Bach is Back

Bach in Action

Although we are unfortunately not yet able to offer all-encompassing time travel, we have succeeded in opening a portal to the 18th century and teleporting none other than Johann Sebastian Bach himself to the present day. You can meet him at a concert-talk in the historic Summer Hall of the Bach Archive in Leipzig city centre.

Ready for a meet and greet?

The big comeback…

Just in time for the 2025 Bach Festival, the Virtual Bach Experience was launched, allowing up to 28 visitors to attend a virtual concert at the same time.

The audience can look forward to an XR experience lasting just under an hour, featuring a mix of musical pieces played on a historic harpsichord, accompanied by contemporary anecdotes and illustrative visuals – all presented entirely digitally by none other than Johann Sebastian Bach himself. It is, therefore, a unique opportunity to encounter this visionary of classical music up close.

Backstage

How did we manage to bring the Kapellmeister to life digitally? Here’s a little glimpse behind the scenes.

An authentic 3D model, complete with historically accurate attire, was needed as a basis. But to breathe life into the virtual figure, animation and audio were at least as important. Of course, this could have been achieved entirely digitally, but to create the most authentic possible rendition of the Thomaskantor’s voice, we expanded the production to include acting and musical expertise. The result: our Bach is a ‘best of’ compilation drawn from three real people, whose performances we have digitised using various recording, motion capture and performance capture techniques.

To ensure that the renowned harpsichordist could actually play the instrument at the end, a combination of several hand-tracking methods was required, supplemented by body and face tracking. As well as the vast amount of capture data that needed to be blended into a coherent whole, a considerable array of modern technology was also employed, as we were responsible for the audio recordings of the harpsichord performance, parts of the voice-over tracks and further sound design.

Whilst we’re on the subject of technology…

Setting up the exhibition was also on our to-do list. Twenty-eight AR headsets running in sync, which were to play back up to five performances a day in quick succession, might sound straightforward at first glance, but on closer inspection, it was actually a real challenge. There are few best-practice projects that replicate this kind of concert scenario. That’s why we spent a long time fine-tuning a stable setup where we could push the hardware to its limits whilst still ensuring reliable day-to-day operation. At the heart of this is a custom-developed tablet app that allows you to manage the headsets and the performances. From a synchronised start, through monitoring performance, battery levels and so on, right through to individual adjustment of the volume or language selection for each device, everything relating to the concert can be controlled centrally.