Beethoven as ambient music

Beethoven as ambient music

Date:	April 20, 2004 / year-entry #151
Tags:	non-computer
Orig Link:	https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20040420-00/?p=39733
Comments:	7
Summary:	Who knew that Beethoven wrote ambient music? The people at NOTAM took Beethoven's 9th Symphony and slowed it down so that the entire performance takes 24 hours. It's actually quite nice to listen to. (I like 2.1 myself.) [Rats, scooped by MetaFilter. Honest, it was in my queue! Nobody will believe me; they'll think I...

Who knew that Beethoven wrote ambient music?

The people at NOTAM took Beethoven's 9th Symphony and slowed it down so that the entire performance takes 24 hours. It's actually quite nice to listen to. (I like 2.1 myself.)

[Rats, scooped by MetaFilter. Honest, it was in my queue! Nobody will believe me; they'll think I swiped it from MeFi...]

A few months ago, NPR covered a similar experiment with the movie Psycho. I think it was a little less successful.

Comments (7)

Eric Brown says:

April 20, 2004 at 10:11 am

Actually, I recall seeing this link on Slashdot several months ago. Sorry, can’t be bothered to search for it.
Dem Bananenprinz sein Tagebuch says:

April 20, 2004 at 11:11 am

Ambient-Musik von Beethoven? Kein Problem, wenn man die 9. auf 24 Stunden stretched. Hrt sich sogar echt gut an, einen Favoriten habe ich noch n
Chris Monachan says:

April 20, 2004 at 2:16 pm

I saw ’24 hour Psycho’ when it was on at the CCA (http://www.cca-glasgow.com/) in Glasgow . As a video installation it was amazing, I went many times during the 24 hour period.

The idea was that the movie is so well shot that each frame of it is a work of art as a still. Fairly inspired.
Mat says:

April 20, 2004 at 2:31 pm

Why the .ram crap? I refuse to install anything RN…
Raymond Chen says:

April 20, 2004 at 2:36 pm

There are mp3’s further down.
Peter Evans says:

April 20, 2004 at 9:50 pm

Why is this surprising? The music was initially intended for an ambient listening audience, magnifying duration by 20-30 factor just means a difference in human perception. I forget the original length of a intended paced performance of the piece.

Sounds reminds me of the vangelis sound tracks of the late 70’s earlier 80’s slowed way down and with out the square wave emphasis.

AGGGGH! the retinal burn of the Ambience: Water effects in win media9 during a rest gap.
Robert Morris says:

April 21, 2004 at 7:52 pm

I’m on dial-up and so can’t download it at the moment … but I’m just curious: how do they accomplish this? Do they slow it down and hold everything out forever, or do they just constantly add in repeats?

BTW, Peter, I’m not sure of the "exact" intended time–if there is one–but my (normal, of course) recording of this piece is just less than an hour long.

I really like this symphony, especially the fourth movement, but I’m not quite sure I could take this. :-)

Comments are closed.

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