Animusic Season 1

Synopsis

Animusic draws you into its reality like no place you have ever been. You encounter new dimensions of sight and sound as you experience seven unique visual concerts. From the robotic laser-precision of Future Retro and rapid-fire ball bearings of Pipe Dream to the serene acoustic beauty of Aqua Harp, each animation is an intricate melding of music and visuals.

Main Cast

Episodes

Episode 1

23 June 2001 - Future Retro

The robotic drummer (surrounded by a percussion set) has four arms and one bass drum mallet foot; two of the arms hold 2B Drum sticks while the other two hold the vibraphone mallets. The Three-Necked Electric Guitar has metallic fingers that pluck the strings of the electric bass, and a metallic arm that strums the strings of the lead and rhythm guitars in both plucked and arpeggiated styles. As a whole instrument, the body is colored green and sports various plugs and lights. There are also giant loudspeakers in the background, connected to the electronic instruments, with VU displays that light up when the instruments are played.

Episode 2

23 June 2001 - Stick Figures

This is the most famous Animusic animation. It's also seen on the cover. In this animation, "Mr. Stick" (aka "Mr. Bass Man") the instrument, the 3-stringed acoustic guitar, the double bass, and the violins all have "arms" (fingers for the guitar) which they use to play themselves.

Episode 3

23 June 2001 - Aqua Harp

The room in which this animation takes place is completely enclosed. Its ceiling is painted a dark blue or black with a crescent moon and stars that appear to glow. The room is filled with about one foot of water in which the harp sits right in the middle. Between instrumental refrains, the lighting changes between warm-toned lamps on the wall and cool-toned, blue-ish underwater lights. All of the instruments are connected to the harp. In the background, water gently ripples throughout the piece. Some lights are set on top of the wooden columns.

Episode 4

23 June 2001 - Drum Machine

Like machines in the factory, the gears rotate automatically to play the percussion instruments. As the drum kit keeps playing, two more kits descend with the control of the chains. At the end of the performance, the gears stop moving.

Episode 5

23 June 2001 - Pipe Dream

This performance begins with the ball firing testing on the bass/bongo double instrument. The vibraphone fountain and the tubular bells appear to be made of gold. Also, this video is the second most famous Animusic animation, partially in thanks to an email hoax stating that the set was a real machine built at the University of Iowa using farm equipment. The hoax mail also said that it took 13,000 hours to make the performance (equivalent to about a year and a half), including building, calibrating, etc.

Episode 6

23 June 2001 - Acoustic Curves

In the beginning of this animation, the instruments are introduced one at a time, coming from either the ceiling or the abyss floor, and disappear at the end. They seem to play automatically.

Episode 7

23 June 2001 - Harmonic Voltage

This animation's lead instrument is an electronic laser conducted by a tower. Curiously, in this animation, the electronic drums seem to be supported entirely by wires, which act like springs when these drums are struck.

Crew

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