Orchestra not in theatre for Oscars?

Was anyone surprised that the orchestra wasn't actually in the theatre (they were in the Capital Records building?)? Does it matter? I would think that the sound would be a lot different for the people actually there.....

Did they not have an orchestra pit?

It that normal for the Oscars?

In trying to research why the orchestra wasn't at the theatre I found an interesting fact.

Adele's "Skyfall" is the first time a 007 tune has won in the Best Original Song category!

WOW - I found that really annoying because I own the "The Best of James Bond" cd that has all the movie songs. "Skyfall" has to be one of the worst 007 songs I have heard. If you like Shirley Bassey and 007 I highly recommend the album. She sings 3 songs on the album: "Goldfinger", "Moonraker" and "Diamonds Are Forever".

Simply put, they switched the venue to a much smaller movie palace that did not have an orchestra pit. There have been Broadway shows where either the entire orchestra or large parts of the orchestra were placed in a separate room from the auditorium or even in the basement with the audio pumped into the theater. It's not an uncommon practice to feed in the audio from elsewhere. It didn't impact the quality of the telecast.

I know it's not the greatest example, but the orchestra for SPIDER-MAN is actually in two different rooms in a completely part of the theater. They had to do that because the pit is full of traps and other stage machinery.

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Yero, that's one of the examples I was thinking of. They had a nice video a while back explaining how it all worked.

Wow - guess I'm used to actually looking into the orchestra pit during intermission. I'm sure it sounds a bit different if they aren't physically in the same room..... No? If not, may as well outsource them so the same orchestra can play different shows! Saves a lot of $$ I'm sure.... Or just pre-record and play it back for each performance....

I like having them there, seems more "real" to me.... I'm paying good $$ for those seats, I'd like to have the orchestra there with me.

Seriously, it depends on the instrumentation as to whether it makes a difference to the sound.

In the cast of the Oscars, it makes fine sense in that it frees up the design of the stage and allows for greater points of access to and from the stage for winners, cameras, etc... and, let's be frank, it's a LOT easier for the conductor to stick to schedule and just start playing the Jaws the theme when the clock strikes zero than it would be were that winner staring at him three feet away...

In the other cases, reasons vary.. you don't lose two rows of orchestra seating, you free the sub-stage for mechanics, dressing space, storage, etc... You also, as has been mentioned, have cases where not all of the band or orchestra can physically FIT in the pit and some instruments play from other locations in the theatre. You could make the arguments about sound quality for a wind instrument, yes. but for quite a few instruments, it doesn't "detract" from a live sound at all... Keyboards, Electric Guitars and Basses, V-Drum Kits, etc - many of them make no 'live' sound at all without being fed through the sound system, some other instruments are quiet and drowned out by others in the pit so all you hear is the 'mixed' version regardless.. Still OTHER instruments - particularly percussion - sound far better (if they have to be mixed through a sound board) when played in an isolated room because you don't get any bleed over to or from other instruments.

For the Tonys - at the Beacon particularly - there are so many people and so many things going on and the music requirements so complex that it is just a lot more simple and sure to have the musicians located elsewhere.

Like followspot mentioned, it's already common practice on Broadway. A Chorus Line famously had its orchestra in other part of the theatre.

On the outsourcing issue - could just be in another building somewhere. The actors play to the sound, the sound doesn't play to the actors, so the speed at which the sound arrives makes no difference. It's probably milliseconds anyway.

"On the outsourcing issue - could just be in another building somewhere. The actors play to the sound, the sound doesn't play to the actors, so the speed at which the sound arrives makes no difference. It's probably milliseconds anyway."

A building nearby, yes, but the further away they go the greater that time difference would be. For an example just watch your local news anytime they have somebody reporting live from the field. You'll see that delay in action when the anchors in the studio ask the reporter a question and it takes them a couple of seconds to begin responding.

I did like how they showcased some musicians during the Oscars last year.

and, TheGingerBreadMan, the drummer for Wicked is in the pit. I remember seeing him there when I saw the show a couple of weeks ago. And, speaking as a drummer, while the show's score may be viewed as percussion heavy, so to speak, they are all things that are small and can be added onto a drumkit.

I also think that with regards to Broadway and orchestras, they don't need to be in the pit. It's nice to see them if they are but it is not something that I think is needed.

Another thing to consider is that if producers remove a pit from the orchestra, and move the orchestra elsewhere in the theatre (like the basement etc) then they can have an extra row or two of seats.

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Simply put, they switched the venue to a much smaller movie palace that did not have an orchestra pit.

If you are talking about the Oscars, that's not true. It was at the 3300+ seat Dolby Theater (formerly Kodak), which was built FOR the Oscars.

There have been Broadway shows where either the entire orchestra or large parts of the orchestra were placed in a separate room from the auditorium or even in the basement with the audio pumped into the theater. It's not an uncommon practice to feed in the audio from elsewhere. It didn't impact the quality of the telecast.

True, but it may have affected the sound inside the venue itself. As for the telecast, I felt the orchestra overwhelmed the singing.

Updated On: 2/28/13 at 11:56 AM