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Re: Gould or not?

Posted by Christine Tham (R) on April 9, 2007 at 17:41:29

In Reply to: Gould or not? posted by Dave Garretson on April 9, 2007 at 11:12:24:

*** Do you sense the presence of a soul in the machine or a top-notch typist? ***

Good question. There's no question the performance is expressive and not at all "robotic."

But is it really Gould? We know that pianists adjust their playing depending on the "touch" or tone of the piano. Would Glenn have altered his playing on a Disklavier resulting in a substantially different performance?

And if he does, would that diminish the value of this recording (ostensibly, a "perfect" recreation of a previous performance)?

I suspect the real artist in this recording is Zenph Studios, in the sense that it takes skill and even art to mimic someone else.

But some other points for you to ponder:
- the "International Piano e-Competition" features judges listening to piano performances recorded using a Disklavier, and then the data is sent across the Internet and played on a different Disklavier. The whole premise of the competition is that this is a valid way to judge a pianist.
- you may be interested in watching a Japanese anime movie called "Ghost in the Shell", which explores similar questions in the context of a science fiction thriller. In a world where it is possible to transcribe a person's entire brain onto an android body, does the soul get transcribed as well? In a future where humans have implants connecting their brains to cyberspace, what happens to a person's soul when someone else "hacks" into their brain and starts altering their memories to create a different "past"?
- Finally, try and read some of the writings of Jorge Luis Borges or Stanislaw Lem. They also ask very similar questions.

Anyway, I find it easier to avoid being philosophical and just listen to music. :-)

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