Because Pat said we could blog on anything he talked about, I figured I'd talk a little bit about things I understood to some degree. While Just Intonation had some things about it that made sense, I really wasn't able to grasp it fully, so I figured I'd talk a bit about John Cage.
When Pat first mentioned John Cage, what immediately came to mind for me was the altered piano. I must admit, the fist time I ever heard the altered piano, I was a little put off. I didn't know what to think. I laughed a little, strained my ears a little and just thought, "well maybe if I listen again..." For those of you who don't know what an altered (or prepared, if you'd rather) piano is, it is a piano that has had objects like erasers, forks, etc. put on and between specific strings inside a piano. This gives the strings altered sounds when they are struck, which allows for an all new alternative kind of music, which is exactly what I first heard from John Cage. If you're going to look up any pieces like this, I would suggest Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano, Sonata No. 2. If you google that exactly, it should pull up in the video links.
Something else I would like to talk about is ambient music. When I heard Music for Airports I thought "huh... so this is ambient music." Then I remembered a couple pieces that I have written and thought "well now I know what to label them as." Ambient music is not something I think I would go out of my way to listen to, but I will agree that it probably wouldn't ever really get on my nerves. It really is a background sort of thing that you hardly notice, but when you do notice it, it's not because it bothers you.
Anyway, I guess I'll leave off there for now. See you all tomorrow.
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