Here is the full text of the piece:
"I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have." (1969)
Response:
I really want to hear different permutations of the piece - in different sized rooms, different voices, etc. Hearing the same voice in different shapes of rooms would be especially valuable because it would more clearly represent the fact that each room has a characteristic resonance or formant frequencies (e.g. different between a large hall and a small room). It would be cool to see which specific frequencies are emphasized as they resonate in the room.
I thought that the later stages of the piece was very beautiful and powerful, once words were replaced by waves of sound. These sounds had great natural rhythm and had a very calming effect. It no longer mattered what he was saying. one could say that the last generation IS the same as the original, yet they are completely different. This is an amazing conceptual undertaking, and I think he was largely successful.
I thought his reasoning for the project was interesting: "I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have." By smoothing out any irregularities of his speech he made it impossible to understand. Beautiful concept.
It was also interesting to try to track when changes occurred - like when all the words were gone, etc. Also, when all the sounds would blend together and the pauses between generations becoming unrecognizable. I also would like to hear what the generations would sound like afte an hour, two hours, etc...really long periods of time.
Also, it would be interesting to re-do this project with new technologies, to see if you can isolate the effects of the room better (so the recording would be more pure)