Real-time Virtual Choir - Where Technology Meets Music

Pioneer - "A person who is the first to 'develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity)."

I admire Pioneers. Through their innovation, passion and creative thinking they push the boundaries of what was thought possible, and in doing so open the door of opportunity for others.

Being an avid music fan, I have always admired the composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. For me, Eric is best known his innovative use of technology to create a 'Virtual Choir'. That is, a choir collectively made up of thousands of people from across the globe.


Erics cocktail of music and technology not only continue to push the boundaries of technology, but means music collaboration is no longer confound by geo boundaries. As technology continues to evolve it's an exciting time for the global music community of all genres in terms of composition and performance. The possibilities are endless.

Exciting.

Below are a couple of Erics talks and projects.

Virtual Choir 3:

As the name suggests, this is the third installment of Virtual Choir. It was created from 3746 videos from 73 countries submitted via YouTube, with everyone singing the song 'Water Night' by Octavio Paz.

"If you open your eyes, night opens doors of musk, the secret kingdom of the water opens flowing from the centre of the night. And if you close your eyes, a river, a silent and beautiful current, fills you from within, flows forward, forward, darkens you: night brings its wetness to beaches in your soul."

The final film was not made in real-time but still a very impressive project.

Real-time 'Virtual Choir'

So I guess the obvious next step for Eric to evolve Virtual Choir was to do it in real-time; and that is what he did recently at a Ted Talk.

Eric conducts a live choir on stage plus 32 singers from around the world via Skype in a real-time global performance. 

Impressive isn't it.

How do you think this will change the music industry? Will bands be able to do more gigs, or interact with audiences in multiple venues? Live guest appearances by other musicians from around the world maybe?

As I said above, the opportunities are endless.