Ever wonder how Jimi Hendrix would cover Lady Gaga? The day is approaching when you should be able to find out.
Musicians opportunities to sell their recordings may be drying up due to cultural shifts brought on by changing technology, but other aspects of technology are creating a promising new market for music: the licensing of the musical style or personality of recording artists.
The concept goes well beyond basing the avatars in guitar-based videogames on famous performers, although the concept is similar. Using complex software, North Carolina-based Zenph Sound Innovations models the musical personalities of musicians from Thelonius Monk to Rachmaninoff, based on how they played in occasionally old, scratchy recordings. Using that model, it creates new recordings as they would be played by deceased musicians, if they were around to record with todays equipment, to critical acclaim. And thats just for starters.
Venture capital firm Intersouth Partners led a $10.7-million round of Series A funding in the company in November, a move that saw former Intersouth venture capital partner Kip Frey take over as the companys CEO. He told us on Monday that Zenph has ramped up to 15 employees in preparation for new releases in its series of re-recordings and explore a variety of new markets, including licensing clear versions of muddy recordings to films and software that will let musicians jam with virtual versions of famous musicians. Picture an Eric Clapton plug-in that reinterprets your solo to sound like it was played by Old Slowhand himself.
Zenph's first application of artificial musical personality is its specially-designed playerless pianos, which turn MIDI files created by software that simulates the style of classical and jazz performers from days gone by into sound by literally depressing the keys using between 12 and 24 high-resolution MIDI attributes per note. So far, the company offers new albums by virtual legends including Art Tatum, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Glenn Gould, and up next is jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
These playerless pianos have wowed crowds in live settings at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and on the Live from Lincoln Center show, and Zenph plans to take them on three tours later this year. Its engineers have nearly completed work on a playerless double bass, and plans to work on the saxophone model next, with the ultimate goal of creating every instrument in a typical jazz band then guitar, and so on.
Musicians opportunities to sell their recordings may be drying up due to cultural shifts brought on by changing technology, but other aspects of technology are creating a promising new market for music: the licensing of the musical style or personality of recording artists.
The concept goes well beyond basing the avatars in guitar-based videogames on famous performers, although the concept is similar. Using complex software, North Carolina-based Zenph Sound Innovations models the musical personalities of musicians from Thelonius Monk to Rachmaninoff, based on how they played in occasionally old, scratchy recordings. Using that model, it creates new recordings as they would be played by deceased musicians, if they were around to record with todays equipment, to critical acclaim. And thats just for starters.
Venture capital firm Intersouth Partners led a $10.7-million round of Series A funding in the company in November, a move that saw former Intersouth venture capital partner Kip Frey take over as the companys CEO. He told us on Monday that Zenph has ramped up to 15 employees in preparation for new releases in its series of re-recordings and explore a variety of new markets, including licensing clear versions of muddy recordings to films and software that will let musicians jam with virtual versions of famous musicians. Picture an Eric Clapton plug-in that reinterprets your solo to sound like it was played by Old Slowhand himself.
Zenph's first application of artificial musical personality is its specially-designed playerless pianos, which turn MIDI files created by software that simulates the style of classical and jazz performers from days gone by into sound by literally depressing the keys using between 12 and 24 high-resolution MIDI attributes per note. So far, the company offers new albums by virtual legends including Art Tatum, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Glenn Gould, and up next is jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
These playerless pianos have wowed crowds in live settings at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, and on the Live from Lincoln Center show, and Zenph plans to take them on three tours later this year. Its engineers have nearly completed work on a playerless double bass, and plans to work on the saxophone model next, with the ultimate goal of creating every instrument in a typical jazz band then guitar, and so on.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
