Roulette TV is a cable access television program produced by the experimental music institution Roulette in New York City. Roulette TV captures the creative process of live performance, giving viewers a unique window into Roulette’s distinctive programming through in-depth artist-driven features including studio visits, performance footage, and interviews.
Pauline Oliveros performs “Pauline’s Solo,” a 20-minute free improvisation on her accordion, and discusses her method of "Deep Listening."
"Pauline's Solo" consists of fleeting melodic gestures over sustained harmonies, like spontaneous thoughts suddenly flashing across quiescent synaptic networks. During the interview, she explains the concept of "Deep Listening," which she has been practicing for nearly 50 years, and her study of karate and quantum mechanics in relation to that of music.
Pauline Oliveros, composer, performer, and humanitarian, was an important pioneer in American Music. Acclaimed internationally, for four decades, she has explored sound -- forging new ground for herself and others. Through improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation, she created a body of work with such breadth of vision that it profoundly affects those who experience it and eludes many who try to write about it. "On some level, music, sound consciousness and religion are all one, and she would seem to be very close to that level," stated John Rockwell. Oliveros was honored with awards, grants and concerts internationally. Whether performing at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., in an underground cavern or in the studios of a West German radio station, Oliveros' commitment to interaction with the moment was unchanged. Through Deep Listening Pieces and earlier Sonic Meditations, Oliveros introduced the concept of incorporating all environmental sounds into musical performance. To make a pleasurable experience of this concept required focused concentration, skilled musicianship and strong improvisational skills, which were the hallmarks of Oliveros' form. In performance, Oliveros used an accordion which has been re-tuned in two different systems of her just intonation in addition to electronics to alter the sound of the accordion and to explore the individual characteristics of each room.
First Aired on Roulette TV: 2001
Performance: April 29, 1995
Produced by Jim Staley
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Founded in 1978, Roulette’s mission is to support artists creating new and adventurous art in all disciplines by providing them with a venue and resources to realize their creative visions and to build an audience interested in the evolution of experimental art.
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