# Rebecca Black in the style of Steve Reich **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036 "2011-12-04T17:18:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/1 "2011-12-04T17:18:31Z")
Yes, you read the thread title correctly! I love Steve Reich, hate Rebecca Black, and haven’t quite decided what I think of [this!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8GKOISia1U) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/2 "2011-12-04T17:24:45Z")
I have. It’s more annoying than the original which wasn’t really that bad. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/3 "2011-12-04T18:19:15Z")
That’s amusing. I love Steve Reich, am [shrug, indifferent-to-oblivious of] Black. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/4 "2011-12-04T20:02:00Z")
> [@D18](#): > > …haven’t quite decided what I think of [this!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8GKOISia1U) Well, I still haven’t decided which seat to kick in, and this doesn’t particularly help. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/5 "2011-12-04T20:10:22Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well, I still haven’t decided which seat to kick in, and this doesn’t particularly help. Maybe someone will come out to show you. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/6 "2011-12-04T20:28:58Z")
Why do you hate a 14 year old girl? ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/7 "2011-12-04T20:49:14Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Maybe someone will come out to show you. You win the thread! ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/8 "2011-12-04T20:50:54Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Why do you hate a 14 year old girl? Sorry, let me rephrase: I hate [the music of] Rebecca Black and love [the music of] Steve Reich . . . You’re right, not knowing either personally, I’m not really in position to comment on either as human beings. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/9 "2011-12-04T23:31:29Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I have. It’s more annoying than the original which wasn’t really that bad. I have no idea who Steve Reich is, but I agree with this sentiment. I made it 38 seconds into it. This is a “style” of someone’s? Like, there is someone making music that sounds like that? Why? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/10 "2011-12-04T23:34:30Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I have. It’s more annoying than the original which wasn’t really that bad. Agreed - that’s just awful ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/11 "2011-12-04T23:34:51Z")
Indeed, if there’s something worse than a low-grade pop song, it’s two lines of the pop song repeated for 4 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/12 "2011-12-04T23:47:38Z")
Can someone recommend a “Steve Reich” (whoever he is…musician? mixer? DJ? what?) song (if you can call this type of thing a song?) that is considered “good”? I’m curious what “style” I’m listening to here. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/13 "2011-12-05T00:14:16Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Can someone recommend a “Steve Reich” (whoever he is…musician? mixer? DJ? what?) song (if you can call this type of thing a song?) that is considered “good”? I’m curious what “style” I’m listening to here. Steve Reich is a classical music composer, closely associated with the “minimalist” label. At the beginning of his career, in the 60s, he did a number of “phase” pieces. These typically involve two instruments playing the same phrase over and over again, with one player going slightly faster than the other. He also did pieces that used tape loops to the same effect. This is what the video is referencing. [It’s Gonna Rain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk42M2L-VC8) [Piano Phase](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4_8KjmzZk) Experimental stuff. After that he loosened up a bit and wrote some of the best music ever (strictly imho). [Music for Mallet Instruments, Voice and Organ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgPOWJMV99w) [Tehilim](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fruY31DQvb0) [Eight Lines (Octet)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE13q-AWNDk) [City Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY5_cwN1i74) ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/14 "2011-12-05T00:50:37Z")
I’m sorry **jovan** , but those are just painful. Then again in another [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14529110&postcount=10) I said I really liked Coldplay, so I may not be the best judge. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/15 "2011-12-05T00:56:35Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I’m sorry **jovan** , but those are just painful. > > Then again in another [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14529110&postcount=10) I said I really liked Coldplay, so I may not be the best judge. > 😛 FWIW, I absolutely love that song you linked to in the other thread. And I also found the song in the OP painful. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/16 "2011-12-05T02:30:33Z")
**jovan** gave a good introduction to Steve Reich, but I’ll add a few things. Steve Reich is one of the most important composers of the last 50 years, his music being the most interesting and important in the development minimalism (though Philip Glass is more famous because of his excellent film music). His music is very much “process music”. He sets a process in motion and part of listening is experiencing the process as it unfolds. It’s really not the kind of music you put on for a minute for a quick taste, or something you have on in the background. You really need to listen to pieces in their entirety (in many cases) and actively. The tape loop pieces came first. The story as Reich tells it is he was experimenting with 2 tape decks each plying the same loop and unexpectedly they went out of sync, so he went with it. This led to “Come out to Show Them” and “It’s Gonna Rain”. Then he figured well can I do this with an instrumentalist against a tape, or just multiple instrumentalists. [Violin Phase](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su1OvwR3wB4) and the aforementioned “Piano Phase” which I recommend experiencing as [Piano Phase/Video Phase](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zAcUBZ2yvc) (a clever arrangement played by a percussionist against prerecorded video on scrim so you can actually watch the process take place). (I think I might have seen the premiere of this one). They get increasing more complex with each piece, at this point in his career building up to [Drumming](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USRGNr17Jm4&feature=related), a huge piece beginning with bongos and then with each section higher and higher pitched mallet instruments. BUT, all on a single static harmony. So he started a new phase (heh) where he would introduce some harmonic motion. [Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices, and Organ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naoydy7yO80&feature=related) is a good one, but the link in the other post just was the second half. This link is the complete version. [Music for 18 Musicians](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU23LqQ6LY4&feature=bf_prev&list=PL61F4B2C1B4D25FA4&lf=results_main) is the masterpiece from this period. It’s a huge piece (around 70 mins. I think) and though it’s stunningly beautiful, it is a commitment. One other thing worthy of mention is his pieces based on voice samples, the best of which is [Different Trains](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYnAQ-lK74A&feature=related), an extremely powerful and evocative piece about the Holocaust. (Oh and about the OP, I admit I enjoyed it 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/17 "2011-12-05T02:40:56Z")
No use for the original video, but it did have [this bit of coolness](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZsUrv0mcU) as a suggestion on the side, so my time was not completely wasted. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/18 "2011-12-05T03:19:36Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > Steve Reich is a classical music composer, closely associated with the “minimalist” label. At the beginning of his career, in the 60s, he did a number of “phase” pieces. These typically involve two instruments playing the same phrase over and over again, with one player going slightly faster than the other. He also did pieces that used tape loops to the same effect. This is what the video is referencing. > > [It’s Gonna Rain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk42M2L-VC8) > [Piano Phase](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4_8KjmzZk) > > Experimental stuff. > > After that he loosened up a bit and wrote some of the best music ever (strictly imho). > > [Music for Mallet Instruments, Voice and Organ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgPOWJMV99w) > [Tehilim](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fruY31DQvb0) > [Eight Lines (Octet)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE13q-AWNDk) > [City Life](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY5_cwN1i74) The early stuff is painful to me, but the later stuff is the kind of thing I can see being used in the background of a video or something. Not the kind of thing I could listen to an album of, though. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/19 "2011-12-05T04:05:53Z")
Others have mentioned most of Reich’s best, but I don’t think anybody brought up [Music for Large Ensemble](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udn9cZYWmIk). Personally it’s my favourite of his and among my favourites in all Western art music. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036/20 "2011-12-05T04:30:28Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > The early stuff is painful to me, but the later stuff is the kind of thing I can see being used in the background of a video or something. Not the kind of thing I could listen to an album of, though. > [@Moe](#): > > It’s really not the kind of music you put on for a minute for a quick taste, or something you have on in the background. You really need to listen to pieces in their entirety (in many cases) and actively. Actually, I think one of the reasons for Reich’s relative popular success is that his pieces are usually superficially pretty. You can scratch this and find a lot more meat under, but many of his works _can_ function as background music. The local business news show loves to use Reich (especially Octet) to go with their segments. However, those of us who view him in high regard do so because as simple as his stuff seems if you just listen to a short clip, it’s actually very intricate and subtle. It sounds like it’s repeating, but it actually isn’t. If you pay close attention you can guide your mind through the carefully layered patterns. That’s not the kind of listening that everybody likes, and if Reich doesn’t float your boat, that’s cool. BTW, I couldn’t stand the Rebecca Black thing for more than 20 seconds, and I have listened to Come Out and It’s Gonna Rain through several times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rebecca-black-in-the-style-of-steve-reich/605036.md?page=2)