Pendulum Music

"Pendulum Music (For Microphones, Amplifiers Speakers and Performers)"Reich, S. (1974). Pendulum Music. In "Writings About Music" (pp. 12–13). The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Co-published by: New York University Press). ISBN 0-919616-02-X] is the name of a work by Steve Reich, involving suspended microphones and speakers, creating phasing feedback tones. The piece was composed in August 1968 and revised in May 1973.

Reich came up with the concept while working at the University of Colorado. He was swinging a microphone in the style of the cowboy's lasso, and noting the produced feedback, he composed for an "orchestra" of microphones. [Steve Reich on "Pendulum Music"]

Three or more microphones are suspended above the speakers by means of a cable and stand. The microphones are pulled back, switched on, and released over the speaker, and gravity causes them to swing back and forth like pendulums. As the microphone nears the speaker, a feedback tone is created. The music created is then the result of the "process" of the swinging microphones.

"The piece is ended sometime shortly after all mikes have come to rest and are feeding back a continuous tone by performers pulling the power cords of the amplifiers". "If it's done right, it's kind of funny". [Reich on "Pendulum Music"]

Reich's 1974 book "Writings About Music" contains the hand-written (1973 revision) description of how to perform the piece.

"Writings About Music" contains a photo of a performance at the Whitney Museum of American Art on May 27 1969. The performers there were Richard Serra, James Tenney, Bruce Nauman and Michael Snow.

Notable recordings

Experimental rock group Sonic Youth recorded the piece for their 1999 album "". The Avant Garde Ensemble have recorded three different versions of "Pendulum Music".

Notes and references

* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/ohm/reich.html Steve Reich on "Pendulum Music"]