9 ms·

How Videogames Are Saving the Symphony Orchestra

88 points by ihuman 11y ago

voltagex_ 11y ago
Years and years ago I attended https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play!_A_Video_Game_Symphony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play!_A_Video_Game_Symphony - the experience stuck with me ever since. Video game soundtracks can be quite beautiful.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  Along with Hollywood film scores, AAA game soundtracks are seemingly the only place where modern classical music composition thrives.
  - tdicola 11y ago
    Dig a little deeper, there are plenty of modern classical music composers. Just last year I saw the opening of John Adam's Become Ocean and it was fantastic modern classical music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGva1NVWRXk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGva1NVWRXk
  - ekianjo 11y ago
    It's not really classical music, since classical music is a style that clearly refers to a certain era of music composition + game music is hardly anything similar to classical music in the first place.
    - hkmurakami 11y ago
      Good point, thanks. I'll refer to it as symphonic music as now on. (though this leaves out chamber pieces :( ) (Though we do refer to even late-romantic period pieces well into the 20th century as "classical" unfortunately)
      - ekianjo 11y ago
        The reason I make the distinction is that there are very specific composition trends and rules that make a musical piece "classical", and contemporary game or movie music is not following those at all. It's not because music is played in an orchestra that it's the same genre as the popular orchestra music that was played x00 years ago. Unfortunately most people don't make (knowingly or unknowingly) the distinction.
    - hypersoar 11y ago
      "Classical" (big "C") refers to the period, but "classical" (little "c") is often used to refer to the vague, nebulous cloud of music to which it often refers and of which Classical music is a subset. I know that's super pedantic and nebulous, but I've never heard a satisfactory term for the broader category. I've heard "Western Art Music", but that implies that Western music outside of its umbrella isn't art, which is plainly ridiculous. So, I use "classical", because it's the least bad term I've heard.
      - princeb 11y ago
        even more pedantic... modern refers to the early 20th century period, the period we live in is contemporary. so modern classical: stravinsky, contemporary classical: john williams... same applies to design and architecture.
        ajuc 11y ago
        Naming a period in art "modern" is like naming your file "final.doc". You just have to know there will be "copy of final(4).doc" in that directory at some point.
  - aczerepinski 11y ago
    There's a lot of great game music out there, but the orchestral stuff is generally derivative of Mahler and Strauss. It's a genre that was plausibly modern 75 years ago, but isn't today. I would love to see games expand beyond the cliche orchestral action style, but I understand with so much money on the line that nobody wants to take those types of risks.
    - cableshaft 11y ago
      Who do you consider to be modern? I'd like to check them out. I haven't investigated classical music in awhile, but the only artist I know of that I've heard be considered modern is Stravinsky, and his most popular pieces are about a hundred years old themselves.
      - aczerepinski 11y ago
        Bartok and Messiaen are probably the next ones to check out after Stravinsky. In terms of harmoic/rhythmic sophistication, Messiaen still sounds as modern to me as the recent/current orchestral composers (Adams, Carter, etc).
hkmurakami 11y ago
Personally I am jealous of my friends in Tokyo who can attend performances of relatively lesser known but musically interesting soundtracks such like Xenogears [1] or SaGa Frontier 2. [1] Nov 29th in Tokyo http://melodiesofcrystal.blog.fc2.com/ http://melodiesofcrystal.blog.fc2.com/
- ekianjo 11y ago
  Nice, but 20 000 Yen for joining a concert starts to get really expensive, even for Tokyo.
  - hkmurakami 11y ago
    So I think that price tag is actually for musicians to pay to play in the orchestra putting on the performance. (I'm guessing it might make sense for some people since they'd get some professional instruction?)
    - glandium 11y ago
      Yes, that's what the page says: the 20000 yens are for participants, as in instrument players. It also says information such as list of "songs" and tickets purchase will be given later.
      - ekianjo 11y ago
        did not pay enough attention when I was reading then. That's even more strange, to pay in order to play in an orchestra ? Most musicians already have a hard time making a living...
        glandium 11y ago
        That's 20000 yens for 10 practice sessions with a professional player for each part, plus 2 whole-day sessions before the event. While here, the ticket price has now be announced: 1500 yens, and they will be sold starting October 24th.
Natsu 11y ago
The first thing that came to mine for me was the Final Fantasy 3 (6j) Opera House. I still remember many of the lyrics to that, even after all these years, though I may have been helped by the fact that you had to memorize your lines to move on in the game.
jMyles 11y ago
Allow me to brag for a moment: I have box seats to VGO in New Jersey on Jan 2. The first box. With three of my friends. Oh man I'm psyched.
scintill76 11y ago
> Not every concertgoer is convinced. “From a business-strategy perspective, it completely devalues the brand,” said Roderick Branch, a 39-year-old lawyer in Chicago who attends symphony-orchestra performances about once a week. The very idea, he said, is “akin to Mouton Rothschild using its wine to make and sell sangria.” Is it just me, or is this guy the epitome of snob/hipster? He goes weekly, probably because he's far above the entertainment choices of the Philistines around him, name-drops an expensive wine so he can denigrate a beverage he deems not classy enough. If too many people start showing up to these performances, he might have to find a more niche form of entertainment so he doesn't have to rub shoulders with the plebs. To be less snarky, I guess he's just saying he doesn't like it, so that's fine. Ultimately these groups are working to make some money and send whatever artistic message they choose (and they seem happy on both counts), not to satisfy one certain person in the audience. Some people act like "classic" things are inherently purer or even different than modern ones, but for example Shakespeare has vulgar jokes and was performed to earn money, just as modern entertainment has "baser" content and motivations. It doesn't mean both can't also teach us about timeless themes, the human condition, etc.
- cicero 11y ago
  It's not that classic things are inherently purer, but they are the best of the best. The classics survive over time while the bulk of their contemporaries are forgotten. Popular art is attractive because it's new, but after a while, most of it becomes tired. Only the best has a depth that people will appreciate many years from now, but it's impossible to judge if something will be a classic until you give it time to prove itself.
  - scintill76 11y ago
    This is true and a fair point. You might say that even video games have been around long enough that we can start to name the "classics" (though we might judge more about the game than the music -- maybe this is like how some classical music we perform alone now, originated from opera etc.) On the other hand, the article does mention newer games like Halo and Mass Effect. So it would be more sensible to complain about hearing Mass Effect when you wanted Mozart.
Yhippa 11y ago
I went to Video Games Live years ago and I have never seen this particular performance venue as full as that night, ever. I think this might be the way to go in the future for the symphony orchestras out there. I go to several performances a year but the audience is clearly greying. I do wonder if the performers feel this is cheapening their art. I still really like the classics but I have few people to talk to them about. Most of my friends play video games however.
- zyxley 11y ago
  I suspect that arrangements or elaborations of other popular music would do pretty well. Video games are easiest, though, because they've often got orchestral or quasi-orchestral music already, along with having tons of easy-to-sell merchandise.
Animats 11y ago
I thought this was going to be about hiring a symphony orchestra to do video game sound tracks. A few years ago there was an article in one of the game development magazines suggesting hiring an orchestra in Eastern Europe for that purpose. There was a cost analysis showing that it was cheaper than having someone do it in-house, one simulated instrument at a time, all mixed together.
- ckozlowski 11y ago
  Really comes down to budget. Hiring musicians is expensive. That being said, they are hired for larger projects though. http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_galaxy/2/0 http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_g...
knowaveragejoe 11y ago
The University of Maryland has a Gamer Symphony Orchestra[1] consisting of students and Alumni that performs multiple times per year and does other pretty neat things. Having several friends in it it immediately came to mind and I wonder if there are similar organizations at other schools. Seems to be growing in popularity. [1] http://umd.gamersymphony.org/ http://umd.gamersymphony.org/
snksnk 11y ago
Beautiful music is composed for video games. For instance, the work of Yasunori Shiono for the Lufia series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6J55nuklps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6J55nuklps
- ino 11y ago
  I love Lufia 2. But after the first tune that sounds like a little classical piece, I can tell the music was made for a video game. I prefer to the whole game experience, with the music alone makes it feel something is missing. That being said, I have no problem with people listening to whatever makes them happy, in whatever setting. Also like in everything, there are tons of generic shit music in games.
mazelife 11y ago
I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's great to see a younger and/or less-traditional audience attending symphony concerts. But I wonder what percentage of these first-timers would ever come back for a non-videogame music performance? Because—the title of this article notwithstanding—if these concerts don't do anything to cultivate an audience who actually engages with classical music (or "art music" or "western concert music", call it what you like) then videogames are not going to save the symphony. Not even close. People in the comments rightly jumped all over the guy in the article who said these concerts were “akin to Mouton Rothschild using its wine to make and sell sangria.” But there is a point buried under all the snobbishness: video game music (and film music) are not supposed to be concert music. In fact a good film composer would probably tell you that if their score for a film is so compelling and interesting that it can be extracted out and plunked down in the concert hall as a fully-fledged work, they're doing it wrong. Film/videogame scores are (by definition) supposed to be subservient to the whole of which they are a part. Thus it's the narrative of the game or movie that drives the formal aspects of the music. This isn't to say that there can't be greatness and even genius in scores, but that it's not being used in service of producing a stand-alone concert work. Which is why even very good scores usually have long passages of music that successfully create an atmosphere for a particular scene, but taken out of that context would sounds rather boring and aimless in a concert hall. Similarly the kind of drama evoked in a concert piece where you have musical themes that are presented and then developed and transformed at length just doesn't work for film scores, where you are working in much shorter time increments (like the length of a scene). This is why even the greatest film scores (Maurice Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia and John Williams' score for Star Wars, for example) are known for having a few really memorable, resonant melodies and/or for the way in which they contribute to a memorable scene. I've gone to film music concerts and enjoyed them, but I'm under no illusion that it's necessarily the most challenging or profound stuff. I'm also aware that it's partly the memories and associations I have with the movies themselves that I am enjoying when I listen to the music. In any case, it's not at all the same experience as a classical music concert. I hope that some of the people who have dipped their toes in the water listening to an orchestra perform "The Legend of Zelda" might be curious enough to go back and hear what other, far more interesting kinds of things an orchestra can do. Because if not, these concerts will be a nice windfall that can help pad an orchestra's bottom line (and god knows they could use the money). But they won't do what orchestras need most, which is to develop a real, life-long appreciation for classical music in younger audiences. Unfortunately this article presents zero statistics one way or the other on that point.
cableshaft 11y ago
Back when I was in the band (in high school), my conductor loved playing Hans Zimmer and John Williams and we played them pretty much every year, and in marching band we mostly did halftime shows based on popular movies or musicals. I don't see much difference between performing the soundtrack of Jurassic Park or Jaws and performing music from Zelda. I personally know at least one person performing in orchestras professionally who grew up with video games and would be excited to play music from her favorite games.
hitekker 11y ago
Direct link to youtube video of Colbert Zelda Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=220&v=Wg8d3TJzVl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=220&v=Wg8d3TJzVl...
6stringmerc 11y ago
Music is for enjoyment, and one of the greatest pieces of advice my former-pro guitarist mentor said was "Audiences don't like it when you play over their head." I'm all for expanding the universe of good tunes that orchestras can play, especially if that keeps orchestra members able to make money and continue their art. There's a small part of me that can see the perspective of the purist, but it reminds me too much of "formal musical study" of the guitar, which is, essentially, playing a lot of classical stuff that most people aren't interested in hearing! The jazz guys and gals maybe have a bit more approachability, but again, the peak of the genre is very complex and out of the usual scope of "listening for pleasure." I haven't been to one of these (yet) but I'd surely like the chance to experience it. Also, somewhat relevant, the last time I checked, the "Trans Siberian Orchestra" holiday performances were hanging in and probably making some good money! I know they got my cash one year. Times change, tastes change.
squeaky-clean 11y ago
This inspired me to check out my local symphony, > Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: User themiso_org already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /var/www/domains/themiso.org/docs/dbconnect.php on line 5 Unable to select database Sigh... :/
veddox 11y ago
I find it sad that people often talk as if everybody who attends classical concerts of the dress-up variety is a cultural snob. Not to deny that many snobs flock to such gatherings, but I find it very unfair to have everybody painted with the same brush. At 20 years old, I am not your typical orchestra attendee. I don't get to go often either, but when I do, I always thoroughly enjoy it. I enjoy the music (though alas, I still understand much too little of it) just as much as the atmosphere: fancy clothes, a beautiful building, the hushed silence during the performance. I do not deny that a casual clothes performance of video game music can be fun, entertaining, good listening. I do not even say that it is necessarily worse than a classical piece (though I also agree with cicero's and mazelife's previous comments - and yes, I like more contemporary music too). What I do say is that you can't really compare the two. OK, both are music, and both can be played by an orchestra. But for one, their style is very different - one meant to be listened to with full concentration, the other as a background track to something more important. Quite aside from that, how you experience a piece of music very much depends on the atmosphere; it is precisely the fancy clothes and old buildings that build up the whole "feel" of a classical concert, just as the dancing, clapping crowd and light shows determine the atmosphere of a rock concert. Interestingly, I find that just about everybody who talks about "all those snobbish classical concert-goers" and talks about how we should stop imposing dress codes for these visits tends not to have been to such concerts him/herself. Maybe if they did they would discover that there is a lot more to classical music than a bunch of old people putting on airs.

88 points by ihuman 11y ago

Years and years ago I attended https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play!_A_Video_Game_Symphony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Play!_A_Video_Game_Symphony - the experience stuck with me ever since. Video game soundtracks can be quite beautiful.

hkmurakami 11y ago
Along with Hollywood film scores, AAA game soundtracks are seemingly the only place where modern classical music composition thrives.
- tdicola 11y ago
  Dig a little deeper, there are plenty of modern classical music composers. Just last year I saw the opening of John Adam's Become Ocean and it was fantastic modern classical music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGva1NVWRXk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGva1NVWRXk
- ekianjo 11y ago
  It's not really classical music, since classical music is a style that clearly refers to a certain era of music composition + game music is hardly anything similar to classical music in the first place.
  - hkmurakami 11y ago
    Good point, thanks. I'll refer to it as symphonic music as now on. (though this leaves out chamber pieces :( ) (Though we do refer to even late-romantic period pieces well into the 20th century as "classical" unfortunately)
    - ekianjo 11y ago
      The reason I make the distinction is that there are very specific composition trends and rules that make a musical piece "classical", and contemporary game or movie music is not following those at all. It's not because music is played in an orchestra that it's the same genre as the popular orchestra music that was played x00 years ago. Unfortunately most people don't make (knowingly or unknowingly) the distinction.
  - hypersoar 11y ago
    "Classical" (big "C") refers to the period, but "classical" (little "c") is often used to refer to the vague, nebulous cloud of music to which it often refers and of which Classical music is a subset. I know that's super pedantic and nebulous, but I've never heard a satisfactory term for the broader category. I've heard "Western Art Music", but that implies that Western music outside of its umbrella isn't art, which is plainly ridiculous. So, I use "classical", because it's the least bad term I've heard.
    - princeb 11y ago
      even more pedantic... modern refers to the early 20th century period, the period we live in is contemporary. so modern classical: stravinsky, contemporary classical: john williams... same applies to design and architecture.
      - ajuc 11y ago
        Naming a period in art "modern" is like naming your file "final.doc". You just have to know there will be "copy of final(4).doc" in that directory at some point.
- aczerepinski 11y ago
  There's a lot of great game music out there, but the orchestral stuff is generally derivative of Mahler and Strauss. It's a genre that was plausibly modern 75 years ago, but isn't today. I would love to see games expand beyond the cliche orchestral action style, but I understand with so much money on the line that nobody wants to take those types of risks.
  - cableshaft 11y ago
    Who do you consider to be modern? I'd like to check them out. I haven't investigated classical music in awhile, but the only artist I know of that I've heard be considered modern is Stravinsky, and his most popular pieces are about a hundred years old themselves.
    - aczerepinski 11y ago
      Bartok and Messiaen are probably the next ones to check out after Stravinsky. In terms of harmoic/rhythmic sophistication, Messiaen still sounds as modern to me as the recent/current orchestral composers (Adams, Carter, etc).

hkmurakami 11y ago

Personally I am jealous of my friends in Tokyo who can attend performances of relatively lesser known but musically interesting soundtracks such like Xenogears [1] or SaGa Frontier 2. [1] Nov 29th in Tokyo http://melodiesofcrystal.blog.fc2.com/ http://melodiesofcrystal.blog.fc2.com/

ekianjo 11y ago
Nice, but 20 000 Yen for joining a concert starts to get really expensive, even for Tokyo.
- hkmurakami 11y ago
  So I think that price tag is actually for musicians to pay to play in the orchestra putting on the performance. (I'm guessing it might make sense for some people since they'd get some professional instruction?)
  - glandium 11y ago
    Yes, that's what the page says: the 20000 yens are for participants, as in instrument players. It also says information such as list of "songs" and tickets purchase will be given later.
    - ekianjo 11y ago
      did not pay enough attention when I was reading then. That's even more strange, to pay in order to play in an orchestra ? Most musicians already have a hard time making a living...
      - glandium 11y ago
        That's 20000 yens for 10 practice sessions with a professional player for each part, plus 2 whole-day sessions before the event. While here, the ticket price has now be announced: 1500 yens, and they will be sold starting October 24th.

Natsu 11y ago

The first thing that came to mine for me was the Final Fantasy 3 (6j) Opera House. I still remember many of the lyrics to that, even after all these years, though I may have been helped by the fact that you had to memorize your lines to move on in the game.

jMyles 11y ago

Allow me to brag for a moment: I have box seats to VGO in New Jersey on Jan 2. The first box. With three of my friends. Oh man I'm psyched.

scintill76 11y ago

> Not every concertgoer is convinced. “From a business-strategy perspective, it completely devalues the brand,” said Roderick Branch, a 39-year-old lawyer in Chicago who attends symphony-orchestra performances about once a week. The very idea, he said, is “akin to Mouton Rothschild using its wine to make and sell sangria.” Is it just me, or is this guy the epitome of snob/hipster? He goes weekly, probably because he's far above the entertainment choices of the Philistines around him, name-drops an expensive wine so he can denigrate a beverage he deems not classy enough. If too many people start showing up to these performances, he might have to find a more niche form of entertainment so he doesn't have to rub shoulders with the plebs. To be less snarky, I guess he's just saying he doesn't like it, so that's fine. Ultimately these groups are working to make some money and send whatever artistic message they choose (and they seem happy on both counts), not to satisfy one certain person in the audience. Some people act like "classic" things are inherently purer or even different than modern ones, but for example Shakespeare has vulgar jokes and was performed to earn money, just as modern entertainment has "baser" content and motivations. It doesn't mean both can't also teach us about timeless themes, the human condition, etc.

cicero 11y ago
It's not that classic things are inherently purer, but they are the best of the best. The classics survive over time while the bulk of their contemporaries are forgotten. Popular art is attractive because it's new, but after a while, most of it becomes tired. Only the best has a depth that people will appreciate many years from now, but it's impossible to judge if something will be a classic until you give it time to prove itself.
- scintill76 11y ago
  This is true and a fair point. You might say that even video games have been around long enough that we can start to name the "classics" (though we might judge more about the game than the music -- maybe this is like how some classical music we perform alone now, originated from opera etc.) On the other hand, the article does mention newer games like Halo and Mass Effect. So it would be more sensible to complain about hearing Mass Effect when you wanted Mozart.

Yhippa 11y ago

I went to Video Games Live years ago and I have never seen this particular performance venue as full as that night, ever. I think this might be the way to go in the future for the symphony orchestras out there. I go to several performances a year but the audience is clearly greying. I do wonder if the performers feel this is cheapening their art. I still really like the classics but I have few people to talk to them about. Most of my friends play video games however.

zyxley 11y ago
I suspect that arrangements or elaborations of other popular music would do pretty well. Video games are easiest, though, because they've often got orchestral or quasi-orchestral music already, along with having tons of easy-to-sell merchandise.

Animats 11y ago

I thought this was going to be about hiring a symphony orchestra to do video game sound tracks. A few years ago there was an article in one of the game development magazines suggesting hiring an orchestra in Eastern Europe for that purpose. There was a cost analysis showing that it was cheaper than having someone do it in-house, one simulated instrument at a time, all mixed together.

ckozlowski 11y ago
Really comes down to budget. Hiring musicians is expensive. That being said, they are hired for larger projects though. http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_galaxy/2/0 http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/super_mario_g...

knowaveragejoe 11y ago

The University of Maryland has a Gamer Symphony Orchestra[1] consisting of students and Alumni that performs multiple times per year and does other pretty neat things. Having several friends in it it immediately came to mind and I wonder if there are similar organizations at other schools. Seems to be growing in popularity. [1] http://umd.gamersymphony.org/ http://umd.gamersymphony.org/

snksnk 11y ago

Beautiful music is composed for video games. For instance, the work of Yasunori Shiono for the Lufia series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6J55nuklps https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6J55nuklps

ino 11y ago
I love Lufia 2. But after the first tune that sounds like a little classical piece, I can tell the music was made for a video game. I prefer to the whole game experience, with the music alone makes it feel something is missing. That being said, I have no problem with people listening to whatever makes them happy, in whatever setting. Also like in everything, there are tons of generic shit music in games.

mazelife 11y ago

I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, it's great to see a younger and/or less-traditional audience attending symphony concerts. But I wonder what percentage of these first-timers would ever come back for a non-videogame music performance? Because—the title of this article notwithstanding—if these concerts don't do anything to cultivate an audience who actually engages with classical music (or "art music" or "western concert music", call it what you like) then videogames are not going to save the symphony. Not even close. People in the comments rightly jumped all over the guy in the article who said these concerts were “akin to Mouton Rothschild using its wine to make and sell sangria.” But there is a point buried under all the snobbishness: video game music (and film music) are not supposed to be concert music. In fact a good film composer would probably tell you that if their score for a film is so compelling and interesting that it can be extracted out and plunked down in the concert hall as a fully-fledged work, they're doing it wrong. Film/videogame scores are (by definition) supposed to be subservient to the whole of which they are a part. Thus it's the narrative of the game or movie that drives the formal aspects of the music. This isn't to say that there can't be greatness and even genius in scores, but that it's not being used in service of producing a stand-alone concert work. Which is why even very good scores usually have long passages of music that successfully create an atmosphere for a particular scene, but taken out of that context would sounds rather boring and aimless in a concert hall. Similarly the kind of drama evoked in a concert piece where you have musical themes that are presented and then developed and transformed at length just doesn't work for film scores, where you are working in much shorter time increments (like the length of a scene). This is why even the greatest film scores (Maurice Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia and John Williams' score for Star Wars, for example) are known for having a few really memorable, resonant melodies and/or for the way in which they contribute to a memorable scene. I've gone to film music concerts and enjoyed them, but I'm under no illusion that it's necessarily the most challenging or profound stuff. I'm also aware that it's partly the memories and associations I have with the movies themselves that I am enjoying when I listen to the music. In any case, it's not at all the same experience as a classical music concert. I hope that some of the people who have dipped their toes in the water listening to an orchestra perform "The Legend of Zelda" might be curious enough to go back and hear what other, far more interesting kinds of things an orchestra can do. Because if not, these concerts will be a nice windfall that can help pad an orchestra's bottom line (and god knows they could use the money). But they won't do what orchestras need most, which is to develop a real, life-long appreciation for classical music in younger audiences. Unfortunately this article presents zero statistics one way or the other on that point.

cableshaft 11y ago

Back when I was in the band (in high school), my conductor loved playing Hans Zimmer and John Williams and we played them pretty much every year, and in marching band we mostly did halftime shows based on popular movies or musicals. I don't see much difference between performing the soundtrack of Jurassic Park or Jaws and performing music from Zelda. I personally know at least one person performing in orchestras professionally who grew up with video games and would be excited to play music from her favorite games.

hitekker 11y ago

Direct link to youtube video of Colbert Zelda Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=220&v=Wg8d3TJzVl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=220&v=Wg8d3TJzVl...

6stringmerc 11y ago

Music is for enjoyment, and one of the greatest pieces of advice my former-pro guitarist mentor said was "Audiences don't like it when you play over their head." I'm all for expanding the universe of good tunes that orchestras can play, especially if that keeps orchestra members able to make money and continue their art. There's a small part of me that can see the perspective of the purist, but it reminds me too much of "formal musical study" of the guitar, which is, essentially, playing a lot of classical stuff that most people aren't interested in hearing! The jazz guys and gals maybe have a bit more approachability, but again, the peak of the genre is very complex and out of the usual scope of "listening for pleasure." I haven't been to one of these (yet) but I'd surely like the chance to experience it. Also, somewhat relevant, the last time I checked, the "Trans Siberian Orchestra" holiday performances were hanging in and probably making some good money! I know they got my cash one year. Times change, tastes change.

squeaky-clean 11y ago

This inspired me to check out my local symphony, > Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: User themiso_org already has more than 'max_user_connections' active connections in /var/www/domains/themiso.org/docs/dbconnect.php on line 5 Unable to select database Sigh... :/

veddox 11y ago

I find it sad that people often talk as if everybody who attends classical concerts of the dress-up variety is a cultural snob. Not to deny that many snobs flock to such gatherings, but I find it very unfair to have everybody painted with the same brush. At 20 years old, I am not your typical orchestra attendee. I don't get to go often either, but when I do, I always thoroughly enjoy it. I enjoy the music (though alas, I still understand much too little of it) just as much as the atmosphere: fancy clothes, a beautiful building, the hushed silence during the performance. I do not deny that a casual clothes performance of video game music can be fun, entertaining, good listening. I do not even say that it is necessarily worse than a classical piece (though I also agree with cicero's and mazelife's previous comments - and yes, I like more contemporary music too). What I do say is that you can't really compare the two. OK, both are music, and both can be played by an orchestra. But for one, their style is very different - one meant to be listened to with full concentration, the other as a background track to something more important. Quite aside from that, how you experience a piece of music very much depends on the atmosphere; it is precisely the fancy clothes and old buildings that build up the whole "feel" of a classical concert, just as the dancing, clapping crowd and light shows determine the atmosphere of a rock concert. Interestingly, I find that just about everybody who talks about "all those snobbish classical concert-goers" and talks about how we should stop imposing dress codes for these visits tends not to have been to such concerts him/herself. Maybe if they did they would discover that there is a lot more to classical music than a bunch of old people putting on airs.