Jazz Festival Technology

            Two weeks ago, I attended the Princeton Jazz Festival.  It was a two day event held at Princeton High School that featured numerous middle school and high school jazz ensembles.  I went to the second night of the festival to see the high school bands.  While I was there, I was rather surprised by the extensive use of technology by both the performers and adjudicators.

            Some of the innovative technologies in use at the festival were the kinds that are always present in a contemporary big band.  This includes microphones and amps for the musicians on stage.  One of the most obvious technologies that I immediately noticed were the two large screens on either side of the stage with a live projection of the performers on stage.  Two cameras were stationed at either side of the stage and were operated by high school students throughout the performance.  I thought this was a great way to make the festival a cross-curricular event.  The most astonishing example of technology in use at the event, however, did not involve the students at all.

            Each of the three judges responsible for evaluating each group and their performance was equipped with a laptop and a smartpen.  Although a laptop is not particularly noteworthy, it is worth mentioning that the judges’ comments and scores were instantly sent to the control room where a fourth official collaborated and printed the results for the individual bands.  As for the smartpen technology, I still have not recovered from how cool it was!  The judges simply pressed the record button that was printed on their special notebooks and were able to take notes and simultaneously record verbal commentary; both of which were included in the packages given to each band at the end of the event.  It was expedient, efficient and very impressive!