I just posted a status update today on Facebook that I was attending a violin recital in Second Life. Someone asked me how do you do a live concert in Second Life? First of all, a little about the artist I saw today. His name (in Second Life) is Young Zeid. He is a professional violinist that plays many concerts, both solo and with other musicians, in Second Life. This is no mere amateur – he is not just simply some guy that likes to play violin and plays online – this is a world class player. For instance, during todays recital, he performed a solo violin suite of John Corigliano from the movie The Red Violin. It was just – holy wow – this dude is good. Great music – wonderful musicianship and the piece was just a technical tour-de-force.
So, how does this work? Basically, these performances are kind of like live radio broadcasts with more interactivity. The performer plays live, and streams the performance into Second Life. The performances usually take place at some kind of virtual performance hall. Today, the performance was at the beautiful Amadora Concert Hall, owned by Clarissima Schuman – another great Second Life performer. The great thing about these concerts is that you can interact with the people in the audience and talk about the piece or the performance as it’s happening – something you could never do in a live concert situation. You can also interact with the performer on stage. Here are a few screenshots I took of todays performance – you can click on them to get a more high resolution picture.
Young Zeid performs at Amadora
Audience at recital
There are many, many super talented performers and composers that I have met in Second Life, which was a big surprise to me. It’s also got many knowledgeable professors of music that give fascinating lectures. Last week, I saw a lecture given by Benton Wunderlich on Stravinsky and how the Japanese wood cuttings of Hokusai influenced his music. If you’re a music nerd – it something worth checking out.
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