I forget how I came across Longplayer but I was fascinated by its intersection between two of my interests: music and technology. Conceived by Pogues member Jem Finer for the turn of the millennium, Longplayer is a composition that plays for 1,000 years without repeats. It can be played by a computer or “live” using 234 Tibetan standing bells and gongs of different sizes.
The Wrong Side of London
As Longplayer can be played by a computer, using recordings of the bells and gongs and an algorithm, you could just listen in at home but it also has a permanent home in the East End of London at Trinity Buoy Wharf.
It’s great being so close to London but the East of London is a bit of a schlep to get to. It required a bus, train, two tubes and a walk to get there. Fortunately, the weather was fine and it was a pleasant walk from Canning Town station to Trinity Buoy Wharf.
Longplayer is within the Bow Creek Lighthouse, the only remaining lighthouse in London. You go up a flight of stone steps to the first floor, this is not somewhere you can visit if you have accessibility needs, where there are the bowls that were used for the recording and for live concerts. There was a desk where you could make a donation, a rather neat suggested payment of £3.33, and buy a souvenir from a small selection of items including the rather nice LP sized book which also includes, well, an LP.
On the second floor, in the space where the light would originally have been, is a playback room with views out over the Thames to The Dome and Canary Wharf. The room itself is tiny and there weren’t any chairs so you stand listening to the music while looking at the view. The music is very calming and something you can imagine being played at a Tibetan temple or a Tantric yoga session. It was relaxing looking out over the Thames with it playing in the background.
Back down on the first floor I took a look at the technology in use for the playback – a Raspberry Pi of some description. I think that this is fairly recent as originally it was run from an Apple Mac. While the music might last 1,000 years the computers certainly won’t. I did try when I got home to get Longplayer installed on an old Pi that I had lying around, the code is provided on Longplayer’s Github page, but I failed as the Pi didn’t have enough resources. Anyway, I digress.
You won’t spend long at Longplayer but it is an interesting place to visit and concept and one that should remain so for another 974 years!
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