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John Cage Williams Mix 23A

by Medio Mutante

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition boxed set includes eight monaural, single-sided 7" lathe cut records at 33 1/3 rpm. The records are cut in realtime on vintage 1950s equipment, so please expect POOR fidelity. Each record is one of the eight channels of the piece and can be played back simultaneously on as many turntables as can be rounded up. The box also includes 8 mini posters with collage artwork by Dalma Habony and booklet written by Medio Mutante.

    Includes unlimited streaming of John Cage Williams Mix 23A via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 10  7 remaining
    Purchasable with gift card

      $100 USD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $5 USD  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    9
    releases

    Get all 9 Medio Mutante releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of John Cage Williams Mix 23A, This Is "Entertainment"!, The Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress of Art Yelling, Model Citizens, Tapes, Drum Machines & Synthesizers, 800%, Suicide, and 1 more. , and , .

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1.
Williams Mix 23A (Stereo Version) 04:16
2.
Williams Mix 23A (Binaural Version) 04:16
3.
Williams Mix 23A Channels 1 & 5 (Mono Pair Version 1/4) 04:16
4.
Williams Mix 23A Channels 2 & 6 (Mono Pair Version 2/4) 04:16
5.
Williams Mix 23A Channels 3 & 7 (Mono Pair Version 3/4) 04:16
6.
Williams Mix 23A Channels 4 & 8 (Mono Pair Version 4/4) 04:16
7.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 1 (Stereo Channels Version 1/8) 04:16
8.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 2 (Stereo Channels Version 2/8) 04:16
9.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 3 (Stereo Channels Version 3/8) 04:16
10.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 4 (Stereo Channels Version 4/8) 04:16
11.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 5 (Stereo Channels Version 5/8) 04:16
12.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 6 (Stereo Channels Version 6/8) 04:16
13.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 7 (Stereo Channels Version 7/8) 04:16
14.
Williams Mix 23A Channel 8 (Stereo Channels Version 8/8) 04:16

about

In 2023 Medio Mutante became the first artist to realize a new version of John Cage's "Williams Mix" for magnetic tape using the original 1952 score. The score is 192 pages long, covers 8 channels of sound, more than 600 sound samples and over 10,000 tape splices.

"Williams Mix" is considered a landmark in the history of electronic music and has had a lasting impact on the development of the genre. It reflects Cage's interest in chance operations and the incorporation of everyday sounds into artistic expression. The piece was created using a variety of techniques, including tape splicing and electronic manipulation and required collaboration with engineers and technicians to bring his vision to life. The result is a complex and dynamic work that challenges traditional notions of music and composition. The piece remains a significant example of Cage's innovative and experimental approach to music composition.

For "Williams Mix 23A" (so named because the project was finished 2023 in Austin) Medio Mutante used vintage 1950s tape machines, traditional tape splicing techniques and a new library of samples combined with electronic processing of sounds to create a faithful but unique version of the work. A detailed documentary video of the process is available on Medio Mutante's YouTube channel: youtu.be/h1G8EljAfPA

The finished piece is available as a boxed set of 8 records of the individual channels, or digitally in mixed and individual channel versions.

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A note about the versions:

Stereo Version: The most straightforward way to listen to the piece, this "fixed" version has been mixed down directly from the raw reel-to-reel tape channels.

Ambisonics Version: Ambisonics mix of the channels, packaged as an MP4 file. Bandcamp does not allow previewing of MP4, so it has been included as a "bonus" file that will be delivered in the ZIP upon purchase. Spatialization was designed for a B-format third order Ambisonics system with at least 16 loudspeakers.

Binaural Version: Additional psychoacoustic spatialization has been added to the raw channels, probably best listened to with headphones.

Mono Pair Version: Cage's original piece was cut on mono equipment and designed for simultaneous playback on eight mono tape machines with eight loudspeakers, or four stereo machines with eight loudspeakers. This version has eight mono channels panned hard left/right between four files and can be played back from any quartet of suitable/available devices. The four files are named 1/4-4/4.

Stereo Channels Version: These eight files are the raw audio capture of the channels of spliced reel-to-reel tape used in the creation of this piece. Can be played back simultaneously on eight devices with speakers placed in any desired configuration. The eight files are named 1/8-8/8.

For all multichannel versions: Placement of speakers and synchronization of channel playback did not bother Cage, so don't worry about it. Some ideas for playback are included with the download ZIP as "bonus" files.

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A note about the limited edition record box set:

The boxed set includes eight monaural 7" lathe cut records at 33 1/3 rpm. The records are cut in realtime on vintage 1950s equipment, so please expect POOR fidelity. Each record is one of the eight channels of the piece and is named 1/8-8/8. The box also includes 8 mini posters with collage artwork by Dalma Habony and booklet written by Medio Mutante. Physical box set also includes the full digital download with all multichannel versions and bonus items.

The records can be played back simultaneously on as many turntables as can be rounded up. The booklet includes ideas for equipment and playback placement.

Limited edition of 10.

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credits

released February 9, 2024

(p) 2023 by Medio Mutante
Composed by: John Cage (1952, by permission of the John Cage Trust)
Artwork by: Dalma Habony
Realized for tape by: Seth Nemec

This work was made possible with a cultural grant from the city of Austin, Texas; the assistance of Laura Kuhn of the John Cage Trust; the John Cage Music Manuscript Collection at the NYPL; and the generous assistance of Professor Tom Erbe of UCSD.

The writings of John Cage, Terence Dwyer, Barry Schrader, Volker Straebel, Mark Davenport, and Jennifer Iverson were also of great help during the splicing of this piece.

Spatial mixes were created using Envelop's freeware E4L suite of tools.

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