On 7-May-07, at 6:41 AM, Phil Daley wrote:
I have been to live musicals where there was no pit band. The music played there was far superior to this sample. But, I suppose the music could have been recordings made from live musicians. There was a synthesizer guy present, and some of the sounds were obviously from him.
This was part of my point about the kind of argument that could be made for shows.
There was a big mega-musical produced here in French a few years ago; by all reports it was pretty spectacular. But the orchestra and chorus was entirely pre-recorded. Only the principals sang their parts live, and even then if one of them was not in voice that day, or wanted to save his/herself for a TV show or the second show that day, then their track was turned on and they lip-synched. I picketed that show, partly on a live-music argument, but mostly because it was fraudulent. There was NO mention of a recorded orchestra and chorus ANYWHERE in the publicity, nor in the program, yet full ticket prices were charged. The onstage chorus, mostly dancers, even lip-synched along with the recorded chorus.
Now, not many people demanded their money back, even once it became clear that they were watching a sort of karaoke show, because the lighting, sets, costumes, and choreography were mighty entertaining even without live musicians.
But can you imagine a symphony concert where it's a chamber-sized ensemble onstage with a laptop and speakers? First of all, the sound of music through speakers is nowhere near the quality of acoustic sound. There is no question of whether or not anyone could tell the difference between a LIVE orchestra in an acoustic space and a recording, no matter how high the sound quality. For a show, already amplified, that difference is smaller.
But all that aside, why does anyone go a concert at all these days? You could probably get a better performance from a CD of your favourite orchestra, in the comfort of your own living room. For that matter, why does anyone go to a hockey game? You get better sightlines, great camera work, professional commentary, cheaper snacks and more comfortable seats watching it on TV for free in your own home.
Once that question is answered, any talk about replacing orchestra musicians with laptops should subside into an embarrassed silence.
Christopher _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
