As I get to know more about MOA (Music
Online Alive), which is a platform for artistes from the world of music
not just to be able to independently create, market and distribute
their virtual albums online, but even interact with their fans and
fellow artistes, I discover that my journey is endless.
It's
like an artist lets loose his canvas midway through his journey to an
ocean of enthusiasts and other better or worse peers, to have a go at
walking some distance with him. Or then a film maker putting up half his
film shot and loosely edited online and inviting whoever wishes to, to
jump into the process with him/her to take the story further. If you are
an artiste as secure with his craft as Peter Saltzman is as a pianist,
then you can let float an idea online, and enjoy while others take it
from one level to another, as you take the same idea, through your own
interpretation.
Man, the world is getting closer than I thought and
art can now be, not just experienced collectively, but even created
collectively by varied people from different corners of the world
without them even having met each other.
As I revel in the possibility as an artiste myself, who can't wait to
release an idea in my head online, and create one piece of fiction while
people I don't know, but who may be interested, take the same story I
am writing forward, in different forms and styles, I choose to chat with
Peter, who I find on Skype almost immediately after the thought crosses
my mind.
I want to know what Piano Diaries, his blog, on MOA is about. And you
can read his answer in an American accent, as I reproduce it verbatim
for you here.
"The inspiration for Piano Diaries... umm... ah! well, actually, the
very first album I thought of, for MOA, the virtual album platform, when
we were developing it was Piano Diaries... and it was even in my
prototypes of images which I developed and we did an early
alpha prototype back in 2008 before I met all the people in India..."
(he takes a long pause)... "and that was the very first album... and the
idea is that, unlike a conventional album, or CD... the virtual album
is ofcourse a dynamic ongoing album, and the obvious candidate for that
from my standpoint, as a musician, composer and pianist, and singer,
songwriter was Piano Diaries, like a Piano Blog... that I could just add
entries to, whenever I felt like it... I think ideally on a daily
basis, in reality that does not happen.... but the entries are
essentially all improvised, kind of whats on my mind... musically that
day, and I then, try to tie in some little pithy remark about that...
sometimes there's some connection going through my mind with the music
and I put that down in the track notes, so, it's really like a piano
diary... its just... not structured, not planned... just kind of what
goes on in my head musically on any given day... and thats the history
behind it..."
Peter, the founder and CEO of Music Online Alive smiles as he relaxes
back in his chair and continues, "now... interesting thing is, I believe
that this is a really a great prototype for MOA, not only from
artistic, but a commercial standpoint, and I think artists need to think
about... you know... in a dynamic format like the web... where things
are constantly being reinvented... redone... what can you do with it?
What can you to with a format which is not static like the CD and the
LP... but can grow all the time?... And this is just one idea... I'm
sure a guitarist could do the same thing, or a songwriter could put down
short songs everyday... different kinds of things that you could
rethink the formats that you could put your music in, in as dynamic a
format as the web..." he trails on... and leaves me thinking of the
painters, writers, film makers, singers and creative people from all
forms of performing and non performing arts who are missing out on so
much because none of us has a Peter who has actually put together Music
Online Alive for musicians, composers, songwriters from all over the
world to experience what it is like to play with people who love their
art as much as they do, and a fan base which appreciates it as well.
Check out Piano Diaries on
http://www.musiconlinealive.com/ :)