By Fredric Paul Exhibit Imagine if Microsoft crossed the Smithsonian Institution with the Hard Rock Cafe, then injected some genetic material from Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Sony's multimedia Metreon entertainment center in San Francisco. If you miss the notes, the computer-controlled instrument offers more practice.
Electronic drums use velocity sensors to control the size of the graphics on a display.
A concert simulator synchs MIDI samples to a lyric generator to make you the star. Choice bits range from blues stylings that led to the birth of rock and roll to singer David Johansen of the New York Dolls explaining why his group was so influential, even though nobody liked them much during their 1970s heyday. If the technology is unquestionably cutting edge, sometimes it can seem more important than its subject. MEG is a bit clumsy to use, and wearing the headphones isolates each visitor in a little cocoon of privacy. That's the trouble with trying to mold technology into the service of something as visceral as rock and roll.