The Sounds of PornOrchestra.com

There are many styles of porn out there. Fans can argue till they're blue in the face about whether gonzo porn is better than couples porn or whether shooting on film or video matters, and so on.

Yet there’s one topic on which all porn viewers seem to agree: the music often stinks. The wah-wah guitar funk grooves, the cheesy heavy metal riffing, and the bad techno music is tired and gets in the way.

Many complain, but The PornOrchestra is doing something about it.

Formed in Oakland by a group of classical musicians who were tired of the sub-par musical scores of adult fare, The PornOrchestra is an attempt to radically reinterpret the soundtracks to pornographic films. The Orchestra puts on live performances to porn films, featuring improvised sections where musicians take cues from the conductor. The twist is that the musicians don't know what film they are going to be scoring live.

"There is a wide variety of instrumentation, experience, and performing style in the orchestra, and this is intentional," said project coordinator Shannon Mariemont. "The project seeks to create an ensemble of wildly diverse techniques and skill sets, and, ideally, a broader array of options for radical reinterpretation of the soundtracks.

"The first performances of The PornOrchestra can be described as Iron Porn," she continued. "The musicians had no idea what would be projected on the screen and they had to dig down deep, very deep, to create a soundtrack on the fly. In subsequent shows, we permitted musicians to form collaborations with performing projectionists and video artists. We also curated shows, handing out small amounts of material to musicians in advance, then assembling each component at the show for a cohesive whole."

A typical orchestra includes a classically trained bassoonist playing side by side with a mysterious figure with an effects-laden bullhorn strapped to his motorcycle helmet being conducted by an internationally recorded, experimental musician.

The irony here is that the members of the Bay Area-based orchestra – which ranges in size from 12 to 40 musicians at any one performance – are not necessarily big fans of porn. They simply denounce uncreative soundtracks.

"Some of the orchestra hate porn and wanted to participate in order to get their porn-hating ya-yas out," said Mariemont. "Others liked porn but wouldn't admit it. But they knew this would be a way of legitimately being around porn. These musicians were particularly disgruntled when we assembled them with their backs to the screen. Yet many liked porn, and demanded certain genres for the small ensembles and solos."

No only is The PornOrchestra offering adult filmmakers a viable source of quality music to score sex scenes, but they are making a classical music concert a more interactive, and possibly more erotic, experience.

"This is the What's Up, Tiger Lily? of porn," summarized Mariemont. "A Pink-Floyd meets Wizard of Oz of porn. Fan commentary porn. Polka porn."