I was struck by the fact that some restaurants would be appropriate venues for the type of music that a string quartet, or a small Jazz set, or what have you, but lack the space or layout for such a performance/performer oriented experience. I propose that an integrated amplification system be devised such that each musician may perform in concert with his cohort but at distances and acoustical arrangements that would normally make this impossible. The guitarist might be out on the patio, the vocalist crooning by the bar, the pianist in the back of the lounge, and the saxophonist is serenading the dining room. They are all accompanied by an integrated PA monitor, and all deliver the complete set sound. The individual monitors would be high fidelity and contain integrated circuits designed to damp feedback and direct feed from the other artists. Sound picked up by the individual instruments would be aggressively damped in favor of the integrated sound from the local monitor. I know that this type of arrangement causes all sorts of problems but I believe that techniques similar to those found in active noise damping headphones can make this idea possible.-- WcW, Oct 02 2013 Spem in alium http://en.wikipedia.../wiki/Spem_in_aliumEarly music Surround Sound [csea, Oct 02 2013] Semi-Baked ca.1570. [link]
I've always wanted to make a recording of this piece in Dolby Digital 5.1 .-- csea, Oct 02 2013 Jazz as an art form requires a wide spectrum of non-verbal communication between the musicians, as does any other form of live music that involves any improvisation. This typically restricts their location respective to one another to line-of-sight at the most extreme. Unless the band is grinding through well rehearsed pre-written songs with no room for a little jamming (and therefore no soul), this presents difficulties. I think it wouldn't really enhance the music, just the presentation.-- Alterother, Oct 02 2013 I understand that when Robert Fripp toured with Frippertronics he arranged his sound system in a similar manner.-- normzone, Oct 02 2013 //I've always wanted... 5.1// Janet Cardiff, an "installation artist", did something like that awhile ago, except she used 40 speakers, each playing an individually mic'd part.-- FlyingToaster, Oct 02 2013 random, halfbakery