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Video Conferencing for Music Performance Education at the Manhattan School
1/5/2004
Manhattan School of Music (MSM), an international music conservatory, began
exploring the potential of Internet2 for music performance education in 1999
through a series of collaborations with Columbia University. Utilizing Columbia’s
advanced, high-speed connection to the "Abilene" backbone of Internet2,
MSM had the opportunity to expand and extend the conservatory’s previously
established music performance distance learning program through the technological
resources of its academic and community neighbor.
At the time of these initial forays into Internet2, the MSM had already established itself as a leader in music performance video conferencing, having the distinction of being the first conservatory in the nation to use video conferencing technology for music performance education, as early as 1996, and offering regularly-scheduled video conference master classes, coachings, one-on-one teaching sessions, educational and community outreach programs, and professional development programs.
From these beginnings, the educational benefits and enhancements of video conferencing technology for music performance education were quickly apparent—offering greater access to world-class musical artists while also accommodating world-class touring schedules. However, the inherent technological limitations of ISDN-based video conferencing were a constant and ongoing challenge to the program’s future development and sustainability. Elements critical to music performance education—sound, rhythm and timing, visual imagery, movement, and the like were almost completely compromised within this environment, and although MSM developed many technological innovations to address these limitations, it was apparent that this technological infrastructure could not ultimately support the delivery of high-quality music programs.
It is the advent of Internet2 and the capacity of its technological infrastructure that has the most vital and far-reaching impact on the long-term prospects of Manhattan School of Music’s burgeoning distance learning program. Through a series of pilot music projects, MSM determined that Internet2 had the technological infrastructure to truly support, develop, and expand the delivery of high-quality video conference music programs.
For example, Internet2 has a technological infrastructure that can support low-latency, high-bandwidth transmissions of high-fidelity, stereo or multi-channel sound with accompanying full-motion video using broadcast-quality standards. Overall, faster processing along with lower compression ratios and higher bandwidth allocations to audio information make Internet2 an environment conducive to music performance applications.
Moreover, musical exchanges developed and delivered on this high-speed network either via point-to-point connections or multicast can simultaneously be made available to regular commodity Internet users with variable bandwidth capabilities through interoperable systems such as H. 323 and H. 320 videoconferencing integrating ISDN gateways, Web casts, and chat-based interactions."
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