Test yourself: Can you tell the difference between music and noise? - Hanako Sawada

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

In 1960, American composer John Cage went on national television

1960 年，

美國作曲家約翰‧凱吉

上全國電視網分享他最新的作品。

to share his latest work.

But rather than employing traditional instruments,

但凱吉用的不是傳統樂器，

Cage appeared surrounded by household clutter,

他帶出場的是家中的雜物，

including a bathtub, ice cubes, a toy fish, a pressure cooker,

包括一個澡盆、冰塊、

一隻玩具魚、一個壓力鍋、

a rubber duck, and several radios.

一隻橡膠鴨子，以及幾台收音機。

Armed with these tools and a stopwatch, he performed “Water Walk,”

他用這些工具和一個碼錶，

演奏了《水之行》，

setting off a series of sounds with a serious expression

他面帶嚴肅的表情， 以不可思議的精確度

and incredible precision.

觸發了一連串的聲音。

Some viewers found the performance hysterical,

有些觀眾覺得這場表演很歡鬧，

while others thought it was completely absurd.

其他觀眾則覺得根本荒唐至極。

But most people watching likely shared the same question:

但大部分看表演的人 心中都有一個問題：

is this even music?

這算得上是音樂嗎？

This question is harder to answer than you might think.

這個問題可能比你 想像的還要難回答。

What we determine as music often depends on our expectations.

我們對音樂的認定， 通常取決於我們的期望。

For example, imagine you’re in a jazz club listening

比如，想像你在一間爵士俱樂部裡，

to the rhythmic honking of horns.

聽著有節奏的喇叭聲，

Most people would agree that this is music.

大部分人會認同這是音樂。

But if you were on the highway hearing the same thing, many would call it noise.

但如果你在高速公路上 聽到同樣的聲音，

許多人會稱之為噪音。

After all, car horns aren’t instruments

畢竟，汽車喇叭不是樂器，

and these drivers aren’t musicians... right?

且這些駕駛不是音樂家……對吧？

Expectations like these influence how we categorize everything we hear.

像這樣的期望，會影響 我們如何將聽到的聲音分類。

We typically think something sounds more musical

我們通常會認為 有這些條件才是有音樂性：

if it uses a recognizable structure or popular sounds

使用可識別的結構

或常見的聲音

arranged in well-known patterns.

用眾所皆知的模式來編排。

And even within the realm of music,

就連在音樂界，

we expect certain genres to use specific instruments and harmonies.

我們也會預期某些類型的音樂 要用特定的樂器與和音。

These expectations are based on existing musical traditions,

這些期望的根據是既有的音樂傳統，

but those traditions aren't set in stone.

但那些傳統並非一成不變的。

They vary across different cultures and time periods.

在不同的文化和時代中， 那些傳統也有所不同。

And in the early 20th century,

在二十世紀初，

when many artists were pushing the boundaries of their fields,

許多藝術家在突破自己領域的界線，

John Cage wanted to discover what new kinds of music might exist

約翰‧凱吉想要去探索

在那些限制之外可能存在有 什麼樣的新型音樂，

beyond those constraints.

He began pioneering new instruments that blurred the lines

他開始帶頭創造新樂器，

模糊了藝術和日常生活之間的界線，

between art and everyday life,

and used surprising objects to reinvent existing instruments.

也用讓人意想不到的物品

來重新發明既有的樂器。

He also explored new ways for music to mingle with other art forms.

他也去探索音樂和其他 藝術形式交融的新方式。

He and his creative and romantic partner, Merce Cunningham,

他和他的創意夥伴 兼伴侶摩斯‧康寧漢

held recitals where Cage’s music and Cunningham’s choreography

會舉辦表演，且凱吉的 音樂和康寧漢的編舞

would be created independently before being performed together.

是先獨立創作再一起呈現的。

But whatever his approach,

不論用什麼方式，

Cage gleefully dared listeners to question the boundaries between music and noise,

凱吉欣然挑戰聽眾， 去質疑音樂和噪音間的界線，

as well as sound and silence.

以及聲音和寂靜間的界線。

Perhaps the best example is one of Cage’s most famous compositions—

最好的例子可能是凱吉 最著名的作品之一——

a solo piano piece consisting of nothing but musical rests

一首鋼琴獨奏曲，

單單由音樂休止符組成，

for four minutes and 33 seconds.

整整四分鐘三十三秒皆是如此。

This wasn’t intended as a prank, but rather, as a question.

它不是個惡作劇，而是個問題。

Could the opening and closing of a piano lid be music?

打開和閡上鋼琴蓋子的聲音 可以成為音樂嗎？

What about the click of a stopwatch?

碼錶的滴答聲呢？

The rustling, and perhaps even the complaining, of a crowd?

群眾的喧嘩聲，甚至抱怨聲呢？

Like the white canvases of his painting peers,

如同他同輩的畫家使用的白畫布，

Cage asked the audience to question their expectations about what music was.

凱吉要聽眾去質疑 他們對於音樂樣貌的期望。

And while the piece didn’t evoke the drama of some traditional compositions,

雖然這件作品沒有引起 傳統作品的戲劇效果，

it certainly elicited a strong emotional response.

但它確實引發了強烈的情緒反應。

Cage’s work frequently prioritized these spontaneous, ephemeral experiences

凱吉的創作通常會優先考量 這些即興、短暫的體驗，

over precise, predictable performances.

而非精準、可預測的演出。

He even developed processes that left some compositional decisions up to chance.

他甚至開發出流程，將一些 作曲決策交到機運的手中。

One of his favorite such systems was the I Ching,

這類系統中，他最喜歡的 其中之一是《易經》，

an ancient Chinese divination text.

中國古代的占卜經文。

Using just a handful of coins,

易經只要用幾個硬幣就能讓讀者

the I Ching allows readers to produce a pattern of lines

產生出線條的模式，

which can be interpreted to answer questions and offer fortunes.

詮釋這個模式就可以 解答問題和提供運勢。

But Cage adapted these patterns into a series of tables

但凱吉把這些模式 改編成一連串的表格，

that generated different musical durations, tempos, and dynamics.

產生出不同的音樂 時間長度、速度，和動態。

Eventually, he even used early computers to help produce these random parameters.

最終，他甚至用早期的電腦 來協助產生這些隨機參數。

For some pieces, Cage went even further,

在一些作品中，凱吉還更進一步，

offering musicians incomplete compositions notated with broad instructions,

提供不完整的樂曲給音樂家，

用廣泛的指示來譜曲，

allowing them to compose on the fly with the help of his guidelines.

讓他們根據他的指南來即興創作。

Some composers rejected Cage's seemingly careless approach.

有些作曲家會抵制凱吉 這種看似草率的方式，

They believed it was the composer’s job to organize sound and time

他們相信作曲家的工作本來就包括

針對特定且有意義的目的 來組織編排聲音和時間，

for a specific, intentional purpose.

After all, if these strange compositions were music,

畢竟，若這些奇怪的創作算是音樂，

then where do we draw the line?

那我們該如何劃界線？

But like a bold explorer, Cage didn't want to be bound by restrictions,

但，就如同大膽的探險家，

凱吉不想被限制給束縛，

and he certainly didn't want to follow old rules.

他肯定不想因循舊規則。

He dedicated himself to shattering our expectations,

他致力於打破我們的預期，

creating a series of once in a lifetime experiences

創造一連串一生只有一次的體驗，

that continue encouraging musicians and audiences

持續鼓勵音樂家和觀眾

to embrace the unexpected.

去擁抱意想不到的事物。