I've figured out what a Conductor (orchestra) /Band Director is good for

[UTUSN]

Whenever there's a Conductor, BERNSTEIN or whomever, up there fronting a hundred first class musicians, who would seem to be able to do quite well on their own or with a giant metronome, I've wondered what he's for.

Then a couple or three weeks ago the local high school band started their early back to school practicing, actually just the drum section, banging/booming - in *July* not August which has been the norm for the past 25 years - with the permanent 30 mph wind blowing it all into my shack. I posted before how band people love band more than school, how they love it to be practicing withOUT having school attached to it.

Today, into their third week, they played MUSIC for the first time, not just the drums, or rather just long tones like tuning up interminably, with the drums keeping on keeping on.

So I was outside and the band director has a bull horn, and this dude is really nice, does all of his directing with positivity and talking-it-all-out, without any talking *down*, just this and this and when they do what he wants, it's "That's *it* - *that's* the way!1"

So they're two blocks away, I can't see them, but can visualize the band standing in ranks in the parking lot, all of them silent, with only the instruments and the band director doing the talking. The director is up there, him and the musicians all motivated by their love of music, all going together, not really a matter of leading and following, and the dude is somebody they *want* to be shepherded by, and he's up there waving his arms, and when they give him what he wants everybody's happy.

It's like the musicians are thinking, "You *know* how he gets when we don't do it his way, we might as well make'im happy!1"

So it's all about the Conductor dude enjoying himself emoting to the music when it sounds the way he wants it to!1

[leftieNanner]

1. My current choir experience is that a conductor does so much more!

We have a very good church choir and our Director is a music professor at our local college. He can bring so much passion, emotion, and nuance out of us with his beautiful hands. It's not just about the metronome and keeping time at all. We sing with multiple instruments on Easter and Christmas Eve, so he's not just about vocals either. He brought music back into my life and it's glorious!

[UTUSN]

2. "passion, emotion, and nuance out of us with his beautiful hands" - yip, that's what I'm saying

The director is up there emoting and enjoying himself and everybody wants to make him happy!1

[jberryhill]

3. Yep

Long time choir member here. The dynamics, balance, feeling... it’s all in that mix.

[robbob]

4. Um, no.

Sorry, I know it’s a fun post and you are half tongue in cheek, but assuming you really don’t know the role of a conductor in an orchestra I feel I must reply.

Classical music is unlike many other forms of popular music in that it allows massive leeway in the interpretation of tempo, for one thing. Now, baroque works (think Vivaldi, Bach, etc.) adhere pretty strictly to one tempo, meaning they could, in theory, be conducted by a giant metronome, at least inasfar as the tempo (speed) of the piece goes, but classical and romantic composers (Mozart, Beethovan, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, etc.) want their work to “breath”: there is almost constant movement in the tempo; speeding up, slowing down, almost come to a stop in a suspended, almost breathless restlessness. One of my favourite movements, the 3rd from Brahms symphony in F minor demonstrates this beautifully:

I copied this link because it’s a live version. Searching out other recorded versions will reveal a wide variety of interpretations by various conductors. Why even the same conductor might choose to change things from performance to performance.

Now, simply stated, there is no way in the world you can get an entire symphony orchestra to spontaneously adhere to all the tempo changes simultaneously: they need a driver to run the show. I play in an old time big band (17 piece), and believe me, there are times where I wish we had a conductor in front to guide us through the various tempo changes and fermata’s (notes held briefly before the tempo resumes) on some of the pieces. It really brings the music to life!

Another important function of the conductor is controlling the volume of the various sections. While volume changes ARE marked in the music, ultimately it is the conductor for who balances it all out. Think of a recording studio: the different sections of the band are like tracks in a multi track recording, and the conductor is like the studio engineer who mixes it all down; a bit more violin here, a bit less French horn there, now come on, Tympani, blow the roof off!

In short, the conductor is in fact a very educated and talented musician, and the symphony orchestra is his/her instrument. (Sorry if I rambled on there...)

[UTUSN]

5. You pegged it with "a fun post and (all) tongue in cheek"!1

I'll illustrate my quirkiness with how I gave a "test" to a local, garage band dude who was sharp enough to beat me at my game.

I said, "What do you call the pause in an emotional passage that emphasizes the emotion and the release of emotion?!1"

He puzzled momentarily, and then sneered, "A --------- *PAUSE*????????????!1"

He was correct without having to know what a caesura is.

[robbob]

6. Ha! Learn something new every day!

I guess in music we call it a fermata, and it looks like an inverted semi circle with a dot in the center.

[Paladin]

7. Did you catch Bernstein's show from the 50's on conducting?

They re-ran it a few days ago on PBS, in celebration of his centennial. Brilliant, accessible explanation of exactly what a conductor does.

[UTUSN]

8. Yea, saw 4 of Young People's Concerts, interesting span of years watching him become superstar

[pangaia]

9. If you are really interested in what orchestra conducting is all about,

I can highly recommend watching this video of Valery Gergiev giving masterclasses.
While watching a few minutes almost anywhere will offer great insights, the entire video is absolutely fascinating and also shows clearly what a genius and brilliant conductor Gergiev is.

The 1:00:00 (1 hour mark) is very revealing)
Also 43:00.

Enjoy. :&gt )

Although I never played under him, I did have the good fortune to sit in on two of his rehearsals with the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

[UTUSN]

10. Thanks, I'm not really deep into anything, but appreciate. Carlos KLEIBER is said

to be the "greatest ever" - and looking at him, it looks like he has no rules, points down when the melody line is up, what's up with that?!1

[pangaia]

11. LOL Good one.

Any good orchestra can play this piece in their sleep and don't really NEED a conductor to GET THROUGH IT. Different conductors may choose different tempi, change balance, weight, phrasing here and there,etc..

...as is much of the case here, Kleiber conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in their annual Christmas concert. Although here he is more or less just hangin' out and encouraging the orchestra.


The Viennese grow up with this music. They know it stone cold.

[TomSlick]

12. Never played in an orchestra but I play in a band (decades after college).

Even a so-so director is way-on better than a metronome. A metronome will pound out a steady beat. A metronome cannot tell you is whether you are at beat one or four. There is more than mere arm waiving going on. There is a pattern. A musician can tell from the pattern on what beat in the measure, s/he supposed to be.

A metronome cannot change tempo. A metronome cannot hold at a fermata or break at a caesura and then restart.

A director can also communicate a lot concerning the style sought in the way the pattern is conducted. There is a fundamental difference in legato (smooth) conducting and staccato (choppy) conducting. A director can communicate crescendo (louder) and decrescendo (softer) in the pattern.

Sometimes, the most important way a director communicates cannot be seen by the audience looking at her back. A good director (and I bet orchestra conductor) communicates as much with facial expressions as with the baton and hands.

[UTUSN]

13. That's what I say, everybody's just there to make him have a good time!1

[TomSlick]

14. Yep. And if the director is having fun, there is some chance music will be made.

If the director's face is showing panic, only noise is being made.