hmmmmm....
...well, look, I'm all for using technology to enhance performance experiences. But I'm all for finding the most efficient and organic way of utilizing those technologies; I don't think it makes sense to incorporate multi-media/electronic/communication gadgetry just for the sake of using the technology in itself.
Case in point, an upcoming Beethoven Sixth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra led by NSO associate conductor Emil de Cou in which program notes will be sent via Twitter at appropriate times during the performance.
I don't have a problem with real-time program notes, which some have found to enhance the concert experience (I would think particularly so for those less familiar with the repertoire/type of music at hand). I just don't think Twitter is really the right vehicle.
I love tweeting as much as the the next Gen X/Y-er, but the charm of Twitter is that posts are pithy reflections of experiences in real time, as they occur. The 140-character limitations creates the necessity of boiling down a thought or observation to its essential meaning, and posting is a matter delivering these as they occur to you, a running commentary on life as it occurs (some tweets I just read as I write this blog: "Running to USPS & bank so I can get my errands and exercise done at the same time."; "In Vegas for a meeting, believe it or not. Just saw the spot where Elvis waited in his cape before he went on."; "Just did a shot of aquavit and sight-read the "Moonlight Sonata." It's wild sharps in that sonata.").
Pre-written program notes, tweeted as carefully cultivated musical points, first and foremost, defeat the purpose of Twitter. This is an example of the use of technology as a delivery system (for mass texting) which is peripheral to the whole purpose of the technology itself (from the Twitter website: "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?").
If you want to provide real-time program notes, why not have a super-title screen?
Ok, Ok, I know some of you will say, "Well, at least with the Twittering, those of us who don't want to be distracted by the program notes don't have to see it on some screen above the orchestra." To which I answer, what's more distracting, a screen high enough above the orchestra so that you could ignore it if you so choose, or seeing the pale glow of countless phones and PDAs as people read their screens every few minutes? Are we encouraging people to read texts during a concert? What precedent does that set?
Orchestras have slowly climbed aboard the technology bandwagon, which I applaud. What I'm less enthused about is the use of the latest "sexy" thing ("Hey, everyone's on Twitter! We need to incorporate this into what we do because it's proof that we're hip and current!") just for the sake of the thing itself, when there is a more efficient and perhaps more natural way to accomplish the same ultimate goal.
I've had a long-standing relationship with the NSO (I first worked with them back in 2002), and I appreciate this attempt to think outside the box; however, for my taste, this particular foray into use of technology seems off-mark. I'll be curious to see commentary from those who attend the concert.
PS: had set this to post on a 12-hour delay without carefully proofing, sorry for the typos in the original!
Case in point, an upcoming Beethoven Sixth Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra led by NSO associate conductor Emil de Cou in which program notes will be sent via Twitter at appropriate times during the performance.
I don't have a problem with real-time program notes, which some have found to enhance the concert experience (I would think particularly so for those less familiar with the repertoire/type of music at hand). I just don't think Twitter is really the right vehicle.
I love tweeting as much as the the next Gen X/Y-er, but the charm of Twitter is that posts are pithy reflections of experiences in real time, as they occur. The 140-character limitations creates the necessity of boiling down a thought or observation to its essential meaning, and posting is a matter delivering these as they occur to you, a running commentary on life as it occurs (some tweets I just read as I write this blog: "Running to USPS & bank so I can get my errands and exercise done at the same time."; "In Vegas for a meeting, believe it or not. Just saw the spot where Elvis waited in his cape before he went on."; "Just did a shot of aquavit and sight-read the "Moonlight Sonata." It's wild sharps in that sonata.").
Pre-written program notes, tweeted as carefully cultivated musical points, first and foremost, defeat the purpose of Twitter. This is an example of the use of technology as a delivery system (for mass texting) which is peripheral to the whole purpose of the technology itself (from the Twitter website: "Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?").
If you want to provide real-time program notes, why not have a super-title screen?
Ok, Ok, I know some of you will say, "Well, at least with the Twittering, those of us who don't want to be distracted by the program notes don't have to see it on some screen above the orchestra." To which I answer, what's more distracting, a screen high enough above the orchestra so that you could ignore it if you so choose, or seeing the pale glow of countless phones and PDAs as people read their screens every few minutes? Are we encouraging people to read texts during a concert? What precedent does that set?
Orchestras have slowly climbed aboard the technology bandwagon, which I applaud. What I'm less enthused about is the use of the latest "sexy" thing ("Hey, everyone's on Twitter! We need to incorporate this into what we do because it's proof that we're hip and current!") just for the sake of the thing itself, when there is a more efficient and perhaps more natural way to accomplish the same ultimate goal.
I've had a long-standing relationship with the NSO (I first worked with them back in 2002), and I appreciate this attempt to think outside the box; however, for my taste, this particular foray into use of technology seems off-mark. I'll be curious to see commentary from those who attend the concert.
PS: had set this to post on a 12-hour delay without carefully proofing, sorry for the typos in the original!
Labels: concert culture, music and technology, orchestras not named minnesota, the long-suffering audience
posted by Sarah at
6:00 AM
9 Comments:
The NSO also assumes that everyone in the audience is on Twitter, which may not be the case at all. They may want to reach people in the moment, but I think they're running a risk of not reaching people at all. And what's to stop people with Twitter from tweeting back, texting friends about it, or using their cells in some other, really obnoxious way during a concert of classical music when it'd be nice for a little quiet? And what about concentrating on the music, listening with full attention and heart to the performers who are playing on stage? I hope someone suggests to the NSO that this Twitter thing is a bad idea....
I would pay BIG BUCKS to see a twitter feed from the brass section of an orchestra. They can comment during the long parts of a symphony when their resting, sharing the jokes they make when the clarinet player is rushing or the timpanist drops his sticks. I see a great new way for orchestra's to present themselves!
As far as finding people around you with PDA's and phones reading the twittered notes distracting fellow audience members... kind of the same as the rustling of someone leafing their their printed program, isn't it?
"As far as finding people around you with PDA's and phones reading the twittered notes distracting fellow audience members... kind of the same as the rustling of someone leafing their their printed program, isn't it?"
Not to mention the half dozen or so patrons who will forget to silence the BEEP on the cell phone that indicates the arrival of a message!
Bill in Dallas
GML4, I would love to hear the thoughts of a brass section during a concert too, and that's exactly my point - that's what Twitter is for, real-time on-the-spot commentary.
As for rustling programs vs. glowing screens, I still think the possibility of a phone going off is far more distracting than a page turn. Compound that by the fact that as the tweet goes out to everyone simultaneously, and it's far more than an occasional program rustle - it's several hundred people accessing their phones at the same time.
Ah, but everyone getting their tweet simultaneously, or everyone turning their page at the same time... both will be annoying! The audience has to force itself to ignor those distractions.
Do people really turn program pages at the same time? I've rarely experienced this as an audience member (though, to be honest, I don't get to hear a lot of concerts...) and I've certainly never been distracted by page turning from the stage. The only time it's even remotely an issue is if a text for a vocal/choral work is printed in the program book. I will say that program annotators/editors are very careful about layout to prevent that kind of distraction (the simultaneous-page-turning kind).
Anecdotally, from having my phone set to alert me of tweets from certain Twitterers and having watched someone text throughout a chamber music concert I heard recently, I contend that electronic disruptions are much more distracting.
Finally, have you ever seen people texting at the movies? There's something just incredibly annoying about that pale blue glow emitting from an otherwise darkened theater. I can only imagine what a couple hundred of those glows would do to the ambience of a concert hall.
I guess I'm thinking of programs where the script or dialog is printed, and the audience is following along. And EVERYONE turns their page at the same time. This happens at Concordia Christmas concerts at Orchestra Hall.... I guess not at MN Orchestra concerts so much.
from today's washington post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072903067.html?hpid=topnews
So the performance is outside? Is this like Lake Harriet, because if people are going to be freaked out by the tweets, they must go bonkers by the small children running about!
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