online orchestra – classical music bridges the digital divide – thnks youtube

Google is putting together a YouTube Symphony Orchestra that will take to the Carnegie Hall stage in five months to perform, having never performed together before that date. The idea was the brainchild of Chinese composer Tan Dun. Who wrote the piece Internet Symphony No. 1, Eroica, that will be played by the orchestra. Classical and non-conventional musicians can submit YouTube videos of themselves playing Tan’s composition and a piece of standard repertoire in order to get into the orchestra. Judging will be done by a panel of experts appointed by Google and by the YouTube community.

“This is the first online collaboration of its kind,” said Timothy Lee, product marketing manager for Google, adding, “classical music is hungry for innovation.”

The sheet music has been made available on youtube as well as individual conductor videos of Tan conducting each part. So if your a timpnaist, you can download Tan conducting the timpani part just for you. Instructions have also been made available in 17 languages making the idea a truely global one.

“Play your part in music history.

Interested in joining the first-ever collaborative online orchestra? Professionals and amateur musicians of all ages, locations and instruments are welcome to audition for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra by submitting a video performance of a new piece written for the occasion by the renowned Chinese composer Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). We have tools to help you learn the music, rehearse with the conductor and upload your part for the collaborative video.

The deadline for all video submissions is January 28, 2009. ” Exerpt from the site check out the Youtube Symphony

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The Lighthouse Cinema Dublin

“The Light House Cinema at Smithfield is a four-screen, 600-seat commercially operated cultural cinema which presents a diverse and individual programme of the best Irish, independent, foreign-language, arthouse and classic cinema.” Thats what they said they were on their website

Basically its just an awsome looking cinema designed by the guys at DTA Architects. The cinema in most cases has become a place where the only goal of design was to maximise the number of people you could get to fit in front of a large screen, its refreshing to see a fresh and colourfull take on a location often left dark, cold and boring.

The photos speak for themselves but check out the rest of DTA Architects website for some nice examples of their other work.

website of the week – thecoolhunter.net – the blog we wish we could all grow up to be

I’m not sure if any of you are familiar with http://www.thecoolhunter.net, its by far one of the top blogs/sites on the net. Basically they find whats cool from around the globe and put it all in one place. They have collections of some of the most amazing ‘things” around.

If you haven’t checked out, I advise you to go now!

Oh and no I dont work or know anyone there this is the first of my weekly posts on great sites I have found on the net, while pretending to work.

BMW GINA Concept Car

Found this a while ago and found it quite amazing. BMW called it the GINA Light Visionary Model, Though merely a concept (standing for Geometry and Functions in “N” (i.e. Infinite) Adaptations) Which blows over my head too, but hey it looks really cool. The video shows how the car can adapt and change its shape. The headlights even blink like human eyes, a rather gimmicky extra but appreciated none the less.

The car is made up of a sort of shelled exterior created out of a textile fabric wrapped around a carbon fiber and metal frame. This means that the skin and skeleton can bend and contract like skin wrapped around a skeleton of sorts.

Although unfortunately as with most concept cars this one will probably never see the light of day, its more BMW flexing its innovative muscles and showing us what they could do when they realy want too.

The brake lights are truely something different