 |
|
|
Tuesday, June 20, 2000
Kiosks offer magic carpet ride through rock history
by John Zebrowski
Seattle Times staff reporter
Ever watch "Behind the Music," the VH-1 show about the lives of famous rock stars and their rise-fall-and-rise-again life stories? Do you wish midway through Stevie Nicks' spiral into drugs that you could skip ahead to when Fleetwood Mac reunited in triumph? At EMP, you'll be able to do that.
Scattered throughout the building will be 13 electronic kiosks, screens running interactive biographies of singers and musical movements. Using video, photos, text and audio, and running on - guess what - Microsoft Windows, the kiosks will tell the stories of our popular music, from the first twangs on Robert Johnson's demonic guitar to the tortured-angel rants of Kurt Cobain. It's up to the viewers how much they want to see.
Take, for instance, the kiosk in the Hendrix Gallery, which was the only one running at press time. Using the theme of Hendrix's diary - meticulously kept throughout his career - the kiosk goes deep into his music, from his early influences to those he continues to influence today. Entrance points are through four classic Hendrix tunes ("Angel," "Voodoo Chile," "Gypsy Eyes" and "1983 (a merman I should turn to be)") into every aspect of his career. Want to compare Hendrix's Band of Gypsys with the Experience? No problem.
And for the coolness factor, drag the little red tab down from the top of the screen to the bottom. The background of each screen is a page from Hendrix's diaries containing lyrics scrawled in his "creative" penmanship. The red tab drags a filter behind it, making the words suddenly legible. Click on another part of the tab and it'll show how the words changed during the song's recording.
There's also a sound analyzer, which depicts the sound wave of a singer or a guitar as it plays. There are other nuggets sure to keep people parked in front of the kiosks for hours. Or until someone knocks them off.
|
