All right, this one's kinda simple, but I did put a bit of effort into writing computer programs to split up, mix, and crossfade large amount of data to create it.
I ripped all 12 CDs of the Norton Anthology, and concatenated them into one really big sound file. I wrote a program that split this file up into 30 minute chunks (30 of them in total), and split each of those into 30 second samples. Each sample in a chunk was mixed together so you hear them at the same time. The chunks were then cross-faded together (with a 5 second overlap). The result: 15 hours of music condensed into about 13 minutes, allowing one to hear western music evolve over time.
InformationOverload.mp3
It's kinda a comment on how we're zipped through centuries of western music history in such a short period of time. We never cover anything in great detail---sure we get snippets of information, but mainly it's just broad overviews. It all goes by so fast that nothing really sinks in, and it all blends together. There's simply too much information. That's a good comment on more than just music history in today's society.
I think I'm going to end it crossfading into itself mixed together (which just sounds like noise), and then crossfade into actual noise and fade out. I kinda want to add something to it that makes it my own, but am not sure how to do that in a way that would ruin the effect.
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James! This is outstanding. You should see if the art gallery would let you display it as an installation in their next show. Does it really move from antiquity to present time in a chronological fashion over the 13 minutes?
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