“Artificial intelligence experts working with musicologists at a Berlin startup have spent years gathering hundreds of thousands of published scores and creating digital editions of each of them. The Enote app will give musicians the chance to interact with sheet music by instantly transposing it, switching between movements or measures, turning pages, changing the size of scores, and printing them on the go.” – The Guardian
Category: music
A Musical Breakdown Of How Steve McQueen Scored His New Movies
McQueen goes through his thought process for the film Lovers Rock. “West Indian people, Black people, were not welcome into clubs. Therefore, people thought, ‘You know what? We’ll make our own.’ So front rooms used to be turned into discos. People just roll up their carpets, get their couch, and a coffee table, whatever, put it in the spare room, and make that front room a venue for a club.” – Slate
Can’t Travel, Can’t Go To Concerts, But This Irish Cellist On YouTube Is Bringing The Joy
Like many musicians, Irish cellist Patrick Dexter decided to post performances to YouTube during Irish lockdown. He thought, well, what the heck, now I have time to play music outside for other people. “The open-air recitals, shot outside his picturesque cottage in Mayo on the rural west coast, have been viewed millions of times.” – BBC
How The Houston Symphony Returned To The Stage For Live Performances
To be honest, part of the reason this could even be tried was that the governor of Texas didn’t institute a wide lockdown. That said, the symphony, which resumed weekly live concerts in July, consulted researchers from Rice to figure out where “microparticles” from musicians go within the symphony hall, and to institute better ventilation and filtration systems. (But the concerts have a livestreaming option for audience members who are not persuaded.) – Houston Chronicle
The Met Is Offering Opera Workers Pandemic Paychecks – In Exchange For Big, Lasting Cuts
The offer for a paycheck would be very tempting – but it comes with 30 percent pay cuts post-pandemic, ones that wouldn’t be recovered even if the opera company recovers. “The unions that work with the Met are against making such significant concessions that could affect workers long after the most severe impacts of the pandemic subside, and have accused management of taking advantage of the outbreak in order to get them to agree to cost-cutting measures.” – The New York Times
The Rock Critic Who Decided To Rewrite Classical Music History
Paul Morley “still writes about rock today, when asked, but his focus has shifted. His current mission is to inspire rock fans to explore and love classical music. An admirable aim, as far as it goes.” – The New York Times
AI-Powered Virtual Sheet Music Could Be Game-Changer For Musicians
Artificial intelligence experts working with musicologists at a Berlin startup have spent years gathering hundreds of thousands of published scores and creating digital editions of each of them. The Enote app will give musicians the chance to interact with sheet music by instantly transposing it, switching between movements or measures, turning pages, changing the size of scores, and printing them on the go. – The Guardian
Most Musicians Earn Tiny Pittances From Streaming. China May Have A Solution
“On several streaming platforms under the umbrella of China’s Tencent Music … micropayments from fans help compensate artists where royalties fall short. This has partially allowed artists to do some smaller-scale hustling every time they release a new album. In part it’s given them a digital tip jar. But it hasn’t been all small change. … [And] there’s no reason why Tencent Music’s model can’t be applied beyond China.” – Slate
Academy of Ancient Music, Leading Baroque Orchestra, Names New Director
Under its founder, the late Christopher Hogwood, the AAM made many pathbreaking recordings, including the first period-instrument releases of the complete Mozart symphonies, Bach’s Magnificat, and four Handel oratorios, including Messiah; with Hogwood and his successor, Richard Egarr, the orchestra has built up a discography of more than 200 titles. Taking the reins from Egarr in the fall of 2021 will be harpsichordist/conductor Laurence Cummings, currently director of the International Handel Festival Göttingen in Germany and the London Handel Festival as well as the period orchestra in Porto, Portugal. – Pizzicato
The Opera That Changed Everything: Mark Swed On ‘Einstein On The Beach’
“Almost nothing about what composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson put onstage was opera. Einstein has no narrative. Einstein has no Einstein, even though a great many onstage are dressed in the iconic image of frizzy-haired scientist. Einstein on the Beach has no beach. … Everything about [the piece] seemed new and revelatory in 1976. … When the Metropolitan Opera presented the touring production that fall after an ecstatic European tour, in which every seat at every performance was sold out, the company hadn’t performed a new American work in decades. Here was a new beginning for opera in America.” – Los Angeles Times