Q&A: A high-tech take on Wagner’s “Parsifal” operaThe world-famous Bayreuth Festival in Germany, annually centered around the works of composer Richard Wagner, launched this summer on July 25 with a production that has been making headlines. Director Jay Scheib, an MIT faculty member, has created a version of Wagner’s celebrated opera “Parsifal” that is set in an apocalyptic future (rather than the original Medieval past), and uses augmented reality headset technology for a portion of the audience, among other visual effects. People using the headsets see hundreds of additional visuals, from fast-moving clouds to arrows being shot at them. The AR portion of the production was developed through a team led by designer and MIT Technical Instructor Joshua Higgason.

The new “Parsifal” has engendered extensive media attention and discussion among opera followers and the viewing public. Five years in the making, it was developed with the encouragement of Bayreuth Festival general manager Katharina Wagner, Richard Wagner’s great-granddaughter. The production runs until Aug. 27, and can also be streamed on Stage+. Scheib, the Class of 1949 Professor in MIT’s Music and Theater Arts program, recently talked to MIT News about the project from Bayreuth.

Q: Your production of “Parsifal” led off this year’s entire Bayreuth festival. How’s it going?

A: From my point of view it’s going quite swimmingly. The leading German opera critics and the audiences have been super-supportive and Bayreuth makes it possible for a work to evolve … Given the complexity of the technical challenge of making an AR project function in an opera house, the bar was so high, it was a difficult challenge, and we’re really happy we found a way forward, a way to make it work, and a way to make it fit into an artistic process. I feel great.

Q: You offer a new interpretation of “Parsifal,” and a new setting for it. What is it, and why did you choose to interpret it this way?

A: One of the main themes in “Parsifal” is that the long-time king of this holy grail cult is wounded, and his wound will not heal. [With that in mind], we looked at what the world was like when the opera premiered in the late 19th century, around the time of what was known as the Great African Scramble, when Europe re-drew the map of Africa, largely based on resources, including mineral resources.

Cobalt remains [the focus of] dirty mining practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is a requirement for a lot of our electronic objects, in particular batteries. There are also these massive copper deposits discovered under a Buddhist temple in Afghanistan, and lithium under a sacred site in Nevada. We face an intense challenge in climate change, and the predictions are not good. Some of our solutions like electric cars require these materials, so they’re only solutions for some people, while others suffer [where minerals are being mined]. We started thinking about how wounds never heal, and when the prospect of creating a better world opens new wounds in other communities. … That became a theme. It also comes out of the time when we were making it, when Covid happened and George Floyd was murdered, which created an opportunity in the U.S. to start speaking very openly about wounds that have not healed.

We set it in a largely post-human environment, where we didn’t succeed, and everything has collapsed. In the third act, there’s derelict mining equipment, and the holy water is this energy-giving force, but in fact it’s this lithium-ion pool, which gives us energy and then poisons us. That’s the theme we created.

Q: What were your goals about integrating the AR technology into the opera, and how did you achieve that?

A: First, I was working with my collaborator Joshua Higgason. No one had ever really done this before, so we just started researching whether it was possible. And most of the people we talked to said, “Don’t do it. It’s just not going to work.” Having always been a daredevil at heart, I was like, “Oh, come on, we can figure this out.”

We were diligent in exploring the possibilities. We made multiple trips to Bayreuth and made these milimeter-accurate laser scans of the auditorium and the stage. We built a variety of models to see how to make AR work in a large environment, where 2,000 headsets could respond simultaneously. We built a team of animators and developers and programmers and designers, from Portugal to Cambridge to New York to Hungary, the UK, and a group in Germany. Josh led this team, and they got after it, but it took us the better part of two years to make it possible for an audience, some of whom don’t really use smartphones, to put on an AR headset and have it just work.

I can’t even believe we did this. But it’s working.

Q: In opera there’s hopefully a productive tension between tradition and innovation. How do you think about that when it comes to Wagner at Bayreuth?

A: Innovation is the tradition at Bayreuth. Musically and scenographically. “Parsifal” was composed for this particular opera house, and I’m incredibly respectful of what this event is made for. We are trying to create a balanced and unified experience, between the scenic design and the AR and the lighting and the costume design, and create perfect moments of convergence where you really lose yourself in the environment. I believe wholly in the production and the performers are extraordinary. Truly, truly, truly extraordinary.

Q: People have been focused on the issue of bringing AR to Bayreuth, but what has Bayreuth brought to you as a director?

A: Working in Bayreuth has been an incredible experience. The level of intellectual integrity among the technicians is extraordinary. The amount of care and patience and curiosity and expertise in Bayreuth is off the charts. This community of artists is the greatest. … People come here because it’s an incredible meeting of the minds, and for that I’m immensely filled with gratitude every day I come into the rehearsal room. The conductor, Pablo Heras-Casado, and I have been working on this for several years. And the music is still first. We’re setting up technology not to overtake the music, but to support it, and visually amplify it.

It must be said that Katharina Wagner has been one of the most powerfully supportive artistic directors I have ever worked with. I find it inspiring to witness her tenacity and vision in seeing all of this through, despite the hurdles. It’s been a great collaboration. That’s the essence: great collaboration.

Reddit is down, per user reportsUser morale isn’t the only thing that’s down at Reddit. More than 30,000 people have reported outages on Reddit since about 4:30 PM ET, according to Downdetector. While many users have been able to access the platform again, not all issues have been resolved yet.
Reddit has not yet commented on the outage via its status pages.
This story is developing…

Robinhood turns profitable in Q2, but crypto revenue declinesRobinhood achieved profitability for the first time since becoming a public company in the second quarter of 2023. Its crypto revenue, however, continues to decline.

HIMA Will Present Pro Panel Symposium: "Production to Placement"HIMA (Hollywood Independent Music Awards) will present "Production to Placement," wherein an A-list group of production and music licensing experts will share vital information, solutions, method and tricks of the trade so you can have broadcast quality recordings that can land a sync deal.

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Moderated by John Anderson, a.k.a. Hot Tub JohnnieA highly accomplished Music Publishing Executive, John Anderson serves as the CEO and ringmaster of Hunnypot Unlimited. This multifaceted organization specializes in discovering and nurturing emerging music talent by providing Music Publishing, Artist Representation, Marketing, and Film & Television Placement services. See more HERE

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Believe revenues up 17.9% YoY in first half of 2023 to EUR €415.4 millionParis-headquartered music company Believe has published its financial results for the first half of 2023
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Deezer lowers revenue forecast for FY 2023, with no net global subscribers added in latest quarterDeezer generated EUR €233.2 million in overall revenue in H1 2023, up 6.5% year-on-year at constant currency
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During August, you can claim a free copy of PolyMAX vintage-inspired synth by Universal Audio with any Loopcloud pricing plan, starting as low as €6.99 / month with the Artist plan. This can be a great deal if you consider that the value of PolyMAX is 217,00 €, and it runs natively on your Mac [...]
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Music Merch study shows what’s selling and other 2023 trends in merchA new study by atVenue offers an in-depth look at trends in music merch sales, including what’s selling and what’s not. The data was derived from the company’s point-of-sale technology,. Continue reading
The post Music Merch study shows what’s selling and other 2023 trends in merch appeared first on Hypebot.

KRK unveils the limited edition Scott Storch Classic 8ss studio monitorsPro audio manufacturer KRK has launched their first artist signature release with the new limited edition Scott Storch Classic 8ss studio monitors.

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Designed in collaboration with the legendary producer whose work has been featured on eight Grammy-winning albums, these eight-inch studio monitors offer all the features that have cemented the Classic 8 as Storch’s speaker of choice.
Like the original, the Scott Storch Classic 8ss is an active (self-powered) two-way studio monitor that utilises a 1″ textile soft dome tweeter paired with an 8″ glass aramid woofer. The built-in power amplifiers provide a total of 100 watts of power, with a 75-watt amp driving the woofer and a 25-watt amp for the tweeter.
Borrowing concepts from KRK’s previous ROKIT lines of professional monitors, the Classic 8ss defaults to a new flat frequency solution towards more critical listening – translating into more accurate mixes. Though users who prefer an enhanced bass response can also engage the +2 dB KRK Bass Boost.
On the outside, the monitors come with a distinctive gold chrome electroplated front baffle with Scott Storch’s signature. A Scott Storch logo – complete with his iconic sunglasses ― and signature are also featured on the rear panel.
“For years, the KRK Classic 8 monitors have been essential to my artistic music-making process,” Storch says. “To now have personalised versions of my favourite studio monitors is an exciting venture for me. Designing these monitors has been such a cool experience ― one that you don’t often see happen. I’m honoured that KRK chose me for its first-ever artist collaboration. I can’t wait to see everyone rocking the Scott Storch Classic 8ss monitors.”
“Between his initial adoption of the original Classic 8 models in his studio and serving as a mentor for the KRK Kreator Classic, Scott’s partnership with the Gibson family has been a significant one,” says Sterling Doak, Senior Director of Marketing for Gibson Brands. “This signature model was designed with Scott to emphasise the eccentric, unique flair that brought him to the level of notoriety he has today.”
Each speaker retails at $299, with just 500 units available.

Learn more at krkmusic.
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Time Management Hacks for Musicians [Bobby Borg]Author, teacher, and artist advocate Bobby Borg shares some time-saving tips and hacks that can help every musician focus on what really matters – the music. from Bobby Borg [Video. Continue reading
The post Time Management Hacks for Musicians [Bobby Borg] appeared first on Hypebot.

Top 6 Apps for Music Producers: LALA, AudioMovers, Tracklib, Landr, Splice & SoundtrapLooking to become a better and more successful music producer? These 6 tools can help you reach your full producing potential. By Joseph Capalbo from SoundFly Technology is revolutionizing the. Continue reading
The post Top 6 Apps for Music Producers: LALA, AudioMovers, Tracklib, Landr, Splice & Soundtrap appeared first on Hypebot.

Timehri Dig Assistant is an accurate dance-centric Discogs recommendation toolA UK developer, DJ and record label owner has built a tool that supposedly provides more accurate recommendations for dance music on Discogs.

READ MORE: US vinyl record sales increased by 21.7 per cent in the first half of 2023

The work-in-progress Timehri Dig Assistant, built by Timehri Records head honcho Toby Dunn, is, according to Dunn, literally a digging assistant that recommends similar records as you dig through collections on Discogs. It works exclusively on dance music genres such as house, deep house, tech house, prog house, UKG, grime, UK funky, techno, jungle/DnB, electro, acid, breaks, breakbeat, minimal and more.
Dig Assistant works by simply entering the Discogs URL into the site. It will then return up to six recommendations. You can then click ‘dive’ next to each track to go further into the tracks similar to that suggestion.
The tool was created using coding frameworks Rust and Python and is based on a sophisticated machine-learning data pipeline developed by data engineers at Timehri Records over the course of 2022/2023.
In a recent post to Instagram, Dunn shares the reasoning behind the tool:
“As many of you know, I’m an avid digger and record collector, last I checked I had a few thousand vinyl in my living room. However, I always found the recommendations Discogs threw up to be a little watered down and often missing the mark.
“I’ve been writing code since I was around 14 and my ‘day job’ revolves around Data / Software Engineering, with a special focus on big data and distributed data processing applications.
“The problem of recommendations is well suited to this, so I took it upon myself to improve the digging experience for me and the vinyl digging community, via the Timehri wormhole.
“The result is Dig Assistant. Think of it as a helper to browse vinyl releases on Discogs.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by T Dunn (@tdunntimehri)

Dunn isn’t the only dance music figure to create a tool that helps guide music buyers towards new releases. Avalon Emerson recently told MusicTech about Buy Music Club, her own platform which lets dance music artists post lists of music with links to Bandcamp. She also said that these tools are important as digging for music all by yourself is now a “dying pastime”.
Try out the beta of Timehri Dig Assistant at digassistant.xyz.
The post Timehri Dig Assistant is an accurate dance-centric Discogs recommendation tool appeared first on MusicTech.

You can now pre-order a BE@RBRICK portable bluetooth speakerMedicom Toy and acoustic engineering company Rinaro Isodynamics have launched a collaborative portable bluetooth speaker edition of the Japanese toy company’s iconic BE@RBRICK figurine.

READ MORE: Sonos Era 100 review: A compact smart speaker with features to spare

The speaker – 28cm high – is 400% of the size of a standard seven-centimetre BE@RBRICK. Because of this, over 20,000 hours of engineering time, says Medicom, and 214 newly-designed parts were required to build the bear.
The BE@RBRICK boasts Quad 360, an omnidirectional sound technology by Rinaro. Built using this tech, four tailor-made acoustic drivers are found within the BE@RBRICK’s head.
Be@rbrick portable speaker head
As with most Bluetooth speakers, there’s a single button that enables swift wireless connection to your iOS or Android devices. In a cool design move by Medicom, the volume and track adjustments can be found on each of the figurine’s paws. Simply twist the right paw to skip the track and twist the left paw to adjust the volume. Just don’t twist its arm. The bear bites.
If you place two BE@RBRICK speakers next to one another, you can pair the bears to create a true stereo pair. Not only have you now found a friend for your bear, you can also hear your music in more immersive way.
The speaker has up to six hours battery life with a charging time of 1.5 hours via a USB-C port in the back of the bear’s left legj. According to Medicom, the battery has been designed to be replaced easily.
Medicom bea@brick speaker
BE@RBRICK toys were first introduced in 2001. Since then, these cute, distinctive figurines have become popular among collectors. Medicom have worked with artists, such as KAWS, and brands such as BAPE, END. and Chanel to create limited edition versions. A limited BAPE BE@RBRICK was sold for $14,000 in 2021, for example.
Pavlo Shymanowych, Founder of Rinaro Isodynamics, says in a press release: “As a BE@RBRICK collector myself, I was excited to take BE@RBRICK into the world of audio. The development of the speaker has been an extremely interesting yet highly complex task. Our challenge has always been to retain the shape, dimensions and functionality of the original 400% BE@RBRICK whilst delivering an impressive sound output. The limitations have required innovative solutions that are typically not found in conventional audio speakers. After more than 20,000 engineering hours, we’ve created a product that our entire team is proud of.”
This isn’t the only collectable figurine to collide with the music world recently. In July, a Sotheby’s auction of iconic hip-hop artefacts listed a KAWS item from the personal archives of Mo’ Wax and UNKLE founder James Levelle. It’s estimated to sell for upwards of $70,000.
If you’re looking for a less bear-based bluetooth speaker, we recently gave the Sonos Era 300 speaker a solid 10/10 review, commending its premium playback and surround sound abilities.
Medicom and Rinaro Isodynamics’ BEA@BRICK bluetooth portable speaker will launch in November 2023 and will cost $499. Find out more at bearbrick.audio.
The post You can now pre-order a BE@RBRICK portable bluetooth speaker appeared first on MusicTech.

Pssst! Instruments NOIZZZ: Playable Noise & ASMR Noizzz: playable noise & asmr For full Kontakt 6.6 or higher (free Kontakt Player will run in a demo mode). Imagine that sound of a drawing pencil can be playable. Imagine... Read More

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