Irish conductor Eimear Noone is harnessing virtual reality technology to make living room Maestros.

Have you ever conducted along to a favourite recording in your living room, dreaming that it was you up there on the podium? A new computer program aims to take this fantasy one step further, by harnessing cutting-edge virtual reality and 3D technology.

Conductrix, A View from the Podium, which recently reached its funding target on Kickstarter, is the brainchild of Irish composer-conductor Eimear Noone and will be the first stage of an ambitious digital project called Muso-VR. Noone, who holds degrees in composition and flute performance from Trinity College, Dublin, is known for her extensive work in video game music. She has also been principal conductor for a series of high-profile Blizzard Games releases including World of Warcraft, Diablo III and Starcraft II.

Noone describes the impetus for starting this project: “Countless times, people have approached me at concerts wanting to know what it’s like to conduct an orchestra. Others want to know what all my gestures mean; how I use these motions to communicate to the players. Finally, my touring schedule has made it next to impossible to teach privately anymore – but I still want to be able to share what I know in an intimate setting.”

Conductrix will be a sophisticated learning tool consisting of an instructional book and a series of virtual reality and 3D videos. Noone says, “The most important thing about conducting will always be the musician’s brain and ears, but you can’t get ideas to the orchestra without the physical language of conducting. What you choose to do with that language is where the magic begins.” The videos will allow the user to see what the conducting movements look like from every angle, both as conductor and from the orchestra.

The broader project, Muso-VR, will be a kind of Guitar Hero (a popular computer game simulator for Rock music) for conductors, combined with an online multi-player social media platform. A virtual reality orchestra will respond to the user’s every move as a conductor, and just like in real life, if you don’t cue the brass, they won’t come in on time! Often asked what it is like to “drive the awesome musical machine that is the symphony orchestra,” Noone explains, “conducting is the ultimate real-life musical video game. Muso-VR is my way of sharing an amazing human experience… letting fans step into the virtual concert hall, take the podium, and experience the orchestra as I live it.”

While this is only the first stage in a much larger project, it could well change the way conducting is taught and experienced. Noone says, “This is about giving a physical expression to the working musician and student. I’m extremely passionate about artists being able to take their creative ideas and express them.”

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