Art review on Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980

Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980

 

 

 

 

Medium of work: Sound

Format/Genre of work: A 20th century electonic music composition
It is medium specific

Introduction of the work:

 

Ohm: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980 is a collection of 43 electronic music compositions in 1937-1982 in 3CDs. While the collection is too large, I search the pieces one by one in youtube. The authors includes John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Milton Babbitt, Laurie Spiegel, Robert Ashley, LaMonte Young, Morton Subotnick,  Iannis Xenakis etc. As there is too much work in the collection, I choose the one that I was interested most in the collection to do the analysis of the work which is Otto Luening - "Low Speed" in 1952

 

Introduction of Otto Luening - "Low Speed"

 

Otto Luening - "Low Speed" was premiere in October, 1952 in New York. It was early tape compostion which from a major figure in electric music with using of flute. As Otto Luening is a flutist and also a tape musician, he combines the idea from both sides. As he wanted to explore the quality of the instrument, he slowed significantly to meet the goal. He also used the tape echo to create the pulses of the music. It begins with the echo from the tape, then it creates interference and texture with the flute and the echo. Finally it resolve with the slow of the tape echo and the flute to a single sound.

 

Personal Impression

 

The work in The Early Gurus of Electronic Music, 1948-1980 have a lots of electronic music that created in the early period in America. It contains a large range of electronic musics that I have never listen before. However, the electronic music actually limits the diversity of sound in some kind of nature. For example, the electronic music could only create a certain range of dynamics and effects which sounds like a little bit plain to me. Moreover, the emotion that we owns in the daily life seems being remove in electronic music which is te part I really hate.