What next? - Humaniod Robot conducts Beethoven's 5th !

[Amalie]

I don't know what people think of this Robot conducting Beethoven's 5th Symphony in Tokyo!

If you wish to see the shape of things to come you can access a video clip of the Robot in action.

Report from the 'New Scientist'
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994845

[Joy]

Amalie, I heard about this story on NPR a couple of weeks ago. They said the robot conducted for about 90 seconds of the first movement of the 5th Symphony and that the orchestra really didn't 'relate' or watch him they just played the music. I got to hear it and, of course, the music sounded like it always does. They also said the robot was pre programmed for this piece of music. The audience seemed to get a kick out of it.

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Pastorali]

I will be satisfied when the orchestra is existing just of Robots.

[Chris]

Well, if anyone ever watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Data played a mean violin

Hmm...I think I just revealed the true extent of my nerdliness with this post

[Cocchini]

Originally posted by Chris:
Well, if anyone ever watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, Mr. Data played a mean violin

Hmm...I think I just revealed the true extent of my nerdliness with this post

And then there was this audience consisting entirely of R 0 B O T S, listening to music composed by a ....

[Steppenwolf]

The robot craze is apparently sweeping Japan by storm. It started when a robot played "If you wish upon a star" on a trumpet. Japanese scientists are currently working on a whole band of robots (err ... isn't there perhaps something more important they could be doing ... ??). The Japanese have a reputation for being the masters of bizarre and basically useless inventions.

The trouble with a robot conductor is that it can't respond to the orchestra. Conducting is a two way thing, the orchestra responds to the conductor and the conductor in turn responds to the orchestra. This can't be done if the conductor is programmed beforehand.

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Amalie:


I don't know what people think of this Robot conducting Beethoven's 5th Symphony in Tokyo!

If you wish to see the shape of things to come you can access a video clip of the Robot in action.

Report from the 'New Scientist'
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994845

Actually, Over the 50 odd years I have been attending concerts I have seen a few conductors who conduct like they may be robots.

[Chris]

Originally posted by Steppenwolf:
The trouble with a robot conductor is that it can't respond to the orchestra. Conducting is a two way thing, the orchestra responds to the conductor and the conductor in turn responds to the orchestra. This can't be done if the conductor is programmed beforehand.

It could certainly be done, but it would require more sophisticated programming. And such a thing wouldn't be as useless as you might think. The applications that could come out of such an attempt could actually be very useful.

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Chris:
It could certainly be done, but it would require more sophisticated programming. And such a thing wouldn't be as useless as you might think. The applications that could come out of such an attempt could actually be very useful.

I cannot for the life of me see anthing of value coming from robotic conducting. In the first place there would have to be a conductor invoved in setting up the motions of the robot. That leaves us with the robots motions being that of the conductor. As a lover of live concerts I beleive there is not a concert performed where and error or two is not made in a performance. This human element would not be present in robotics. Maybe a robot conducting the music of John Cage might just work, but not Lvb's music.
Chris, what applications, from such a venture, would be very useful? The sterility
of such a thing like this is beyond the bounds of music making.

[Tony John Hearne]

The Robot will make music of a kind I suppose. Having watched (repeatedly over many years) the excellent BBC programme "Conductors" (which by the way you can still get on video at MVC stores near where I work in London Bridge) I am convinced that "real conducting" is a communication thing between Maestro and orchestra. Having sat, many years ago as a young man, enthralled at the Royal Festival Hall watching Otto Klemperer take the Philharmonia through Mahler 2 I truly doubt if any Robot, however well intentioned, could have extracted the same power out of an orchestra of consummate musicians

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Love from London

[Chris]

Originally posted by King Stephen:
I cannot for the life of me see anthing of value coming from robotic conducting. In the first place there would have to be a conductor invoved in setting up the motions of the robot. That leaves us with the robots motions being that of the conductor. As a lover of live concerts I beleive there is not a concert performed where and error or two is not made in a performance. This human element would not be present in robotics. Maybe a robot conducting the music of John Cage might just work, but not Lvb's music.
Chris, what applications, from such a venture, would be very useful? The sterility
of such a thing like this is beyond the bounds of music making.

What good did it do us to put men on the moon? Well, there is something to exploring the universe, no doubt, but think of all the wonderful inventions that were a byproduct of that. New computer technology, new materials technology. The possibilities are endless. Obviously we don't need robots to conduct our orchestras because men can do that just fine. But what might we learn from the process of trying? Something about human non-verbal communication? Image and video processing? Who can say? So often progress is made by accident while trying to accomplish something totally different.

[King Stephen]

Originally posted by Chris:
What good did it do us to put men on the moon? Well, there is something to exploring the universe, no doubt, but think of all the wonderful inventions that were a byproduct of that. New computer technology, new materials technology. The possibilities are endless. Obviously we don't need robots to conduct our orchestras because men can do that just fine. But what might we learn from the process of trying? Something about human non-verbal communication? Image and video processing? Who can say? So often progress is made by accident while trying to accomplish something totally different.

Chris, It's wonderful that we can agree to disagree. That's what is great about this forum. We could go on about this subect for weeks to come and not see eye to eye. Rather than saying I am right and you are wrong I humbly relinquish to you the final word.
Steve

[Chris]

I don't think we disagree - I certainly agree with you that developing a robot to conduct an orchestra is pointless. But I suspect even those who are working on it know that. I was just pointing out that it's the process of trying that will produce the real fruit. Even if such a robot were perfected, you'd never see it in use, I'm sure.

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited 04-22-2004).]

[DW]

You guys are awesome love ya

[Amalie]

Originally posted by DW:
You guys are awesome love ya

Welcome to D Dubya,

I agree with Chris's point. In science for instance their are countless examples where looking for a solution to a problem, a kind of philosophers stone if you will, though it hasn't produced a solution to the immediate focus of endeavour has never the less as a by-product produce many other useful things. Trying to devise a foolproof method of communication during the war lead indirectly to the computer revolution and the internet via the brilliant British scientist Alan Turing, who most know accept as the father of the computer age.
A whole raft of brilliant inventions came out of the scientific work at Bletchley Park in England during the war including the microwave and the transistor.
It may be that robotic conductors will lead to interesting insights into the whole process of how classical music affects the human mind, which is one of the areas of brain research that is flavour of the month at the moment, and of course the idea that they will replace human conductors is ridiculous in the same way that the internet opens up new avenues that previously did not really exist.


[This message has been edited by Amalie (edited 04-25-2004).]