Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!ogicse!milton!brucec%phoebus.labs.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET From: brucec%phoebus.labs.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET (Bruce Cohen;;50-662;LP=A;) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: Re: Musical Instruments in VR Message-ID: <12227@milton.u.washington.edu> Date: 3 Dec 90 18:15:43 GMT References: Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu Organization: Tektronix Inc. Lines: 47 Approved: hitl@hardy.u.washington.edu In article hughes@locusts.Berkeley.ED U (Eric Hughes) writes: > > I recently attended a performance which was proof by demonstration > that virtuosity on musical instruments can be captured in VR without > any force or tactile feedback. > > I saw a performance which included a Theremin. While I am fascinated by the theremin, and in great awe of anyone who can play it at all well, I'd have to say that it's the exception which proves the rule. To the best of my knowledge there is only one player living who has reached anything like virtuoso quality. It's true, this is partly because of the scorn the instrument is held in as a result of the association with science-fiction movies, but it's also because it is incredibly difficult to play well. Imagine trying to play a violin without a sense of touch and you get the idea. > The instrument takes a lot of practice to able to play tunes. There > are no frets, buttons, or keys to produce sound. There is still > living, in New York City, the Philharmonic's virtuoso Theremin player > of the twenties; she is in her eighties. Dennis James, the musician > at the performance I saw, has met her and heard her perform. He > reports that she is simply amazing and that well-played, the > instrument is beautiful, not just interesting. > Yes, she's the one I meant. A few weeks ago, I got a chance to see the tape of her television broadcast (from sometime in the sixties) again. Beautiful! Don't take me to mean that I think we *have* to have feedback for good interfaces. On the contrary, I think we need to investigate interfaces both with and without, so we can learn how to design interfaces for all sorts of applications and all sorts of people. Bill Buxton of the University of Toronto showed that tape at OOPSLA in Toronto to make the point that we should not ignore the needs of the expert and the virtuoso in our drive to provide easy interfaces for the novice and the casual user. I agree. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Speaker-to-managers, aka Bruce Cohen, Computer Research Lab email: brucec@tekchips.labs.tek.com Tektronix Laboratories, Tektronix, Inc. phone: (503)627-5241 M/S 50-662, P.O. Box 500, Beaverton, OR 97077 Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com