The Score | Head Sounds

In February, composer Anna Clyne found herself making tech history while preparing for a performance of her 2020 work Stride by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Clyne could not be at rehearsals at Orchestra Hall with the orchestra and conductor John Storgårds, but thanks to an idea she concocted with her audio engineer husband, Jody Elff, she was able to listen and watch virtually. Elff created a mannequin head equipped with microphones and cameras that transmit stereo sound and panoramic images. At home, Clyne, wearing a virtual headset and ear buds, could listen and watch in real time; musicians heard her voice offering feedback. The Detroit Symphony is not the only ensemble to deploy the technology. Indiana’s South Bend Symphony Orchestra used it to prepare for an April 24 concert at the Morris Performing Arts Center led by Music Director Alastair Willis and featuring Clyne’s Sound and Fury and Haydn’s Symphony No. 60. Clyne watched the South Bend Symphony rehearsal through the mannequin, equipped with a 360-degree camera and a collection of microphones, offering her a live, immersive view and crisp stereo audio. The mannequin has a name—or names. In Detroit, it was Ted. In South Bend, it’s Pat.