...for electric guitar, bass guitar & tape



Following in the footsteps of La Monte Young and Terry Riley, composer Steve Reich is widely considered the third major pioneer of minimalism; credited as the innovator behind phasing -- a process whereby two tape loops lined up in unison gradually move out of phase with each other, ultimately coming back into sync -- his early experiments in tape manipulation also anticipated the emergence of hip-hop sampling by well over a decade. Reich was born October 3, 1936 in New York City, and later studied philosophy at Cornell University; while at the Juilliard School of Music, he turned to composition, finally landing at Mills College in Oakland, California under the tutelage of avant-garde composers Luciano Berio and Darius Milhaud. During his collegiate years, Reich supported himself by drumming professionally; however, when his academic career drew to a close in 1963, he turned to driving a cab.

Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint (1987) belongs to a group of the composer's works (including Vermont Counterpoint [1982] and New York Counterpoint [1985]) which call for a soloist to play along with a recording of him- or herself. Written for noted jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, Electric Counterpoint requires the player to pre-record up to ten electric guitar tracks and two electric bass tracks; the player performs the eleventh part live against the tape. This configuration creates an interesting aural effect; the ethereal homogeneity of ten timbrally identical electric guitars simultaneously playing different figures is immediately quite striking.

Electric Counterpoint is in three movements, labeled simply "Fast," "Slow," and "Fast." The first begins with a stream of rapidly repeated chords that gradually fade in and out of audibility, subtly changing harmony at the quietest moments. After the harmonic outline of the piece has been presented, one guitar enters with a new theme, which seven other guitars reiterate one by one in canonic fashion. The remaining two guitars, along with the two basses, supply harmonic support. The second movement similarly builds up canonically, this time employing a slower, plaintive theme. While the third movement recalls the tempo of the first, it stresses rhythmic variety in its frequent metric shifts. The basses drive this effort, dividing the ambiguous twelve-beat textures of the guitars first into three groups of four, then four groups of three -- a familiar feature in Reich's music ever since Clapping Music (1972) and Music for Pieces of Wood (1973). These metric shifts are accompanied by complementary shifts in harmony. The changes in the final movement occur at shorter and shorter intervals until the basses fade out and the guitars reach a final harmonic and rhythmic acquiescence.

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This composition originally appears on...



...Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint (w/The Kronos Quartet & Pat Metheny)


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

...

Ndeed!!

I remember when this dropped a while ago!!! A Lot of folks consider this to be Steve's masterpiece. Thanks, tA!!



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paligap said:

My pleasure.

I listened to the 3 movements on the drive home last night and almost took off into outer space...


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

This is interesting. I can't wait to check it out.

It reminds me of Brian Eno using a Bach song this way in the 70's. I can't remember what album but it's more than just interesting, it creates another soundscape.

Thx, t/A

Yeah it is ambient in a way, Slave2daGroove

I played "Electric Counterpoint" for my Senior Recital in college, but I had actual people play the other parts. The stage was crowded!

But this IS definitely one of Reich's masterpieces. It's about 20 minutes long, but at the end, you almost feel like it wasn't long enough. I also didn't know Reich drove a cab and was a drummer. Thanks for the post tA!

Slave2daGroove said:

You're welcome.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

CinisterCee said:

tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

guitarslinger44 said:

How cool.

Did you do all 3 movements?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

So I went to new AND USED cd stores in the jazz section and could not find this. Am I being too optimistic? I couldn't even find it on vinyl at the place I always go:

CinisterCee said:

Y'know, I used to see the vinyl at Tower Records(RIP) all the time --they used to have it on display....

But you can find it online at several places, including Amazon:



http://www.amazon.com/Rei...897&sr=8-1




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[Edited 3/14/07 10:40am]

paligap said:

I just copped...





...Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint & Music for 18 Musicians for about $29 total on Amazon.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431