Composer of the Week

Reich’s writing often incorporates the use of canon, a compositional technique familiar to most.  What he refers to as phasing came from an experiment he conducted attempting to get two tape recorders to play back as identically as possible.  Sure enough, they played back almost in unison, prompting him to consider the chances of the occurrence and how long it might take for it to begin to pull apart.

This idea of phasing is simple with electronics, as it is fairly straight-forward to calibrate technology to produce a desired result.  However, Reich was at one point convinced this could not exist with acoustic instruments played by humans.  As another experiment, he decided to act as a “second tape recorder” and after recording a pattern that would eventually become Piano Phase he started in unison with the recording and slowly tried to get ahead of it.  The experiment ultimately worked, the outcome being the realization of the ability of humans to phase rhythmically, an initially unnatural instinct for most of us.

Ultimately, phasing takes on a similar life as the most basic canon.  In its most basic form, a canon consists of a musical idea followed by a second version of itself offset by a chosen number of beats.  Likewise, the phasing in Reich’s music, or in any music where this technique is employed, begins with a basic musical idea and is followed with a second version of itself gradually progressing towards a desired product (i.e., a pattern offset by a sixteenth-note, eighth-note, etc.).  The difference lies in the method by which each is achieved:  canon in two-measure phrases is inherent in the composition, and phasing is achieved through changes in tempo gradually over a period of time.

The video below illustrates the concept of phasing both musically and visually.  This choreography set to Reich’s Piano Phase is outstanding and as you watch and listen, you begin to understand the idea of time being a construct.  Within that construct things are set in motion, and given proper life within the construct, will fall in and out of perfect relationships with each other (i.e., phasing).

Some Reading On the Topic

An excellent article by Paul Epstein appeared in The Musical Quarterly in 1986.  Entitled, “Pattern Structure and Process in Steve Reich’s “Piano Phase,” it not only dissects the formal process of creating the phases, but also explains the phenomenon of phasing in terms comprehensible by most with any sort of musical training.  It is available online through JSTOR (you must have access through a university or other scholarly organization), and the citation follows below.

Epstein, Paul.  “Pattern Structure and Process in Steve Reich’s “Piano Phase.”  The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 4. (1986): 494-50.