“Digital technology now makes it very easy for one musician to copy and modify some appealing element from another musician’s recording. Now lawyers hover over new records, listening for any legally actionable borrowing. Such cases are usually settled out of court — for undisclosed, but often enormous, sums. More interesting than the legal-sideshow aspect, I think, is the question of how artists deal with the situation. Imitation, allusion, parody, borrowing stray bits of melody or texture — all of this is fundamental to creativity. The line between mimicry and transformation is not absolute.”
Tag: 03.23.06
An Orchestra Of Laptops
The Princeton Laptop Orchestra, founded last fall, can, with “15 first-year students on Macs connected to custom omnidirectional speakers” emulate a full-fledged orchestra. “Or an electronica band. Or a jazz combo. It’s easy when the conductor keeps time via network clocks precise to 20 milliseconds.”
Foreign School Applications On Rise Again At US Schools
Reversing a two-year decline in applications, the “number of foreign students who applied to graduate programs in American universities during the current academic year increased by 11 percent” from last year.
Live And Synthetic
An actress in London’s West End is delivering her lines with synthetic vocal cords. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia’s Sister by Sarah Daniels stars disabled actress Amy Golden in the lead role using a communication aid with a synthesised voice to deliver her lines.”
UK Movies – Buy, Rip, Burn
UK movie fans will soon be able to buy and download movies online. “Fans will pay £19.99 for a DVD of their chosen film plus two digital copies to keep indefinitely – one for their home computer and one for a portable device. Universal said it could ‘completely revolutionise’ how people watch movies. However users will not be able to burn copies of the films to DVD themselves and the files will be compatible only with PCs and Windows software.”
TV Whenever You Want (Even When You Don’t)
For the first time, TV is available anywhere you have access to your cellphone. In fact, TV is about to be anywhere and everywhere, period…
Tate Britain – Fighting For Identity
“Tate Britain drew a record 1.73 million visitors last year with shows such as ‘Turner Whistler Monet.’ Yet many overlook its permanent display of Turners and Gainsboroughs, and forget that it hosts the Turner Prize contest and other contemporary-art events. As the museum turns six this month, it seeks to shed its dowdy image as a venue reserved for old-master shows.”
Pio Leyva, 88, Of Buena Vista Fame
“Leyva shot to international fame late in life along with his Buena Vista bandmates after recording an album in 1996 with blues legend Ry Cooder in Cuba. The Grammy-winning 1997 Buena Vista Social Club CD introduced the world to traditional Cuban “son” music.”
Booker: We ‘Da Man
The Booker Prize has renewed its affiliation with financial company Man Group. “The five-year agreement means the UK’s most prestigious literary award will continue to be branded as The Man Booker Prize.”
Is St. Luke’s Orchestra A Model For The Future?
The orchestra is flexible in its numbers and its management. “This flexibility — borne of necessity — has become a great asset, enabling us to sustain a financially viable model with no deficit. As the orchestra world grapples with top-heavy, inflexible, deficit-ridden organizations — many of which no longer respond to the changing needs of their communities — we believe the distinctive structure we have created could end up being a model for the orchestra of the 21st century.”