In C

In C is a musical piece composed by Terry Riley in 1964 for an indefinite number of performers. He suggests "a group of about 35 is desired if possible but smaller or larger groups will work". A series of short melodic fragments, In C is a response to the abstract academic serialist techniques devised by Schoenberg that dominated Western university composers for many decades and is often cited as the first minimalist composition (though La Monte Young's drone compositions preceded it by several years, In C had a greater impact on public consciousness).

Technique

In C consists of 53 short, numbered musical phrases, lasting from half a beat to 32 beats; each phrase may be repeated an arbitrary number of times. Each musician has control over which phrase they play: players are encouraged to play the phrases starting at different times, even if they are playing the same phrase. In this way, although the melodic content of each part is predetermined, In C has elements of aleatoric music to it. The performance directions state that the musical ensemble should try to stay within two to three phrases of each other. The phrases must be played in order, although some may be skipped. As detailed in some editions of the score, it is customary for one musician ("traditionally... a beautiful girl," Riley notes in the score) to play the note C in repeated eighth notes, typically on a piano or pitched-percussion instrument (e.g. marimba). This functions as a metronome and is referred to as "The Pulse". Steve Reich introduced the idea of a rhythmic pulse to Riley, who accepted it, thus radically altering the original composition by Riley which had no rhythm.

In C (album)

In C is an album by Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., released in 2001 by Eclipse Records as a vinyl record and in 2002 by Squealer Music on CD. The Squealer release contains a bonus track. The title track is a cover of the Terry Riley piece of the same name.

A follow-up album, titled In 0 to ∞, was released in 2010.

Reception

In C made Pitchfork Media's Top 50 Albums of 2002 at #45.

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel as listed on Acid Mothers website.

Technical personnel

References

Super A'Can

The Super A'can is a home video game console that was released exclusively in Taiwan in 1995 by Funtech. Inside is a Motorola 68000, also used in the Sega Genesis and Neo Geo. Twelve games have been confirmed to exist for the system.

Commercial performance

Despite the Super A'Can being powerful for its time, it was a commercial failure. There are reasons why the Super A'Can flopped: its high price cost was too expensive for consumers. The A'Can was released as the 3D era had already started, which left no chance for it to compete with consoles like the PlayStation, the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Saturn. Funtech lost USD$6 million before being defunct.

Technical specifications

CPU

Graphics

Input and output

List of games

External links

Bang on a Can

Bang on a Can is a multi-faceted contemporary classical music organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1987 by three American composers who remain its artistic directors: Julia Wolfe, David Lang, and Michael Gordon. Called "the country's most important vehicle for contemporary music" by the San Francisco Chronicle, the organization focuses on the presentation of new concert music, and has presented hundreds of musical events worldwide.

Notable performances

Bang on a Can is perhaps best known for its Marathon Concerts during which an eclectic mix of pieces are performed in succession over the course of many hours while audience members, who are encouraged to maintain a "jeans-and-tee-shirt informality," are welcome to come and go as they please. For the twentieth anniversary of their Marathon Concerts, Bang on a Can presented twenty-six hours of uninterrupted music at the World Financial Center Winter Garden Atrium in New York City.

Among Bang on a Can's early events were performances by John Cage, premieres of Glenn Branca’s epic symphonies for massed electric guitars, and fully staged operas by Harry Partch, featuring the composer's original instruments.