Library Composition

Music for Solo Performer

Alvin Lucier's 1965 piece for amplified brainwaves and percussion, the first musical work generated directly from EEG signals.

Type
Composition
Creators
Alvin Lucier, Edmond Dewan
Year
1965
Subjects
Sound Feedback Perception

Developed with physicist Edmond Dewan and premiered in 1965 at Brandeis University’s Rose Art Museum, Music for Solo Performer is generally considered the first musical work to generate its sound directly from brainwaves: electrodes on Lucier’s scalp, seated and eyes closed, picked up his alpha waves (8–12 Hz, well below the range of hearing), amplified them, and routed them to loudspeakers positioned around percussion instruments scattered through the room, which the inaudible pulses set physically vibrating.