Audiences for classical concerts and opera could learn a lot from those for theatre and dance. Classical audiences are a conservative bunch. The aversion to ‘new’ music has resulted in ensembles doing all sorts of workarounds to try and trick the audience into putting up with a new work. One of the more entertaining, and… Continue reading Maybe the audience is the problem?
Category: Discussion
In defence of the day job
There are almost no composers, at any level of success, who just do composition full time. I’m talking about the world of ‘classical’ concert music rather than media work, but even in those fields composers might have other gigs as performers, teachers, etc. The most frustrating thing, from the point of view of someone trying… Continue reading In defence of the day job
Who does what?
So, what does everybody do? When you read a programme you can see all sorts of music related jobs, many of which sound like the same thing. I’ve provided a brief outline of the most common roles below. Of course, many of these will be done by the same person in a smaller production, and… Continue reading Who does what?
Live and Kicking
Live musicians vs recording The theatre provides an arena for the latest developments in musical and theatrical technology to be used in a practical context. This technological integration has both advantages and disadvantages for the development of live performance. Moving away from the traditional roles of amplification and reinforcement, advances in electronic and digital technology have allowed designers… Continue reading Live and Kicking
On Audiences
The main difference between theatre music and music for film or games or festivals isn’t the technology or the venue, it’s the fact that theatre is performed for a live and responsive audience. It may not seem like this would affect sound and music, but coping with audience reaction is a vital part of balancing and cuing music and sound. For… Continue reading On Audiences
The Purposes of Theatrical Music
Music in a play (or to a lesser extent a musical) serves a very different purpose to music in a film or at a concert. In fact, it has a variety of purposes depending on the play that it is part of. I have based these purposes on the great book Sound and Music for the Theatre: The… Continue reading The Purposes of Theatrical Music