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Axiom Spotlight: Karlheinz Stockhausen

In 1993, avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen premiered his legendary Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet).

Instead of performing on stage, the four string players were placed in four separate helicopters flying in formation above the concert hall. Microphones inside the cockpits transmitted the audio and live video feeds down to audio engineers mixing the sound live into the auditorium.

"The rotor blades functioned as continuous, tremolo acoustic oscillators blending directly into the polyphonic string timbre."