Violin Phase - Your Art History Reference Guide!

ArtHistoryClub Information Site on Violin Phase Art History Art History Search        Art History Browse             News        Gallery        Forums        Articles        Weblinks        welcome to our free resource site for all art history lovers!

Violin Phase

Violin Phase, written by minimalist composer Steve Reich in 1967, is an example of his phasing technique previously used in Piano Phase in which the music itself is created not by the instruments but by interactions of temporal variations on an original melody. Music of this kind is generally referred to as process music.

In Violin Phase, two violins are recorded and played back, together at first. They are then made to go slowly out of sync by slowing one of the tapes. A new melody is formed by the interaction of the two out of sync instruments and is then accented by a third violin. This process is repeated with variations throughout the rest of the piece.

See also: Piano Phase

Last updated: 01-04-2007 01:18:57
The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the
GNU Free Documentation License. See original document.
Art History Search | Art History Browse | Contact | Legal info