I was skeptical – really skeptical – that the folks doing the mashup could pull it off. But I was wrong. They managed to create something in virtual space that is quite possibly unique, and that is most definitely greater than the sum of the parts.
I must confess here that fitting this mashup in on an emerging science and technology blog is a bit of a stretch. But work with me – having lived with the “symphony” for the past couple of months, I feel I’m due a bit of indulgence!
I was first introduced to the whole concept of the Internet Symphony by my 11 year old son some months back… As an aspiring oboe player, he wanted to try his hand at being part of the experiment. The idea was deceptively simple – post a video of yourself on YouTube playing the orchestral part for your particular instrument while composer Tan Dun conducted you – via YouTube of course. The organizers would then select the best submissions and mash them together into one great YouTube video, to be premiered at Carnegie Hall on April 15th – today.
In recording the video, it quickly became apparent that this was a project heading for disaster. The piece was challenging. There was no way the thousands of participants were going to keep to the same pitch. And even with Tan Dun conducting from his little YouTube window, I could guarantee that timing would be all over the shop. So when the final mashup was released this morning, I just knew it would be the internet version of that first kids concert you attend – you know, the one that makes a cats chorus sound lyrical, but fills you with pride anyway because your son or daughter is there in the thick of it.
Luckily I was wrong – very wrong. The mashup artists on this did a fabulous job of melding hundreds of YouTube musicians with a professional orchestra, to create a video which is both inclusive and highly sophisticated.
This isn’t really emerging technology – YouTube has been around for a while now. But it is a great example of how innovators are using the internet to draw people together in ever more sophisticated ways. And I think it’s this that fascinates me most. Take an international communication medium, a team of talented engineers and a bunch of musicians, and geographic, social and professional borders begin to fade away. It’s another example of how advances in communication are changing the world and changing society faster than anyone would have thought possible.
As I type this, a select band of musicians will be tuning up to perform the Internet Symphony live at Carnegie hall – chosen from their YouTube submissions. At the same concert, the mashup will also be shown for the first time in public. It’ll be a fantastic melding of virtual and real society, demonstrating the blurring between on-line and off-line worlds that is now beginning to emerge. I would have loved to be there, but alas other priorities intervened.
At least my son made it to the final mashup – those hours of listening to him practice the piece and the recording session paid off. He’s the oboist in the oversized headphones if you are wondering. A proud moment for the family.
Now if only I could get that tune out of my head after all these months of listening to it… over and over again!