Interesting Things to Check Out

Here's something you've got to see to believe. If you've ever watched any of the Animusic DVDs, you've seen futuristic music machines that seemingly play themselves. They are so lifelike that there's an internet hoax that claims one of the videos is of a real instrument set up at some college. But in the real world, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny has built an entire orchestral ensemble that he triggers in real time with his guitar. Check out the video below to see how he can accompany himself on keyboards, marimbas, drums, hand percussion, and a giant set of bottles. They are all controlled by various solenoids and pneumatics, right from his guitar.

If you'd like to see this live, Metheny is going to be playing a concert at Symphony Center in Chicago, one set with just solo guitar and a second with the Orchestrion.

Do you love Disney movies? Do you love string basses? Of course you do! Check this out:

I recently ran across a page that has a recording of a piece I've been trying to find for a long time. It's an example of electo-acoustic music, one of the interesting new ideas in classical music in the mid-1900s. Composers of this school combined recorded natural sounds with electronically generated effects, and one of the most famous and successful of these was Karleinz Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglingen, or Song of the Youths. It's a bit spooky, but very effective, and you can hear it here.