Technology’s relentless advance has finally invaded the timeless world of the cello, bassoon and other orchestral instruments, with the debut of the largest digital orchestra in the world. The Guadian reports.
Fifty music students at York University staged a hi-tech twist on the traditional symphony last night by sitting on a concert hall floor and playing nothing but laptop computers.
Floods of amplified music filled the cavernous building in York, while conductor Dr Ambrose Field used a range of new gestures to draw out mouse movements and triple clicks. Other music was activated by players making hand movements which were filmed and turned into music by the laptops’ inbuilt cameras.
Comments
@ 05:47
What an amazing and unusual sight it must have been to see all of those musicians with laptops.
Although I wasn’t there in person, the visual that I have in my mind of a ‘real’ orchestra excites me to a far greater degree than the description of the ‘digital’ orchestra. However, as an academic study and a comment on advances in technology,the above mentioned debut sounds interesting and relevant.