Digital Intersection of Music, Art & Audience

A creative collision between music, art, and technology, the 01X Project offers a new entrance to contemporary classical music.  In a live musical experience, the 01X Project enlists the audience to interact and contribute to the collaborative venture. Through their mobile devices, the audience becomes an active participant in an interactive concert instead of a passive viewer; therefore, the performance is less scripted and more improvisational, generating unexpected shifts in the experience. 

At the initial brainstorming sessions, the 01X collaborators discussed the desire to reinvent the concert experience and considered the use of digital technology to explore intersections between music, art, and audience. They formed teams of musicians, artists, and programmers to participate, collaborate, experiment, and execute the goals set forth for the project. The participants intermingled, moving in and out of collaborative labs, thus heightening each practice through interdisciplinary engagement.  

The 01X programming team built the project mobile APP with functionality that offers the audience the ability to conduct the musicians, share stories in a united theme, connect the concert hall to digital content, and physically generate visual imagery from a corporal response to the music. The 01X designer crafted the project branding and implemented the aesthetic design for the mobile APP, project marketing, and 01X website.

In partnership, the musicians and visual artists conceptualized the union of music and visuals for the program and with a fluid intention, respectively contributed original music compositions and artwork.  In some instances, audience contributions of audio and data input into the 01X APP are visualized, blending with the music or at times, audience members active responses to the music are digitally processed and displayed in real time during the performance.

Creating a digital instrument with the Microsoft Kinect and Abelton software, the Kinect team of programmers worked closely with the performer, enabling him to use body and hand gestures to compose music. In addition to the 01X concert, the Kinect instrument was built with the intention to engage in music education. Encouraging participation with a younger audience to actively experiment with the performer brings children into the creative process and demonstrates the creative power of modern technology. 

Each concert uniquely unfolds depending on the audience present and continues to live online with documentation housed on the 01X website. The website provides an online space to deliver additional content in conjunction with the performances and expands the concert experience to a broader audience.

The 01X collaborators share a passion for interdisciplinary collaboration and enthusiasm to bring innovation to the traditional concert experience. The collaborators came together to blend two seemingly opposite worlds: classical music, dating back to the 11th century, and technology of the 21st century. Merging these two worlds and visualizing the encounter, their intention is to set the stage for a transformational performance.  

Capitalizing on the advances in mobile technology to create an interactive experience, the collaborators aspire to break down barriers between musicians and their audience, providing an alternative way to enter into the music. With mobile devices in hand, opportunities for active participation are ripe.  Audience members can contribute audio, text, or data for visualization, thus alter or influence the musical performance. To maximize the creative impact of the concert experience the collaborators combine their specialized practices to compliment the music, stimulate the senses, and entertain the audience.