The New York Times reports that Broadway producers are quietly turning to digital orchestras to deal with a possible strike by the musicians union. We're not just talking pre-recorded music here: new technology allows for "virtual orchestras" that can be "conducted" by somebody tapping out the beat on a computer keyboard, thus allowing the flexibility that is one of the main reasons for keeping live music for live shows. Digital samples and encoded information about specific shows allow the virtual orchestras to sound pretty close to the real thing--at least to a lay audience. (The musicians, of course, beg to differ.) Virtual orchestras are also a whole lot cheaper than live orchestras, especially when the musicians union's various "minimum" requirements are taken into account (e.g., the minimum number of performers at each show).
It will be interesting to see how this developing technology affects the relationship between Broadway producers and their musicians. The union is already pressuring producers not to use this technology; whether producers will actually listen, or whether they will instead use this increasingly attractive alternative as a bargaining tool, is anybody's guess.
Read the story here.