Robot to conduct orchestra

[barney]

A robot conductor will lead the National Orchestra of Korea in an upcoming concert. Time to be paranoid about androids?
by Maddy Briggs on 28 June, 2023

A robot is set to conduct the National Orchestra of Korea through a performance on 30 June in what will be first in that country.

Named EveR6, the android will follow a pre-programmed path, after having been trained using motion capture information of baton movements and speed as performed by a live conductor. With joints allowing for rapid, precise and flexible movements, EveR6 is also able to convey emotion through expression. Developed last year by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, it does not have the capability to generate material or interact with its performers – yet.

In the orchestra’s program Absence (also known as Disproof), EveR6 will lead a solo performance and then join conductor Choi Soo-yeol in a collaborative performance of Sense by composer Ill Hoon Son, a work that offers instructions rather than scores to its performers, and which requires an unusual degree of communication between players and conductor.

“The advantage of a robot is that it is extremely precise,” said Choi Soo-yeol in a press conference, who also highlighted that the primary challenge for robots is the “real-time interaction and communication, particularly in the context of music.”

This is not the first performance to feature an artistic android. A robot developed by Honda, Asimo, conducted the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a performance featuring Yo-Yo Ma in 2008. In 2017, YuMi led famed tenor Andrea Bocelli and the Lucca Philharmonic Orchestra through several works, including the aria La donna e mobile from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

In Japan, the robots Alter 2 and Alter 3 have each conducted performances, including that of Keiichiro Shibya’s ‘android opera’ Scary Beauty – which was also presented with the Australian Art Orchestra in 2017 for OzAsia with a robot named Skeleton performing as a singer.

[Ricordanza]

it does not have the capability to generate material or interact with its performers – yet.

I'm sure that's coming in the not-too-distant future.

[maestrob]

My old job!

Seriously, though, what happens in the preparation is what's key to a musical performance. A conductor is there to give feedback to the orchestra members during rehearsal, something that requires years of experience and a pair of golden ears, especially when working with singers. Frankly, I am not alarmed in the least.

That said, I once saw the New York Philharmonic play Bernstein's Candide Overture without a conductor.

[barney]

My old job!

Seriously, though, what happens in the preparation is what's key to a musical performance. A conductor is there to give feedback to the orchestra members during rehearsal, something that requires years of experience and a pair of golden ears, especially when working with singers. Frankly, I am not alarmed in the least.

That said, I once saw the New York Philharmonic play Bernstein's Candide Overture without a conductor.

I very much agree, Brian. The problem is that too many in the audience will not recognise the difference. Conductors are among the more modern musical innovations - perhaps their wane is inevitable.

[diegobueno]

Will it be able to give the hairy eye ball to the oboe who's about to enter a bar early? Or give the "shush" signal to the clarinet who has come in wrong?, Or reunite the orchestra to the soloist when he or she comes in at the wrong time?

Will it be able to jump up in the air like Leonard Bernstein at the climax of Mahler 2?

[CharmNewton]

As an exercise of the imagination, how long before we have orchestras conducted by holographic images of conductors of the past, based on filmed images and programmed computer projections linked to a score?

When I first saw a demonstration of Microsoft's HoloLens technology, I was amazed. 3-D creatures appearing seamlessly from walls. It seemed that it might be possible to create venues like a stadium virtually which put you near or on the field.

Film (silent) exists of Arthur Nikisch conducting, for example. Is there enough to capture gestures and expression to be able to generate an image through an entire work with at least well founded speculation, say Beethoven's 5th Symphony, a work he recorded that in spite of antique 1913 sound remains compelling (at least to me) to this day? Or perhaps Fritz Reiner conducting Mahler's 9th Symphony as another example? Or Toscanini, for whom there is a great deal of video? And how would the players themselves relate to the experience?

Would you like to see and hear it? It is live music after all. I would.

John

[maestrob]

#MeToo!

[barney]

As an exercise of the imagination, how long before we have orchestras conducted by holographic images of conductors of the past, based on filmed images and programmed computer projections linked to a score?

When I first saw a demonstration of Microsoft's HoloLens technology, I was amazed. 3-D creatures appearing seamlessly from walls. It seemed that it might be possible to create venues like a stadium virtually which put you near or on the field.

Film (silent) exists of Arthur Nikisch conducting, for example. Is there enough to capture gestures and expression to be able to generate an image through an entire work with at least well founded speculation, say Beethoven's 5th Symphony, a work he recorded that in spite of antique 1913 sound remains compelling (at least to me) to this day? Or perhaps Fritz Reiner conducting Mahler's 9th Symphony as another example? Or Toscanini, for whom there is a great deal of video? And how would the players themselves relate to the experience?

Would you like to see and hear it? It is live music after all. I would.

John

Would you need a holographic orchestra too?

[CharmNewton]

Would you need a holographic orchestra too?

No. The equipment needed to project these high density 3-D images would probably be obtrusive in a concert setting today, but reducing the size of the form factor has been something we've done since the introduction of the computer. Cell phones today have greater power than desktops of 25 years ago, so at some point it might be possible. The tech would have to be bulletproof.

Rehearsals would be interesting. An opportunity for real orchestral democracy as section leaders and players work out performance details and balances.

Some real art would have to be a part of the programming. The challenge would be to introduce expressive gestures and tempo variation that were both spontaneous and natural. Perhaps a real application for AI.

John