Canned Orchestras

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 1:43pm

How do you guys feel about canned orchestras? I'm just wondering because I will be in a production of SWEENEY TODD-yes Sondheim, of all things to be extremely difficult to keep up with from a recorded orchestra!-tonight and tomorrow night, and thought it would be worth getting opinions about. Personally, I think nothing beats a live orchestra that can actually work with the actors and change tempos depending on what is happening on any particular night.

[tazber]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 1:45pm

I always prefer fresh, but even frozen is better than canned.

(sidenote: I love you avatar!)

Updated On: 8/1/14 at 01:45 PM

[newintown]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 1:48pm

I think they're the unavoidable future and I don't like anything about them.

[Jon]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 2:00pm

Your thesis is based on the premise that live orchestras and conductors actually do listen to and "follow" the actors every night. I've seen long-running Broadway productions where the orchestra might as well have been recorded, as they kept barreling ahead when the performer was clearly behind the beat - sometimes by a measure or more.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 2:47pm

I HATE pre-recorded orchestra tracks. Yet I love them. I don't like that it sounds like it's coming out of a box but I like that you know what the orchestra is going to sound like from the beginning of rehearsals. Live orchestras tend to just plow through the score without watching what's going on, onstage.

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 3:11pm

It is nice to know what the end result will sound like from the beginning, but I still despise the prerecorded track route. I hope that professional productions do not go the way of them in the future...

[Gothampc]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 3:18pm

"Your thesis is based on the premise that live orchestras and conductors actually do listen to and "follow" the actors every night."

Too true.

I was once in a summer theater where the orchestra disliked the conductor because they (along with some of the actors) thought he took the tempos too slowly. So on one particular song, they took the tempo the actress wanted and ignored the conductor.

[finebydesign]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 3:28pm

For small productions I think they're pretty great.

[JohnyBroadway]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 4:34pm

I recently visited a professional rep theatre where they are unable to house an orchestra, so they assemble all of the musicians and record each score in studio. That studio recording is then monitored by an MD who freshly keeps the tempo every performance through a video monitor. I found it unique.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 6:32pm

I'd rather hear a single piano live, than an entire orchestra canned.

Speaking of SWEENEY TODD, I have mentioned a local production where the Beggar Woman was at least a third off FOR THE ENTIRE SHOW! A live pianist would have pounded out her part and gotten her into the right key.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 12:17am

There is certainly a place for live orchestra, single piano, augmentation and recorded instrumentation. Truth be told, most BIG shows use a combination of all. It is based on appropriateness and quality and use. Do I think a flat out recorded orchestra is great? No. Many reasons have been previously stated... However, there ARE select situations where that IS the right way to go for a variety of reasons and I can not begrudge that.

If we are being absolutely pragmatic and blunt, there ARE certain digital augmentation systems - Real Time Music and Right On Cue Services are two major ones - that allow a digital orchestra to be conducted live and alter tempo and THOSE systems are best used to augment a live combo or fill out a large ensemble where a handful of instruments are missing... You have to understand that certain instruments are better substituted by other live instruments and digital systems don't capture an accurate feel for every instrument...

[Showface]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 12:40am

My only issue with this is a lot of times, schools use instrumentals found online, which a lot of times has to fake, synthesized sound! YUCK!

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 1:12am

I'm currently in a rock musical and we had a sitzprobe with the actual rock band. We sang through the score with them and heard it all, then they went and recorded the score, and we sing the to tracks. The tracks are all live instruments, so no fake sounds. It sounds great. And it is good to know, from an acting stand point, that the tempos are the same every night, etc. However, it does take away, at least for me, a certain kind of joy. I love singing with a real orchestra/band. I love hearing the music for real, and it kets me excited. However, most regional theaters are going this route because it is cheaper.

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 1:08pm

I used to believe in live musicians all the way, until a disastrous experience in a new musical led me to believe that sometimes, especially when works are fluctuating day to day faster than the band can re-learn parts, a pristine well-recorded track can be useful.