"What happens if you make a copy of a copy of a copy (and so on) of a VHS tape? This experiment shows how the quality degrades with every generation. The copying was done using two PAL VCRs in SP mode."
This is the youtube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icruGcSsPp0 What happens when you download and reupload a youtube video 1000 times.
Just like the VHS, the YouTube upload turns into something beautiful! It's like a watercolor image, and the audio sounds like a burbling brook. Very nice, thanks for that link!
Hm, looks like you beat me to it- this guy got the idea from Alvin Lucier, who I linked to in my comment before checking yours out. Give a listen if you want another take on it. Or if you want even more vivid nightmares than the ones promised by your Youtube and Buildingonfire's VHS recording.
This reminds me of a VHS tape I had when I was a kid. We didn’t have a lot of tapes in the house, so when I wanted to tape something I was using stretched-out, overused tape stock. One program I recorded looked so blurred and burnt that a loud buzzing noise came out of the speaker whenever a lot of red was in the picture. I remember thinking that the color information must have bled onto where the audio track belonged on the tape.
Reminds me of Alvin Lucier's work- I Am Sitting In A Room. Looooooooooong drink of water, but worth a listen. Or I guess you could just watch the above and apply it to the idea of a tape recorder and a voice and save yourself 45 minutes. But it is really rad if you have the patience.
That is officially the most I've ever intentionally listened to Roxette. I was surprised by how well the audio held up until the end