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| APRIL 14, 2008 |
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YOU CAN CALL ME MAESTRO!
Touring classical-music video game makes everyone an
orchestral conductor
Touring classical-music video game makes everyone an
orchestral conductor
PHILADELPHIA AP - Wave the baton too slowly and the orchestra
arrayed on the screen plays the "William Tell Overture" at a crawl.
Wave it too fast and the music gallops away.
But would-be Leonard Bernsteins who wave the remote control
correctly as they try out "UBS Virtual Maestro" can experience a
small part of what it's like to be a conductor.
"There's an educational component to it. But it's also a lot of fun.
We think it's sort of like the orchestra version of 'Guitar Hero,' the
video game," said Peter Dillon, who handles corporate
sponsorships in the United States for Swiss banking giant UBS.
arrayed on the screen plays the "William Tell Overture" at a crawl.
Wave it too fast and the music gallops away.
But would-be Leonard Bernsteins who wave the remote control
correctly as they try out "UBS Virtual Maestro" can experience a
small part of what it's like to be a conductor.
"There's an educational component to it. But it's also a lot of fun.
We think it's sort of like the orchestra version of 'Guitar Hero,' the
video game," said Peter Dillon, who handles corporate
sponsorships in the United States for Swiss banking giant UBS.
Two "UBS Virtual Maestro" exhibits have been appearing in concert-hall lobbies across the
country since November as part of a project created by UBS, which often sponsors classical
music events and organizations, to increase interest in classical music. Organizers hope to
take the project to Europe in the summer.
To create the displays, UBS recorded the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, which it
sponsors, playing three classical music selections. In addition to Rossini's "William Tell
Overture," there are short selections from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and Berlioz's
"Symphonie Fantastique."
A team of programmers led by Teresa Nakra, an assistant professor of music at The College
of New Jersey in Ewing, created software that speeds or slows the replay of the orchestra
according to the movement of a remote from Nintendo Co.'s Wii game console — whose
games simulate driving, real-world sports play and other movement.
The traveling displays include a tall, freestanding wall with a 42-inch plasma screen where
the orchestra's image plays. A speaker atop the wall projects the audio toward a music stand
where the player "conducts."
A similar game called "You're the Conductor," also created by Nakra's nonprofit Immersion
Music Inc., opened in a permanent exhibit at the Children's Museum of Boston in 2003.
There, players try their hand at conducting the Boston Pops.
The games are intended to mimic the feel of conducting a real orchestra, Nakra said.
"That's the way classical music creates a sense of emotion. In the ebb and flow of the beat
there's a real flow of emotion," she said.
Nakra, who plays the violin and conducts, said the challenging part of making the games
was ensuring the pitch didn't change as the video slowed or sped up. [read more]
country since November as part of a project created by UBS, which often sponsors classical
music events and organizations, to increase interest in classical music. Organizers hope to
take the project to Europe in the summer.
To create the displays, UBS recorded the Verbier Festival Orchestra in Switzerland, which it
sponsors, playing three classical music selections. In addition to Rossini's "William Tell
Overture," there are short selections from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony and Berlioz's
"Symphonie Fantastique."
A team of programmers led by Teresa Nakra, an assistant professor of music at The College
of New Jersey in Ewing, created software that speeds or slows the replay of the orchestra
according to the movement of a remote from Nintendo Co.'s Wii game console — whose
games simulate driving, real-world sports play and other movement.
The traveling displays include a tall, freestanding wall with a 42-inch plasma screen where
the orchestra's image plays. A speaker atop the wall projects the audio toward a music stand
where the player "conducts."
A similar game called "You're the Conductor," also created by Nakra's nonprofit Immersion
Music Inc., opened in a permanent exhibit at the Children's Museum of Boston in 2003.
There, players try their hand at conducting the Boston Pops.
The games are intended to mimic the feel of conducting a real orchestra, Nakra said.
"That's the way classical music creates a sense of emotion. In the ebb and flow of the beat
there's a real flow of emotion," she said.
Nakra, who plays the violin and conducts, said the challenging part of making the games
was ensuring the pitch didn't change as the video slowed or sped up. [read more]