I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have. I am sitting in a room; different from the one you are in now. I am typing about the experimental audio clip brought to us by Alvin Lucier. I am going to continue writing until I reinforce your understanding of what Lucier wishes to achieve in his work. What you will read is not so much a demonstration of fact and knowledge but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities your mind might have while appreciating I am Sitting in a Room.
Alvin Lucier was born and raised in New Hampshire, where he studied at such schools as Yale and Brandeis Universities. While he was always fascinated with sound and composition it wasn’t until he met fellow composers Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland that he began experimenting with audio and frequencies. In 1960 Lucier was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed him to travel and study abroad in Rome. While there he was able to witness performances by John Cage, Merce Cunningham, and David Tudor to name a few (Scholnick).
Impressed by their ability to find innovative alternatives to the classical theories taught in music, Lucier became compelled to forge his own path in the world of audio. While still in Rome Lucier was given a composition assignment, Vespers, on the classical Monteverdi piece. In it Monteverdi uses instrumental music to create and form simulated echoes that ripple across time. It was at this time that Lucier realized echoes were something more, and that they could be considered instruments and creations within themselves (Moore). Such works as Elegy for Albert Anastasia and Music for Solo Performer were some of Lucier’s first amplified electromagnetic and echolocation recordings. Work such as this continued into and past one of his most notable works to date: I am Sitting in a Room.
I am Sitting in a Room can be played as both a single, independent audio recording, or alongside the Polaroid Image Series of a Room; created as a complimentary piece by Alvin’s wife Mary Lucier. Both follow the same effect of distortion through copies in their respective art mediums. The Lucier family focused on space and frequency relativity throughout a single room or environment. The audio portion consists of an intimate recording of Lucier himself speaking to the listener about what is intended and expected for the project. The gritty microphone audio is then once again played back within a room and re-recorded (Burns). Recording after recording the audio is copied and spread throughout the space until it becomes unrecognizable.
Since all rooms have their own characteristics and formant frequencies Lucier set out to record something that expressed and emphasized each areas tone in regards to sound. His recording, which is repeated 32 times over 40 minutes, shifts from distinct language to a level of harmony within a specific space. The recited text begins to stretch and echo until it resonates throughout the room and off of objects. Much like bats use different frequencies bouncing sound from objects to see, Lucier has created his own form of echolocation to get a sense of the room he is speaking in.
The exploration of sound and linguistics throughout a room takes the listener from an intimate space to something with a sense of great distance and isolation. Lucier’s voice goes from a clear interpretation speaking to you and turns into something that resembles a satellite orbiting in space; an interesting turn and aspect since Lucier is exploring an area much more familiar to a listener than the universe. The contrast and comparisons drawn between sound and exploration coupled with the concluding effects allows the audience a chance to investigate their own environments and the surrounding reverberating frequencies.
As Lucier’s heavy speech and notable rhythmic stutter disappear his voice becomes something mechanical and takes on an almost intangible fluidity to it, which pulses throughout the room. The listener goes from hearing Lucier’s speech to noticing his voice as an instrument; to understanding that it is, in fact, the room that is the true musician within the clip. The interesting connection between sound frequencies and the spatial area within the room makes for a different re-recording of the original each time. This manner of live realization that could alter at anytime was something new and drastic to the experimental and formal art community (Beecher). Around that time Lucier’s work brought on a new level of activity in the compositional art world.
Lucier continues to explore the understanding and creation of music without classical forms constraining him. While still experimenting with high and low frequencies and the way they interact and resonate in an audience’s ears and mind he has pushed the boundaries even farther. Lucier spends his time creating orchestral symphonies and series, which dive into musical art that does not deal with instruments. By constantly reinventing the thought invoking process of managing audio in terms of relativity to space Lucier has continued to be considered a pioneer in the experimental world of sound.
Notes
Beecher, Ben. “I am Sitting in a Room”. Alvin Lucier. DRAM. Anthology of Recorded
Music, Inc. Web. http://www.dramonline.org/albums/alvin-lucier-i-am-sitting-in-
a-room 09 Apr. 2010
Burns, Christopher. “Real-time” Realizations. Web.
https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~cburns/realizations/lucier-1.html 10. Apr. 2010
Lucier, Alvin. Interview by Thomas Moore. Marymount Manhattan College in New York. January, 1983
Scholnick, Daniel. “Biography”. Alvin Lucier. Wesleyan University. Web. http://alucier.web.wesleyan.edu/index.html. 10 Apr. 2010
