Good morning.
Today we’re listening to Pauline Oliveros, an American composer and multi-instrumentalist from Houston, Texas. We’ve recommended Oliveros twice before. Beginning in the 1960s, Oliveros pioneered compositional techniques using tape recordings and novel transistor-based instruments. She innovated music production as well as music consumption, writing about “deep listening” and its mysterious, revelatory, and creative effects:
Deep Listening is listening in every possible way, to everything it’s possible to hear, no matter what you are doing. Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, or one’s own thoughts, as well as musical sounds.
Deep Listening represents a heightened state of awareness and connects to all that there is. As a composer I make my music through Deep Listening.1
First we’re playing the 1989 record Deep Listening, which was recorded in a spacious cistern in the Pacific Northwest with trombonist Stuart Dempster and singer Panaiotis. We’re also playing Reverberations, a compilation of 11+ hours of recordings from Oliveros’ early experimental years.
Deep Listening - Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, & Panaiotis (60m, the vocals are effectively instrumental)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 - Pauline Oliveros (690m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal
We wish you a great start to your week.
Oliveros, Pauline. Quantum Listening: From Practice to Theory (To Practice Practice). Deep Listening Publications, 2021, pp. 29-30.
Glad to hear Oliveros; mixed feelings about listening to her pieces while at work. Seems counter to the intent of 'deep listening', and the shifts in timbre and texture repeatedly draw my ear to the music. I don't want to stop listening either, and so I continue to waver between 'doing' and 'listening'. Interesting also how often humans are drawn to reverberance - so much so that various tricks have been devised to create it. In this case, though, the space is 'real' and contributes to the sound.
Only ended to listen to Reverberations now. Shifting now into your free (and great) playlist, but, in my opinion, you should limit the duration of the recommendations. 11 hours is quite a lot for a day lol. Despite all that, keep doing the amazing job you do, as usual. Two albums with +- 60 min per each is the perfect timing for a flow state session imo.