Is there a Way to Identify a "Broadway Sound"?

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 11:20pm

I was listening to the Broadway channel on Sirius XM radio last week. I noticed that, especially for upbeat music, there are frequently similarities among Broadway numbers from different eras, by different composers. For example, "I Can't Say No," "I Hate Men," "Master of the House," and "Miracle of Miracles" all sound as if they fit into the same genre.

 

I'm definitely no musicologist, so I might very well be way off on this hypothesis. Furthermore, I'm not sure my hypothesis applies to ballads, although I can see similarities in those, as well, e.g., "If Ever I Would Leave You," "The Music of the Night," and "You'll Never Walk Alone."

 

There are a typical blues sound, rap sound, rock sound, and jazz sound. Are there typical Broadway sounds as well? If so, what constitutes a Broadway sound?

 

Music experts, have at it!

 

Audrey Liebross

Updated On: 12/27/15 at 11:20 PM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 11:35pm

I think Broadway has not set sound and that newer works are made from the music fromthe time. That's why today we see more pop sounding new musicals because that's the music of today. While R&H were alive in a time when classical music was in the Mai stream so their songs were classical.

[sephyr]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 3:08am

I think the Broadway sound is definitely recognizable. Sure Broadway uses a bunch of different genres to tell the stories of their shows but you can definitely tell. It's that theatrical quality. That heightened emotion in the music, lyrics, etc.

Vocal wise: More vibrato is usually used. Also there's an emphasis on diction and dynamics as well. Sure there are other vocal styles that go with the other genres used but most performers try to put an emphasis on clarity and good singing technique to serve what they are singing. Also certain lines switching back and forth from singing and talking is common too. The goal is to act the song in the best way.

Music wise: there's more of an emphasis on orchestrations - those lush strings and soaring melodies. The music is never really louder than the singer. Plus there are strains of classical music as well as jazz and other genres, used to tell the story. The music serves to tell the story and syncs with the singing and the choreography. It's really unique.

Those are just my 2 cents lol

 

[perfectlymarvelous]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 3:56am

Musical theater has always been a mix of styles. I think there's a big traditional sound that runs through a lot of the Golden Age musicals, and orchestration style is a really good way to tell when something is from (i.e. the original Les Mis orchestrations have a distinctly '80s synth-heavy sound, the original A Chorus Line orchestrations are percussive and distinctly from the '70s). But Broadway musicals, particularly contemporary ones, incorporate elements of rock, pop, hip hop, jazz, and all kinds of other forms of other popular music and I think it's impossible to nail down a "Broadway" sound.

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 7:18am

I think "Broadway" contains all styles of music, from rock to pop to classical depending on the type of show.

 

I think the main difference is in the singing style.

 

Singing always need to feel truthful to me. Which is a right balance between natural singing and acting.

 

Like Sephyr said, the goal is to act and sing the song in the best possible way. If it sounds like a trick/technique/vibrato, it takes away from that. Also when it's not sung well enough and too much spoken, the singing sounds silly and it also takes away from that.

 

Good, truthful singing therefore always results in truthful acting. I think a young Whitney Houston was a fantastic actress through song.

 

That is what went so horribly wrong with Hugh Jackman in the Les mis film. He speaks one word, and the next word he uses a forced vibrato of 20 seconds, which feels like a "Broadway parody". Nothing truthful.

 

While many theatre performers who have played the role sound much more filmic/real/truthful, as they keep other notes longer and those notes short. They are just better natural singers so the performance feels more real.

 

Also, sometimes 1 performer (Lea Salonga for example) can do it right at one time (most of the time, Miss Saigon London, Les mis 10th anniversary) but goes overboard another time (Miss Saigon Manila), where it also tends to sound like a Broadway trick/parody.

 

Which is what people (unfounded) might see as "Broadway sound".

 

This video shows what I mean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcS1uIarnME

Updated On: 12/29/15 at 07:18 AM

[Ranger Tom]

Posted: 12/28/15 at 11:21pm

For me, there is a definite Broadway sound.  I'm not a music expert so I can't explain it technically.  But the greatest example are the initial bars of Sweeney - after the whistle and before the vocals.  That to me is the Broadway sound.  Hard Knock Life has it.  So does Ring of Keys, WSS's America, Another Hundred People, Seasons of Love and Life Support (No Day But Today), Fiddler's Bottle Dance, Finale of Godspell.  Can't explain it other than - when you hear it, you know it's Broadway.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 11:33am

More often than not, hearts are worn on the sleeve.  Characters in musical theater sing feelings not expressed in dialog (Judy Kuhn has said it's the entire focus of "Fun Home's" score). That surely changes intention, focus, and a level of earnestness.  Even cynical songs, "Ladies Who Lunch" or angry songs "Epiphany" or funny-earnest songs "I Believe" (BOM) are about that burst of revealed feeling.  Not a hard fast rule, but I'd argue that that an immediate need to get something off the chest defines musical theater "sounds" and thus B'way. 

Updated On: 12/29/15 at 11:33 AM

[finebydesign]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 12:21pm

I'm no expert either, but the introductions of songs and the buttons are sort of signatures.  The intro may be an underscore or pick-up right from dialogue, this doesn't really happen in pop songs.  The buttons (use for applause) don't always happen in pop. 

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 12:22pm

Auggie27 said: "More often than not, hearts are worn on the sleeve.  Characters in musical theater sing feelings not expressed in dialog (Judy Kuhn has said it's the entire focus of "Fun Home's" score). That surely changes intention, focus, and a level of earnestness.  Even cynical songs, "Ladies Who Lunch" or angry songs "Epiphany" or funny-earnest songs "I Believe" (BOM) are about that burst of revealed feeling.  Not a hard fast rule, but I'd argue that that an immediate need to get something off the chest defines musical theater "sounds" and thus B'way. 

"

 

This is an interesting discussion. What you say about the hearts worn on the sleeve and sung dialogue is true. Therefore I think this material (on both stage and screen) should per definition not be too literal. Not trying to take it into realism/speak singing etc. But embrace the unrealistic artform and go all the way. Only then the notes have meaning.

 

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 12:41pm

There's definitely a sound. I'm not a musicologist so I can't discuss it in real, descriptive, or probably even objectively correct terms but it's absolutely a thing. It's very clearly emotive music, it's relatively rare for a musical's music to get really abstract like a lot of the best pop/non-theater music. But non-theater music doesn't have to hold and carry your entire focus, so it can be free to be mysterious and atmospheric (or blood-pumping and repetitive) in a way that theatrical music can't.

 

There's also a difference in how they're written and how they ask you to relate to them. In theory, "Bound 2" (which is a gorgeous, deep song full of clouded emotion) could be sung on a stage from one person to another, but it doesn't make a clear point right through on the first listen. It's abstracted, it's jumbled, and that's great to listen to a few times in a row (I often find that I have a terrific arc of emotion when I first listen to a song two or three times) but in the theater the audience is going to go "what?".

 

The main fact is just that the style of the music hasn't undergone any really massive changes since the days of the music hall and operetta. Mostly it just borrows from the more mainstream music scene - hippie rock in Hair, disco beats in Evita, gospel in Rent, alternate/indie in Fun Home - and folds it into the pre-existing style of theatrical music.

[skies]

Posted: 12/29/15 at 1:25pm

To me it's that (generally)  there's a lot more exposition, story telling and narrative in the Broadway "sound".  Lyrics really do matter in a way they don't in other genres.  The music sets up the lyrics, which is why so many shows  have a seamless segue/transition between the spoken word and the first verses of a song.  It's almost a continuation , as in say Company's " Being Alive" when Robert first starts singing.  Why is why hearing a stand alone BW song can sometimes seem jarring if you don't know the context.

Updated On: 12/29/15 at 01:25 PM