Steve Reich, born October 3rd, 1976, is a central figure in 20th century music. His compositions are groundbreaking in many ways, and is cited today by musicians across genres as an inspiration. Have a listen to his most famous piece, Music for 18 Musicians:
During his formative years, Steve Reich studied with several luminaries in the American music scene, including Hall Overton, Luciano Berio, and Darius Milhaud. Shortly after concluding his education, Reich retreated from many of the traditional and contemporary compositional methods to focus on a new concept involving the manipulation of recordings on tape.
Reich connected multiple tape machines and would adjust their individual playback speeds such that identical loops of music or sound would overlap at varied timings. This process would generate rhythm, harmony and form, all from the interaction of existing sound. The resulting style was dubbed phase music, referring to the way that the sounds would “phase” in and out of sync as the tape speeds were gradually adjusted. Below is a performance of his composition Melodica, which is constructed from a single musical phrase, with a second copy of the recording layered over the first. The phase effect begins to sound at approximately 40 seconds.
Reich soon began adapting these sounds for use with live musicians. Here is a performance of Piano Phase, where one pianist keeps perfect, nearly robotic time, while the other speeds up very slowly throughout the performance. Each pianist is playing identical notes and rhythms. This technique mirrors the action of Reich’s dueling tape machines.
Reich’s distinctive style would come to be known as minimalism. It’s easy to draw a direct line from his compositions to other modern genres, like electronic dance music or hip hop. This sort of repetition and manipulation of recorded sound is ubiquitous in popular music today.
Would you like to know more about minimalist music, or learn how to make your own recordings? Contact Thompson Tutoring for music lessons today!