Tuesday Metronomification
Previously I had read about, but never actually seen Gyorgy Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes. Thanks to the modern marvel of YouTube, this is the case no more:
If the Wikipedia article on the piece is accurate they aren’t doing it quite according to directions, as they seem to use an automatic wire contraption jobby to start off all the little buggers almost simultaneously, instead of via 10 “performers.” I can’t decide if I prefer the idea of seeing ten people attempting to initiate them all, or the Rube Goldbergness of this design.
The music sounds like… well, exactly what you would expect 100 metronomes slightly out of sync in phase and frequency to sound like. If that floats your boat, you can download a 20 minute long version off of Amazon for $3. You’ll probably get basically the same sonic experience from sitting in a room full of people typing. I think it’s supposed to be more about how it makes you think about music than the music itself. Sort of meta-music.
