# Method Music

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2012 studio album by Lawrence Ball

Method Music Studio album by Lawrence Ball Released 31 January 2012 Recorded Oceanic Studios (Twickenham UK) Genre Electronic, Mediational, Ambient, Classical Length 120:00 Label Navona Records Producer Pete Townshend and Bob Lord

***Method Music*** is a double-album of electronic music by the English composer and mathematician [Lawrence Ball](/source/Lawrence_Ball) created using the compositional system that would become [The Lifehouse Method](/source/The_Lifehouse_Method), an online-based compositional project conceived by [Pete Townshend](/source/Pete_Townshend) of [The Who](/source/The_Who) to compose customized algorithmically-generated musical portraits.[1] The album's music evolved from tests of the portraiture system.

The release was produced by [Pete Townshend](/source/Pete_Townshend) and [Bob Lord](/source/Bob_Lord_(musician)) and was released on 31 January 2012 on Navona Records.[2][3]

## History

*Method Music* is an outgrowth of Townshend's groundbreaking 1971 futurist composition *[Lifehouse](/source/Lifehouse_(rock_opera))*. Although Townshend originally intended *Lifehouse* as a multimedia audience-participation musical production to follow The Who's *[Tommy](/source/Tommy_(rock_opera))*, difficulties in implementing the project led to its temporary abandonment; a selection of constituent components extracted from *Lifehouse* were recorded and assembled as The Who's highly successful album *[Who's Next](/source/Who's_Next)*.[4]

The element of audience participation was a key plot point of the *Lifehouse* narrative, which culminates in a concert where the audience's personal attributes and characteristics are transformed into music. The idea of a musical portraiture system was first explored by Townshend in the lead-off cut on *Who's Next*, *[Baba O'Riley](/source/Baba_O'Riley)* - a piece echoed in *Meher Baba Piece*, the first track on *Method Music* (which was included on The Who's 2006 album *[Endless Wire](/source/Endless_Wire_(The_Who_album))* as the underpinning for *Fragments*, co-written by Ball).[5]

In 2007, Townshend launched *The Lifehouse Method* website, run by his company [Eel Pie](/source/Eel_Pie_Publishing), an online music portraiture system created with Ball and programmer Dave Snowdon in which users entered data into the system and received a unique, customized piece of audio. The website generated over 10,000 musical portraits before closing in 2008.

*Method Music* was recorded and mixed at Townshend's Oceanic Studios in Twickenham.

## Track listing

**Disc One**

1. "Meher Baba Piece"

1. "Sitter 09"

1. "Sitter 10"

1. "Victoria 5"

1. "Sitter 11"

1. "Sitter 12"

1. "Sitter 13"

1. "Sitter 14"

1. "Sitter 15"

1. "Sitter 17"

1. "Sitter 16"

**Disc Two**

1. "Galaxy 01 (for the late [Syd Barrett](/source/Syd_Barrett))"

1. "Galaxy 02 (for the late [Hugh Hopper](/source/Hugh_Hopper))"

1. "Galaxy 03 (for the late [György Ligeti](/source/Gy%C3%B6rgy_Ligeti))"

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Billboard.com"](http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1052567/townshends-method-finally-ready-for-unveiling). *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))*. Retrieved 16 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Method Music"](https://pavementpr.com/featured-news/lawrence-balls-method-music-brings-pete-townshends-lifehouse-to-reality-2/). Retrieved 16 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Method Music on navonarecords.com"](http://www.navonarecords.com/methodmusic/). Retrieved 23 December 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Pete Townshend Opens The Lifehouse Door"](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pete-townshend-opens-the-lifehouse-door-20000228). *[Rolling Stone](/source/Rolling_Stone)*. 28 February 2000. Retrieved 16 November 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Lawrence Ball, Co-Composer Of "Fragments""](http://www.thewho.com/index.php?module=news&news_item_id=204). Retrieved 16 November 2011.

## External links

- [Navona Records official site](http://www.navonarecords.com)

- [Official METHOD MUSIC page on Navona Records](http://www.navonarecords.com/methodmusic)

- [Lawrence Ball official site](http://www.lawrenceball.org)

- [Pete Townshend official site](https://web.archive.org/web/20100830082759/http://www.eelpie.com/)

- [Bob Lord official site](http://www.boblordmusic.com)

- [Lifehouse Method official site](https://web.archive.org/web/20080518072215/http://www.lifehouse-method.com/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Method Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_Music) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_Music?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.