Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - "Lux Aurumque"

During July of 2009, conductor and composer Eric Whitacre released his first experiment in creating the world's first "virtual choir." Whitacre used YouTube to compile separate videos, each of an individual vocalist singing his or her respective part, and have them simultaneously perform Whitacre's own piece "Sleep." The experiment was a promising success and demonstrated vast implications for technology in the musical sphere. Now, over half a year later, Whitacre unveiled his final, finished production on the virtual choir project - a full chorus performing his composition "Lux Aurumque":

(Check it out even if this isn't your particular style of music. Seeing how they compiled the voices is reason enough to do so.)

Composed, Conducted, and Arranged by Eric Whitacre

Produced and Edited by Scottie Haines

In order to create the product you see above, Whitacre made the same casting call he made for Sleep - except he also created an instructional video providing a conducting track with which chorus members could sing and keep time. The video included instructions on when to start and stop recording, a piano part to aid participants, and even provided his own, personal instruction on how to tackle each voice. It's an extraordinary concept and provides a rare view into the musical world for most:

Through this process, producer Scott Haines collected, edited (only to correct for minor alterations in recording volume), and organized over 200 hundred different videos into a single chorus. All who wanted could participate, although auditions were held for the soprano solo. As an increased incentive, Whitacre also created a scholarship for participants who wished to apply and have their video considered. Each scholarship finalist (soloist included) was guaranteed a spot to sing at Carnegie Hall in his concert adaptation of Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, including a waiver of the application fee ($590) and seats at a post-concert dinner with he and his wife - famed soprano Hila Plitmann. The four finalists were announced on his blog during the virtual choir production and the soloist was featured in the video above.

The entire process above provides a peek into a possible future for musical production. From start to finish, it mirrors the steps made in real life despite that most of these people have never met. Yet, it still works (and works very well from where I'm sitting). While there will always be room for live audition and performance, I am interested in how far this particular concept can go. How will the future of classical and contemporary music be effected in a world where television and entertainment slowly bends into the internet? It's a question I can't possibly answer. But, I remain excited to find out.

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Updated: 3/23/2010

With the increased attention from Mashable and The Daily Dish, Eric Whitacre posted "The Virtual Choir: How He Did It" in an effort to introduce new comers to the why, the how, and the experience of creating Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir. Click the link and check it out!

Some Reflections on the Snowmageddon

For those of us living in the snow-hammered regions of the Mid-Atlantic (DC-Baltimore-Philly in particular), I think a blizzard of this proportion gives us with our modern, technological, compartmentalized existence the closest thing to experiencing what it was like to live before the Industrial Revolution.

Stocking up on food and goods - check.

Potentially going without electricity and relying on blankets, clothes or fires - check.

Getting cut off from the world beyond that which can be walked to - check.

Shared plight and interconnection with the neighbors - check. (I only now met my across-the-street neighbors, who are my age, despite having lived here five months; we worked together to get my car and their car up the hill.)

Treating any visitors to your residence like houseguests - check. (If someone's come over to your place, you're probably going to end up feeding, showering and bedding them. [Um, I mean "providing food, a shower and a bed."]) No wonder most ancient peoples considered the responsibility of the host to the guest to be paramount.

Being left to our own devices for our entertainment - check. (Of course, one of those devices is an Internet-connected computer, and another is probably a DVD player or a video game system, but either way, there's not much in the way of stores, restaurants, bars, movies or shows to choose from, and definitely no non-local options.) Some hundreds of years ago, during the winter, this is what people would do, after all - stay inside, perform the occasional chore. If you were a substinence farmer, what did you have to do during the winter? Not much. It's not like you were missing work hours at the office.

We even have to put our backs into some shoveling and do a bit of manual labor if we want to get anywhere. And heck, some people have probably died in the snowstorm. How 17th century is that?

Yes, we're able to keep up with our less next-door friends and hobbies via the Internet, and maybe I'm writing the wrong blog post, because this really could be about the key role the Internet has played in this blizzard. (Maybe another Gentleman can write on that.) But by and large, most of us still depend on in-person interactions for true socialization; Facebook is just for keeping tabs, passing time and sharing observations - but most of the observations on Facebook are pretty much the same. In other words, we're not really learning anything to see ten different friends post "Snow go away!" and another ten post pictures of their whited-out backyards. Despite being from different people in different places, these all add up to just a monotonous reflection of our own little landscape (even if it's nice to know - not that we couldn't have guessed - that we're not the only ones wishing it was over). In fact, I considered not posting this at all, because I figured all of you readers out there, being in exactly the same situation, have probably thought more or less exactly these same things. Thus, I believe that the snowstorm has rendered the Internet and its connections moot - overall, these five-foot snow drifts have reduced our world. Brought it inwards. Slowed it down.

And holy **** it's boring.

Snap Judgments: AOL/Time Warner

First, an apology to my quick-responding Gentlemen as to the tardiness of this latest post. It was supposed to go up the day after the news broke that AOL was breaking from Time Warner to once again become an independant organization. I then spent the next several days away from my computer and was not able to make this judgment quite as snappy as I'd hoped.

Regardless, here is our gentlemenly reaction to the final last gasp of the dot com explosion.

Dan Strauss

AOL: All Outta Luck. I'm not the first person to think of this, I'm sure, but it's funny, and I'm going to take credit for it, because I didn't hear anyone say it before me, and therefore, I'm going to say I made it up. If someone else did, they can contact me, and I'll print a retraction. Actually, I wont, because really, I thought of it myself, so if two people think of something independently of each other, I don't think that's copyright infringement. I mean, there's no way I could have known someone else thought of it. Listen, the bottom line here is, AOL is screwed, yo.

John Ozkirbas

The only thing that AOL makes me think of is the dial-up modem noise that computers used to make. When my father taught me how to use the internet for the first time, he told me that I'd know I was online when that noise was made because the computer and the internet were "shaking hands." To this day, I continue to call that iconic series of cacophonous screeches the "handshake noise," much to the confusion of anyone who hears me call it that. With that said, I lack any knowledge of what would possibly happen after AOL's split from Time Warner. In fact, my immediate reaction was "whoa, whoa, whoa... AOL still exists?" My best guess is that day-to-day living probably won't change much. I mean, it's sad that AOL and Time Warner won't be shaking hands anymore (and this probably is less an active "split" and more Time Warner casting AOL off like an infected, money-hemorrhaging appendix), but I don't need handshakes to get on the internet these days. I have cable now and, instead, must deal with Comcast until Fios is available in my area. But, really - what would this actually do? I have no idea.

Jason Heat

Does anyone still actually use aol?

I don't mean that in a snarky way, I'm being totally serious - does anyone actually still aol? I can't think of anyone offhand who does, and I'm wondering what aol really is at this point. I read somewhere recently (I think Business Week?) that aol has over a hundred pages of content to offer but I have no idea what they are. Maybe someone who uses them can tell me, because I really have NO idea. My last vestige of aol use in my life is AIM - which I still think is the best messaging software around in terms of functionality, but with less and less people using it facebook chat and g-chat are starting to become my defaults. I had no idea aol still had any relevancy left.

That said, I'm happy to see the end of the deal. Time Warner is a company I have a great deal of affinity for given the intellectual property they own (DC Comics, Warner Brothers) and I'd prefer to see them healthier.

David Pratt

All my earliest memories of the internet stem from AOL. I remember blitzing through chat rooms (do those even exist anymore?) the strange novelty of Instant Messenger. When they merged with Time Warner, I, like many, was erroneously enthralled at the possibilities of the focal point of the world wide web as I knew it. Then time went on and nothing seemed to materialize.

Time Warner is a good company that probably isn't going anywhere for awhile. AOL failed to live up to any of the expectations America had for it. That merger just was not destined to last, or even produce anything really that noteworthy. Now if Time Warner had the foresight to merge with a fledgling Google, who knows what might have happened?

I'm not sure how bright AOL's future is going to be without the Time Warner machine behind it, but maybe they'll use this opportunity to reinvent themselves and become relevant again. Or maybe the once all-encompassing America Online will go the way of the tech bubble and dot com explosion it represented.

Thus, like two friends parting ways after shaking hands, another Snap Judgment comes and goes.

One Newsfeed Item Away from an Existential Crisis

I am what one might call a self-hating Facebook stalker. I want so much to be that guy who just uses the infamous social networking tool for the events function; I want so much to laugh haughtily at the people who put every minute detail of their lives on the internet.

But I can't, because I eat that crap up.

The facebook guilt/shame spiral has spun ever-deeper as of late, too, as I've been hungrily following the sad story of a girl I knew in high school, shamelessly riding the highs and lows of her struggle along with her. As if we're friends. As if we still know each other. Maybe I would have heard about it anyway, because I'm from a small town and word gets around fast. Maybe my following her newsfeed is just the best thing I can do for her right now, sending comforting vibes out into the ether in the hopes that she somehow feels them across cyberspace and is cheered for no reason for a moment. But maybe I'm just a morbid voyer, feeding off of her personal drama.

The internet is a strange place; it presents an overwhelming phenomenon of worldwide closeness and local disconnect. The same person who might skype his or her friends in foreign countries might also text or email his or her friends down the street or in the same building, because in cyberspace they are the same distance.

There is something to be said for what we choose to put about ourselves on the internet (because at this point in social history it is largely a choice unless, of course, you wind up in an embarrassing watchdog situation like failblog, or you have an undiscerning photo-happy facebook friend.) And there is something to be said for the me-centric culture that exists today: is it developing because of social networking sites that encourage us to put up every detail about our everyday lives, implying that we are important and special, or is it our me-centric culture that makes these websites thrive? Did we as humans create our selfish culture or does modern culture make us selfish? Is it selfishness at all or simply fulfilling a basic need to reach out to our fellow man in any way that we know how?

So does it make me a jerk that you post more about your life than I do, and I judge you by it? Maybe.

And that is what keeps me up at night. Is is my fault or her fault that I am addicted to her pain? (It has to be someone's.) But as much as I want to sit on my high horse and judge anyone who puts up intimate details of his or her life on the internet, I can't. Because when she writes about her life, I read it. And I feel for her because, and maybe this is the whole point, she is revealing something very basic and human and emotional about herself, and my instinct is to corral and nurture. I read her updates obsessively but I don't want her to keep hurting; I want to read about how she's getting through it. I want my empathetic, feel-better vibes to reach her, not because I want everyone to know I'm a caring person, but because I'm human and I know pain too. I want her pain to be somehow lessened, even though I haven't seen her since high school.

Maybe that's the difference between these posts and some others I judge without shame. This girl is doing a little more than announcing into a vacuum; she's using social media to relay a painful topic to people who may want or need to know. I may not be able to empathize with her exact situation, but I can empathize with that. Last year, when my grandmother passed away, I sent out a generalized mass email to my close friends who needed to know, letting them know the details of the funeral and the charity we were accepting donations for in her behalf, and that I would not be answering my phone as I was not ready to talk out loud about it. There is something to be said for the instant communication/comforting disconnect the internet provides.

Maybe what I should do is message this girl and let her know I'm thinking about her, even though we barely know each other anymore. Even though we barely knew each other in high school. Maybe I should reach out and use Facebook for good, rather than stalking.

It's Glorious!

It's been 28 days. 28 long days of looking for it at friends' houses, at my parents', on the streets. It's made me late for work. Hell, I'm using at work. Sneaking it when we're not busy.

But they have to understand, right? Right? I mean, I need it. I can't function without it. I mean, I can get it other places, but there's never enough time. 

And whose idea was it to cut me off in the first place dammit? Huh? How did you think this would go? Did you think I'd be grateful? That I'd focus on the more important things in life? Well think. again.

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. A three hour window that turns into four but it's OK because he found us - he's here. It's really happening. Well hello, Mr. Comcast Technician. Installation fee? Bring it on. Five dollar surcharge per month to rent a router? Worth it. Hook me up, baby. Give me what I need. Give me that sweet, sweet Internet.

8557 kbps.

Wireless access.

Oh yeah.

I'm back.

You're a Twit

I love the Twitter debate. Just love it.

What I love most is how polarizing it seems to be. Love it or hate it? And everyone in between just seems so overwhelmingly perplexed. I think almost without fail, the first 'post' (or tweet, or twit, depending on your level on contempt) seems to be something like the phrase "seriously? is this it?"

No one needs to make a list of internet fads - websites that are wildly popular one moment and leave the public's care just as fast seems to happen all the time. In fact, it surprised me to hear recently that Myspace was celebrating just its 5 year birthday. I feel like Myspace has been around forever! Facebook, Purevolume, Napster. All have had huge staying power but overall have not been around very long - especially when one thinks about how long the internet has been around, and will be around.

Where Twitter falls on the proverbial dart board is a heated debate. I for one, believe it will have huge staying power, with the potential to become almost, but not quite, as integrated as Facebook and Google into the fabric of the internet. When I tell people this though, I get some extremely heated responses. I love that.

There always seems to be three very clear, distinct, and immediate reactions to something new, and not just in the technology sphere. There's one circle that immediately rejects, another that immediately embraces, and the third, a "silent majority," if you will allow me to utilize some 70's political lingo. The third group is the wait and see, the independents, and they'll be the ones to actually decide which way things go.

The thing is, I see the potential. One day soon, when everyone's phone is also an mp3-playing, internet-surfing, GPS, walkie talkie, video game consol, emailing device... I expect a tool like Twitter to be ideal. I do not yet have one of these contraptions; my bulky Verizon LG is doing just fine thank you (yeah, that one >>).

The key to the success of Twitter will of course be if can come up with a realistic business model for revenue. Twitter has said it plans to announce a revenue plan this year.

Dont' be surprised if Oprah's show - yes, that Oprah Winfrey who has had a love affair with Michael Phelps and is also #6 on my list of really rich people who are most likely to pull off being Batman - becomes the platform for such an announcment later today. Ashton Kutcher - who’s on track to be the first with 1 million followers on Twitter - will be her guest. Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is also expected to make an appearance.

One day, when I'm in downtown DC for some reason, and I tweet this fact into my phone, and a friend calls me to hang out soon after because they too happen to be downtown, and knew where I was because I told my phone so, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And while waiting for my friend to arrive, I can check the daily major headline news just by being on Twitter because my cheap and effective subscriptions to news services like nbclocaldc will keep me updated with news and links to their website, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when planning my weekend, I can Tweet to a pre-specified circle of friends asking what I'll be up to later that night to let them know, then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when bored out of my mind, I can check Twitter for random links from friends and stalk people like we all used to with AOL - except now with less effort - then Twitter will have improved my life.

And when I stop talking to people eye-to-eye and only have conversations through Twitter, I will officially be a twit, and Twitter will have ruined my life.