A few weeks ago, Drew blogged about thru-you.com (Music Production 2.0), an incredible sampling of remixes done using YouTube videos. I found it so inspiring that I started digging around for collaborative YouTube projects and discovered the YouTube Symphony project. I guess I’ve been living under a rock because that was the first I’d heard of it.
In case you missed it as well, YouTube held an open call for musicians anywhere in the world, to audition for a chance to perform as part of the YouTube Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas. Entrants were to upload a video of themselves performing a piece of music written by Chinese composer Tan Dun especially for the occasion. A panel of orchestras chose the finalists, and then the YouTube community got to pick the winning musicians.
On April 15th, after only 2 days of rehearsal together as an orchestra, this was the result…
Act One:
Act Two:
Bravo! This is collaboration at its finest.
(If you want to see more videos – auditions, winners, etc – or find out more about this project, visit the YouTube Symphony Orchestra site.)
Collaboration has long been an excellent way to innovate…that’s certainly not a new concept. It’s incredible that we now have all this handy technology to share our ideas and talent, not just with our local communities but with an international audience. Even better, these also double as excellent listening tools. Anyone can ramble on about themselves (be warned this video might nauseate you), but the good stuff happens when we’re as interested, if not more so, in hearing what other people have to say.
If you’re jumping onto the social media band-wagon, you better be prepared to listen, not deliver a monologue. Of course the inverse is just as true: you need to have something of value to add to the conversation as well.
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