My Phone's Not Set To Silent, It's Set To Art

from the pretentious dept

Fri, Jan 5th 2007 6:08pm — Carlo Longino

If you weren't already tired of ringtones, this might push you over the edge: an artist has created a ringtone containing four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence to give people a "respite" or serve some other sufficiently artsy purpose. What the guy's really done is rip-off John Cage's 1952 song 4'33", which contained -- yes, you guessed it -- four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. The ringtone artist prefers to use the terms "revisit," "remix" and "remaster", asserting that his digitally produced silence is better than Cage's analog version. Apart from fulfilling the usual stereotypes about conceptual artists, the guy's also inviting a lawsuit, since Cage's publishers tend to think they own the idea of silent songs. Perhaps the real irony here is that the artist doesn't even own a cell phone. If he did, maybe he'd realize that they all pretty much feature a silent mode these days.

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44 Comments

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Steve, 5 Jan 2007 @ 12:39pm

silent ringtone
I want a silent ringtone! I don't want to switch my phone off, but the psycho ex-girlfriend is calling 30 times in a row. Its almost like call blocking without paying fees for it!! Vibrate mode makes noises and silencing the phone would make you miss important business calls. Steve
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Gibson, 5 Jan 2007 @ 6:26pm

No...
It's not silent or art.

It's set to pretentious and self-indulging.
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Alex, 5 Jan 2007 @ 6:51pm

It's actually quite a clever updating of the original concept, if you ask me. No-one ever asks me, though
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misanthropic humanist, 5 Jan 2007 @ 7:16pm

"the guy's also inviting a lawsuit, since Cage's publishers tend to think they own the idea of silent songs."

I'd love to see that conflict go to court. Cage "recorded" 433 on tape and released it on vinyl. That means the "mechanical" would in fact be noise. The remixers assertion would indeed hold up to spectrographic analysis (admissable in music disputes). Not only is it a different product, it is also a "better" version.

Then to add insanity to absurdity, I'd like to see them thrash it out over the score.

Hear that second refrain your honour? Where the unpiano completely fails to harmonise with the total lack of strings? I wrote that bit. Er, I mean I didn't write it... no wait a minute..

Please, please, please let them sue, we need more entertainment of this kind.

btw, Alex, what do you think of this modern interpretation of a classic concept?
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Kaleo, 5 Jan 2007 @ 7:32pm

Silence
Silence, the origional alternative music.
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Brad, 5 Jan 2007 @ 8:24pm

Not a ringtone....
So I want to know what phone this guy doesn't own that allows you to set a 4:33 ringtone? Mine limits me to 30 seconds.

Maybe by "ringtone" this guy means "completely made up"
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Bob, 5 Jan 2007 @ 8:30pm

Free
The summary didn't mention that this ringtone is free. Thankfully no one was foolish enough to actually charge for it, and at the same time it's also called "My Cage". I wonder if this would hold up at all in court, being as how it's a tribue and/or parody plus the lack of profit being made. Things sure will be interesting... but I'm sure all we'll hear about it now is silence.
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moo, 5 Jan 2007 @ 9:09pm

MOO
MOOO,

ok now that ive said that

its just a way to revamp the system -- let ppl take a step back and say -- cool

im sure this artist did 50 other ringtones all notable for being actual art...

oh, btw

moo.
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xmaxx, 5 Jan 2007 @ 9:16pm

oh my
yet another shining example that we have all indeed gone completely bonkers
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Hulser, 5 Jan 2007 @ 9:24pm

Ringtones are rude
Ah, finally an exception to my personal rule that all ringtones are rude. No, I don't want to hear a few seconds of your new favorite song. I don't want to hear a few seconds of some classic pop song, some jingle, or some other bothersome noise. Just put your damn phone on vibrate and keep your noise to yourself.

Never would I have predicted that companies would make millions of dollars by enabling people to more easilly annoy their fellow humans. If you want to express yourself, wear a funny t-shirt, color your hair purple, or pierce something. At least those don't assault our ears. Oh, and get the hell off my lawn!
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- carmen, 7 Jan 2007 @ 11:58am
  
  Re: Ringtones are rude
  I love you. Are you single? I thought I was alone in the world, the only person who despised those customized ringtones.
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- Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2007 @ 7:36pm
  
  Re: Ringtones are rude
  EXACTLY! Where the hell are the good old fashioned "ring ring" tones? All I can find is the digitized crap variations like "Trash Can" or "Metal Bells." I just want to know my phone is ringing, not listen to the latest song they have for the phone. By the way, did I mention I just want a phone? I have this thing called a camera, I don't want to pay extra to have a crap one in my phone. I want my phone to make phone calls, and not cost me $100. Screw rebates too... :)
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Kyros, 5 Jan 2007 @ 10:41pm

This is the sort of thing that encourages stupidity. We really need to make stupid crap like this a crime worthy of death.
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stonr, 5 Jan 2007 @ 11:09pm

cool!
i have 4'33'' in my music folder! it was interesting to find out the kind of stuff he also did after i saw a random wiki.
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Dennis Savage, 5 Jan 2007 @ 11:55pm

Cage's estate went after the previous composer because he had cheekily credited both himself and Cage with composing the piece; the estate wanted their share of the composition royalties.
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Tomas Thoefner, 6 Jan 2007 @ 12:21am

Haven't anyone got a sense of humor?
Please ... It is free, and is of course a kind of tribute to Cage. ("a quote"). A little funny thing, nothing else, and nothing less. What are you people so upset about? Get a life. Get a sense of humor.
(Denmark)
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Peet McKimmie (profile), 6 Jan 2007 @ 4:49am

Out of curiosity...
What noise does it make after the 4'33" to let you know it's finished?
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- curioisty, 8 Jan 2007 @ 9:43pm
  
  Re: Out of curiosity...
  it just makes a silent DUH sound
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Enrico Suarve, 6 Jan 2007 @ 5:41am

Perfect
I love this idea - perhaps this could spawn a whole new genre 'silent teen pop'

They could all sit on the bus in silence and stop annoying the rest of us with the "tss tss tss" of second-hand earphone noise

ahhh ;0)
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- Alex, 6 Jan 2007 @ 1:38pm
  
  Re: Perfect
  This is just the kind of stuff I love to headbang to....
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- bldkcstark, 7 Jan 2007 @ 12:01pm
  
  Re: Perfect
  apparently you did not ride buses during the period before the Walkman, when the teen riders brought the whole boombox. That was first hand noise, not the tss, tss, tss, second hand noise you complain about now.
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  - DUmpster, 7 Jan 2007 @ 2:45pm
    
    Re: Re: Perfect
    You're so poor you have to ride a bus??
    
    hahaha
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Bench, 6 Jan 2007 @ 6:51am

Finally
a ringtone I wouldn't be ashamed to use.

of course, I'm partial to the piece, as (in college, of course) I conducted a performance of 4'33" arranged for Microwave Oven. The hum and beep were a bit of a departure from the original, but I think Cage's intent was still served: how often do you as an individual listener simply sit and listen for four and a half minutes? This becomes even more fascinating when you get a large audience together and get them to sit in "silence" for a few minutes. anyway, it's lazy to dismiss this as a piece of conceptual art "junk" in a world where silence is at such a premium.
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Todd, 6 Jan 2007 @ 7:13am

Okay, How would you know if anyone was calling you?
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Eric the Grey, 6 Jan 2007 @ 8:33am

My question exactly. How would you know if someone called, unless the phone is sitting on the desk in plain view.

Personally, I prefer my own 30 and 60 minutes of silence, followed by an alarm.

I made them using a wav editor on my PC then attached the alarm. It keeps me from dozing off at work for too long...

EtG
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DZmodelman, 6 Jan 2007 @ 8:50am

todd & eric got it right
i read 16 comments thinking what todd was, "how the hell would i hear a silent ringtone??!!" i wouldn't. that's the point. when i go into a meeting, i put my phone on vibrate if i want calls, and silent when i don't.

when cage first introduced this piece to the public, it was about hearing the lady in the 3rd row cough, the guy next to you sniffle, and everyone else get more & more uncomfortable because THEY were now making the soundtrack to the musicians on stage resting. brilliant. the vinyl version was never as good as the live, for the reasons dicussed above - the mechanical hum and clicks of blank phonograh tracks just tells me it's time to flip the disc.

but if i put a 'ringtone' on my phone, it's so that i know when someone is trying to contact me. someone across the conference table is always sniffling or coughing, and if i checked my phone every time, my brain would explode. i can't wait to hear more about this lawsuit.

i can't wait until the next revolution when we kill all the lawyers...
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David, 6 Jan 2007 @ 9:10am

Pooty tang anyone?
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Kamran, 6 Jan 2007 @ 9:58am

WTF
What the hell? I could effing create a blank Audacity file for 20 minutes that contains nothing. How is that art? Or anything? It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard (pun intended).

What the hell?
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[kossori hana.], 6 Jan 2007 @ 11:02am

[this is the same comment i left on wired. the drug comment is for posts made there.]

a friend of mine once wrote "music is composed of sound and silence." i believe him. this ringtone is not music, or even art. i agree that it's a gimmick used to make a point. i dislike things of that nature.

i do however remember hearing about the john cage piece for the first time. i vividly imagined what it would have been like to be there as he composed the silence and the audience composed the sound. people rustling their programs, coughing, scratching an itch, whispering to their company about when the piece is going to start. all the while, he is sitting at the piano poised to begin playing. it would have been like the movie theater before the previews, except more hushed, expectant, and intense. i think i would have enjoyed it.

and btw, i didn't need drugs to use my imagination.
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AAron, 6 Jan 2007 @ 3:06pm

sounds like the most useless ringtone ever. and anyone who considers a song of silence music is a tard
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The Lecturer, 6 Jan 2007 @ 3:30pm

This guy goofed up by calling it a remix. Instead, he should have called it something completely different, and suggested that his music was merely in the same style! The difference is that Cage's music was in 3 movements, there was a visual component (raising and lowering of the piano top) and the music was written down, so it could be performed by other, um...artists. I would argue that while the instrumentation is identical (none) there is otherwise little resemblance between the two pieces.

Both "composers" should be slapped repeatedly for this garbage, anyway...
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James Touchi-Peters, 6 Jan 2007 @ 9:09pm

Actually, Lecturer, as you yourself mentioned, the instrumentation is *not* identical. Cage's piece is written for solo piano; and most importantly, it is *not* complete silence. The sheet music instructs the pianist to hold down the piano's sustain pedal for the title's duration. Cage's idea was that the ambient sound in the room would cause the piano's strings to subtly and indiscriminantly vibrate; sometimes, you can actually hear this! So ultimately, the ringtone actually has nothing to do with Cage's composition at all.

James Touchi-Peters
Conductor Emeritus
Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra, Minneapolis
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DV Henkel-Wallace, 6 Jan 2007 @ 9:20pm

"silent mode" might not be
On my treo, "silent mode" switches to vibrate , which makes a noise, especially if the phone's on a table. A completely silent ringtone would be handy since I'd like to leave the phone on during meetings (so I could later get the caller IDs for missed calls).
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Jan 2007 @ 3:02am

maybe the phone constantly beeps, and then only when someone is calling does it become silent for 4:33. or maybe a better ringtone would be john cage's 639 year piece. brilliant.
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Jordan, 7 Jan 2007 @ 11:14am

humanity fails
All this controversy over freaking silence. Humanity fails once again.
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- trix, 8 Jan 2007 @ 10:59am
  
  Re: humanity fails
  humanity always fails...its like clockwork...one screw up a second
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PhysicsGuy, 7 Jan 2007 @ 11:19am

Re: James Touchi-Peters
it's called resonant entrainment. a string that vibrates with a specific base frequency will begin to vibrate and produce a tone when put near a sound source that shares the same base frequency. while some sound from the audience very well may produce a musical tone i'm not sure the amplitude would be enough to cause the entrainment to occur unless done in a very small room.

Cage's idea was that the ambient sound in the room would cause the piano's strings to subtly and indiscriminantly vibrate. So ultimately, the ringtone actually has nothing to do with Cage's composition at all.

and your source? there are plenty of quotes and documented occasions that lead to the inspiration of this piece, however to proclaim what you do is bordering absurdity. also, have you seen the score? it consists of nothing but I, II, III (indicating the movement) and the word "Tacet" (indicating silence)... there's no pedal indications whether by word or marking.

http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/store/smp_inside.html?cart=337716820012785999&item=100 8430&page=2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:433score.jpg

so, i'm curious, where do you get the idea that there is instructions for pedal use when there is clearly none?
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Rhetoric K. Snare, 7 Jan 2007 @ 3:53pm

Eh, supposed to be funny, no?
First off, Good Grief! the description of the ringtone was clearly tongue in cheek (i.e, it was supposed to be, and in my opinion was, funny). And I agree with the poster who thought this was a clever take on Cage's piece (just a quick take worth a chuckle, nothing elaborate or profound, but still funny).
We shouldn't miss the point -- yes, it does involve a cell phone 'ring tone,' but this would be more about everything outside the cell phone (assuming this truly is an homage) when the cell phone is silent. Etcetera -- more has been pointed out by some of the people who obviously get it [kossori hana, Tomas, Bench, etc.] ; a lot of the rest of the folks need to get a sense of humor and proportion. Take a minute, take a breath, and try to hold your fire for something worthwhile. Politics, the environment, RIAA, MS Vista? Some of you act like the guy has proposed that we we replace our kitchens with magic dogshit fountains that mail money to undeserving artists.
That being said, I just looked at the artist's site. Yeah, maybe a bit pretentious.
And, the Cage publishers suing the guy over the silent track is patently ridiculous. Really.
Cage, on the other hand, and 4'33", I like. Maybe see (because I am too lazy) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
Again, nothing terribly original here, but nothing worthy of anger either, I don't think.
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Rhetoric K. Snare, 7 Jan 2007 @ 3:54pm

Eh, supposed to be funny, no?
First off, Good Grief! the description of the ringtone was clearly tongue in cheek (i.e, it was supposed to be, and in my opinion was, funny). And I agree with the poster who thought this was a clever take on Cage's piece (just a quick take worth a chuckle, nothing elaborate or profound, but still funny).
We shouldn't miss the point -- yes, it does involve a cell phone 'ring tone,' but this would be more about everything outside the cell phone (assuming this truly is an homage) when the cell phone is silent. Etcetera -- more has been pointed out by some of the people who obviously get it [kossori hana, Tomas, Bench, etc.] ; a lot of the rest of the folks need to get a sense of humor and proportion. Take a minute, take a breath, and try to hold your fire for something worthwhile. Politics, the environment, RIAA, MS Vista? Some of you act like the guy has proposed that we we replace our kitchens with magic dogshit fountains that mail money to undeserving artists.
That being said, I just looked at the artist's site. Yeah, maybe a bit pretentious.
And, the Cage publishers suing the guy over the silent track is patently ridiculous. Really.
Cage, on the other hand, and 4'33", I like. Maybe see (because I am too lazy) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
Again, nothing terribly original here, but nothing worthy of anger either, I don't think.
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Mike, 7 Jan 2007 @ 8:52pm

As I recall this ringtone was posted more in a satirical nature.
I sincerely hope I heard wrong, otherwise, the poster here at techdirt will look quite the fool.
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RascalLT, 8 Jan 2007 @ 1:21am

The most annoying thing about this - and yes, even announcements here on Techdirt give me the sense of annoyance from time to time - is that I am 100% certain that they WILL make money on this... nothing. I pitty the fools...
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Jan 2007 @ 10:47am

ringtones are ringtones no whatter how you spin it
thats it, theres not much else to it
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Bill Smith, 9 Jan 2007 @ 5:19am

clever? or literal? OP seems to have missed the
have you seen the press release for this thing?

http://blog.wired.com/sterling/2007/01/post.html

this is some funny stuff!
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Susan Sontag, 11 Jan 2007 @ 12:35pm

For those of you who missed the point....
http://www.sequenza21.com/index.php/233

perhaps this will clarify.
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