Most folks have heard about MMO or “Music Minus One”: you can purchase CDs of the accompaniment to solo works, and then play along. Of course the accompaniment determines what you have to do tempo-wise, and it’s pretty limiting. So now there’s “Music Plus One”. The man who has put this together, Christopher Raphael, is a fellow oboist. He is, in fact, someone I believe I met sometime in the 80s. The name is quite familiar. He might have even subbed with the San Jose Symphony (RIP). I wonder!

In any case, you can see the information here.

Now of course there’s a warning light that flashes on and off, for a live musician: Is this like the Virtual Orchestra? Will this replace us? That isn’t Mr. Raphael’s intention, though. And I do like the idea of getting to pay with a flexible recording! I’d love to try this out. And I’d love to have my students be able to try it out.

You can hear Mr. Raphael play a live concert as well. Yes, he can still play that oboe!

MORE
Having had more time to study the site … you just have to go to