A G ide to lohfl Cage's "Carbidge Masic"
Nicolas Collins
Cage's score consists of the following material:
.
.
.
.
.
.
An instruction
sheet.
20 numbered paper she€ts bearing amoeba-like shapes.
A transparent sheet with solid black dots.
A transparent sheet with a curved dotted line.
A tran.sparent sheet with small circles.
A transparmt sheet with a circle marked like a stopwatch,
In addition you must gather:
.
1 crystal phono cartridge (or substihrte
see #18: "Note on Making phono
Cartridges") for every 1 or 2 perforrners.
.
1 channel of anplification for each cartridge; this can be one discrete pA
charmel ( arnplifier & speaker) or a guitar/bass/keyboard amp, but must be
strong and loud.
. Optionally, some contact microphones.
. Materials for inserting into the cartridges to make sounds.
1) Select the amoeba sheet (paper)
corresponding to the number of
cartridges used in the performance
(number in lower left hand comer, or
counL I amoeba per cartridge.) Assign
each amoeba to one cartridge (you may
wish to write a number in
each
amoeba)
Q;c
2) Place transparent sheet with solid
black dots on top of the amoeba sheet
in any position.
a)
t-1,)
3) Place the transparent sheet with
dotted line on top of the previous two
sheets in such a way that:
a) The circle at the end of the
dotted line contains one of the
black dots that lies outside an
amoeba;
b) The dotted line croeseg at least
one black dot within an amoeba.
4) Place the transparent sheet with
cirdes on top oI the previous three
sheets
.o
in any position.
^o
o
5)
Place the transparent sheet with
stopwltch on top of the previous fow
in any position.
(
6) Trace the dotted line from either
end to the other. Where it crosses i4lle
the stopwatch indicates the start time
of an action over the course of a 60
second intervali where it crosses ett! of
the stopwatch indicates the end time
for that action. Multiple htersections
of the dotted line with the stopwakh
indicate rnultiple events within the
minute.
o?
l-
,'
el.t
lV" U^cl
>r" el."l
S-
I
',1
e-,,101
I{ the dotted line crosses a black dot
Icilhi4 an amoeba, male a sound with
an obiect inserted into the
corresponding cartridge- Choose
obiects that can be inserted into the
openingi wire, broom straw,
toothpicks, springs. strings, cactus
7)
a"r)
needles, pipe deaners, twigs, etc,
If the dotted line crosses a black dot
outside an amoeba, make a sound that
does gE! use an object inserted into the
cartridge. This can be purely acoustic
(shout, play piano, etc.); or the
cartridge can be used as a contact mike
by placing it on an object; or an
additional contact mike can be used.
Thes€ are called "auxiliary sounds.
8)
..".1,'7 4^-l
h
If
the dotted line crosses a circle
gilhi! an .moeba, intefpret it as an
indication of the setting of the volume
9)
control for that cartridge.
=o""o
'/.{,lluJ"., o#
If the dotted line crosses d circle
asllidc an amoeba, interpret it as an
indication of the setting of the !g&
10)
egttrql for the cartddge corresponding
to the amoeba nearest to the cirde.
[The voluqre and tgsg indications are
based on Hili or Guitar Amp rotary
controls -- if you are using a mixer
with slide faders and more
sophisticated EQ you will have to
convert between Cage's graphic
representation and your equipment.l
x\
tY fn-=oh.*'
-'
a...rt.s
. ui.f
*."tle-
If the dotted line croases a blackdot
or a circle within a loqp caused by the
dotted line crossing itself, play a
repetitive pattern or lggp (you can
prepare a tape loop or use a digital
delay to produce a loop.) Otherwise
you should try to qyqid playing
rhythmically. If the intersection
occurs 1g!$!g an aanoeba perform the
11)
repetitive action with
(o
lo, g
-(
the
corresponding cartridge; if it occure
ggbide the amoeba use "auxibary
sounds."
13) When a circle is intersected by both
.
the dotted line and the outline of an
amoeba- chanse the obiect inserted
\'. onto
e
.t3*i
in
the corresponding cartridge. The
soulds produced by changing the
obiect are an acceptable part of the
performance.
I
13) There may be multiple time
brackets indicated within the minute,
some of extremely short duration.
Some instructions may be inpossible
to execute in the time allotted. Do the
best ybu can but do not exceed the
aUotted times.
14) When the intersection of lirres,
dots & ctsl€s is ambiSuous, sel€ct one
irtefpretation, several irterpretations,
or none.
oL -o b'
t'L'l+
Zs'- 9z
t+ -ta
'tz-'tB
-, -O".O
15) Each arrangement of the sheets indicates the actions taken during one minute.
Transcribed all information from one arrangement of the sheets into whatever
form necessary to guide your performance (chart, timeline, graphic score, prose list
etc.) Then re-arrange them and repeat steps 1-15. Repeat untiLyou have completed
one arangement for every minute of the performance (ie, 15 permutatione of the
sheets for a 15 urirute performance.)
continuousl], within each "time bracket:" if the intersection of
dotted line and arnoeba indicates starting at 05" and ending at 54" you may choose to
make one short sound at 1ff'.
16) You need not play
natue of the changes in volume and tone, the
loudness of the perfoturance may swing violently between inaudible and very loud.
As Cage says, "all events normally thought to be undesirable, such as feed-bac!
humrning, howling etc., ate to be accepted in this situation."
17) Due to the quasi-indeterminate
18) Notes for Making Phono Cartridges
Old-fashioned ceramic or crystal phono carhidges sudr as thoee used by Cage in 1960
are currently hard to obtain An effective substitute can be made by wiring up a
piezo-electric disk as a contact microphone and adding a carkidge-gpe screw-down
mechanical connectioni
Solder a one end of a shielded
cable to the leads from the disk,
insuring that the shield is
conne€ted to the metal substrate
of the disk, while the center
conductor is connected to the
cenkal crystal elemeart. Insulate
the disk by covering the crystal
portion with eleckical tape or
coating the entire disk and a few
centimeters
of wire
with
"PlastiDip."
Solder the other end of the cable
to a plug appropriate to your
sound system (such as that at
the end of a guitat cable.) Make
sure you solder the inner
conductor to the hot cormector
("tip") andshield to the glound
("sleave.")
*op
Cut a strip of molex-type screw
terminal connector into
a
section of 2 units (4 screws.)
Clamp
it to the disk with a
small spring clamp.
Obiects can be inserted into the
screw-terminal openings as if
they were phonograph needles,
and secured by tightening the
screws. You can connect 4
different performance obtects at
once, which lets you switch
obiects quickly (see #13 above.)
l
,,de
rg