Third Coast Percussion: John Cage

Explore John Cage’s music in a whole new way with this new app designed by Third Coast Percussion.

The year 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Cage’s birth. Musicians, artists, and fans around the world are celebrating this momentous occasion. Third Coast Percussion, a Chicago-based ensemble, is commemorating the centenary by releasing an album of Cage’s percussion music on Mode Records. The four musicians of Third Coast Percussion designed this iPhone app with Joseph Genden to give everyone a chance to perform Cage’s music.

John Cage was one of the most extraordinary musicians, artists, and philosophers of the 20th century. His music and his writings have had a tremendous impact on art and the avant-garde both at home in the United States and abroad. As a young man, Cage dedicated himself to writing music for percussion instruments, organizing some of the first classical music concerts for only percussion instruments.

Cage wrote Quartet, his first piece for percussionists, in 1935. The piece can be performed with any instruments or sounds. With this app, you can choose from a catalogue of sounds from Cage’s percussion music or record your own sounds to create your own custom version of the piece.

Features:
-sampled sounds from Third Coast Percussion’s upcoming DVD/CD of John Cage’s percussion music
-ability to record your own sounds
-playback the 4th movement of John Cage’s Quartet with your selection of the sampled sounds, or your own custom-recorded sounds
-info about John Cage and his music