Virtual Orchestra

Virtual Orchestra is a term used to identify a variety of different types of technology and art forms. Most commonly used to refer to orchestral simulation, either for pre-recorded or live environments, it also has been used to describe other activities, such as IRCAM’s Virtual Orchestra database.

Due to the development of high capacity samplers, the recording of large instrumental sample libraries, and the capabilities of modern sequencers, the art of simulating traditional orchestra performances has become quite sophisticated. Although the process of developing a particular score requires great skill and sensitivity, and can take a long time, the method is artistically more flexible and economical than using a full complement of acoustic musicians. For this reason, much of the music heard on television, and in cinema, uses some form of Virtual Orchestra technology.

The term Virtual Orchestra is more accurately used today to describe the real time simulation of the traditional acoustic orchestra in the live performance genres such as musical theater, ballet, and opera. This use of Virtual Orchestra emphasizes the interactive capabilities of the technology as opposed to non-real time and studio-based genres such as film music. The term Virtual Orchestra implies a high degree of human interaction during live performance and suggests that the method simulates both the sound and behavior of an acoustic orchestra. The behavioral characteristics would include the ability to follow tempo in real time while making simultaneous adjustments to various expressive parameters including volume, articulation, phrasing, etc. While the definition has expanded to include creative and research activity in a broader aesthetic range well beyond traditional orchestral simulation, the ability to interact with the sonic and behavioral elements in real time via human performance has remained one the requisite attributes of a Virtual Orchestra.

Its use, particularly in live performance, has been controversial, as many acoustic musicians see it as a threat to their jobs. There has been a history of union pickets at performances that use or intend to use this technology, perhaps most notably the March 2003 Broadway Musician’s strike, that began as a dispute over pit minimums, and rapidly escalated into a referendum on this type of use. Other disputes arose in London’s West End, when sir Cameron Mackintosh moved the long-running production of Les Misérables from the Palace to the Queen’s Theatre, necessitating a reduction in orchestra size due to space issues, and several productions by the Opera Company of Brooklyn.

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