Good morning.

Today we’re listening to Pauline Oliveros, an American composer and multi-instrumentalist from Houston, Texas. We’ve recommended Oliveros twice before. Beginning in the 1960s, Oliveros pioneered compositional techniques using tape recordings and novel transistor-based instruments. She innovated music production as well as music consumption, writing about “deep listening” and its mysterious, revelatory, and creative effects:

Deep Listening is listening in every possible way, to everything it’s possible to hear, no matter what you are doing. Such intense listening includes the sounds of daily life, of nature, or one’s own thoughts, as well as musical sounds.

Deep Listening represents a heightened state of awareness and connects to all that there is. As a composer I make my music through Deep Listening.¹

First we’re playing the 1989 record Deep Listening, which was recorded in a spacious cistern in the Pacific Northwest with trombonist Stuart Dempster and singer Panaiotis. We’re also playing Reverberations, a compilation of 11+ hours of recordings from Oliveros’ early experimental years.

Deep Listening - Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, & Panaiotis (60m, the vocals are effectively instrumental)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

Reverberations: Tape & Electronic Music 1961-1970 - Pauline Oliveros (690m, no vocals)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube Music / Amazon Music / Tidal

We wish you a great start to your week.