Broadway Musicians Replaced With Synthesizers 319
wooferhound writes "Sophisticated synthesizers and computer-manipulated recordings are increasingly taking over orchestras. Sounding almost like real players, while costing much less, they're especially popular with provincial or touring companies. But until mid-July — when 'West Side Story's' producers announced that a synthesizer was replacing three live violinists and two cellists, or half the orchestra's string section — staff violinist Paul Woodiel thought that at least the classics would be immune to the trend. There are computer programs able to read and play back music scores — a boon to composers who can now hear their work as they write — and software allowing conductors to control the tempo of the machine, in the same way that they direct live players."
I can't wait... (Score:1, Funny)
...until the Rocky Horror Show is completely synthesized and performed by robots with buggy participation.
Captcha: waived
Re:What is the issue? (Score:3, Funny)
And yet in musicals the actors/singers get the their names on the credits.
Patric Stewart is in deed a fine actor, but far less creative than the person who wrote his roles. If a machine could do his job, and allow him to be even more creative, why not? You don't think he would like to be able to create virtual partrics that could go out and perform works while he did whatever he liked? Perhaps even performing a work he particularly enjoyed while they make him money or perform other useful work?
Re:What is the issue? (Score:5, Funny)
There's already precedent for this - plenty of people paid to see Hayden Christensen as Anakin.
Re:What is the issue? (Score:2, Funny)
Well, if there were any actual theater in Broadway, I'd say you are right, but 99.999% of Broadway is not art, is Musicals.
Broadway is the cheap gringo alternative to actual theater. You go and see a lot of assholes run around and sing shit, that's your cheap replacement for actual theater.
Here, we call that "Teatro de Revista" and only the illiterate masses go see that shit.
The day Broadway figures out how to replace actors with holograms, they will, and nothing of value will be lost.
Did you knew that the ONLY country in the world where Musical Theater means 90% of all productions is the USA? Around the rest of the world, Drama and Comedy still reign. Musicals are for the illiterate masses.
You need a new symbol for Theater, that replaces the masks of Thalia and Melpomene for the silhouettes of the left and right gluteus of Andrew Lloyd Webber with a huge $ symbol smeared all over.
Very interesting. And yet informal. (Score:5, Funny)
I do declare this comment to be very authentic. I write now while drinking coffee. I insert reference http:/// [http] and get modded up.
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