William Basinski(born 1958) is aUnited Statesavant-gardecomposer ofambient musicviatape musicandprocess music. Basinski is also a clarinetist, saxophonist,sound artist, andvideo artist. He is best known for his four-volume albumThe Disintegration Loops(2002–2003), constructed from rapidly decaying twenty-year-old tapes of his earlier music.

William Basinski was born in 1958 inHouston, Texas. A classically trained clarinetist, he studied jazz saxophone and composition atNorth Texas State Universityin the late 1970s. In 1978, inspired by minimalists such asSteve ReichandBrian Eno,[citation needed]he began developing his own vocabulary using tape loops and oldreel-to-reel tapedecks. He developed his meditative, melancholy style experimenting with short looped melodies played against themselves creating feedback loops.
His first release wasShortwave Music. Although created in 1983, it was first released on vinyl in a small edition in 1998 byCarsten Nicolai'sRaster-Notonlabel. This was followed byWatermusic, self-released in 2000 on Basinski's2062 Records. Another 2-disc work wasVariations: A Movement in Chrome Primitive, 1980: it was finally released in 2004 byDavid Tibeton theDurtro/Die Stadt label. At the time this work was created, Basinski was experimenting with compositions for piano and tape loops.
Throughout the 1980s, Basinski created a vast archive of experimental works using tape loop and delay systems, found sounds, and shortwave radio static. He was a member of many bands includingGretchen Langheld EnsembleandHouse Afire. In 1989, he opened his own performance space, "Arcadia". In the 1990s, he performed and produced records and intimate underground shows there for various NYC artists includingAntony,Diamanda Galás,Rasputina,The Murmurs, and his own ad-hoc experimental electronic/improvisation band, Life on Mars. In 2000, he made a film titledFountainwith artists James Elaine and Roger Justice.
In August and September 2001, he set to work on what would become his most recognizable piece, the four-volume albumThe Disintegration Loops. The recordings were based on old tape loops which had degraded in quality. While attempting to salvage the recordings in a digital format, the tapes slowly crumbled and left a timestamp history of their demise.