WEBVTT - 9 Unusual Instruments Worth Trumpeting About

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<v Speaker 1>I guess what, mango, what's that? Well, So, over the years,

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<v Speaker 1>we've been to so many good concerts together, also so

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<v Speaker 1>many bad ones together. But we were just telling a

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<v Speaker 1>friend the other day how we'd actually road trip to

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<v Speaker 1>see Fish in college. Right, Yeah, We're at a bar.

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<v Speaker 1>We were talking to any from Food Stuff. Well, and

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<v Speaker 1>the thing is is, you know, she's a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>younger than us, so I'm not sure she's as familiar

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<v Speaker 1>with some of the bands that were big and the

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<v Speaker 1>nineties or so. But I think she actually thought we

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<v Speaker 1>were going to look at Fish, like one really pretty

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<v Speaker 1>striped bass or something like that, But she did. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's because food is always on her mind just

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<v Speaker 1>being the host that I didn't think about that. You're

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<v Speaker 1>probably right because she rode trips to see Fish as well.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, just thinking back on the list of

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<v Speaker 1>bands that we've seen, I know we saw Lady Smith,

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<v Speaker 1>Black Mambazzo, George the Roots, maybe so many different shows

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<v Speaker 1>over the years, but there is one I'm a little

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<v Speaker 1>disappointed that we haven't seen, and that's the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.

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<v Speaker 1>So when I hear a name like that, I feel

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<v Speaker 1>like it's got to be like the string cheese incident

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<v Speaker 1>or some sort of like you know, lesser known jam Ben.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not the case at all. I mean they've

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<v Speaker 1>been around for about twenty years now and it's pretty

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<v Speaker 1>incredible what they do. So the musicians actually go to

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<v Speaker 1>a farmer's market on the day that they're performing. Then

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<v Speaker 1>they pick out some vegetables in order to make their

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<v Speaker 1>instruments out of Like they'll make trumpets out of zucchini.

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<v Speaker 1>Then they'll slice up an eggplant in a way that

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<v Speaker 1>collapsed together all of these other fascinating instruments, and they

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<v Speaker 1>do this all the day at the concert. Well, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>of course, I mean your veggies have to be fresh

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<v Speaker 1>when you're making instruments, you know, if you think about it.

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<v Speaker 1>And and then they take the parts of the veggies

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<v Speaker 1>that they don't use for instruments and they cook it

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<v Speaker 1>all into a soup. So this just takes some like

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<v Speaker 1>two or three hours to make the instruments, and they're

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<v Speaker 1>cooking this whole time, and then they have this really

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<v Speaker 1>long sound check because, as you might imagine, it takes

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<v Speaker 1>a while to tune an instrument made of vegetables. But

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<v Speaker 1>then they put on these shows and it's amazing mango like,

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<v Speaker 1>they cover everything from class school music too, of course

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<v Speaker 1>kraft work. You know, if you got vegetables about as,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll play some craft work. Yeah, German electronic music. That's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty cool. Yeah. And the best part is they feed

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<v Speaker 1>the audience the soup at the end of every concert,

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<v Speaker 1>so you get the music and the meal. And it

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<v Speaker 1>just sounds like so much. But you know, hearing about

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<v Speaker 1>these recorders made from carrots and these symbols made of

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<v Speaker 1>green peppers, and it made me think, what are other

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<v Speaker 1>unusual instruments that we should be keeping an ear out for?

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<v Speaker 1>And that's what today's nine Things is all about. So

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<v Speaker 1>let's dive in. Hey, their podcast listeners, I'm Will Pearson

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<v Speaker 1>and as always I'm joined by my good friend man

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<v Speaker 1>guest Ticketer, and sitting behind the soundproof glass trying to

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<v Speaker 1>turn his rotary telephone into a brass instrument. I believe

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<v Speaker 1>he calls it a trump phone. That's our that's our

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<v Speaker 1>friends and producer Tristan McNeil. What a weirdo. But I

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<v Speaker 1>have to say I'm also a little envious that he

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<v Speaker 1>came up with a tromphone. But uh, you know, it's

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<v Speaker 1>funny that we chose today to talk about weird instruments

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<v Speaker 1>because I just saw this video online of a guy

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<v Speaker 1>playing pocabell cannon on a rubber chicken. Did you see this? No?

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<v Speaker 1>And how does he do that? So? I guess he

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<v Speaker 1>holds it in various places as he squeezes, and he

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<v Speaker 1>figured out how to get different tones out of this

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<v Speaker 1>rubber chicken. And then he shot himself in like four

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<v Speaker 1>different videos like doing each of the musical parts and

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<v Speaker 1>he sink them all up. It is ridiculous, especially like

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<v Speaker 1>when you consider that this is the song that people

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<v Speaker 1>like march down the Aisle two for weddings and graduations

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<v Speaker 1>and whatever. It's pretty infrontible. I kind of want to

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<v Speaker 1>pause right now and go check this out and then

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<v Speaker 1>come finished recording. But but I'll have to check that out,

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<v Speaker 1>all right. Well, where do you want to start with

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<v Speaker 1>all of these? Well? How about with the most basic

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<v Speaker 1>and most annoying of instruments out there? The voos a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're a sports fan, I'm sure you remember

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<v Speaker 1>the long plastic buzzing instruments from the South African World

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<v Speaker 1>Cup where the Zeila showed up and they irritated players

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<v Speaker 1>and refs and basically anyone who was watching TV, so

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<v Speaker 1>of course FIFA banned them from stadiums. But as I

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<v Speaker 1>was looking into it, it turns out the Zeila actually

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<v Speaker 1>has this murky origin story, like a number of people

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<v Speaker 1>claimed to have invented it, but the person who gets

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<v Speaker 1>the most credit is this guy named Freddie Saddam Make

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<v Speaker 1>who claims he developed the first one in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixties by taking off his bicycle horn and then adding

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<v Speaker 1>a mouthpiece to it and blowing through it. And uh,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess he used it as a signal to like

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<v Speaker 1>call people over or to get people to meet. It's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of like an annoying dinner gong or something. But

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<v Speaker 1>over time it got extended, replicated, and now they are

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<v Speaker 1>all these weird iterations of it, like um Hunda decided

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<v Speaker 1>to build the world's largest one. It was a hundred

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen feet long, which terrifies. Someone actually took a toy Bozela,

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<v Speaker 1>bedazzled it with real diamonds and gold dusted it and

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<v Speaker 1>then hold it to like a Russian oligarch for thirty dollars,

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<v Speaker 1>which just feels ridiculous and amazing. But you know that

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<v Speaker 1>the weirdest thing I've read about is that the plastic

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<v Speaker 1>instruments are actually tuned to be flat, which is funny

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<v Speaker 1>because to me, you know, they just sound like cacophony.

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<v Speaker 1>But vouzelas are in B flat. And according to space

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, so is a black hole that's out there.

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<v Speaker 1>These astronauts at NASA at the Chandra x Raight Lab,

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<v Speaker 1>they figured out that this giant black hole emits a

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<v Speaker 1>B flat note that's fifty eight octaves below middle C.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you lay your boozela and sampled this black hole,

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<v Speaker 1>it would actually harmonize pretty nicely. We'll have to we'll

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<v Speaker 1>have to try that out sometimes. That's pretty great. All right. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>here's an instrument i'd love to visit. And when I

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<v Speaker 1>say visit, that's because you'd have to go to Croatia

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<v Speaker 1>and actually on the coastal Croatia. And it's called the

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<v Speaker 1>Sea Organ and it was designed by this architect named

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<v Speaker 1>Nicola Bassage, and it's a way to gently welcome people

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<v Speaker 1>coming to port. And it's actually really beautiful. Now. On surface,

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<v Speaker 1>it looks like these giant marble steps with greats, but

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<v Speaker 1>beneath each one is a series of small channels that

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<v Speaker 1>connect thirty five organ pipes, and the way it's designed,

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<v Speaker 1>each step plays a slightly different musical cord. Now, because

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<v Speaker 1>this thing is powered by waves and by wind too,

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<v Speaker 1>it seems like it could get really annoying, but it

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<v Speaker 1>actually makes these pretty gentle and kind of random sounds.

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<v Speaker 1>That almost sounds like someone is touching the sides of

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<v Speaker 1>a steel drum or playing the wind chimes. And it

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<v Speaker 1>actually pairs really nicely with the calming view that's there. Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>that sounds really lovely. So, speaking of unusual instruments that

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<v Speaker 1>live on the coast, Eve's actually pointed me to the

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<v Speaker 1>steam whistle, which I guess is technically a whistle or instrument,

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<v Speaker 1>and I've never heard the origin story, and it's pretty fascinating. So,

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<v Speaker 1>as you guess, lighthouses didn't work that well in super

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<v Speaker 1>foggy conditions, like the light didn't always carry the fog bells,

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<v Speaker 1>which is I guess what they used to use. Also

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<v Speaker 1>didn't work as effective warnings over long distances. So there's

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<v Speaker 1>the Scottish engineer are. His name is Robert Folis, And

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<v Speaker 1>he was walking home on this foggy night, and as

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<v Speaker 1>he got closer and closer to his house, he heard

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<v Speaker 1>his kid playing the piano, and the higher notes were

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<v Speaker 1>all muffled by the fog, so he couldn't hear any

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<v Speaker 1>of those, but the low notes all carried in the fog.

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<v Speaker 1>And so he goes home he thinks about this, and

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<v Speaker 1>he realized, what if you created a whistle that was

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<v Speaker 1>powered by this superheated steam, and if it made this

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<v Speaker 1>very low noise, it would actually carry And the guardian

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<v Speaker 1>called it a fog alarm. That's how we thought about it.

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<v Speaker 1>And so he hooked the thing up to a clockwork

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<v Speaker 1>valve so it could be set to admit these noises

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<v Speaker 1>automatically every few minutes. And of course this's also this

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<v Speaker 1>manual setting, and that was useful for sending out morse

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<v Speaker 1>code when we wanted to do it through sound signals

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<v Speaker 1>instead of light signals. Yeah, that's interesting. I never thought

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<v Speaker 1>about lighthouse whistles being used to send out messages, but

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I guess it makes a lot of sense. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it's pretty cool. So where do you want to go

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<v Speaker 1>from there? Well, I feel like we've been talking about

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<v Speaker 1>instruments that are too mellow or beautiful or even safe,

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<v Speaker 1>So I think this is why it's time to bring

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<v Speaker 1>up the pyrophone. So I thought this was a lead

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<v Speaker 1>in to talk about the capiano, which I know we've

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<v Speaker 1>talked about before. For those of you aren't familiar with it,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a piano where you press the keys, and they'd

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<v Speaker 1>brought a little kitten behind them who would mew in

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<v Speaker 1>different keys. I guess I forget why was it invented? Again, though,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it was invented to cheer up like an

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<v Speaker 1>Austrian prince or something, but it took us off topic.

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<v Speaker 1>What's a pyrophone? Nice to be an Austrian prince and

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<v Speaker 1>have that kind of instrument invented for you, all right, Well,

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<v Speaker 1>a pyrophone. You know, when I first read about it,

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<v Speaker 1>it sounded like an organ for pyromaniac that has nicknames

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<v Speaker 1>like fire organ and explosion organs. So it sounds like

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<v Speaker 1>a dangerous thing, and especially when you realize it needs

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<v Speaker 1>propane or gasoline to run and to make it work.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a certain part of it actually does need to

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<v Speaker 1>be on fire, but it's actually way safer than that.

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<v Speaker 1>And essentially it uses these glass tubes and when a

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<v Speaker 1>fire is lit in the tubes, they vibrate to make

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<v Speaker 1>a sound. I mean, that sounds so much better than

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<v Speaker 1>like a aliment of tiny explosions, which is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>what I was imagining. So I'm going to talk about

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<v Speaker 1>the suxophone, which isn't as weird as something like a

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<v Speaker 1>taxidermy badger that's been turned into a theremin, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a real thing that you can buy on YouTube. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>there's some really cool electronic instruments. Like I saw someone

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<v Speaker 1>on YouTube and created this cabinet where you open all

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<v Speaker 1>the drawers and they play different notes, so that you

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<v Speaker 1>could actually play a cabinet. How much fun would that

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<v Speaker 1>p That's really awesome. I've also seen people, um they

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<v Speaker 1>wire up books so that if you turn to a

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<v Speaker 1>certain page, it has a certain frequency, so that when

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<v Speaker 1>you flip through the pages it plays different notes. It's

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<v Speaker 1>pretty crazy. But the suxophone, which I always loved because

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<v Speaker 1>you know exactly where it came from. It's name for

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<v Speaker 1>the American band leader John Philip SUSA. He actually commissioned

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<v Speaker 1>the instrument. But if you've ever seen a marching band play,

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<v Speaker 1>you know the suxophone because it's basically this distinctive tuba

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<v Speaker 1>like instrument. It wraps around a player's body and it

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<v Speaker 1>kind of blares the notes over everyone's heads and projects

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<v Speaker 1>it pretty far. And the way I said that makes

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<v Speaker 1>it sound like it's almost clunky or snake like, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's kind of like a more elegant tuba for when

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<v Speaker 1>you're on the move. I guess the reason I'm bringing

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<v Speaker 1>up is that the suxophone players are basically the cards

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<v Speaker 1>or jokers of marching bands. And I didn't realize this,

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<v Speaker 1>but almost anytime there's a skit or some sort of shenanigan,

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<v Speaker 1>it always seems to involve them. So here's a quick

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<v Speaker 1>list of things I found collected at one place on Wikipedia.

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<v Speaker 1>So when the Ohio Marching Band performs this traditional script

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<v Speaker 1>Ohio formation, it's the suxophone that dots the eye. It's

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<v Speaker 1>already like suxophones have this special place. So here's another thing.

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<v Speaker 1>At USC, the suxophone players play John Williams Imperial March

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<v Speaker 1>from Star Wars. They do this anytime they cross the street.

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<v Speaker 1>They go single file on their way to and from

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<v Speaker 1>performances on the USC campus. The University of Delaware Fighting

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<v Speaker 1>Blue Hens do skits. I didn't realize this, but they'll

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<v Speaker 1>break off from the band and run around the line

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<v Speaker 1>and do all these skits around the field and Virginia

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<v Speaker 1>Tech has their suxophones do the hokey pokey at games

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<v Speaker 1>where they take their suxophones out, put them in, shake

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<v Speaker 1>them all about. Basically, it sounds like, if you're a

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<v Speaker 1>kid who's really into joking around but also into the

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<v Speaker 1>marching bands, you should really take up the sun. That

0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:12.439
<v Speaker 1>makes a lot of sense actually, because it just sounds fun.

0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.240
<v Speaker 1>All right. So this is a quick one and kind

0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.200
<v Speaker 1>of a gross one. So have you ever seen a

0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:22.600
<v Speaker 1>Macedonian gadget? Let me, I was prepared for you to say, now,

0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.760
<v Speaker 1>so I'm gonna pull up this up this picture for you.

0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.680
<v Speaker 1>Here it is. Is he holding a goat? Yeah? So

0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.560
<v Speaker 1>a gadget is strange because you actually keep the animal

0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:36.439
<v Speaker 1>kind of intact, like the skin becomes the wind bag,

0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:39.640
<v Speaker 1>and sometimes, like in this version, they keep the animal's

0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.959
<v Speaker 1>head or hoofs attached. And these are found all over

0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:47.120
<v Speaker 1>the region and Greece and Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania. But the

0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:50.440
<v Speaker 1>sound is a lot like a bagpipe, Like it's just

0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.120
<v Speaker 1>one that a fan of taxidermy might have around their home,

0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.840
<v Speaker 1>you know, which seems like a particular person who both

0:11:56.880 --> 0:11:59.840
<v Speaker 1>likes taxidermy and the sounded bag. You know, yeah, there

0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.040
<v Speaker 1>there is a there's a cross section of those people

0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.160
<v Speaker 1>out there. So we still got two more facts to go.

0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:22.440
<v Speaker 1>But let's take a little break first. All right, to mego,

0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.839
<v Speaker 1>I know today's shows all about weird instruments, and you're

0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:27.040
<v Speaker 1>actually just telling me about this cool show you saw

0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:31.600
<v Speaker 1>at the Guggenheim. I guess it was this this past summer, right, Yeah,

0:12:31.640 --> 0:12:34.520
<v Speaker 1>so I've actually forgotten about this until we started talking today.

0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.679
<v Speaker 1>But there was this exhibit of all these Chinese artists

0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:40.839
<v Speaker 1>called One Hand Clapping at the Gugenheim, and the art

0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.960
<v Speaker 1>was fascinating, like, uh, there was a VR thing where

0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.240
<v Speaker 1>you actually are the basketball and Jeremy Lynn is dribbling

0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.640
<v Speaker 1>you around and then shoots you as a three pointers.

0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.680
<v Speaker 1>It's insane and you're just sort of like flying through

0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.640
<v Speaker 1>the air and you feel yourself going through the net.

0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.520
<v Speaker 1>It's amazing. But there are all these incredible installations and things,

0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.199
<v Speaker 1>and the thing that really kind of stuck with me

0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:05.319
<v Speaker 1>was from this artist named Sampson Young. He had this

0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.840
<v Speaker 1>giant mouthpiece that was just put on the wall and

0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.240
<v Speaker 1>he had molded it for an enormous brass instrument, and

0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:14.600
<v Speaker 1>if you built the rest of that trumpet. I guess

0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:16.720
<v Speaker 1>it would have been like twenty ft long and about

0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:20.160
<v Speaker 1>eight or nine feet high, and every five minutes or so,

0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:23.040
<v Speaker 1>there was a concert where he'd created these programs on

0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:25.600
<v Speaker 1>the computer to model the sounds, so it would be

0:13:25.640 --> 0:13:29.240
<v Speaker 1>this like deep booming revelie for that trumpet that would

0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.800
<v Speaker 1>just like kind of shake the room where um he

0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.640
<v Speaker 1>had invented this bugle and wondered what it would sound

0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:36.600
<v Speaker 1>like if you blew through it at a temperature of

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.560
<v Speaker 1>three degrees celsius. And it was really cool, but it

0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:43.720
<v Speaker 1>was like a It was this mix of super fantastical

0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.400
<v Speaker 1>and whimsical instruments that you could never build in real life,

0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.120
<v Speaker 1>but with real sounds generated from computers. It was a

0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.280
<v Speaker 1>really funny experience. I love the idea that you would

0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:54.080
<v Speaker 1>just be curious, like I wonder what a bugle sounds

0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.840
<v Speaker 1>like when you blow through it at a temperature of

0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.280
<v Speaker 1>three hundred degrees Like this just such a I think

0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.080
<v Speaker 1>he went to m I t hears something. He's he's

0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:03.760
<v Speaker 1>definitely got this scientific mind as well. That's pretty cool.

0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:06.320
<v Speaker 1>I'm curious though, like was the music any good? I

0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.920
<v Speaker 1>mean I wouldn't say good so much as interesting, but

0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.040
<v Speaker 1>but it was definitely worth visiting anyway. But where do

0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:16.600
<v Speaker 1>you want to finish this off? Well, speaking of interesting

0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:20.080
<v Speaker 1>and theoretically possible but also hard to pull off, I

0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.320
<v Speaker 1>feel like we should talk about the Helicopter string Quartet. Now.

0:14:23.360 --> 0:14:27.240
<v Speaker 1>This was written by Karl Heinz Stockhausing and it's got

0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.440
<v Speaker 1>this weird story behind it. So apparently stock Housing got

0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:33.800
<v Speaker 1>this commission for a string quartet and he wasn't that

0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.920
<v Speaker 1>interested in it, but then he had this crazy dream

0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:39.920
<v Speaker 1>where he was at a party and someone snubbed him

0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:42.000
<v Speaker 1>and he was so mad that he flew away, and

0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:45.480
<v Speaker 1>beneath him were these four helicopters that each carried a

0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:48.920
<v Speaker 1>member of a string quartet and they were all playing together.

0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:52.480
<v Speaker 1>So then he has this follow up dream, of course,

0:14:52.520 --> 0:14:55.480
<v Speaker 1>where he wanted to add bees to it. And I

0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:57.120
<v Speaker 1>don't know if the bees ever make it in the

0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.440
<v Speaker 1>real performance, but he liked that extra bu thing they

0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.560
<v Speaker 1>added to the helicopter rotors. I think, of course, you know,

0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.920
<v Speaker 1>this is how you dream when you're a brilliant composer.

0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:09.400
<v Speaker 1>But the piece he finally wrote is this elaborate and

0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.480
<v Speaker 1>very expensive to perform thing. But basically it starts out

0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:16.480
<v Speaker 1>in a music hall with four pillars, and for some

0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:19.720
<v Speaker 1>reason you need the pillars. And then the members walk

0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:24.200
<v Speaker 1>into four helicopters and take off and circle a radius

0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:27.320
<v Speaker 1>of six kilometers around the hall. And this is all

0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.320
<v Speaker 1>televised down to the audience. Not Also, every helicopter needs

0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.440
<v Speaker 1>a sound technician in it so that the sounds of

0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.160
<v Speaker 1>the choppers are blended with the sounds of the quartet.

0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.840
<v Speaker 1>And I know this all sounds very confusing, and it

0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:43.680
<v Speaker 1>is very very confusing, but it's also fantastic. And the

0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:45.880
<v Speaker 1>gist of it is, if you're writing a composition and

0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.880
<v Speaker 1>you don't have helicopters in it, you're probably just not

0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:53.280
<v Speaker 1>thinking big enough, you know, Mango, Yeah, that's probably true.

0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.320
<v Speaker 1>I feel like it is a good way to get

0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.600
<v Speaker 1>people into classical music though, right, Like, if you're into helicopters,

0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:02.640
<v Speaker 1>you should be into music this But you know, because

0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:04.760
<v Speaker 1>you did a composition, I think I'm gonna end mind

0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:06.840
<v Speaker 1>with a weird composition as well. And this one's by

0:16:06.920 --> 0:16:09.960
<v Speaker 1>John Cage who composed four thirty three, which is that

0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.000
<v Speaker 1>composition of total silence and it's performed at a piano

0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.640
<v Speaker 1>with no sound. You know, that was a response to music.

0:16:15.680 --> 0:16:17.840
<v Speaker 1>The story is actually fascinating. People should look it up.

0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.520
<v Speaker 1>But I wanted to talk about a different song he wrote,

0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:23.520
<v Speaker 1>and this one's called as Slow as Possible, And while

0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.880
<v Speaker 1>it's meant to be played slowly, there's really no specification

0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:29.720
<v Speaker 1>on just how slow it should go. So the slowest

0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.480
<v Speaker 1>current performance of this starting in two thousand one at

0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:35.400
<v Speaker 1>this old church in Germany, and it's supposed to end

0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:39.520
<v Speaker 1>in so it's actually gonna take six hundred thirty nine

0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:42.040
<v Speaker 1>years to perform, and if you visit the church, you'll

0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.920
<v Speaker 1>actually have to wait a few months before accord even changes.

0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:47.840
<v Speaker 1>So you know, it's momentous when it does, and people

0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:50.640
<v Speaker 1>are excited when that happens. But apparently the reason they

0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:54.440
<v Speaker 1>chose that length of six nine years is partially because

0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:56.880
<v Speaker 1>that's about the lifespan they could hope for for a

0:16:56.920 --> 0:17:01.200
<v Speaker 1>newly refurbished organ, and the instrument might breakdown after that point.

0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.320
<v Speaker 1>But you know, if that was the case, they might

0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.400
<v Speaker 1>actually have tried to drag it out for longer. That's

0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.320
<v Speaker 1>pretty great. Well, you know, I like the fact that

0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.720
<v Speaker 1>you've given us something to look forward to over the

0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.000
<v Speaker 1>next six d and thirty nine years. You know, we

0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.520
<v Speaker 1>can check in on it every year. See how it's going. So, um,

0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:19.080
<v Speaker 1>you know what I think. I'm going to give you

0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.679
<v Speaker 1>today's fact Off Trophy. Congratulations. That sounds great. Thank you

0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.359
<v Speaker 1>so much, and thanks as always to Eaves Jeff Code

0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.880
<v Speaker 1>for her brilliant research. Thank you guys for listening. We'll

0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.720
<v Speaker 1>be back with a full length episode tomorrow