<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: [CAUT] John Cage, "The Earth Shall Bear Again"</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> On 10/5/05 11:36 AM, "Jeff Tanner" <jtann= er@mozart.sc.edu> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE> Question is this: the instructions give exact distance from the damper to = place the screws, bolts, etc. How much does piano make and model affect wha= t Cage was after? (I mean, really, was there really a method to his madness= ? or was this guy just really doing some serious d-basing?) When he says &q= uot;bamboo", is it a "slice" of large bamboo or a "tube&= quot; of smaller diameter bamboo (like what he was using to snort coke? mayb= e a doobie holder?)? green or dried? and what is usually used for the &quo= t;plastic" weaved around the low A, Bb, and B? Drink straw maybe? (see= snort) No. I'm sorry. I just can't take this music form seriously. But some peopl= e want to give it merit. Jeff </BLOCKQUOTE> Hi Jeff,     Cage can be a bit of a puzzle. Sorry, I don’t= know the specific piece in question. Usually the instructions say “ap= proximate distance from dampers.” (Sometimes they just say what note).= To be “Cagean” about it, try it out and see what it sounds like= . Then shift it a bit and see what that sounds like. Have an open mind and e= ar, and make a decision based on what works. Yes, of course the make/model/s= cale (mostly length) will have an effect – where along the string the = object is, what overtones are enhanced/suppressed. I suspect Cage worked at = his own piano, which I guess would have been a small grand, maybe 5’6&= #8221; to 6’2” (pure speculation on my part).     Bamboo I would probably interpret as a piece of che= ap chopstick. But I’d need to have the context. Think 40’s and 5= 0’s. What was readily available to folks then?     Plastic? A straw would be a good guess. See what ef= fect it has. Maybe something thicker and harder would be needed to have a no= ticeable effect.     Might be nice to find a recording to see what it so= unds like and try to match. Margaret Leng Tan is an excellent Cage specialis= t, probably recorded his complete works for piano.     You might ask Alan Eder, at CalArts, <ReggaePass= @aol.com>, for further advice. You can ask him in person at next summer&#= 8217;s institute in Rochester, but I guess that’ll be too late for thi= s particular project <g>. Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico PS A good deal of Cage’s music, well-played, is great stuff IMO. Ther= e is a bit of balderdash too, and it got more press, being “outrageous= ” and whatnot. I’m particularly fond of his Sonatas and Interlud= es for piano. </BODY> </HTML>