Water tank – Melodies

 

Pauline Oliveros (30.05.1932 – 25.11.2016) was a pioneer of electronic music. She was also an essayist and wrote essays about being a woman in the music industry. I think that it is really important to know that women also played an important role in the early days of music or musical themes in general. Oliveros believed that there was no difference between a male composer or a female composer. The only thing that was of importance for her was music. I agree with her point of view because I also think that it makes no difference and, above all, should not make any difference whether a certain piece of music is composed by a man or a woman. Now let us get back to Oliveros´ music. In Fort Worden State Park, where a huge water tank is located, she was able to capture unique sounds with the help of electronic music. I think this idea is very creative and, in that sense, also unique (to this extent). I also noticed the sheer size of the water tank, which makes it possible to generate lengthy sounds. The difference to Alvin Lucier´s teapot sounds is that the room that was used by Oliveros is simply larger. Moreover, the dimensions of the tank were similar to that of a cathedral. Thus, it was also possible for the sound to reverberate much longer as it was not the case with the teapot. While I listened to the sounds it almost felt as if the room was permanently filled with sound. Before a sound died down, the next one followed. Thus, the sound had also the opportunity to develop some sort of “life of its own” (independent existence) as it could unfold “itself” through the immense space of the tank.

And now something about the sounds: I enjoyed listening to the piece by Pauline Oliveros because it reminded me of the sounds of Hollywood blockbusters. Moreover, to be more precise, it somehow reminded me of the score from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 7 2/2). The melody has changed at regular intervals and was sometimes higher and sometimes lower, but never shrill like the middle part of Meredith Monk´s “Gotham Lullaby”. The sounds were rather calming tones to which, in my opinion, you could even fall asleep. Another thing that this piece reminded me of was an underwater world. The reason for this was, among other things, the muffled sound of the piece, which of course can also be the cause of the fact that it is literally located under a water tank. In the initial part, the sounds also reminded me of the sounds of the Aboriginal Digeridoo. To summarize, I really enjoyed listening to Pauline Oliveros´ piece since these dream-like sounds were neither too intrusive nor too quiet and monotonous. I also think that it could even be used as the background music for meditation or yoga.