Comments on: Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk) at Macworld

By: Kc

Kc — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 17:32:47 +0000

The first time I saw The Stanford Laptop Orchestra perform I was intrigued by their set-up and numbers. The Director, Ge Wang, has an ear for harmony and is finely tuned where musicality is concerned. A person’s listening experience may be more profound or differ from the next person based on knowledge, interests and education. Just as in opera, 18th century art or NASCAR – most agree to disagree on their entertainment value by the simple assumption that if you can’t see the beauty then you just “don’t get it”.

Personally, I enjoy the various sounds of rain or water and what I heard was a professional tweakage of splashing, dripping, cascading of it. Im sure that making lots of it and mixing together isnt as easy as it comes out sounding in the end– which means Wang is a freaking genius. Do I get Wang? Probably not entirely, but I find his laptop music creation and execution unique and something to marvel at.

Do I get it? Whether I do or don’t is superf Maybe not, but I find the creation and execution unique and something to marvel at. just like I just like I dont know if I do just know by I have rhythm but can’t sing. I can appreciate Camron Paul and his scratching waterdsounded like someone tweaking the sounds of water dripping, noting these factors contribute to one’s entertainment or appreciation.

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 23:13:16 +0000

I guess I will have to turn in my Geek credentials because I found this completely monotonous and boring. Oh, well… give me Animusic any day.

It reminds me of a time in high school in New York in the 70’s when they paid for this group of musicians to come in and give a music seminar to our concert choir. They were all high as kites and spent two hours having us all chant, “Ga Ma La Taki Taki” the whole time. Nice gig if you can land it!

By: Sven Vollstag

Sven Vollstag — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:36:49 +0000

…when they start using creative hardware im all ears…
…^_^…
…
…hey woz!…

By: Kyle Petreee

Kyle Petreee — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:49:05 +0000

This is soooo cool!

“Why did you miss like 20 measures in the middle?”
“My instrument froze, I had to force quit it.”

By: Steve Wozniak

Steve Wozniak — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:46:10 +0000

This is amazing. The first time I saw SLOrK was outdoors in the New Guinnea sculpture garden at Stanford. You could walk around and witness differnt sound qualities from different vantage points. It’s like a new kind of orchestra, with new conducting techniques. It helps that the speakers, hand-built by the orchestra members from IKEA salad bowls, are excellent at directing sound in any direction.

Each performer uses a MacBook and controls sound via the trackpad, keys and also by using the inertia detectors of the MacBooks. On occassion they will hold up their laptops and rotate them for different effects.

Google SLOrK and you’ll find fascinating stories of the orchestra, the language developed for this orchestra, ChucK, and the conductor Ge Wang. He has created an iPhone app as well.