Recording
In C
Terry Riley
- Released
- 1968
- Label
- Columbia Masterworks
- On one list
- Minimalism
- Updated
- 2026-08-29
Analysis
11 sections, the first drop of 11 at 0:10, 0% of the way in, 47% of it spent climbing.
- Tempo
- 129.2 BPM
- holds throughout
- Dynamic range
- 5.8 dB
- moderate range, typical of a modern master
- Length
- 40:14
- measured from the YouTube master
The record, end to end
Click the track to jump · ← → move between sections
- 0:00Aintro0
- 0:20Bsteadybar 11
- 3:32Cbreakdownbar 115
- 4:17Dbuildbar 139
- 9:42Dbuildbar 313
- 17:12Dpeakbar 556
- 18:40Dbuildbar 603
- 24:36Dpeakbar 795
- 34:20Esteadybar 1109
- 39:04Epeakbar 1262
- 39:46Foutrobar 1284
Drops at 0:10 (bar 6), 4:04 (bar 132), 8:16 (bar 267), 10:13 (bar 331), 17:12 (bar 556), 19:19 (bar 624), 23:39 (bar 764), 25:23 (bar 820), 29:48 (bar 963), 30:09 (bar 974), 39:04 (bar 1262). 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
- 0:20
- Energy
- 0
- Brightness
- 63
- Density
- 100
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental
- Lasts
- 3:12
- Energy
- 70
- Brightness
- 1
- Density
- 19
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:45
- Energy
- 23
- Brightness
- 49
- Density
- 21
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · instrumental · one of 5 stretches of the same music (D)
- Lasts
- 5:24
- Energy
- 57
- Brightness
- 24
- Density
- 10
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · instrumental · one of 5 stretches of the same music (D)
- Lasts
- 7:31
- Energy
- 77
- Brightness
- 15
- Density
- 3
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · sung · one of 5 stretches of the same music (D)
- Lasts
- 1:27
- Energy
- 99
- Brightness
- 10
- Density
- 8
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
energy and brightness climbing without a break · instrumental · one of 5 stretches of the same music (D)
- Lasts
- 5:57
- Energy
- 72
- Brightness
- 7
- Density
- 0
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental · one of 5 stretches of the same music (D)
- Lasts
- 9:44
- Energy
- 97
- Brightness
- 0
- Density
- 4
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling · instrumental · one of 2 stretches of the same music (E)
- Lasts
- 4:44
- Energy
- 72
- Brightness
- 25
- Density
- 26
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
sits at the top of this record's range · instrumental · one of 2 stretches of the same music (E)
- Lasts
- 0:41
- Energy
- 100
- Brightness
- 25
- Density
- 34
- drums
- bass
- vocals
- other
the closing fall · instrumental
- Lasts
- 0:29
- Energy
- 3
- Brightness
- 100
- Density
- 77
- 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
- steady
- holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling
- breakdown
- energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning
- build
- energy and brightness climbing without a break
- peak
- sits at the top of this record's range
- 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 Minimalism
Fifty-three fragments, any number of players, each moving on when they feel like it. Riley wrote a set of instructions rather than a piece, and produced the founding document of the whole method.