Yes, I have been slack. [Insert typical excuses here – busy at work, nothing to say, off on other projects, so on and so on]
Yesterday, I heard a piece on All Things Considered, the evening news show on National Public Radio here in the USofA that just captured my imagination. It was about a composer named Rolf Liebermann, who composed a number for office machines back in 1964. Now, back in 1964, office machines made noise. Imagine:
- 16 typewriters,
- 18 calculator machines,
- 8 accounting machines,
- 12 office perforators,
- 2 metronomes,
- 2 entrance door gongs,
- 6 telephones, a fork lift,
- and, a duplicator (just to name a few of the objects in the piece)
Yes, this is a piece about things making noise….making a lot of noise, in a drumline kind of way. As one who LOVES me a good drumline, I was hooked.
http://youtu.be/eDXVgqmaYJk
And, the commentators went on about how today’s electronics don’t make that kind of noise. True, my iPad and Android are silent when I hit their buttons. My iMac keyboard is making a pleasant little clicking while I type this but there is not much other noise right now. Would I want it to be noisy? Not necessarily.
However, we keep hearing about the bombardment of “noise” coming at us all of the time. There is still a high signal to noise ratio – just maybe not really noise like the office machines of the 1960s. Its the noise of Twitter, Facebook feeds, Pinterest boards and more just going by and every little sticking or at least less and less signal comes to me. Are you finding the same thing?
Of course, I love it when someone finds a way to take our common objects and make music, just like Rolf. Reminds me of one of my favorite musical experiences, STOMP. Enjoy. Find some signal and some music today.