3 ms·
I mean, you could play his piece at a speed designed to spread it out evenly from the present until the (predicted) moment when the universe can no longer suppo
by zellyn 3y ago
I mean, you could play his piece at a speed designed to spread it out evenly from the present until the (predicted) moment when the universe can no longer support the mechanism used to play it. That would literally be "as slow as possible", and seems technically fine.
- d1sxeyes 3y agoIt's technically fine, but tempo instructions such as this are often just rough guides, rather than an accurate BPM target. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo#Basic_tempo_markings If you check the Wikipedia article for the piece itself[0], it explains: > Musicians and philosophers discussed Cage's instruction to play "as slow as possible" at a conference in 1997, because a properly maintained pipe organ could sound indefinitely. The John Cage Organ Foundation Halberstadt decided to play the piece for 639 years, to mark the time between the first documented permanent organ installation in Halberstadt Cathedral, in 1361, and the originally proposed start date of 2000. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Slow_as_Possible