Why you can never replace musicians with robots..
In any other industry people are looking for ways to take away the dogsbody work and make every day human life simpler and more profitable. This makes sense if your motivation is financial reward and gaining the most from a fully-functioning and effective machine.
But if you take the human out of the music what are you left with? A lifeless form held together only with the bare framework that lacks nourishment, nuance and also essentially, imperfection. Because if every single performance of a piece sounded identical life would become greyscale.
The plane that lands itself, the car that parks itself, the AI customer service operator - or is it actually a real person? Don't you find it unnerving not knowing who is in the driving seat or pulling the strings?
On the back of the news that the famous West End show 'Phantom of the Opera' is downsizing its orchestra by 50%, reading the words below is almost as terrifying as the opera ghost himself:
"Today's technology enables excellent replication of sounds, especially woodwind and brass, but the skill of the keyboard player shouldn't be underestimated and this orchestration demands a great deal of the other players who have to be of soloist standard."
Andrew Lloyd Webber
We beg to differ
The place where ideas collide in a live music setting is like a laboratory; chemical reactions formed through fusion and combustion. It can never be recreated. That raw spark like a bolt of pure brilliance in a lightning storm. Those are the moments musicians offer to you; a promise of something utterly rare and special because after all isn't that why we celebrate, party and bond like atoms together?
You can read an article on this specific example below: