Miro in Music's Wild West

Abstract

In chamber music, roles are often pre-determined even before performers meet for their first rehearsal. The string quartet has long been known for this, with the crown on the first violinist. Many quartets are named after this leader, and they disband when this one member leaves or dies. There’s even a name: the leader is the primarius. Even when some quartets break the mould and have rotating leadership, critics assume the first violinist is in charge.

This poses a real problem in education if one student learns to lead while the rest exclusively learn to follow. This hierarchical vestige of a bygone era creates the challenge of democratising the collaborative process. This is where Miro comes in.  The infinite zoom user interface, though seemingly chaotic and messy allows a space for participants to express themselves individually. The need to wait for their turn to speak is eliminated – an issue that still persists in other real-time formats like vertical text messaging applications. 

References

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