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ASIMO to Conduct Symphony Orchestra
DeviceGuru writes to mention that Honda's ASIMO robot will apparently be leading the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in a performance of "Impossible Dream" from the conductors podium. Along with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the mechanical marvel will hopefully have a better performance than some of the earlier public appearances. "Honda says it is giving the Detroit Symphony Orchestra a gift of more than $1 million to create The Power of Dreams Music Education Fund. The fund is intended to help the Detroit Public Schools, which has suffered from severe cost constraints that have hurt the district's ability to provide music education, offer students the opportunity to learn to play instruments, read music, and participate in bands or orchestras."
When it comes to contemporary repertoire, the more "robotic" the conductor, the better the performance. This is because usually composers try to write exactly how their music should sound, extending the notation if necessary, instead of leaving it up to the judgement of the conductor, who might come up with something completely different. In Per Norgard's Symphony No. 3 , for instance, the whole effect of the music is based on as close an adherence to the golden section as is humanly possible by the performers, and a conductor who plays what he sees without adding in any extraneous phrasing is desirable. In Elliott Carter's mature music, balancing all the tempos properly is extremely difficult for a human conductor.
I don't foresee ASIMO replacing human conductors permanently, but I suspect that any performance he conducted of modern works would sound better than those by conductors trained like Bernstein or Karajan, who tried to make the music fit their own universal style instead of following the wishes of the composer.
Sorry, I should clarify that I'm writing from a European perspective. In Europe (certainly in the UK), the arts are primarily funded by the government, or by other public bodies. Read the BBC article. In this respect, the US is much more antiquated. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised by this ASIMO story, but I am surprised none the less.
Phoenix, Boston, Little Rock, see a pattern?
You're making the assumption that the arts are better funded by government. Yes, I realize the Founders of the U.S. made provision for the "useful" Arts in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution, but that is what is known as the "Copyright Clause" and says nothing of funding. I see no reason for government to become involved in funding the arts, especially when there is more than enough private capital readily available.
Its = possessive. It's = "it is"
I wouldn't donate money to Detroit Public Schools unless it was with the stipulation that the entire administration be replaced. DPS's financial problems are caused by horrible mismanagement of funds, not because there wasn't enough money to begin with. I wouldn't be suprised if none of that money ends up going to music education....
Many conductors I've worked with are egotistical, loud, and prone to temper-tantrums. At least these musicians won't have to put up with having obscenities hurled at them because they looked at the conductor the wrong way!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
The human musicians don't need to follow the robot's direction for anything more than basic time keeping. It's not as if the robot were running the rehearsals or deciding musical interpretation. Call me when the robot learns to follow a human conductor.
At least Honda paid a reasonably good sum for this blatant product placement.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged tech demo.
I'd be a lot more enthusiastic about the Asimo if you could actually buy one and see it execute _your_ program, or take your direction. As it is, it's essentially a black box. With all that implies. For all we know, somewhere behind the stage some real guy with a wiimote could do the conducting, and the robot could be just a remotely controlled box.
We've never seen it do anything except in controlled, pre-prepared settings.
E.g., ok, it can walk around corners and up stairs. Can it still do it if we move the corners or the stairs? What about if I bring my own stairs? E.g., so one can move a cart and the other can take a cup from the cart. Does it still work if I come as a human and move the cart 3ft to the side from where the first robot left it? What if I move the tables around? Turning around, bowing and walking off the stage isn't much different. Can it still do it, if you rearrange that setup at all?
There are so many ways one could cheat those demos, it's not even funny. E.g., for all we know, it could just be programmed exactly where to put each foot, in X, Y, Z coordinates, and fly off the handle if the stairs don't match those. Or it could have an RFID chip in each place where it must place the foot, and essentially just home in on those with each foot. Etc.
Essentially we don't really _know_ what it does, except for being a high-tech publicity stunt for Honda. It could be the most advanced robot in the world, or it could be the hoax of the century, or something in between. We don't know.
So basically I'll wait until I see one perform in an uncontrolled environment, before getting all "OMG! Asimo!" fanboy. Until then, heck, the Roomba is more exciting. At least you can see for yourself what it does when you stand in its way.
So until I see it do stuff outside
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.