Screaming guitars, thunderous drums, all without disturbing the neighbors. A rock band plays through amp modeling and sampling programs into 200 pairs of wireless headphones – lunchtime at the New England Institute of Art in Brookline!

The concept is a variation of the popular “Silent Disco” where the audience wears headphones as pulsating dance music is pumped into their ears. An unusual site to see and one that has really taken off this year around Boston.

The silent concert was the idea of Allan Kraut, an Associate Professor at the New England Institute of Art (ArtInstitutes.edu/Boston), and Founder of Cambridge-based Merch Music (MerchMusic.com), a digital music download company.

Boston’s premier party band, The Sub5, will be performing top hits and classics during the NEiA Summer barbeque. Attendees walk up to a table, leave their ID and get to use a set of headphones to hear the band. They can even adjust the volume of the music to their own liking.

“This changes everything” says Kraut, “Now bands can perform almost anywhere: museums, backyards, airports or a parking lot like this!”

The guitar is run through a computer that simulates the sound of various amplifiers and is controlled by a “GiO” (ApogeeDigital.com/products/gio.php) provided by Apogee Electronics of Santa Monica, CA. The drum pads trigger various samples of actual drums and all the signals are combined using a device known as a JamHub (JamHub.com) by the Whitinsville, MA company of the same name.

Students in NEiA’s enormously successful audio program, under the guidance of professor Kraut, will be running the show. He’s planning other concerts in the area later this Summer.

The performance is on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 from 11:15am – 12:15pm @ The New England Institute of Art, 303 Boylston St., Brookline, MA. This event is exclusively for New England Institute of Art students. Exceptions are made for press.

Come on by, grab some lunch and enjoy the music or the silence!