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Exciting updated biography of Michael Nesmith of The Monkees with 75 new
photos and 2 new chapters, with details on the 1997 reunion, ABC special
and the only known photo of Michael with his father. Buy it online and get
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From: "robynapelt20002001"

MICKY DOLENZ WILL BE AT ROCKERS ON BROADWAY JERSEY STYLE JANUARY 29TH
2007 DOORS AT 7.30PM SHOW AT 8PM BB KING BLUES CLUB AND GRILL 237
WEST 42 STREET NY TICKETS $35-100 ON SALE NOW . FROM
ROBYNAPELT

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From: "robynapelt20002001"

micky dolenz will be at a expo sherwood oaks all acess weekend
beverly hills feb 8th to 11 2007 see www.sherwoodoakscollege.com
for more yes you will have to pay and book . from
robynapelt

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From: Roshina

Grinding the Organ

IT'S LATE WEDNESDAY MORNING, and First Church of Christ, Scientist in
Carmel, California, is empty. So, naturally, Michael Nesmith wants to fill
it with music. He taps on a computer keyboard for a minute and notches up
the volume ­ not quite to 11, but loud enough to feel in your bones. The
piece, Tomas Albinoni's Adagio for Strings, is familiar ­ it was used as
theme music in Gallipoli ­ but Nesmith and Calvin, the virtual pipe organ
he designed, have transformed it into something spectacular.

Calvin ­ short for computer-aided live venue instrument ­ consists of a
Dell computer, six powered JBL speakers, and an 18-inch subwoofer. Its
modest wooden cabinet sits a couple feet from the console of the church's
regular organ, with its floor-to-ceiling pipes. But Calvin's sonic range
dwarfs that of its neighbor. "It sounds like the organ, but it's so much
better," Nesmith says, as Albinoni's piece, ethereal and startlingly crisp,
swirls around us.

Traditional pipe organs are one-man orchestras, versatile instruments that
can mimic the sounds of violins, cellos, woodwinds, and brass. But even the
most dexterous organist, limited to 10 fingers and two feet, couldn't take
on a complex, layered piece like the Adagio. "The organ could play it, but
the organist couldn't," Nesmith says.

Calvin, however, can play just about anything, and Nesmith has programmed
in church hymns, Mozart, and, for kicks, Sting's "Fields of Gold." Calvin's
secret is a database from NDB, a Hungarian company that recorded more than
3,000 tones from two of the world's finest organs, capturing every sound in
their Budapest cathedrals, including the reverb of the music off the stone
walls. Teaching Calvin a new piece means matching these organ samples to
the original instrumentation. Adagio for Strings is usually played by a
50-piece orchestra. To make it work on Calvin, Nesmith programmed a series
of digital files that tell the system to select organ sounds that best
represent each of those instruments. Some files for individual instruments
are available online, and all Nesmith has to do is rearrange and mix them.
Other times, Nesmith "plays" the information in himself. The result is not
quite the same as live music, but it's far better than a CD. Closing my
eyes during Calvin's performance of Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C
Minor, I'm briefly transported from this wood-paneled, teal-carpeted church
in Carmel to a soaring cathedral in Budapest.

Nesmith ­ yes, we're talking about the former member of the Monkees ­ is a
bona fide digital media visionary. A pioneer of music television and an
author of early hypertext fiction, he also helped produce the films Repo
Man and Tapeheads and started the seminal home video company Pacific Arts.
Not surprisingly, his current project has met some resistance. Most of the
Carmel congregation seems to appreciate Calvin (Nesmith says some wept
during its first performance of the Adagio), but a few churchgoers have
grumbled. Machine-made music in their place of worship? No thanks. Plus,
the regular organist feels threatened. "I can't play like that," she told
Nesmith after Calvin's inaugural show.

Nesmith doesn't intend to put musicians out of work, but in his soft-spoken
way he is on a mission. "Typically, church music hasn't been at the top of
my list of things that are inspiring," he says, fiddling with Calvin's
controls. "If I'm in a good environment where people can really sing and
play, that for me turns into church. That's as high as I get." Nesmith
leans back as the opening chords of Ravel's exquisite Pavane pour une
infante défunte spread through the sanctuary. "At least," he says, "this is
played well."

­ Jason Silverman

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/posts.html?pg=3


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