I remember the first time I heard about “9 Beet Stretch“. Sound artist Leif Inge took a recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and stretched to last 24 hours, with no change in pitch. That’s a 70 minute symphony stretched out to 1,680 minutes. 9 Beet Stretch was featured on an episode of RadioLab all about our concept of time. (Highly, highly recommended listening, this.)
Slowing a recording down and stretching it beyond recognition is nothing new. The technology is as simple today as it was in the days of reel-to-reel tapes. Still, I find myself endlessly drawn to these works. There’s something comforting about them.
