Talking during a performance is normally considered a faux pas, but it could become positive in the concert of the future.

The ASU Wind Ensembles ventured into a bold new world of technological interaction Thursday night at “An E-volution of Experience, from Andrieseen 2 Zappa: Ecstasy of Influence.”

During the concert, ASU musicians coordinated with Gammage Auditorium staff to set up several ways audience members could digitally interact with the performance.

An area to the left of the stage, called the “laptop chat zone,” served as a designated place for people to pull out their portable computers and enter a music chat room. People typed questions and received real time responses.

A “discussion zone” located in the back of the auditorium offered a place for people to talk about the concert.

People could also choose to pick up a pair of headphones to hear a live, sports-announcer-style commentary.

A conducting graduate student supervised all interactive facets with the aim of providing insight into what, for some, is a musical enigma.

The idea started with a simple concept: engagement.

In the face of declining attendance, ASU’s music performance staff wanted to pioneer new ways of winning back an audience.

“We’re challenging the traditional concert setting,” said Jason Caslor, who directed the musical discussion.

He said he hopes to use the same technology that draws people away from concerts to get them interested again.

Caslor sees no problem with popping open a tab to check e-mail but wants the chat rooms and discussion to keep the focus on music and improving audience understanding.

Steven McKeithen and Brandt Payne, both conducting graduate students, ran the chat room.

McKeithen said he sees technology as the necessary leap to recapture listeners.

“People have a hard enough time sitting through a movie,” he said.

Problems with attention span have caused lower turnout in almost everything, from music to sports, he said.

“We’re anticipating that it will be more integrated in the future,” McKeithen said. “We expect anything from ‘what was that sound?’ to ‘why was the piece written that way?’ ”

Gary Hill, conductor and professor of music, said the interaction should level the playing field between music aficionados and the layman concert lover.

“Musically speaking, it’s also an integration,” Hill said. “We are attempting to have a very startling juxtaposition between works. We want everyone to understand what’s going on.”

Audience members faced several fierce transitions during the concert. A piece by electric guitarist and composer Frank Zappa lead into a improvisational orchestration by Dutch composer Hendrik Andriessen.

Hill seemed most excited about the song “Dance Machine.”

“It’s like techno for acoustic instruments,” he said, indicating the recurring patterns and mechanical textures.

Thursday’s concert only begins ASU’s experiments with technology and music presentation.

“The people who attend tonight will tell us what they like and what they don’t like; we’ll take the feedback and run with it,” Hill said.

Many concerts this year will feature digital components and the future could even hold scientific inquiry.

Hill said future concerts could feature information technology and brain analysis to understand better how people interact with music.

“Let’s get over this idea that we need to be snobs,” Hill said.

Reach the reporter at channing.turner@asu.edu.