The Who leader unveils interactive musical program

Pete Townshend officially launched his Internet-based software program called "The Method" on Wednesday, April 25th in London. Billboard reported that the interactive program enables the participant -- or the "sitter" as Townshend has described it -- "to generate music from unique, inputted data. The sitter can upload four strands of personal information into the system, consisting of a digital photo, a rhythm, a sound and a voice."

At the launch Townshend said, "This is a step in doing something which is a true, authentic, elegant artist process, based on the incredible (software) system. I love what this produces and my vision for it now is that I think, yes, we could have a gathering in some future time where we could share our music together."

The project which has its seeds in Townshend's Lifehouse project, which eventually morphed into the Who's 1971 Who's Next album, will begin accepting registration for personal use on May 1st. Upon registration, the sitter will automatically be able to punch in fundamental specifics about themselves which will produce an original piece of music, similar to the introductions to the Who classic "Baba O'Reilly" and "Fragments" off of the Who's recent Endless Wire album.

During his recent keynote address at this year's South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Townshend said that his original idea for The Method was deemed far too advanced to ever be realized: "Of course, there was no computer in 1971 big enough or powerful enough to do what I wanted to do. And there was no Internet (laughs). So of course everybody that I talked to about this, kind of looked at me and said, 'Nice idea, I think, but I think you're nuts. You should go and get treatment.' I came up with this idea, I thought it would be wonderful, and I've had to wait 30 years."

The Method participants will be entitled to three free musical "portraits," before their subscription runs out on July 31st. The sitter will end up owning a percentage of the copyright to their unique musical readout.

The program, which was funded by Townshend, was developed mathematician/composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon.

Townshend is hoping that the musical bites could be utilized for some type of commercial use and is looking into any copyright issues that might be in the way. He hopes that next summer during the proposed Attic Jam festival that he's planning with girlfriend Rachel Fuller, some of the pieces created through The Method programs can be shared with the audience.

For more information, log on to lifehouse-method.com.

The Who kick off their final European leg on May 16th in Lisbon, Portugal.
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