To truly appreciate and understand the music of today it is helpful to have some recognition of where it originated. For every genre, style, and instrument there were those who pioneered or excelled at them and who have shaped the contemporary version that now exists. John Milton Cage Jr. is one of these pioneers.
His influence can be felt in almost every type of music from country to hip-hop to heavy metal. It was not just a style that he helped to create but rather a method, technique, and revolutionary approach to music that is his legacy. To understand what exactly his contributions are we must first look at the life of this multifaceted artist.
John Milton Cage Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1912. It was in California where he apprenticed under his idols Henry Cowell and Arnold Schoenberg at The New School for Social Research and began his study of music. He experimented with percussion and non-traditional instruments where upon realizing that he lacked an ear for harmony, began using rhythm as the basis for his music. He then began creating his own new instruments such as the prepared piano whereby screws, strips of rubber, and other objects are placed between the strings in order to alter character of the sound. As well, in 1939 while at the Cornish School for the Arts he composed Imaginary Landscape No. 1 which used record players as instruments similar to the turntables of today.
As Cage continued to develop his musical knowledge he became fascinated by the Taoist focus on chance. He soon employed this idea in his compositions, flipping coins to determine movements rather than his own personality, intention or expression. He further developed this concept and in 1969 created the mixed-media piece HPSCHD. This employed a computer to create random sequencing for seven keyboards, fifty-two tape recorders playing random computer-generated ‘tunes’, fifty-two film projectors and sixty-four slide projectors showing scenes of space travel from old science-fiction movies. Perhaps his most famous work however is 4’33” written in 1948. Consisting of 3 movements of silence, the piece showed that there can never be real silence and when listening to this work, anywhere at any time, it is the random sounds that occur all around which become the music.
Today, Cage is considered the pioneer of chance music and the use of non-traditional instruments. Perhaps most significantly, he is also considered a pioneer of electronic music. Years before the invention of the synthesizer, he was exploring electronic sound sources as well as turntables, amplification and oscillation. Not only in music have his effects been felt, but also in the literature and performance art which he dabbled in as well. It is interesting to consider John Cage’s achievements in light of today’s music environment and pay credit to his influence.
Perhaps the best way to examine the scope of Cage’s contributions is to look at the way different genres have developed and put into use the very techniques and concepts that he helped to create. Having been credited as a key artist in the inaugural use of electronics in music, a picture of Cage’s importance today already begins to form. One cannot listen to a song within the fields of electronica, trance, house, and the like without hearing was in essence a direct correlation to his concepts. The use of rhythm rather than harmony as a defining basis for the music and the evident ubiquity of sampled sounds are perfect exemplars. These styles of music and their subgenres became noticeable beginning in the mid 1980’s and early 1990’s with such now famous artists as Paul van Dyk, ATB, and Daft Punk. Typically, the instruments used include synthesizers, keyboards, drum machines, sequencers, and samples. As well, turntables are one of the genre’s defining features and as noted, were being used by John Cage as early as the 1930’s. Granted the form and technique he used was perhaps more basic, but that is what was necessary to build today’s adaptation.
In keeping with Cage’s contributions electronically and rhythmically, the mid 1970’s arrival of industrial music owes much of its current form to his patronage. Similar to the electronic styles discussed there is focus on rhythm and percussion as well as the use of electronically generated ambient sounds and effects to create dark and heavy moods of the music. Whilst Cage focused on removing the human planning from his music, industrial uses the presence of sound effects and distortion to create a mechanical and dehumanized sound. While perchance unknowingly, bands such as Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, and Canada’s own Skinny Puppy, who dominate the genre, are indebted to the progressive ideas of John Cage that began the evolutionary growth.
In a time when the sampling of sounds, other songs and the like has become such a prevalent part of music, it is difficult not to see the importance of an artist such as Cage. Looking at the genres of hip-hop, pop, and R&B, we see how using electronically generated sounds and beats are now commonplace. The success of the current MC and DJ relationship demonstrates how important the development of turntables as an instrument has been. It is as well perhaps the best example of Cage’s preference for creating music based on rhythm rather than harmony. Such is seen in the music created by artists ranging from Run DMC and Public Enemy to The Game and 50 Cent.
As we continue into the domain of rock, spanning from glam to experimental to alternative and heavy, the influence is still felt. Well known producer and musician Brian Eno is considered to be the father of modern ambient music. Strongly rooted in electronics and synthesized sounds, his work can be seen in collaborations with and production of such artists as David Bowie, The Talking Heads, U2, and his own Roxy Music. He even created the six second start up sound for Windows 95. One need only consider the instruments used and the vast importance of electronics in these examples to again return to and appreciate the progressive work of Cage decades before.
It has been sufficiently noted how John Cage’s experimental and, at the time, controversial methods and techniques have influenced the music of today. As one looks at the varied styles and forms of music that are popular in our current environment we see more so than ever the prevalence of technology as an instrument. Cage cannot be attributed with the creation of such advancements, but his work at the forefront of electronic music surely demonstrates his contribution to the evolution of music as a whole. As music and other entertainment forms such as film and performance have grown increasingly close as a business and an art, the importance of John Milton Cage Jr.’s mixed media works in the 1950’s and 1960’s must too be noted for their avant-garde quality. Though he died in August 1992, just weeks short of his 80th birthday, his work is still recognized and performed today. With a Guggenheim Fellowship, awards from the National Academy of Arts and Letters, and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France, the Notable Achievement award from Brandeis University and as a laureate of the 1989 Kyoto Prize given by the Inamori Foundation, Cage’s work has not gone unnoticed. Therefore, despite the fact that many artists and fans may not fully appreciate the roots of the art they love, it remains still that Cage’s influences and contributions live on in the music of today.
Works Cited
John Cage: Composed In America. Edited by Marjorie Perloff & Charles Junkerman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994
http://moderecords.com/catalog.html#C
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=41:1037
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artistsalbums/
http://www.johncage.info/
http://www.newalbion.com/artists/cagej/
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/cage_j.html
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