Scholarly discussion of the music of John Cage.

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Ivana,

 

Our recording of the Cage piece (which is audio + a slideshow on Mode DVD 229) used two records to provide the tones that were originally provided by RCA (Victor) 84519: a Brunswick 1,000-cyle constant-note disc, plus an HMV disc that includes a 200-cycle track. These were used by turntable player one; player two used Victor Frequency Record 84522, which - on side A - contains a single, unbroken glissando that's punctuated by a buzzer signal at key frequencies.

 

My impression is that 78 rpm frequency-test discs are fairly scarce, since only a very dedicated subset of record collectors would consider keeping these. The records we used are now in the possession of Percussion Group Cincinnati's Allen Otte.

 

Cage's original performance / recording of Landscape No. 1 differs from his autograph score somewhat, so you may want to review the Mode DVD. Percussion Group Cincinnati's take is to-score, ours deviates and in fact matches Cage's 1939 performance, which survives on a 33 1/3 transcription disc. It was this disc that was played at the '58 Town Hall concert.

 

I couldn't locate "transcription" players to use for the recording, and it wouldn't have been practical if we had been able to find a pair of late-'30s units, since the steel needle / heavy tonearm combination would have worn the records rapidly. We knew that the piece would require rehearsal - our turntablists had to become familiar with this awkward "instrument"- so we opted to use modern turntables with an electrical switching setup for the 33 1/3 to 78 rpm transitions. It would have been nice to have the audible clunkiness of the mechanical-clutch turntables of the period, but we had to forego that.

 

If you're able to find the 78 rpm records needed for Landscape No. 1, consider playing these on turntables of a recent vintage, possibly something with a mechanical speed selector. You'll probably need to EQ the output for each disc that you use so that their frequencies are reproduced accurately (there are EQ / noise reduction units available that have presets for different vintage EQ curves.) Be sure to use the correct stylus.

 

As an alternative, you could use 33 1/3 frequency records to perform the piece. Refer to Cage's autograph score - or watch Allen Otte's video, which is part of the Mode DVD- this will tell you what frequencies were produced when the turntables were playing the 78 rpm records at 33 1/3 rpm.

 

Eric Levin

 

 

 

 

 

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