Much has been said about digital music not being 'music' and DJs-slash-producers being button mashers, not musicians. Well, a new classical music quartet begs to differ: the iPad Orchestra.
As its name might suggest, the quartet plays all their instruments on Apple’s tablet device using a new iPad app, Seline HD. The app functions much like a digital synthesizer does, moulding sine waves into instrument-emulating sounds.
So what about its sonic quality? The main gripe people have about digital music is that in the transference from waves to ones and zeros, something gets left behind.
Sure, a flute-sound from a synthesizer can’t match up to the real deal, but with sample-based libraries being de facto in music production these days, it isn’t hard to see the iPad or other devices using the same content. That’s where the iPad Orchestra comes in.
Their goal is, according to their website, “to demonstrate the latest achievements in digital mobile music.” They hope that one day people will be able to play any instrument on their mobile devices.
When it comes down to technique, the orchestra fulfils that impeccably too. While the DJ might be playing pre-programmed tunes—and there’s nothing to suggest this, too, doesn’t warrant the ‘musician’ tag—the orchestra plays live.
This isn’t to suggest the death of the instrument, either. The iPad and digital devices, much like eReaders, will complement and contribute to their predecessors rather than kill off wholesale.
The bottom line is simple. Digital is here to stay—instead of fighting it, work with it.
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