Interesting analog experience

This works best if you're spinning John Cage's 4'33".

Elinor, I was saying just the opposite (and I believe you misunderstand the nature of 4'33").

As Stringreen noted, an actual performance (or recorded performance) of 4'33" does NOT sound like "nothing". There will typically be audience coughs and sniffles, grunts or hums from the HVAC system, traffic sounds, birdcalls... almost anything. During many performances, the pianist closes the keyboard cover briefly, twice, to signify breaks betweeen movements - which might also be audible. In short, complete silence will not happen unless the performance is by a non-breathing pianist in an anechoic chamber.

That said, any such sounds will almost certainly be lower than the sound of a piano actually being played. For distinguishing between vinyl and CD, such a low signal level would allow us to hear groove rush and tape hiss quite clearly. If one didn't hear these things, one might (should) realize that we're not listening to vinyl.

My cats also react to music being played on vinyl. They never react to music played digitally. It's quite strange!

Stringreen, good question ("Can aliatoric music be recorded?"). One might similarly ask if improvisational music (like live jazz) can be recorded. I suppose the answer is "yes", but that any such recording is only a snapshot in time of one particlar example.

A related question, if Glenn Gould had performed 4'33", would he have hummed along?