I have long admired Jem Finer’s fantastic Longplayer project. Alongside the marvellous Long Now and Z/Yen’s own Long Finance, these projects are meant to inspire us to think about the long-term. I have also struggled to give the luckiest couple I know, who have everything (who else could I be speaking about other than the most fortunate parents I chose?), an appropriate gift. In the spirit of a 50th golden wedding anniversary Elisabeth and I were pleased to be able to sponsor one of Longplayer’s ‘bowls’, or bells, in my parents honour.
Longplayer Live is performed on a giant orchestral instrument comprised of 234 Singing Bowls, arranged in six concentric rings. The largest of these rings measures 20 metres (66 feet) in diameter, forming the outer edge of a vast musical installation.
In the Longplayer musical score and live installation, Bowl 4.28 corresponds to a specific singing bowl tuned to C# (138.75 Hz) in the fourth circle, which is engraved and dedicated in the project’s sponsorship registry to Ad Perpetuum Kak + Mike Mainelli. [1, 2] For me, a bit funny to dedicate my parents’ memory to a programming language, but heck.
On a romantic note, as Longplayer is broadcast to the heavens. ad astra, Kak and Mike’s memory will endure, ad perpetuum. Listen!
PS – And if you’d like an update six years later, Gavin Starks gave a wonderful webinar as part of the Knowledge Miles: The 695th Lord Mayor’s Lecture Series in 2023-2024: How Will We Be Long? – How Can A Piece Of Music Help Us Think About The Next Thousand Years? (29 February 2024, rather appropriate date don’t you think?).
