Beat Stretch Response

BEAT STRETCH

     When we got this assignment I was a little apprehensive because I thought it would be really strange listening to a classical song such as this slowed way way down. I listened to the disk before going to bed and put it on track 3 like Andre suggested helping ease into it with a more mellow part. When the first song came on I was expecting to hear something right away, and nothing happened. So I checked the volume on my computer and it was up all the way. Then I realized that the sound may take a little while to get started, and sure enough after a few more seconds a very slow paced and soothing sound began to emanate from the speakers. The sound seemed to be one note that kept building but it really showed no resemblance to the original song like I had expected.

     After a little while of listening to the song (maybe 10 minutes or so) I just totally let myself go and tried to think of nothing and only feel the music. In doing so I felt myself going into sort of a trancelike state. The sound was making me feel as if I was flying over a rolling field of wheat or a green grassy countryside. It was a very peaceful and surreal feeling. The changes in this section all were pretty subtle but you could definitely tell there were different crescendos and valleys in the song. Instead of being only one body of work, it seemed like there were many different little soundtracks being played back to back. I could see this being played as many different pieces for many different films.

      It really amazes me the sound you get when everything is slowed down to this extreme. It sort of sounds like a revelation is taking place right there in front of you, I can envision space and the final frontier while listening to this piece. The notes that hold longer and are a little more screeching tend to get monotonous after a while. They leave me wanting for an end result of excitement or an upbeat tempo instead of more of the same slow paced blissful feeling.

      After listening on for about an hour and a half, I must have dozed off. When I awoke at about the three-hour mark or so there was a big change happening in the mood and feeling of the song. It began to get very loud and intense, and left me with a feeling of something big was about to happen. This must have been the reason I woke up. Although there were very subtle changes to the song throughout, there was really only one major shift in the four hours or so of this part three, which surprised me.