Has anyone else heard the bit of tag music on National Public Radio that uses the 12-note “tune” from Steve Reich’s Piano Phase? This morning I was listening to the news, and between items a little snippet of synthesized music came on for six or eight seconds, just long enough for me to grasp why it seemed oddly familiar: no phase-shifting, just the note pattern repeated over and over. Is Reich getting royalties for that? Does he know? Or did some wise guy in the sound studio perform a sly bit of larceny? It’s always good to hear a postclassical classic on the air, no matter how morally dubious the circumstances.
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