Since Apple announced their support for the H.264 codec back in early 2005 I never bothered revisiting their HD gallery. Until today that is. To many outside the world of computer graphics, Animusic became known from the real-time version of its ‘Pipe Dream’ piece, used for ATi’s Radeon 9700 some years ago. The company has released two collections of tracks on DVD all featuring imagined animated (computer graphics) ‘robotic’ instruments accurately performing the tracks. Needless to say they are quite interesting to watch and very well done. The HD ‘Resonant Chamber’ sample presents a more ‘acoustic’ piece than ‘Pipe Dream’ and one that transcends several musical genres performed by an impossibly complex stringed instrument (a construction that combines guitar, lute, bass and harp) that might invoke images of Pat Metheny’s Pikasso I 42-string guitar. Worth watching.
[Update: Also available on the site is Starship Groove]