Recently I’ve been watching quite a few Broadway musicals to see elements that I like and dislike in each. My co-workers have enjoyed very much watching me go into video stores in China and say “Excuse me, where are you musicals?” And everytime they bring me CD’s of Western pop artists. In fact, a local guide has told me there is no way to explain “Broadway musical” to a video shop owner here in China – they don’t understand what it is.

So my friends say “Broadway musicals? Why don’t you ask them where the Barbara Streisand section is?” Yeah, very funny guys. I’ve got a friend back home who says “I hate musicals. They don’t make any sense. I like plays, they’re more real.” Then he asks me, “Do you like musicals?” And my reply is, “I HAVE to like musicals. After all, I’m a musician, I need to work!” But truth is, I love the cheeziness of musicals. I think it’s a kick.

So I spend hours hunting – and most of my finds are the moldy oldies – like “Fiddler on the Roof”. I watched the movie version with Topol as Tevye. This isn’t a scholarly dissection here; just a list of what struck me as good elements. Just as a regular viewer.

MOTIVES

• Right at the top Tevye exlains Anatevkah and what it is. A place on a precarious perch held together by tradition, like a “Fiddler on the Roof”.
• We find out Tevye dreams of being rich, but it’s presented in a way that we know he will never be financially rich. It endears us to his character later when he let’s his daughters be poor in exchange for being in love and marrying who they choose. In time, each daughter moves further away from tradition in their choices. We are proud of Tevye, and also sad for him as he watches his life disintegrate.
• I enjoy the “freeze frame” moments when Tevye talks to God. All characters freeze, and he talks to God in first person. His very famous “on the other hand” comments too.
• Much of Tevye’s character development is done by other character’s comments and actions around him. Like when the tailor is nervous to talk to him, and how the daughters early on submit to his word. These highlight the theme of tradition too. This follows the rule in character development of “don’t tell us, show us!”
• Once the characters are in place with a few scenese of getting what they want, and after we have grown to love them a bit – there is the very fun dance scene in the bar. Tevye is finally “happy” – and then comes the warning of an upcoming military demonstration. This sets up the main antagonist point to come later. It was a great mood change – and let the audience know “ok, this play is really going to be about something later.”
• All the characters are very transparent in what they want. The daughters want true love, the suitors want true love too, the military captain wants to do right but has a job to do, the butcher is rich but wants love, Tevye has love but wants money (or does he really). The characters are crystal clear in their motives, is that a good thing?

SONG PLACEMENT

• Maybe it is only the movie version, and not the actual stage play – but the song placement usually surprised me. Kind of came in quick where I didn’t expect it. It just went into the songs without a line that would say “Now I’m going to sing a song” – I liked that.
• Most song placements in musicals happen at a time of heightened emotion. A point that “demands a song” – Fiddler on the Roof follows this rule to a T.
• Some of the themes introduced early on are repeated later in the play – like the melody of “if I were a rich man”. Not quite leitmotifs, but definetely gave a feeling of consistency.
• I like some of the orchestration in fidller; most notably the intimate solo fiddle passages in scenes with Tevye, and also the large orchestration of the dance numbers and the song “Tradition”. Brass, timpani – full shebang – I dig that.

TOPOL’S COMMENTS ON FIDDLER

“There is something for everyone in this film,” he purrs. “After 25 years, all married couples will question whether they are still in love.

“Children will always think they know better than their parents.

“And the film is particularly popular with girls in Japan because they identify with the conflicts that can be caused by arranged marriages.”

I’ve been producing for about 8 years now and now i’m ready to take that serious step I stay in Lincoln Ne, and it’s hard for a producer out here, so I was wondering how do I just really start I make hiphop,r&b,dirtysouth,soul and blues beats and i’m still not getting paid like I want to I know i’m damn good at what I do but just need to get with the right person, how do I reach or find that person, where do I look it’s hard for me here and at the same time I have family here and I want to do what I like, to make money that way I know i’ll stick with it

Thanks…………….Dennis

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Reply:

• 3dB = twice the power
• 6dB = twice the amplitude
• ~10dB = twice the perceived volume
• Adding up two 12dB noise sources will get you, on average, 15dB (which will not sound twice as loud)

I was working with a sound engineer and asked for a level to be dropped 3db. Their reply was “so you want it half as loud?” and I said “No, 3db” which was countered with “3db is half the volume”. So that’s what prompted me to look into decibel changes and how that translates to our real world perception.

It is true that to increase a volume level by three db requires twice the power, which I think is where the confusion is. A doubling in power does not equal a doubling in audio perception.

It was determined many years ago in controlled audibility testing, that the following rules were generally accurate among the population:

• 6dB SPL increase is perceived as an approx. 50% increase in volume by a sample group.
• 10dB SPL increase is perceived as an approx. 100% increase in volume by a sample group.

Another Explanation

A 3dB increase is twice as loud, in that increasing the level by +3dB by definition means twice as much audio energy is now being pumped into the room – well, actually 1.995 times as much, thanks to the wonders of logarithms. But the human ear’s response is also logarithmic, so twice the energy does not sound like twice the volume.

There is, of course, no clear point where anybody’s going to say “ah, that’s now precisely double as loud as it was before”; there’s no little mental VU meter needle. But the general rule of thumb is that people tend to call a 10X, or 10dB, increase in audio power “twice as loud”, if you insist that they indicate such a point, and this is backed up by neurological studies.

Every little 1dB step along the way, though, is noticeable (the general rule of thumb is that people can consciously notice a 1dB volume change, though a somewhat smaller increase in volume commonly causes people in both blind tests and hi-fi stores to think they’re now listening to a better system…), and having a whole lot of amplifier watts on call both makes sure that you’ve got headroom for sudden loud events and enough power to make the subwoofer shake the floor correctly.

For the super geeks, here’s the math:

For doublng of amplitude:

6dB: 20 * log10(2/1) = 20 * 0.3 = 6

In application, this has always held true as long as the vector of both correlated(in phase) SPL sources were localized to within a small proportion relative to the wavelengths examined). Sound pressure change is only an amplitude change.

Here is an easily illustrated electrical example of double amplitude = double power:

V * I = W(power)

Assume a 10 volt peak to peak AC signal @ 10 amperes/current.

10 * 10 = 100(power/watts)

Double voltage amplitude(voltage=20), same current/amperes:

20 * 10 = 200(power/watts)

In order to make a good pianist do I really have to learn notes and play them? Since 4 years from 12 to 16 I have played music by ear all the way through. I have also watched others play and I play what they play in a day literally. God gave me this talent to where I can play music that I want to within about 4 hours.

I have fans even though I am 16 but some people that ain’t fans do not like me. Some will say “I should learn notes that is what a pianist must learn. If you don’t learn it then what you play isn’t music.” Another is ” my 7 year old brother probably can play better than you.” I don’t believe that though. My teacher Brian Froge told me this, ” that is insane Anthony, I don’t know anyone that can play the entertainer by ear like you did!” That was my first song I learned.

I have been told that but I was told by a collage student that “the most professional piano players play by ear like I do.” Do you think I should stick with playing the way I have or playing with notes?

After this post and reply was made, this video link was sent of Anthony playing:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1fXxTrUprI

Conrad’s Original Reply:

Hi there,

To your original specific question: In order to make a good pianist do I really have to learn notes and play them?

My answer would be no, depending on what your bar or definition of “good” is.

However, learning to read music will open up a whole new world for you. There is a misconception about “playing by ear” – most professional pianists read music but also “play by ear”.

In conversations people often say to me “My father is a fantastic pianist and only plays by ear, no training. Do you play by ear or read?” And my usual reply is, “Oh, I only read” – and I try to say it sheepishly so they can retain their pride for their relative.

The two sides of playing great music is reading, then interpreting and getting the music off the page. The printed music is only a representation of a performance, it is not the performance itself. The perfomance itself is a quasi mystical journey and lives somewhere in the ether. How’s that for “out there”?

It has been my experience that the more I learn, the more I realize I have YET to learn. When I know little, that’s when I think I know a lot. My guess would be you are having this experience.

When you go pro there’s a painful experience of breaking out of the bubble – and being called on what you can and cannot do.

So my advice would be that if you enjoy your music for yourself, then by all means continue on this path and enjoy it. If you want to work in the field of music then I strongly recommend you learn to read music.

Have there been great pianists in history that cannot read music? Yes, mostly in pop, ragtime and jazz styles.

Do I know piano players that do not read music? Yes, but they lose a lot of work because of it, so not good for business.

I have mentioned that there ARE famous pianists that don’t read music. But I have had hundreds (yes, hundreds) of people in my life play piano for me and exclaim the joy that they have no training and cannot read music. Not one of them was any good at all. They all played the same tripe 12 bar blues or A minor melancholy pentatonic crap. Of course when they played I told them it was good because they were so excited about their talent. Why rain on someone’s parade?

Now if the same person told me they wanted to go into music as a profession, I would have a different (more pointed) conversation with them. The more you can do – the more versatile you are – the wider net of work you can get.

Hope that helps!