Conceptualizing the Hyperorchestra

From musical notation to recording, the evolution of the musical phenomenon can be seen as a process of increased virtualization of the musical phenomenon. Recording music involves transducing sound to electricity by using one or more microphones. Recording equipment mediates between the sound produced in the physical world and the recorded result. The recording studio allowed for the conceptualization of sound objects, while electricity unfolded the capacity to create music synthetically. The combination of these two elements triggered another step in the virtualization process: the creation of sampled-based instruments that evolved into a wide range of virtual instruments. These virtual instruments developed in parallel to CGI acting and share some similarities but also some differences. The chapter ends with an introductory definition of the hyperorchestra in dialogue with the topics of the previous chapter as well as this one.