Campbell Vertesi

Yesterday, I posted about an electronic orchestra, poised to play the Beethoven symphonies. I was pleasantly surprised to get a comment from the conductor of the orchestra, Mr. Paul Henry Smith. I think his response merits front page mention, so here it is, reprinted in full. Discuss.

Thanks for writing about my work.

I just want to clarify that the test to try to determine "real" or "fake" was not supposed to have been the point of providing sound examples to the WSJ. The purpose of the audio clips was so listeners could hear that the interpretation the Fauxharmonic Orchestra has was new. It actually allows the main melody to be heard without being obscured by other winds, while all of the other clips let the melody sink below the sustained notes. That, apparently, was too nuanced a pointfor the "general" reader to grasp. So, a parlour game was made of it.

You can hear more about this passage from Beethoven's seventh and read an interesting discussion of the musical choices involved (and nothing at all about the technology).

Also, I just want to clarify that the digital orchestra IS performed by a live musician. It's not an "intelligent" machine attempting to follow a performer. It's a dumb box that has been "rehearsed" up to a point, with certain aspects of the music left un-specified (like, tempo, loudness, phrasing, balance) so that these can be finessed according to the live acoustics of the performance space, in real time.

I'ts interesting to note that technological advances in musical instruments have always lead to greater expressive possibilities and opportunities. This has been going on for at least 400 years with the orchestra and will continue well beyond our lifetimes. As long as there are people, they will exploit technology to make music. I want to direct the current technologies toward creating the best possible musical experiences, not the least expensive ones.

Next, the reason I am bringing the digital orchestra to the concert hall is precisely because that's where music of the highest quality happens. The digital orchestra is a musical instrument played by musicians. It offers new opportunities for composers whose music is not currently being played. And soloists who are not being paid to play concertos or sing arias will have that opportunity with the digital orchestra.

It would be wrong to assume that the composers, musicians and soloists who would appear with a digital orchestra must be inferior wannabes. While that may be true for many of them, that is not the only reason many of them lack opportunity. The economics of orchestras make it difficult even for the best musicians and composers ever to get a chance to be heard. It is simply too expensive to pay all the musicians to accompany the soloist or to premiere the new symphony; the ticket sales would not support it. So, that musical opportunity is now closed.

With the digital orchestra we can "expand the pie" of musical opportunity. We can play "unplayable" pieces. We can accompany young un-heard soloists graduating by the hundreds each year from top music schools worldwide (don't they deserve a chance, if a major conservatory deems them worthy of a degree?).

We can explore old masterworks. Interestingly, many of the potential soloists are themselves working in orchestras now. A chance to perform with a digital orchestra is a new artistic and economic opportunity, even for them. Not necessarily a threat. Some orchestral musicians might actually jump at the chance to play the concertos they have been practicing for years with little hope of ever getting to play them in a concert.