I'm thankful that not everybody in the world likes the same things. It's a fortunate fact of life that each of us as individuals has different interests and hobbies, and also gravitates towards certain genres, whether it be in movies, television shows, games, or music. However, there are certain things that possess an indefinable quality that means they transcend the vagaries of personal taste.
Gangnam Style by PSY is one example. It's a pop song that, had the winds been blowing another way, would only ever have been heard by a handful of Korean pop fans. Instead it's been a smash hit all over the world, and is showing no signs of disappearing. Perhaps it's time to help it on its way with the aid of 'Infinite Gangnam Style', guaranteed to annoy everybody exposed to it.
Gangnam Style
Gangnam Style is a phenomenon at this point in time, having topped the charts in numerous countries and being played on the radio every few minutes. Or so it seems. At the time of writing the official video is also closing in on 600 million views on YouTube, and that's before you even start counting the views of the live performances and parodies jamming up the InterWebs.
PSY, the guy responsible for Gangnam Style, was already an established popstar in his native South Korea, as this is a single from his sixth studio album. I suspect he may end up being a one-hit wonder outside of Korea, but I'm sure he won't mind as he counts the oodles of cash he'll have no doubt earned from Gangnam Style.
Infinite Gangnam Style
'Infinite Gangnam Style' is a simple Web app that turns Gangnam Style from an inoffensive pop song lasting 3:39 minutes into a never-ending, ever-changing behemoth that will annoy anyone within earshot for any length of time. That's a personal guarantee from me to you.
We have Paul Lamere to blame for 'Infinite Gangnam Style'. He's the Director of Developer Platform for The Echo Nest, a music intelligence company whose platform powers the likes of Spotify and Rdio. 'Infinite Gangnam Style' was cooked up during Music Hack Day Reykjavik.
'Infinite Gangnam Style' is made possible by the Echo Nest analyzer, which breaks Gangnam Style up into individual beats. These beats are then matched with others that sound similar, and then the song is played from start to... it never finishes.
This is because the song will randomly jump from one beat to another one that sounds the same, hence the song continues on forever without the listener even realizing it's skipping about all over the place. Unless they have super hearing and are listening out for the switches.
There are several ways you can influence 'Infinite Gangnam Style' using your keyboard:
- The space-bar will start and stop the song.
- The left and right arrow keys speed up and slow down the song.
- The Ctrl key will freeze the song on the current beat.
- The Shift key bounces the song between all the beats that sound similar.
'Infinite Gangnam Style' doesn't work in all browsers - Firefox 16 is a no-no, for instance - with Chrome and Safari cited as the best options thanks to their support for Web audio APIs.
Bohemian Rhapsichord
This isn't the first time Lamere has created a music hack, as he and his daughter Jennie previously built the 'Bohemian Rhapsichord'. The Echo Nest analyzer was once again put to good use, this time enabling Lamere to cut Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen up into hundreds of different sections. The 'Bohemian Rhapsichord' allows you to play each section individually. Like a harpsichord. Hence the name.
Conclusions
Are you sick of Gangnam Style yet? If so, was it 'Infinite Gangnam Style' that put you over the edge? Are you planning on using this clever-yet-sneaky little Web app to annoy everybody you know? Or is that too cruel a trick to play on family and friends? Lastly, what is more annoying? The mega-hit of 2011, Nyan Cat, or the mega-hit of 2012, Gangnam Style?
Please let us know your thoughts on 'Infinite Gangnam Style' in the comments section below.