John Roach is working on Simultaneous Translation, a web and live concert, involving participants from USA, Spain, France, Italy and Germany. The first stop is Madrid, Spain, in November 2004 .

The concert will be streamed via the internet. Players in Italy, the US and Germany will listen to the stream and then manipulate and send the altered version back to Madrid.

These various streams are then mixed together in Madrid to create the final language translation which is broadcast to the auditorium audience as well as web audience.

When the second half of the program begins, the Sim-Trans software will look at the traceroute of each participant to determine how much delay the data encounters as it passes from router to router on its way to Madrid. This set of numbers are then used to change the spatial characteristics of the stream by panning and adjusting volume. Laler they will alter the streams more radically by pitch shifting, delaying or granulating the audio signal. So delay and fluctuation will become an active or positive force in shaping the final product.

Installation artists, sound artists, video artists, graphic designers, programmers, and architects will come together to create this first language in a Simultaneous Translation series. Other events are planned in New York, Germany and Norway.

From Networked_Performance.