The Sound of Silence

[TaranT]

...Yesterday we mentioned in passing that faithful viewer djsteve had purchased a track that cost him the "best 99 cents [he'd] ever spent." The joke, of course, was that it was the second track from The Whitey Album by Ciccone Youth, which consists of a minute and three seconds' worth of silence. To tell you the truth, while we're amused by the fact that Apple is charging 99 cents for a song full o' nothing, we're even more amused by the fact that said track contains the usual digital rights management code to prevent you from playing it on any unauthorized systems. And the most amusing thing of all, of course, is that the song has a thirty-second preview....

Note that three of those tracks, the ones by Slum Village, are labeled EXPLICIT. We've listened to them, and we have to agree: combined, that's the dirtiest fifteen seconds of utter silence we've ever not heard. It's so dirty, it's like Handel's Messiah, only, you know, quiet. So for those of you who can't handle EXPLICIT silence, go ahead and substitute these, instead-- they're the same Slum Village tracks, only CLEAN (and, for some reason, titled without parentheses):...

And there you have it: nine tracks of professionally-encoded silence-- a total of six minutes and forty-four seconds of the yawning void, all yours for just $8.91. And if you like, you can even keep the EXPLICIT tracks in the main playlist, add the CLEAN ones at the end, and get fifteen bonus seconds of silence for just $2.97 more! Talk about your seven minutes in heaven, right?

It's just a shame that "15 Minutes Silence" by Deuter, as pointed out by faithful viewer Rob Hulson, is an Album-Only purchase. Especially since it is, for some reason, sixteen minutes long...

source

[Savia]

This has be done before- there's a joke 'classical' track which is just seven or so minutes of various lengths of silences. Of course, a full orchestra is needed for the full effect.

[Otohiko]

Silence is not so silent - R.F.

[Savia]

A little research reveals that the piece is contemporary classical composer John Cage's 'Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds of Silence'. It is apparently supposed to have something to do with the nature of music as organised sound, and as a counterpart to that.

In other words, it's pretentious nonsense.

[Rozard]

A little research reveals that the piece is contemporary classical composer John Cage's 'Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds of Silence'. It is apparently supposed to have something to do with the nature of music as organised sound, and as a counterpart to that.

In other words, it's pretentious nonsense.

Actually (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), John Cage believed that all the sounds that occured during his performance was the music. Such sounds would include someone coughing, a car passing by, chairs creaking, etc.

[Savia]

A little research reveals that the piece is contemporary classical composer John Cage's 'Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds of Silence'. It is apparently supposed to have something to do with the nature of music as organised sound, and as a counterpart to that.

In other words, it's pretentious nonsense.

Actually (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), John Cage believed that all the sounds that occured during his performance was the music. Such sounds would include someone coughing, a car passing by, chairs creaking, etc.

Yes, I believe that was also part of it- the third violinist scratching their nose, everything. Hence why an orchestra is needed for performance, I suppose

[Anime 51]

A little research reveals that the piece is contemporary classical composer John Cage's 'Four Minutes and Thirty-Three Seconds of Silence'. It is apparently supposed to have something to do with the nature of music as organised sound, and as a counterpart to that.

In other words, it's pretentious nonsense.

Actually (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), John Cage believed that all the sounds that occured during his performance was the music. Such sounds would include someone coughing, a car passing by, chairs creaking, etc.

Or someone farting.

[Otohiko]

I must be one of those several people who actually do take silence for music.

Because I don't believe that music is just sound, whether organized or not.

But, that's me and my weird convictions of course.

[Savia]

I must be one of those several people who actually do take silence for music.

Because I don't believe that music is just sound, whether organized or not.

But, that's me and my weird convictions of course.

Actually, I went through seven years at a Quaker school (though I myself am no Quaker), and had forty-minute silences every Thursday morning. By the end of it, you become very used to (and comfortable within) silence. I enjoyed those times to myself, and still find that a few minutes of silence to myself every so often can help me a lot when I'm troubled. So, while not music per se, silence is very familiar to me. I've even heard tell of Quakers under persecution withstanding solitary isolation just die to this accustomisation.

[bum]

some wierd composer "wrote this piece called 4:33 . he sat down infront of a piano for 4minutes and 33 seconds without hiting a single note. then he stood up, took a bow, and left the stage