Who is doing sound for the inauguration?

[roonsbane]

John Williams is the boss!

Cameron

[audio ergo sum]

No, he was the arranger IIRC.

[henryrobinett]

Originally Posted by audio ergo sum

No, he was the arranger IIRC.

In this case that makes him the boss.

[huub]

Originally Posted by audio ergo sum

AFAIK there is no system in the US like in Europe, that by default for classical music a specialized producer/engineer team is hired.
It is a lost opportunity for the sake of classical/good music, how this affair went. It is not often these days that this music is presented to such a wide audience worldwide.

Not nessecarily in europe...If there's a news type event (royal wedding, 25 years queen beatrix, a church ceremony for victims of this or that) there is no separate music producer/truck/engineer.. hell, I've mixed and miked some classical that way, and I am certainly no classical engineer.. (Obviously it sounded super-awesome though )

huub

[audio ergo sum]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

In this case that makes him the boss.

You guys have a very different culture over there in estados unidos, why is he the boss?
Regarding anything BEHIND the microphones I would expect an artistic producer and a balance engineer to be the boss, who of course listen carefully what the arranger/composer has to say and then do what they think is necessary to do...

[Corran]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

Well that explains how Yo Yo Ma could play all that music without looking at any music.

Have you been to a classical piano recital?

There is no "sheet music."

[roonsbane]

By the way, he's the Boss because he's friggen John Williams! If you were lucky enough to have him consistently hiring you to record his music, you will seriously consider taking his advise. Plus he is obviously a very fine musician. To ignore that completely you would need to have your head examined. Also, the reverb was certainly by no means over the top.
Cameron

Cameron

[henryrobinett]

Originally Posted by Corran

Have you been to a classical piano recital?

There is no "sheet music."

A piano recital is much different. In that case the music is memorized. Enough time is taken to memorize the music. Musicians of the caliber of Perlman and Ma are not going to memorize a John Williams piece of music. They are too in demand, too busy and simply too good to be expected have it memorized.

Now it's possible that he has eidetic memory.

[henryrobinett]

Originally Posted by audio ergo sum

You guys have a very different culture over there in estados unidos, why is he the boss?
Regarding anything BEHIND the microphones I would expect an artistic producer and a balance engineer to be the boss, who of course listen carefully what the arranger/composer has to say and then do what they think is necessary to do...

I'm assuming that the composer/arranger is in charge of this session. Especially of the caliber of Williams. He probably would demand control over the performance of his piece. But it's just a guess on my part.

It depends on the boss of what. Positioning the mics or type of mics, recording levels. I wouldn't expect Williams to be doing that perse. But I'd guess he'd have final word on mixing issues like reverb, etc..

Edit -- I'm just imagining John Williams was commissioned to write this piece. It's his session. He was probably given a budget to compose and hire the musicians and the studio - or it was donated. But I'm guessing since he was the "composer" it was his session. I could be wrong.

[Ozpeter]

Yo Yo Ma and music... I recall watching him in a recital in London (I confess I have forgotten who the pianist was) playing the Piazzola Grand Tango, fairly familiar ground but none the less he had the music spread wide across two music stands. He turned the pages pretty vigorously as the (17 minute?) piece progressed, and it gradually become more and more lopsided on the stands. About two thirds of the way through, the moment that the audience had long been expecting - but not it seemed Mr Ma - arrived, and the music distributed itself all over the stage.

However, Mr Ma didn't seem the slightest bit troubled and continued to the end note-perfect without it.

Some musicians just like to have the music there for confidence. And there are various conventions about the matter too which are often observed regardless of need. I believe playing without music by anyone didn't happen until Liszt started doing it.

[audio ergo sum]

Originally Posted by Ozpeter

...
Some musicians just like to have the music there for confidence. And there are various conventions about the matter too which are often observed regardless of need. I believe playing without music by anyone didn't happen until Liszt started doing it.

Happened all the time, Bach's or Beethoven's epic improvisations for many hours are legendary, on the other hand Svjatoslav Richter always played with the sheets, always.