Seeing a man wave his arms and gesture at an ensemble of open laptops is an unusual sight, even by NYC standards, but that's exactly what composer and conductor Ljova does in Central Park in Chris Shimojima's new short film, Signal Strength.Ljova wrote the music, then worked with Shimojima's team to gather a group of busking musicians, including a guitarist, a violinist, a beatboxer, and even an accordionist, to perform the original tune. The players stayed in their normal subway locations, hooked up to recording equipment and transmitting their tunes to Ljova's location in Bryant Park, where he remotely-conducted the nontraditional symphony in an orchestra pit made of folding chairs, laptops and tangled wires.
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The charming melody brings together the best parts of street musicianship and internet culture, but we wonder how many tries it took to get it right, considering the spotty subway Wi-Fi we New Yorkers have grown accustomed to.
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