Help me find the public radio story about the un-updateable MP3 Player that plays meditation tunes

August 20, 2006 5:40 AM

Where can I find the public radio story about an unupdateable MP3 player that plays songs that are designed to be played again and and again and again?

I was listening to WNYC sometime in May or June on a road trip and heard a story about a guy who designed an MP3 player that plays the same songs over and over again--he got the idea from seeing these little black boxes in asian temples. He created the little black box, as well as the mixes that supposedly stand up to listening over and over again--can any one identify the story and the artist? My google fu, npr, pri and wnyc searching has failed me.

posted by teddyb109 to media & arts (9 comments total)

Is this the product?
posted by davebush at 6:17 AM on August 20, 2006

Sounds like the Buddha machine, as mentioned above. I own one, and it's very cool. BUT, having said that, you can also download all 9 mp3's here.
Make with the right clicky on all 9 numbers.

If it's good enough for Brian Eno, it's good enough for me.
posted by willmize at 6:25 AM on August 20, 2006

This interview with FM3 (makers of the Buddha Box) is from the show Rare Frequency on WZBC 90.3FM (Thursdays 7-10P).
posted by 7878ponce at 7:20 AM on August 20, 2006

Why not just buy the "little black box found in asian temples"? We have one. I call it the "monk-in-box".
posted by AmbroseChapel at 2:22 PM on August 20, 2006

Heh. When you described this, my first thought was "merzPod?"
posted by klangklangston at 6:25 PM on August 20, 2006

Ambrose, what is the "little black box found in asian temples"? Got a link?
posted by jlowen at 7:18 PM on August 20, 2006

It looks like you heard it on Studio 360.

Here's the show page for that episode.
Here's the Real Player link to the interview.

Ther person being interviewed is Christiaan Virant, one of the two people behind FM3, the people who make the box and the music. The show is from the week of June 16.

Studio 360 airs on WNYC FM 93.9 on Saturday mornings at 10 am, right before Car Talk and Sundays at 7 pm on WNYC AM 820 right after This American Life. Other people's suggestions gave me the Google search terms; it was the first result for a search on "buddha machine" "public radio".
posted by booksherpa at 11:34 PM on August 20, 2006

>Ambrose, what is the "little black box found in asian temples"? Got a link?

Sorry, I haven't. We bought ours in a Chinatown sort of area. It's a little box, in our case blue, that plays a recording of monks chanting, on an endless loop. Imagine a very small transistor radio, that's basically it. There's a choice of two chants, selected by a little switch where the AM/FM would normally be.

I'm sure there are pictures of it somewhere but I can't find them by Googling and I suspect there aren't many pages in English which would feature it.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 12:36 AM on August 21, 2006

Thanks everyone! This was it!
posted by teddyb109 at 5:05 PM on August 21, 2006