Number 1 For 37 Minutes

Studio 360

Luke DuBois is a musician and computer programmer who has spent the last couple of years developing a technique he calls time-lapse phonography. Much like the way financial analysts sample the stock market to determine prices, time-lapse phonography samples sound to create averages. DuBois used the technique to condense Billboard’s pop music charts into a single piece of music: 42 years of #1 hits compressed into 37 minutes. He calls the piece, “Billboard.” Produced by Trent Wolbe.

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