The Magic is in the Touch

Virtual music I’ve heard of, but virtual musicians?  What’s this world coming to?  If Zenph Sound Innovations, out of North Carolina sees their vision come to fruition…we may soon be listening to Elvis singing Lady Gaga.  It sounds crazy, but what Zenph is trying to do will change the face of music, forever. 

The old days of artists selling their recordings may be on the way out, due largely in part to changing technologies.  Zenph’s dream is to capture the feel and style of the artists, and license that.   Yep, license their personality.  Thus creating a virtual musician.
The company has begun this journey by taking outdated recordings and re-vamping them with today’s technology, to produce re-recordings of musicians long gone.  But the ultimate goal is to infuse the style of those musicians, into new songs that they never performed.  To create recordings of new music, with the sound and feel of legendary musicians.  Futuristic!

The virtual musician revolution has a long way to go.  Today Zenph is concentrating on the music.  The company has robotic pianos, which they plan to take on tour.  The pianos, through High Resolution MDI files, recreate the classical styles of amazing performers such as Rachmaninoff, and have already caused a stir at Carnegie Hall.

 performers

Now, I certainly can appreciate the loss we all feel when a great musician passes, but I think this innovation is a bit like cloning.  I guess I could sit in the audience, close my eyes, and imagine Art Tatum playing on stage…but at some point, my eyes will open, and when they do I want the whole experience.  The sight, the sound, the magic.  I think I must be old-fashioned…I bet there’s a lot of us out there.