mentioned that they thought Nagoya Marimbas
might be a development of New York Counterpoint (the
wind piece right?).  I dont think that it is. Nagoya
Marimbas is like a four or five minute piece involving
interchanging rythmic cells than go by in phrases of
like two or four bars (never seen the score, I am
talking by ear) but it progresses really quickly. 
Maybe the material comes from NYCounterpoint but other
than that (and the fact that most of his work has
invovled these rythmic cells which interchange rests
and beats while slowly shifting the downbeat) I don't
really see the relation.

Just don't mention John Cage, and everything will
probably be okay.  Also don't get offended if he says
things like "I am not aware of any radical music
beiong made now" or "No, I didn't learn anything in
Africa.  Everything I needed to know about Africa I
learned from reading a book."  He said these things
and more in Berkeley like two years ago.  And he told
me that if I wanted to listen to John Cage I should go
home and listen to John Cage (I had asked a question
and had not mentioned John Cage at all).  Anyway, I'd
probably go home and listen to Steve Reich, except he
put me out to such and extent that I didnt really want
to.

Jorge

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com

------------------------------