If you felt that some conductors in the brass band world wear their emotional heart on their sleeves – much to the detriment of keeping accurate time with the baton, then the clever Japanese boffins have come up with the answer – a robot conductor.
Small
Only 4ft 3inches tall (smaller than Garry Cutt and Russell Gray combined), encased in a white ‘Star Wars’ stormtrooper suit and with blanked visor face a top class poker player would die for, ‘Asimo’ could well be the future for bands that would like to have a conductor who isn’t prone to weird and wonderful interpretations, egotistical tantrums and will only cost a few quid a night to recharge his batteries.
It’s battery runs out after 20 minutes, so he’s unable to conduct a Beethoven SymphonyMD Leonard Slatkin
The Impossible Dream
’Asimo’ (which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility) recently made his conducting debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, directing two performances of ‘The Impossible Dream’ (the robot is made by the Honda Corporation) and ‘Man of La Mancha’.
Mimic
The robot was programmed to mimic the conducting style of Charles Burke, the orchestra’s education director and took programmers six months to complete.
Worried
Its impressive debut saw renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma remark; "I’m worried they’ll teach it to multitask”, whilst the MD of the orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, seemed more relieved when commenting; "It’s battery runs out after 20 minutes, so he’s unable to conduct a Beethoven Symphony."
Rumours that the Association of Brass Band Conductors are said to have enquired to see if he can become a fully paid up member have yet to be confirmed.
