Experimental rock and electronic supergroup Atoms for Peace will be playing three sold-out nights at London’s Roundhouse next week. But, for those who didn’t snap up tickets to the gigs, live music platform Soundhalo will help them to experience the live concert from the comfort of their own homes.
Working in collaboration with Atoms for Peace – which is made made up of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, drummer Joey Waronker of Beck and REM fame, and Brazilian instrumentalist Mauro Refosco – Soundhalo will record audio and visual footage of the band’s performances on Thursday, 25 July, and Friday, 26 July, track by track, making these available for users to buy and watch seconds after the song has ended.
Not your average recorded-for-DVD production, Soundhalo claims to capture the feeling of actually being present at a live performance and high-quality audio is promised with the help of experienced sound engineers.
“Part of the reason Soundhalo was interesting to me was that I found myself wondering why, whenever you go to a gig, the next day there are a million shaky, horrible-sounding YouTube videos already online. But you go and look because you want to see something of your experience,” said Godrich.
“Soundhalo provides something really functional – an experience that you want to remember in front of you as soon as the concert has happened. To be able to relive that is a really great thing,” he added.
Soundhalo produces an MP4 video file straight from the stage to users’ computers and mobile devices. Though the service is still in beta, it has already collaborated with with critics’ favourite Alt-J at the O2 Academy in Brixton, London. The Atoms for Peace gigs will be Soundhalo’s largest transmission to date.
Fans will be able to preview recordings before they buy and these previews can also be shared on Facebook.
Soundhalo works in the latest versions of Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer 10, with plans for Firefox support in the works. It’s also compatible with the majority of Android and iOS devices, with BlackBerry and Windows Phone versions to come.
