Less Ride of the Valkyries and more the march of the tablets

[lennygoran]

A friend from London sent me this-light from smartphones and tablets can be imho very disruptive to other audience members when it comes to operas that are seen in a dark space-can't talk about what the effect would be for concerts, etc. Regards, Len

It is less Ride of the Valkyries and more the march of the tablets.

Orchestras in Britain are embracing a digital revolution by replacing sheet music with tablet computers and encouraging audiences to use their smartphones in darkened auditoriums.

In Leeds tonight the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia will go “100 per cent digital” with sheet music ditched from its musicians’ stands in favour of iPads and Bluetooth foot pedals deployed to turn the pages.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is to allow audience members sitting anywhere in the auditorium to use smartphones and tablets to receive real-time information on, for example, the oboe solo that has your neck hairs tingling. It said it expected about 10 per cent of its audiences to use the Encue app, adding that concerns about light disruption had been alleviated during trials.

The Yorkshire Young Sinfonia allows audience members to use the same app. It will also be redeploying the Newzik app allowing their musicians to push a foot pedal and keep both hands on their instrument while turning a page of their score.

An added bonus of using a pedal to turn virtual pages on tablets is that audience members are not distracted from the music by every violinist leaning forward at the same time to turn a page of sheet music. A growing number of orchestras that started using tablets in rehearsals now deploy them in performances. Supporters say that time can be saved along with money — after considerable initial investment.

David Taylor, chief executive of the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia, said that the use of digital pens on the digital scores during rehearsals allowed, for example, bowings and markings to be made and shared with all violinists at the touch of a button. “I used to be a cellist and trying to lean forward and change a page with one hand was quite tricky,” he said, adding that the “half-page turn option” meant that a press of the pedal would display the next page of music on the top half of the screen but leave the bottom half unchanged. “It means you can prepare and there’s no frantic rush at the end,” he said.

James Williams, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s managing director, said he thought that while tablets and technology had enormous potential, the printed score was “here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future”. He said that musicians had a “mixed” response to digital tablets in place of printed scores, with many orchestras having built up their own libraries of printed music informed by “years of performances by that orchestra with different conductors”. Mr Williams added that there were logistical difficulties — limited rehearsal time, different locations and different orchestrations and programmes — to ensuring “the right musicians booked for a particular date have the tablet, with the right music uploaded on to it, and that the tablets are sufficiently charged to last through a full day of rehearsals and concert.”

Other orchestras including the Brussels Philharmonic and Orchestre national d’Île-de-France see no such problems and have ditched sheet music.

Mr Williams said he thought tablets had a “real future for orchestras” in the recording studio for soundtrack recordings. “To have a producer/composer in the recording box being able to make real-time amendments to players’ scores whilst the orchestra is sat in the studio, has the potential to save time and make for a more efficient recording process,” he said.

Tablets are also welcome in the Royal Philharmonic’s concert halls. After trialling the Encue app in its last season, with users seated in a balcony amid concerns about screen light disrupting others, it is now lifting seating restrictions at selected residencies.

It expects about 10 per cent of its audiences to use the app, which will relay bespoke programme notes “about the works you hear at the exact moment the action is happening on stage”.

Chris Evans, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s director of marketing, said the bespoke notes were aimed at audience members “who have the appetite to find out more about the music” and were not for “those who attend concerts on a daily basis”. He added: “At first, my main concern was ensuring Encue users didn’t disturb our loyal supporters. All users were seated in the balcony but Encue does use dark-screen technology and so light disruption is very minimal.”

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/orch ... -q296vhckk

[jbuck919]

An added bonus of using a pedal to turn virtual pages on tablets is that audience members are not distracted from the music by every violinist leaning forward at the same time to turn a page of sheet music.

To quote our friend John Francis, say what? I don't think I've read anything more ridiculous in my fourteen years here.

[lennygoran]

To quote our friend John Francis, say what? I don't think I've read anything more ridiculous in my fourteen years here.

I'll be interested in what he says-I have a tablet and a smartphone that I bring with me when we travel into NYC! Regards, Len

[barney]

So, Len, are you the nuisance that ruins concerts by lighting up your smart machines and distracting me? I'm glad to have identified you, and a couple of heavies are on their way to your house as we speak...

[lennygoran]

So, Len, are you the nuisance that ruins concerts by lighting up your smart machines and distracting me? I'm glad to have identified you, and a couple of heavies are on their way to your house as we speak...

Barney not me-I'm completely innocent-so is Sue! Regards, Len

[barney]

So, Len, are you the nuisance that ruins concerts by lighting up your smart machines and distracting me? I'm glad to have identified you, and a couple of heavies are on their way to your house as we speak...

Barney not me-I'm completely innocent-so is Sue! Regards, Len

I don't doubt it, Len.
I actually (politely) asked a young lady in the row in front of me to turn off her phone at a recent concert, telling her it was very distracting. I asked after a work ended. She was quite affronted, but did so. At interval people on each side of her thanked me, and said they found it the same.

[jbuck919]

So, Len, are you the nuisance that ruins concerts by lighting up your smart machines and distracting me? I'm glad to have identified you, and a couple of heavies are on their way to your house as we speak...

Barney not me-I'm completely innocent-so is Sue! Regards, Len

I don't doubt it, Len.
I actually (politely) asked a young lady in the row in front of me to turn off her phone at a recent concert, telling her it was very distracting. I asked after a work ended. She was quite affronted, but did so. At interval people on each side of her thanked me, and said they found it the same.

At Lincoln Center, the ushers more or less patrol the aisles to make people put away their cell phones. The main reason? Because they can be used as cameras.

[lennygoran]

I actually (politely) asked a young lady in the row in front of me to turn off her phone at a recent concert, telling her it was very distracting. I asked after a work ended. She was quite affronted, but did so. At interval people on each side of her thanked me, and said they found it the same.

Barney great job! I'll speak up if I have to! Regards, Len

[Belle]

On Saturday driving to Sydney on our fast motorway one in two drivers appeared to be engaged with a mobile phone. We are supposed to pull over to take phone calls but you never see cars pulled over. What hope has anybody got in a concert hall?

[lennygoran]

On Saturday driving to Sydney on our fast motorway one in two drivers appeared to be engaged with a mobile phone. We are supposed to pull over to take phone calls but you never see cars pulled over. What hope has anybody got in a concert hall?

The concert hall has ushers around and also plenty of other people to join in the complaining! Regards, Len

[diegobueno]

Orchestras in Britain are embracing a digital revolution by replacing sheet music with tablet computers. In Leeds tonight the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia will go “100 per cent digital” with sheet music ditched from its musicians’ stands in favour of iPads and Bluetooth foot pedals deployed to turn the pages.

David Taylor, chief executive of the Yorkshire Young Sinfonia, said that the use of digital pens on the digital scores during rehearsals allowed, for example, bowings and markings to be made and shared with all violinists at the touch of a button. “I used to be a cellist and trying to lean forward and change a page with one hand was quite tricky,” he said, adding that the “half-page turn option” meant that a press of the pedal would display the next page of music on the top half of the screen but leave the bottom half unchanged. “It means you can prepare and there’s no frantic rush at the end,” he said.

This is a very handy and convenient thing. I have several musician friends who use this. When handed their parts, the first thing they do is make a copy of it as a pdf and then put it into their tablets. It's especially useful for music where there's no good opportunity for page turns. It's also very useful for complex contemporary scores where you really need to see what the other players are doing. Being relieved of having to turn pages means you can put the score of, say, an Elliott Carter string quartet on your tablet and play from it. I recall the days when new music ensembles played from huge sheets of paper propped up on multiple music stands.