Multi-user PitchWeb, 2005

The earliest version of the PitchWeb was debuted on-line from The Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia in October 1998, when it was played with the Relâche Ensemble by Duckworth, as well as by audience members on their laptops and on computer terminals stationed around the hall.

The multi-user version of the instrument debuted in November 2001, when PitchWeb bands in Boston, New York, and Atlanta performed during a 48-hour Cathedral webcast that streamed 34 concerts live from five continents.

The first online test of the instrument had occurred earlier, in July of that year.

The multiuser PitchWeb was featured again during a week of Cathedral Band performances and on-line activities from the Brisbane Powerhouse in Australia in the summer of 2002.

By the time of these Powerhouse concerts, both Farrell and Duckworth had had the opportunity to mix on-line PitchWeb players into the performance directly from the stage. They described it as something they both found added a new dimension to the experience, since they could converse with the players through text chat even as their sounds were appearing live. As they said, it gave the impression of simultaneously being on stage and on-line.

A mobile phone version of the PitchWeb debuted in Tokyo and Canberra in 2007. Here is an excerpt from a performance by the audience at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra.

The Mobile PitchWeb, 2007