I am sitting in a room

I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.

Alvin Lucier, 1969

Record your speaking voice, then play it back into the room and re-record. Play that recording back into the room and re-record. Repeat.

If listening is about making rather than receiving meaning, then that process will always be compromised, messy, provisional and unfinished, taking place amidst a motley assemblage of sounding bodies, materials and spaces.

Gallagher, 2013

I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now.

Alvin Lucier (1969) invites us to sit in a room, either listening to his voice or performing his piece. I set up a microphone, recorder, and playback system in a studio where I teach. Recording my voice and playing it back into the room, again and again, was more intense and vulnerable than recording the sonic welcomes. It exposed me both visually to people in and around the space and was audible to many people beyond the eyeline. Over time, my voice became less and less distinct. The resonant frequencies of the space interacted with my voice, slowly remodeling it into what sounded like whistling feedback.

I used my voice once, then replayed it over and over again. This repetition, taking about an hour, allowed me to listen to the space. I was aware of other sounds, the lift, access gates, people passing through the space, and the occasional question. I made choices about keeping these in or editing them out.

find out more

Trevor Cox

Uses an anechoic chamber to record his voice without any echo, then uses convolution reverb using the Inchindown oil storage tank, which holds the world record for the longest echo.

http://trevorcox.me/i-am-sitting-in-a-room

Here we all are - Cathy Lane

Through a feminist reworking and situated in lockdown, Lane remixes Lucier's instructions.

https://cathylane.co.uk/2020/05/18/here-we-all-are-lucier-mix/