Radio Row: John Cage x IDM

Channeling the spirit of John Cage, with the aid of ADDAC’s Servo module, a cheap radio, and a looper.

Affiliate link: https://link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/8-12626-376753-9759?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectcircuit.com%2F
ADDAC Servo: https://link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/8-12626-376753-9759?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectcircuit.com%2Faddac-addac320.html

FURTHER NOTES:
• feedback on the Disting stereo delay is set to 28, just below the 100% level (32), so that sounds eventually fade out. The transience of sound - and the futility of trying to capture it through recording - was a theme in Cage’s writing.
• analog radio itself now seems to be fading away; several countries have already dropped FM. This kind of piece may not be possible soon.
• to ensure intervals of silence (rests), Cage specified AM band, which had fewer stations. I opted here for FM, for the warmer sound, reduced static, and closer spacing of stations.
• finding a radio that would work was a challenge. It had to be analog, with a headphone jack, and a simple frequency dial (1:1 ratio as Servo cannot go beyond 270 degrees). And the dial cap had to be removable. The only one I could find with all this was Studebaker Portable AM/FM Radio SB2002: https://studebakerhifi.com/collections/radios/products/portable-retro-am-fm-radio-sb2002
• there are radio modules available in Eurorack, but I was deterred by reports of interference caused by other modules in the case, so I opted for an external radio
• To fit the Servo’s arm to the tuner dial, I needed an adapter (a coupler from my son’s old Meccano set fit perfectly!)
My earlier video about ADDAC’s Servo: https://youtu.be/VZ319ggFVgc

SOURCES
John Cage, Silence (1961)
Andrea Valle and Amedeo Casella, “Imaginary Landscape No. 4: study and annotation of the score,” Proceedings of the XXI CIM-Colloquio di Informatica Musicale (2016)
Alana Pagnutti, Reception: The Radio-works of Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage (Smith+Brown, 2016)
“Bedlam on Radio Row,” New York Times, May 25, 1930, 144

MY MUSIC
https://smallchanges1.bandcamp.com/album/pianola

#modularsynth #eurorack #experimentalmusic #johncage #idm

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