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THE OPERA HEARD AROUND THE WORLD: 21st Century Composers and Internet Collaboration

[FADE IN]
TITLE CARD: The Opera Heard Around the World: 21st Century Composers and Internet Collaboration
Images from Libertaria, maybe a mosaic including other composers involved in Internet collaboration.
MEDIUM SHOT: Sabrina, Introduction like a documentary.
My name is Sabrina Pena Young and I am an intermedia composer and sci-fi geek. A few years ago I decided that I wanted
to produce an opera, but an opera for the 21st century. I had some challenges. I had no money, no opera company, no
musicians. I just had my talent, my passion, and my Mac.
SLIDES: Internet Collaboration Graphic, global???
Today you are going to learn how you can use the Internet to realize your greatest musical dreams and how contemporary
artists like Pauline Oliveros, Alex Shapiro, Eric Whitacre, and others have used Internet Collaboration to create new
exciting art forms.
SLIDE: There is no limit to your imagination.
There is no limit but your imagination, no prison you can't break out of when you use your ingenuity, passion, and talent.
Today literally millions of musicians creating amazing new classical works through online collaboration and music
technology.
SLIDE: The Future of music is NOW.
VIDEO: Libertaria short clip
How could someone like you create using Internet Collaboration?
You don't need to think outside the box, you need to destroy the box.
[Destroy a box with a hammer]
SLIDE:
VIDEO: Libertaria poster, images from the opera, and pictures with clare, and other performers, and from film.
To produce Libertaria: The Virtual Opera I used a combination of social media, audio software, and the Internet instead of
attempting to find an opera company and investors willing to put together this large scale musical work. I wanted to create
an opera that could be enjoyed by the diverse digital generations of today, an opera that anyone could enjoy for free.
Creating an entirely online opera on a microbudget had many challenges. First I needed to find musicians. To do this I used
the Music Xray A&E website, Facebook, artist message boards, and listserves to conduct online auditions. Finding online
musicians can be a complicated process. Musicians sent me their unedited auditions through the cloud and e-mail. I listened
to their tracks and found musicians that not only had talent, but had a passion for opera and access to recording equipment.
During the production, turnover was very high. In the end we had a small dedicated cast. Like a traditional opera
production, main roles had two singers sharing the part. Unlike a traditional opera, I often combined the audio files from
two singers into one solid take.
SLIDE: Music Xray, Facebook, social media
VIDEO: EDITING RAW audio files in Logic.
Selected musicians downloaded Rehearsal Albums through Bandcamp.com, a site which allows musicians to post up digital
albums for free. Each Rehearsal Album download included a score, libretto, and click tracks. Each singer recorded their
vocals on location and sent me their takes via e-mail, using online storage sites like Dropbox or WeTransfer. Because many
of my singers had never recorded themselves before, I included a quick How to record pamphlet with the Rehearsal
Albums and often worked with singers to improve recordings and fix mistakes like clipping and distortion. Flexibility is key

when working together virtually.


VIDEO: Screen recording of clicking on the different files for the rehearsal album. Images of recording packet.
After a year of music production, I had over 1000 recordings. Each song had several takes per part. Cast members played
several roles like newscasters, soldiers, or children. Some singers, like Perry Cook, Jennifer Hermansky, and Matt Meadows
experimented with their voices, providing takes with different voices and dialects. With such a vast musical palette I was
able to mix down an incredible artistic soundtrack with fellow composer Patrick Rundblad, who completed the final master
of the film.
In this clip, we combined several recordings from Perry Cook into a single soldier choir.
VIDEO: Clip from Libertaria Pilar of the underground
The advantage of animation is that you can combine voices for the same character easily. For example, Matt Meadows and
Perry Cook shared the role of Simeon, and in this clip Simeon is singing a duet with himself.
VIDEO: Metal Ink excerpt
I used a combination of music tools including Logic, Vocal Writer for vocal synthesis, and East West Symphonic Choirs
software for background support. With East West Symphonic Choirs software the sampled choir sang back the words to my
libretto using the easy typing function. In the following clip, the children's choir sings Red pills, blue pills, all created in
East West software.
VIDEO: Excerpt Baby Machine
The entire instrumental score was composed using Logic on my five year old iMac. The Libertaria score combines
orchestral cinematic sound with electroacoustic experimentalism, creating what critics have called a dark cinematic score
reminiscent of a video game.
SLIDE: Quote from Palm Beach paper
The second component involved using an animation style called Machinima. Unlike traditional animation, which involves
creating a film frame-by-frame-by-frame, in machinima, the characters move in their virtual world and the director
videotapes them using cameras, much like a live production. As Mike (LAST NAME) says, Machinima is video game with
the game removed. In machinima, you control the characters and tell them how to move, what to say, and where to go with
a few clicks of a mouse.

Unlike traditional animation, which involves creating a film frame-by-frame-by-frame, in machinima, the characters move
in their virtual world and the director videotapes them using cameras, much like a live production.
SLDE: MOVIESTORM screenshot
Moviestorm machinima software allowed me to produce epic opera scenes, lip sync quickly, and create massive sets with a
click of a button. Our three-woman animation team including myself, Kera Hildebrandt, and Lucinda McNary. Using
machinima, I was able to create a feature length animated opera for less than $1000.
Since the premier, Libertaria:The Virtual Opera has been screened live and online by thousands at venues like the Holland
Animation Film Festival and Moviestorm.com, and I have had opportunities to present the opera at TEDx Buffalo, the
Hartford Festival for Women Composers (CHECK NAME), and at universities. Wanting to open source the opera, I asked
pirates to steal my film through my blog, and they did. Access does not limit the audience. Libertaria: The Virtual Opera can
be enjoyed by anyone with an Internet connection.
SLIDE: Ways to Enjoy Libertaria
What is great about Libertaria is that the audience can enjoy the opera on their own terms. They can watch it on the big

screen, on TV, on a laptop, or a smartphone. They can comment on Youtube, illegally download the film, watch a favorite
song over and over again, and share clips with friends through social media.
You don't need to wear a tie or buy expensive tickets to enjoy Libertaria.
SLIDE: Opera in pjs slide
Libertaria is the opera you can watch in your pajamas.
Other composers have embraced new technology with innovative new projects. [NAME OF MACHINIMA OPERA GUY],
inspired by Libertaria, has started work on his epic neo-Baroque opera [NAME OF OPERA].
SLIDE: Matt's opera screenshot (get permission)
UK-based composer and programmer Lee Scott will premier his unique social media opera this year, an exciting online
collaboration of composers on both sides of the pond. In Lee's opera, the virtual environment like the weather changes
depending on the location of the user.
SLIDE: LEE SCOTT (get permission screenshot)
Maybe you want to find a unique way to reach your audience? Eric Whitacre created a worldwide phenomenon with his
virtual choirs.
SLIDE: Virtual Choirs Screenshot
What started out as a request for fans to post a video singing his music on Youtube grew into a worldwide online choir
created from thousands, literally thousands, of videos from excited fans. Working with a talented video editor, Whitacre
compiled these videos into a massive virtual choir, adding in video game inspired animation.
SLIDE: Pauline Oliveros
In 2006 I had the opportunity to take part in a unique musical experiment between the Deep Listening Institute, Mills
College, and dancers in France. Using [Internet 2.0????], a special [DEFINE Internet 2.0] Pauline Oliveros performed live
while dancers at Mills and in Marseilles, France improvised in real time.
SLIDE: Telematic Circle
Today the Telematic Circle, an idea devised by Pauline Oliveros from those earlier experiments, involves dozens of
institutions that use Internet 2.0 to create real time performances between musicians, dancers, and artists.
SLIDE: Alex Shapiro (Contact Alex for images and/or video)
The audience has long since left the concert halls to find their music. To reach the 21st century audience, composer Alex
Shapiro moved her music to the stage of Second Life, an online gaming virtual world where avatars (or video
representations of the player) enjoyed listening to her works [insert works here].
ADD IN ALEX SHAPIRO INSIGHT/QUOTE FROM INTERVIEW, POSSIBLY ADD IN VIDEO???
These three composers used technology like social media, real time Internet collaboration, and virtual reality to create new
exciting 21st century musical performances.
SLIDE: Definition of Crowdsourcing
Other projects like Opera by You, involved crowdsourcing an entire opera production, from concept to libretto to score and
staging using Norway based site Moviewreck (check site), resulting in the end work [title of work] performed at the [name
of festival].
SLIDE: Moviewreck Screenshot

SLIDE: 60x60
Using the ideas behind crowdfunding, Composer Robert Voisey, [full director title] developed the 60x60 project. In 60x60,
composers submit sixty second electronic works which are then compiled by a macrocomposer [WORD:XXX ] into an
eclectic one hour electronic concert. To date, the 60x60 project has involved the music of over a thousand composers
performed throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with dancers and
filmmakers.
And there are countless more composers sing Internet Collaboration to create incredible music on a global scale. How can
you use Internet Collaboration to realize your dream?
SLIDE: Toolbox
First: Use the tools that you have.
You don't need to be a computer genius. Machinima software is very user-friendly, social media easily connects you
interntionally, and the cloud allows for easy swapping of files during production. Choose a few tools that you are good at,
then figure out how you can create a work within the parameters of your accessible tools.
SLIDE: Teamwork slide
Second: Find your team.
I could have never created Libertaria: The Virtual Opera alone. Find talented and passionate artists to work with you. Find
them quickly through social media, online A&R sites, music message boards, and Internet communities. Guaranteed
somebody somewhere will want to work on your project.
SLIDE: Audience slide, listening to different media.
Three: Find your audience.
Today the audience finds their music through video websites, social media, and streaming radio. Tomorrow they will find
their music through virtual reality, wearable devices, and personal robots.
SLIDE: Spotify killed the video star.
While traditional institutions struggle to fill theater seats for overbudgeted productions, the enterprising musician easily
connects with thousands, even millions, through the Internet at a very low cost. Find where your audience discovers music,
and then showcase your work through that medium.
SLIDE: Future of Music is NOW!
The future of Classical Music is NOW. Pursue your most ambitious dreams. Embrace technology, find your audience,
connect with others. And who knows, maybe the next Whitacre or Shapiro or Oliveros is you!
CARD: [Video inset: Libertaria excerpt] Credits, twitter account, website address, special thanks to IAWM grant etc.,
permission for images, etc.

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