A violin solo from outer space
NewsUS astronaut Sarah Gillis took her violin into outer space, beyond the pull of gravity.
So how does she play weightless?
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We’ve had our attention drawn to two paragraphs…
Maybe, this will inspire others to conflate musical ability with intellectual and scientific achievements, thus restoring some respect for classical musicians.
It’s no accident that many doctors are also musicians. It takes intelligence to be a musician.
And if I remember correctly, more than 50% of Nobel Prize winners played music during their childhood — and many still play.
A pity about the inanity of the journalists and editors of the news item. Ms. Gillis seems highly accomplished in her profession and avocation, and the idea of being accompanied by an international youth orchestra was wonderful.
There is no bad publicity. Would you rather it not be covered at all? The journalists are covering for a broad audience, not for Slipped Disk commenters.
Brava, Ms. Gillis!
Good point, but better would still be better, especially the chance to hear more than a second or two of uninterrupted performance.
CBS news so consider the source before trusting the report.
Just don’t tell RyanAir or United…
Truly astonishing playing when you realize that the microgravity environment of orbit is physically (as in Newtonian physics) equivalent to being in free-fall. Her bow control, the quality of her tone and the assurance of her fingering in some very high-register passage work point to an accomplished player, both on earth and now in the exosphere.
She comes from a musical family and had great teachers and opportunities from a young age in Boulder, Colorado. She did this with a 3/4 bow, but I’m unsure why. Space? (argh!). It was so moving (literally and emotionally) to hear her with ensembles around the globe, including from Brazil and Haiti, though the LA orchestra was clearly mission control.
How on earth does she compensate for lack of gravity working on the bow without altering her right hand bow hold?
She doesn’t really need to “compensate for lack of gravity” when she is “on earth”…
She was in space. I know people who know people…
You can read about it and hear it at the Strad: https://www.thestrad.com/news/video-first-violin-performance-in-space/18605.article?fbclid=IwY2xjawFV0rNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHdSgieKQj-AIacj9OV6yj13Xhdsu4SZM2he3X-y66M_LFpHrJKEkgVNxGw_aem_kw6DcFFgJO-CgP5f_DDC-Q
They used a constellation of Starlink satellites. What you all haven’t noticed, is that the only ensemble you ever hear is the LA group. The student groups were visual only. It looks really well coordinated and I bet they did play along, but one does not see microphones on any of the groups except LA and El Sistema Venezuela and none of it sounds like student ensembles.
I think the students had a great experience! They played with the astronaut, yay! It seemed quite coordinated, but it was the LA orchestra that you were hearing.
Sounds like a typical conductor: “you all haven’t noticed”. Believe it or not, some of us have. And we are also aware that even Strad does not always know everything.
I generally agree with all the positive comments about the astronaut’s skill, connecting music making and learning with other achievements in general and science in particular, etc. So I would hate to partly spoil the beautiful story. And yet I couldn’t help marveling how polished and well coordinated the entire performance sounded. Things go wrong even with best of the best. Is it possible that they used a soundtrack? If so, it may feel like a letdown. And yet the many positives about this story may make it worthwhile.
Agreed. The official NASA video of the performance is still available on YouTube and it looks to me very likely that the audio portion of her playing was recorded before the flight. Nevertheless it was a fine idea and a rather exciting result.
Possibly more than her violin part. The transitions between groups were seamless. The ambient acoustics were quite homogeneous. There was no single glitch in global telecommunications. It was too good to be true, no matter how inspiring.
Video unavailable.
The official NASA video (look for “space symphony starlink demo” is still available on YouTube and it shows the entire performance.
space travel has gone from a noble pursuit for mankind to a musical farce.