In the 1980s , Basinki recorded from found sound sources , shortwave radio , and delay systems , influenced by musicians such as Steve Reich and Brian Eno . Decades later , while transfering the recordings from magnetic tape to a more reliable digital format , Basinski found that the tape had deteriorated sufficiently that as it passed the tape head , the ferrite detached from the plastic backing and fell off . He allowed the loops to play for extended periods as they deteriorated further , with increasing gaps and cracks in the music . He further treated the sounds with a spatializing reverb effect . Basinski finished the project the morning of the September 11 , 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City , and sat on the roof of his apartment building in Brooklyn with friends as the towers collapsed . He filmed video footage of the attack 's fallout during the last hour of daylight from a roof , and the following morning he played " Disintegration Loop 1.1 " as a soundtrack to the aftermath . Stills from the video were used as the covers for the set of four CDs , and several weeks later Basinski used a post-script in his liner notes to dedicate the work to the victims . He stated that " the events gave new meaning to the musical pieces created by catastrophic decay in my studio a few weeks before "
September 11 , 2001 attacks
September 11 attacks
The Disintegration Loops