WFHB 'experiments' with MP3 players

Imagine going to a concert with no music, no screaming, and in fact, no sound at all.\nIt doesn't sound like much of a concert, but that's exactly what happens at an MP3 experiment where the audience is actually part of the event.\nEveryone is wearing headphones and listening to an MP3 player or similar device. Everyone is dancing, but no music is playing out loud.\nThis was the scene in The Lodge on Sunday, April 23. The MP3 Experiment, hosted by Bloomington's volunteer community radio station, WFHB, was the first such event held in Bloomington. Each audience member that bought a ticket was provided with a link where they could download the file onto their MP3 player. Ticket holders were urged not to listen to the file until they were instructed to do so while attending the concert.\nCindy Levindofske, a volunteer and programmer for WFHB, was the producer of the event. Although not as many people showed up as she hoped, there was still a relatively good turnout of 14 participants, Levindofske said.\nWhile listening to instructions from the "voice in (their heads)", audience members were told to come onto the stage, to do some breathing exercises, to jump and give high fives to each other. Music was not the primary focus of the experiment, although participants were instructed to dance to several songs. The concert track can be downloaded from the Bloomington MP3 experiment's Web site, at \nwww.mp3experiment.com.\nLevindofske said she was happy with the overall experience of the experiment and plans to coordinate another MP3 experiment in the same venue sometime, perhaps as soon as this summer. \n"I thought the event was a success," she said. "I had a great time." \nLevindofske conceived the idea to have the experiment in Bloomington after hearing about Charlie Todd and Tyler Walker of the New York-based improvisation group, Improv Everywhere. Improv Everywhere's motto is: "we cause scenes", which is exactly what the MP3 experiments are about -- incorporating the audience into the scene, and creating theater through an interactive experience.\nTodd and Tyler produced the first experiment in December 2004, and after that was a success, went on to change the experiment and recreate a similar one in 2005. \nOn their Web site, www.improveverywhere.com, Todd and Walker said the goal of their experiment was to "give folks something to smile about"