As part of the The Marching Arts project, we set up a virtual 3D Fanfarý to play the closing concert at the Next Festival in Bratisllava, 28 November 2021. Due to the lockdown situation, all preparations, workshops, rehearsals and performances were done online. It looked like we were somewhere together, but actually we were playing at home or in the studio, and were only together as 3D avatars in the virtual Next Festival environment.
As an exercise in embodied music, we revived the good old concept of the fanfare/marching band/fanfáry/harsonaszó (?): playing while walking, presumably outdoors. Any small handheld objects that produce sound could do: battery operated electronics, resonating objects, your voice,… We used some megaphones and small amplifiers, but all wearable, like the sensors in the soles of our comfortable shoes. The advice to the musicians was clear. Preferred walking speed: about 2.0 metres per second (7.2 km/h or 2m/s) modulated by time to destination, motivation, and metabolic efficiency. Let’s move! And the audience walked along, in 3D as well and on the screens.
Below, we proudly present the Rehearsal recordings, the Performance and The Movie! The Marching Artists were: Krzysztof Topolski, Michal Mitro, Slavo Krekovic, Sara Pinhiero, Gívan Belá, Geza Bobb, Kirsten Reese, Milena Veleva and many others… Like every respected marching band we designed and carried a flag.
