musicbriefs
Artist

Terry Riley

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2
briefs
9:41
average
19 min
in total
On music.briefs2
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9:24

A Rainbow in Curved Air

Terry Riley · 1969

A Rainbow in Curved Air is a solo studio construction: keyboard and percussion overdubs on the A-side, saxophone drone and tape manipulation on the B-side. Made in 1968 on one of CBS’s first eight-track recorders. It established repetition, delay, and modal layering as core tools for electronic composition — not as texture, but as architecture.

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9:57

In C

Terry Riley · 1968

Terry Riley’s 1968 recording of In C is a landmark of process-based composition. Its sound is defined by collective repetition, room acoustics, and the physical limits of piano strings and vinyl grooves. It does not seek expression — it sets conditions and listens.