Experience SonicVision: how do you see your music?

Natural History, Nov, 2003

The American Museum of Natural History, in association with internationally renowned performer Moby and MTV2, presents SonicVision--a new digitally animated alternative rock music show. Shown in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, SonicVision blends contemporary music, mind-bending immersive animations, and state-of-the-art technology into a theatrical and musical presentation unlike anything else in the world. SonicVision, the first music show in the Hayden Planetarium since the Rose Center opened in February 2000, brings the laser light shows of the 1970s and '80s into the 21st century.

Moby has sold more than ten million albums worldwide to critical acclaim. A longtime fan of space and astronomy, Moby began collaborating with the Museum six months ago, using his legendary mixing and musical abilities to develop the soundtrack for SonicVision. The mix features music by Radiohead, U2, Coldplay, The Flaming Lips, Stereolab, Queens of the Stone Age, David Bowie, Boards of Canada, and Moby, among others.

The music explodes to life on the Space Theater dome in digital images and animations. The visual landscape of SonicVision was directed by former MTV Art Director Chris Harvey, who is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Emmy, a Peabody, and several Broadcast Design Association awards, and who has worked extensively in broadcast design for more than a decade. The show was produced by the same Rose Center team that created the Museum's groundbreaking Space Shows, Passport to the Universe and The Search for Life: Are We Alone? Other major collaborators include the commercial production company Curious Pictures; artists Alex Gray, Perry Hall, and Darrel Anderson; and over a dozen animators including popular VJs Bionic Dots, Benton C., Madam Chao, Atmospherex, and Vishwanath Bush. VJ art is the rapidly growing underground arts movement where artists manipulate video in the same way DJs mix records. A feature of dance clubs, VJ art is also finding its way into fine arts institutions and galleries.

Each segment of the music show smoothly progresses into the next, blending different visions into a single thrilling journey. The dizzying animation launches audience members into fantasy space, brings them to a far-off planet with cathedral-like structures, and then spins them wildly up to the heavens. Viewers watch aliens rave at a dance party, float off into space while fireworks explode, and witness a fiery kaleidoscope descending from overhead. These images evoke a continuous journey that is at times tranquil and at times raucous--leading the viewer through seemingly impossible spaces and landing finally amid a peaceful, heavenly calm.

SonicVision would not be possible without the Rose Center's breathtaking digital video technology. Its 429-seat Space Theater is the largest virtual reality theater in the world, and the world's largest nonmilitary flight simulator. Its dome shape, seven light projectors, low-frequency shakers in the seats and floors, 23 speakers, and the audio spatiatization system create a panorama of visuals and sound--a truly immersive experience. With Museum computers displaying on the dome 28 times more image information than a television, the dome envelops the viewer in one huge seamless image-space.

To achieve this spectacular illusion, animators use software programs with real-time visualization capabilities including MAYA, XSI, Shake, Virtual Director, and a special multipipe version of Filmbox designed especially for use in the Hayden Sphere. The software used to create the show mixes standard animation tools to create colossal, multilayered images that are uniquely tailored to the dome display, some of which took weeks to render. Audio response analysis technology was also used to make some of the animations coordinate with the music.

With its cutting-edge technology that merges thrilling visuals and pumping music into a mind-blowing sensory experience, SonicVision defines a new generation of planetarium music shows.

SonicVision is presented Friday and Saturday nights in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater of the Rose Center for Earth and Space. Show times are 7:30, 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for the general public and $12 for Museum Members. For advance tickets, call 212-769-5200 or visit www.amnh.org. A service charge may apply.

Sonic Vision is made possible by generous sponsorship and technology support from Sun Microsystems.