Metaphors of Accumulation in Pieces for Tape, Vinyl and Digital Sound: Addressing the Sonic Experiences of Alvin Lucier, Christian Marclay and John Oswald

Reproduction processes often question our understanding of meaning and representation in the technological arts. As such, so do recording technologies disrupt boundaries between composer/author, performer/reader, and score/text. In doing so, these methods have sparked a debate devoted to questioning the difference between original and replica, which is still central to the understanding of the relations between culture and technology. Reproduction furthermore leads to accumulation, copies, imitations, and parodies. This paper addresses three musical pieces which were performed using recording technologies, in ways other than those determined by their original configuration. I will be looking at pieces for tape, vinyl records, and digital sound, in which the reference to the reproduction process expands into metaphors of accumulation, consumerism, and the consumption of technology.