Gavin Bryars

"1, 2, 123-4"
Gavin Bryars: Double Bass.
Christopher Hobbs: Piano.
Cornel ius Cardew:Cello.
Derek Bailey: Guitar.
Mike Nicolls: Drums.
Ce,lia Gollin and Brian Eno: Vocals.
Andy Mackay: Oboe.
Stuart Deeks: Violins.
Paul Nieman: Trombone.
Engineered by Phil Ault.
Produced by Brian Eno

1' 2, 1-2-3-4
The piece is for instrumentalists/vocalists,
each wearing headphones connected to a
portable cassette machine. Each performer
hears only the music in his headphones,
music which contains" parts" for his
instrument or voice, and he plays, along with
the cassette, his own instrumental part. His
ability to reproduce this part depends on how
familiar he is with what he hears, and this
can range from careful practice over a-period
of weeks with his cassette to an immediate
response from a first or second hearing.The
present recording, to some extent, contains
elements of these two extremes: a few
players had played the piece on other
occasions (at least one of which used the
same material as is used on this recording),

wt)ile others became acquainted with it for

"the first tirt~.e:in.the recording studio.

Each performer plays the' 'part" that

corresponds to his instrumentThus, if the
music be jazz, a bassist is likely to play more
than, say, a violinist. In the case of a bassist
hearing jazz (and, hence, usually a bass).on
his headphones, he would attempt to play,
as best he can, the bass-line in the headphones such thatthere is an intended oneto-one relationship between what he plays
and what he hears in the headphones. He
may try his part several times before hand,
or he may choose to busk ''on the night", like
the accompanist in cabaret who is told, in the
middle of the act on stage, that there are no
parts for the next number butthat it is "Happy
Streets and Paper Rainbows in D flat. 1, 2,
1-2-3-4" (and his entry must be prompt, even
to the extent of "inventing" an eight-bar
i ntrod ucti on).
In this performance, all the players have
identical material on their cassettes, though
each was recorded individually and not
copied simultaneously, and their
performance reflects a number of variables
that occur: the starting point of the music on
the cassettes is not precise (butthe click of
the machines switching on, however, is);
the cassettes may not be all running at the
same speed due to the uneven qual it of the
different machines, the state oftheir batteries
and so on, and this, in turn, affects both the
duration and key of the piece; players vary
in their ability to' 'shadow" material (i.e. to
simultaneously hear and reproduce);
players, in this recording, vary in their
familiarity with the material.The material
itself, however, is perfectly homogeneous
and the dislocations that occur do not
destroy this. The piece was originally written
for a series of concerts organised by John
White and is, amiably, dedicated to him.