Animusic: A Fantastic Marriage of Music and Digital Animation

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Animusic: A Fantastic Marriage of Music and Digital Animation

A review of the incredible, digitally rendered, 3D, sound producing environments known as "Animusic".

by Aardaerimus

A couple of years ago I was puttering around YouTube, when I stumbled across a phenomenal video of a strange and spectacular instrument that produced beautiful and captivating music.

At first, I thought that it was merely a cool animation that had a digitally produced song playing along; However, as I watched in amazement, I was stunned to find that every moving component of the peculiar machine made a distinct sound, rising in crescendo to the bridge and climaxing in a most delightful manner.

Not only are the animations captivating and wonderfully rendered, but the music itself is quite enjoyable - if you're into electronic music. Even if it's not your thing, I encourage you to check out their videos as there is a menagerie of styles to select from, ranging from Spanish guitar to intriguing alien techno.

The videos are all very clean and kid friendly, as well, and I guarantee that the little ones will be amazed.

That said, I'd like to first give credit to the producers of Animusic and direct you to their website. All of the videos you can watch can also be purchased on DVD for an amplified and much higher quality experience. They would make wonderful gifts. These guys have provided a very cool and unique form of entertainment, and deserve our support.

Finally, I'd like to share a few of my favorite Animusic videos as found on YouTube.

Aqua Harp

While this is perhaps one the most simplistic of their animations, it still stands among my favorites because of the beautiful song. With this peculiar instrument they combine the gentle sound of a large harp with small pipes, a cello string, and hammered plates, producing a very soothing melody.

Pipe Dream

This is a must-see video, in which a very complex machine produces a fun, jazzy little tune by firing small metal balls from a pipe, in a very precise fashion, and striking various strings and percussion plates.