Recording
An Ending (Ascent)
Brian Eno
Independently chosen for3 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.
- Released
- 1983
- Label
- Editions EG
- On
- Ambient, The Waxonia Desk — A Way In, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- Updated
- 2026-08-29
Analysis
8 sections, the first drop of 3 at 1:14, 28% of the way in.
- Tempo
- 129.2 BPM
- holds throughout
- Key
- Ab major
- estimated from the pitch content
- Dynamic range
- 4.8 dB
- compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- Length
- 4:21
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintrobar -6
- 0:40Bpeakbar 16
- 1:08Cpeakbar 30
- 1:40Cpeakbar 48
- 2:22Dsteadybar 70
- 2:32Cpeakbar 76
- 3:27Cpeakbar 106
- 4:04Eoutrobar 125
Drops at 1:14 (bar 34), 2:32 (bar 76), 3:35 (bar 110). A drop is a moment, not a stretch — marked on the track above rather than shaded across it.
0:00 · A · intro
opens the record below its own average energy · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:40
- Energy
- 49
- Brightness
- 26
- Density
- 52
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:28
- Energy
- 89
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 91
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:33
- Energy
- 96
- Brightness
- 13
- Density
- 96
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:42
- Energy
- 95
- Brightness
- 16
- Density
- 98
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:10
- Energy
- 86
- Brightness
- 25
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:55
- Energy
- 99
- Brightness
- 11
- Density
- 99
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental · one of 4 stretches of the same music (C)
- Lasts
- 0:37
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 18
- Density
- 99
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
the closing fall · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:17
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 0
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
Brightness and density are scored against this record's own sections, not against music in general — they say how its parts differ from each other, and nothing about how it compares to anything else.
- drums
- the drum kit, separated from the mix
- bass
- the bass part, separated from the mix
- vocals
- the voice, separated from the mix
- other
- everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings
Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.
- intro
- opens the record below its own average energy
- peak
- sits at the top of this record's range
- steady
- holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
- outro
- the closing fall
Measured from the YouTube master on . Section labels describe how the energy of the recording moves, not its musical form — a machine can see loudness climb and jump, it cannot hear a chorus arrive. Anything we were not confident enough to state is left out rather than shown with a caveat.
Ranked No. 1 in Ambient
Four chords, an enormous amount of room around them, and more emotional weight than most symphonies manage. It has soundtracked moon landings and funerals alike, and earns both.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — A Way In
Four chords and an enormous amount of room around them. The best argument that ambient music is composition rather than absence, and the easiest one to hear on first listen.
Picked by The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
Four minutes that have been used to sell everything and still cannot be cheapened. The purest demonstration that music can be a place rather than an event.