Playing for Change - Peace Through Music

Today I received a link to a flash video (thanks, Matt!). You can also view the video at YouTube, and read a few notes about its purpose. You can also find a few more details at Amazon including another video and the opportunity to purchase a DVD.

Although the video hit YouTube in November 2008, playingforchange.com isn't actually alive ("maintenance" as of 5.30pm Melbourne, 14 May 2009). Still, it's still a fancy good idea. The concept of international parallel performance is excellent if not new. Bringing it all together into a performance where the audience can hear all those sounds in parallel ... that is the "new thing" that I have never seen and certainly hadn't considered possible.

I need to do some more reading on the documentary and see how it's all coming together. Right now, I'm assuming that this was all done in real-time, with a parallel output. It's also possible that the video is an 'end result', basically a consecutive dubbing.

If it's the former, this is by far the most impressive use of technology in music that I have ever seen.

Either way, it's great music performed well. And isn't that why we practice?