Freesound Forums

The famous composer Ligeti died on June 12th, 2006. This space is too small to explain who he was and what he did, but have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Ligeti . I would like to create a collaborative work in his honor, on Freesound.

In 1962 Ligeti created the work "Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po%C3%A8me_Symphonique_for_100_metronomes

My proposal for freesound:

1. switch on your recording gear and start recording!
2. select a BPM which is not already selected (see below)
3. set your -mechanical- metronome to this speed.
4. wind up your metronome, you don't have to wind it up fully! put it on a reverberant surface (wooden table, piano, guitar, ...)
5. record the metronome until it stops.
6. upload the sound and tag it with "metronome" and "ligeti" next to the other tags and description. tell us something about the metronome!
7. post in this thread telling us the BPM you used.

The "winding up" of the metronome is an important aspect of the sound, by the way.

As "soon" as we reach 100 metronomes, I will mix all the recordings to create one big collaborative ode to Ligeti. But, I'll make some previews once in a while to see how we're going!

Please, if you have a metronome, help me out.

- bram

Cool, I'll try to find my old metronome and record something. No processing, no effects, just the click-clack???

PS,
Ligeti is not in my favourites list but anyway. I wish something similar was done the year Frank Zappa died

yes, no procesing, just the windup and then click-clack click-clack click-clack click-clack click-clack click-clack until it stops.

Oh and here's a video of a performance:
http://ubu.wfmu.org/video/Ligeti-Gyorgy_Poeme-Symphonique-For-100-Metronomes.avi

- bram

I will also look for an old metronome. A friend of my has one - and upload it soon ..

should this be Stereo or Mono? What is required?

-erdie

mono please.

- bram

It is finished now - in mono.

what an awesome idea! i'll record my metronome tomorrow.

i just hope enough people pitch in - surely there must be 100 users here with metronomes? if not we could do multiple takes of the same metronome, but that's cheating.

i really like the idea of all those different metronomes recorded in separate spaces, etc., being brought together... that could really add a new dimension to the piece that it's probably never had before.

ok, i've uploaded my metronome track. it's at about 140.7 bpm (just where the metronome happened to be set when i picked it up). i tried a bunch of resonating surfaces, but ended up just sitting it on a wooden floor.

by the way, if you're going to eventually mix 100 files together, it will be much easier if they are all at the same sample rate! i used 44100 Hz - do you have a preference?