The Lifehouse Method
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The Lifehouse Method was an Internet site where applicants could sit for an electronic musical portrait made up from data they enter into the website. This website was the result of a collaboration between
the Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's principal songwriter and composer
Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...
, composer
Lawrence Ball Lawrence Ball (born 17 September 1951) is an English musician and composer who lives in North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge o ...
and software developer Dave Snowdon. The website was operated by Eel Pie Recording Production, Limited, a company set up in 1970 by Pete Townshend.


History

The Lifehouse Method grew out of Pete Townshend's unfinished 1971 science-fiction album '' Lifehouse'', written for the Who. Although Townshend originally intended ''Lifehouse'' as a multi-media, audience-participation musical production to follow the Who's ''
Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
'', difficulties in funding and implementing the project led to its release as the Who's album ''
Who's Next ''Who's Next'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted '' Lifehouse'' project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album ''T ...
'' instead. Although some of the key ''Lifehouse'' songs were left off ''Who's Next'', the basic concept of the opus is still recognizable within the album. In ''Lifehouse'' Townshend predicted a future wherein the population was forced inside by heavy pollution and connected in their homes to an
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-like "Grid" through which media moguls provided programmed entertainment. Rebels escape this situation and gather together to perform a live musical concert which generates a nirvana like state of universal unity. Townshend hoped to link the audience in a way that would reflect the personalities of the audience members. To do this, he adapted VCS3 and ARP synthesizers and a quadraphonic PA to create a machine capable of generating and combining personal music themes written from computerized biographical data. He expected these thematic components would merge to form a "one note" or "universal chord" representing the audience, and by extrapolation, all of humanity. Although the original project proved too ambitious for the technology available in 1971, Townshend revisited the ''Lifehouse'' concept in the Who's album ''
Who Are You ''Who Are You'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it was a ...
'' and in his concept album ''
Psychoderelict ''Psychoderelict'' is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus ''The Boy Who Heard Music'', first presented on The Who's album ...
''. He continued discussion of these themes in his 2005 novella ''
The Boy Who Heard Music ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out ...
'', which in turn was the inspiration for the second half of the Who's '' Endless Wire'', "Wire & Glass". "Wire & Glass" was developed into an unfinished musical workshopped at
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...
, in addition to Townshend intended the story to become an animated film. The Lifehouse Method website was discontinued in July 2008, having generated over 10,000 pieces of unique, customized music. In January 2012 ''
Method Music ''Method Music'' is a double-album of electronic music by the English composer and mathematician Lawrence Ball created using the compositional system that would become The Lifehouse Method, an online-based compositional project conceived by Pete ...
'' by Lawrence Ball, consisting of music created by Ball with assistance from Townshend using the Lifehouse Method, was released by Navona Records.pavementpr.com


Idea

The Lifehouse Method is software that will create a musical portrait. The applicants registered at the website and received a password which allowed them to create a composition. The website musical team expected to choose some of these portraits for further development into larger compositions or songs that would be presented in a concert or concert series, with the applicant receiving a portion of any income generated. To date, no concert has been arranged.


References


External links


The Lifehouse Method WebsitePete Townshend's Official WebsiteDave Snowdon's page on the Lifehouse MethodLawrence Ball's Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lifehouse Method, The Internet properties with year of establishment missing Defunct websites Internet properties disestablished in 2008 British music websites Pete Townshend