Ave Maria - 25 minutes

Schubert's Ave Maria, looped for 25 minutes.
A Lesson in Looping: Looping is a term for a special editing technique in which a sound or animation is made to appear unending; as though the film reel is traveling in a loop.

Two of the easiest ways to achieve a loop is through either playing the footage forward, then reversed (see also "Dining Room/There is Nothing); or through careful editing. There are web pages full of perfectly-looped videos and animations, executed through either careful editing or careful planning.

Sound may also be looped, but since the human ear is much harder to fool, looping sound is made even more difficult. The Shepherd Tone Illusion is one such example of perfect looping sound, but an easier road to a perfect sound loop comes through music. Since music typically repeats the same melodies and motifs multiple times throughout, the possibilities are seemingly endless to loop a piece of music perfectly.

To illustrate my point, I have compiled this video as an example. Schubert Opus 52, number 6, commonly known as the Ave Maria, and indeed the most popular rendition of the Ave Maria in the world. Since the 1825 piece begins and ends with the same musical progression at the same tempo each time, the looping point became very easy to place. I challenge anyone to guess at where the end piece and beginning piece are tied together. This particular version from Hitman: Blood Money (great game) uses the original German lyrics.

Looping music can be found in public concerts, particularly Jazz, where a section of song must be prolonged indefinitely until the group is ready to move on. Looping music is frequently used in film as a means to synchronize the audio with the visuals on screen. In video games, not only do composers/sound designers loop existing music, but more frequently they will compose music for the purpose of looping indefinitely.

In closing, Looping music, much like looping video, is a finely tuned technique that looks or sounds fantastic when done properly. This piece of music also happens to be a selection that I myself could listen to indefinitely; which is part of the motivation behind uploading this video in the first place.