WEBVTT - Conductors: What the heck is going on there? 0:00:01.480 --> 0:00:05.360 Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.240 Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, there's Chuck, 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:19.080 there's Jerry, and you put the three of us together, sika, bassoon, 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:22.840 a tuba and an obo in our mouths. We'll pump 0:00:22.880 --> 0:00:24.200 out some stuff you should. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:26.200 Who plays what? 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:27.480 I play tuba? 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.760 Okay, I guess I'll play the obo that leaves Jerry 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:31.360 with a bassoon? 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.880 Okay, I think that's fair. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:35.120 That sounds right. 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.480 When I think Jerry, I think bassoon and vice versa. 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:43.320 Uh, that's right. So we need to thank Livia for 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:46.160 this one because she did a bang up job. And 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.480 we need to thank BBC Music Magazine and Andrew Green 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:54.400 because Livia and us got a lot of help from 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:59.240 Andrew Green's primer on conductors. Yeah, and this one was 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:03.040 my idea of because I think I just saw it. 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.119 Wasn't from seeing the movie Tar, even though I did 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:07.440 see that. I saw that in the theater a while 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:10.080 ago when it was out, But it kind of hit 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.800 me then, even like, what is such a weird job 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.520 that I know nothing about? And what are they doing 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:19.600 up there? And can anyone just get up there and 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:21.240 wave their arms around? 0:01:22.200 --> 0:01:25.080 Sometimes from what I hear, Yes, there are some people 0:01:25.120 --> 0:01:26.320 doing that out there. 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.280 But I found this thoroughly enjoyable to research and hopefully 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:30.800 talk about. 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:32.920 Yeah, good pick. I'm not sure I ever would have 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:34.479 gotten to this one, so good job. 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:35.160 All right. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:40.720 So I think I think you're probably in the majority 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:43.280 of people who don't really understand what a conductor does, 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.800 aside from standing up there and waving their arms. Yeah, 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:49.520 I know I was in that camp until fairly recently. 0:01:50.760 --> 0:01:53.840 But the stuff you see conductors doing, which is again 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:57.240 conducting a symphony, waving their arms, there's a lot of 0:01:57.320 --> 0:02:01.240 methods to that seeming madness, and what you're seeing when 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:05.560 you see that a conductor conducting a symphony is the 0:02:05.560 --> 0:02:09.880 culmination of a lot of other work that's done behind 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.000 the scenes before the performance that the conductor does. Like 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.079 they really earn their money from what I can. 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:20.240 Tell, Yeah, absolutely, And just to be clear, I'm not 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.560 such a rube that I was like, what are they 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.520 just waving their arms around? Because I grew up in choir, 0:02:27.440 --> 0:02:30.320 singing tenor in the choir, and so I certainly had 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:34.560 my share of choral conductors doing that stuff at me, 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.880 So I get what's going on there. But I was 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:37.760 just trying to make a joke. 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:40.640 Oh okay, yeah, I don't think anybody thought you were 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:41.200 a rube. 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:43.440 Well you never know, maybe. 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.160 A new listener, who knows, but you'd win them over 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:46.959 by the end of the episode, guaranteed. 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:48.440 I'm not a roob. I'm a tenor. 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.120 You're a tenor. Huh. I've never really been much of 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.200 a singer, even though I sang in a band, but 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.840 as a reminder, then broke up and reformed without me. 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:01.040 Oh man, Yeah, satis Josh stories. 0:03:02.600 --> 0:03:04.639 But also one of the most telling, isn't it. 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:09.200 No. Should we go back in time though, please, So 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:10.400 when you first joined that band. 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.760 Yeah, I'm going to take another shot at it. 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.200 No, we're going to go back in time to tell 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:19.440 you about the history of conducting. And this is sort 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:25.360 of prehistory stuff, because conducting an orchestra to perform a 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:31.440 symphonic orchestral piece wasn't really a thing early on as 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:33.680 far as using a conductor. That it started with what 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.920 I was talking about, which was choral music and vocal music. 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:42.080 And we're talking you know, in the early century CE 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:47.120 there were people that would keep a beat and stomp 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.000 a foot or wave their arms around to get a 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:50.480 choir on point. 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:55.000 Yeah, because one of the really important things to remember 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:58.960 throughout this episode is that when you're playing music by yourself, 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.400 you have to to keep on tempo. But as you 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:05.480 add other people, whether you're playing music or singing, as 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.440 you had other people, they have to keep on tempo too, 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:11.840 but you all have to keep on the same tempo. Yeah, 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:14.640 and it really does help to have one person who's 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:17.599 keeping the tempo for everybody else. And that became a 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.839 parent very early on, and that does seem to be 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:23.760 kind of like the predecessor to the conductor, but it 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:30.000 wasn't until the i think eighteenth and nineteenth century. Yeah, 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.400 that kind of transition between the two where what we 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.679 think of as a conductor today kind of came along. 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.960 Yeah, I mean it was you know, choirs got bigger, 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.080 orchestras got bigger. You know, early on you might have 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.080 you know, a six piece ensemble or a four piece 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.240 or maybe you know, it would even climb as high 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:56.080 as like you know, fifteen or twenty what. And in 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:58.640 those days, you would have somebody that was actually playing 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:01.960 in that orchestra keeping the time. A lot of times 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.800 it was a violinist and they would use their bow 0:05:04.920 --> 0:05:07.960 to tap things out or wave the bow around a little. 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.159 I think that's probably due to the fact that a 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:14.000 bow you can see even when you're sitting down, you 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.839 can hold it up and people can see it. Also, 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:20.000 a violinist, a violin is very small. It would you know, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.200 you wouldn't ask the tuba player even though the tuba 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.520 is the bass and the bass is me the beat 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.120 that would be you. It'd be hard to like keep 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:30.640 the beat and play the tuba at the same like 0:05:30.760 --> 0:05:33.680 indicate the beat to the rest of your orchestra while 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:34.560 playing the tuba. 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.640 I would think it'd be hard to conduct while playing 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:38.760 the violin too. 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.880 Well, you're not doing it while you're playing, because the 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.240 violin isn't always playing, Okay, you know what I mean. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.839 I think it's like during the time where the like, 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.080 because they're not waving their bow around and also playing 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:52.440 at the same time. That's impossible. 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:58.719 Okay, let's get and go see ourselves. 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:08.040 Yeah. Yeah, there's someone They've got a bow in their 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.280 hand and they're playing the violin and they certainly are 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.039 not able to wave it around at the same time. 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:13.760 All right, here's your five bucks. 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:18.320 Okay, Yeah, let's go forward. 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.240 It does seem, then, yes, to have started with the 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:34.240 violinists who apparently did conduct while they weren't playing. Also 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.600 the keyboardist whoever was playing like the piano or the 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:40.520 harpsichord or something like that, they might be doing it too. 0:06:41.160 --> 0:06:44.760 But the reason why, even as impressive as it is 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.640 for somebody to be in the actual orchestra playing music 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.480 and then also conducting, whether they're playing at the moment 0:06:51.600 --> 0:06:54.920 or not, it's pretty impressive. But one of the reasons 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.279 it was possible is because technically speaking, or comparatively speaking, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.800 the music that was being made until the early nineteenth 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:07.680 century was fairly predictable, like it stayed on this a 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:12.600 general tempo. It didn't have all sorts of like sudden 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:16.880 surprising changes in twists and turns, so you could actually 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.120 keep an orchestra together while you were playing the violin 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:22.360 or in between the moments you were playing the violin. 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.960 It wasn't until Beethoven came along that the real need 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.920 for a person whose entire job it was was to 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:33.560 conduct everybody else playing the music, that really became a 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:34.920 necessary role. 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:41.440 Yeah, absolutely in the classical era, and that's not classical 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:43.760 music is the broad term, but classical with a capital C, 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.840 which is to say, the period from seventeen fifty to 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.960 eighteen thirty. Yeah, a lot of times you had composers 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:54.560 that would step in and conduct their own orchestras. Mozart 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:58.080 certainly did things like that. And these were as orchestras 0:07:58.080 --> 0:07:59.840 were growing. I mentioned, you know, the size of the 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:04.440 orchestras being maybe as you know, small chamber groups and 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.560 things like that. As it got bigger and bigger and 0:08:06.600 --> 0:08:09.680 you had, you know, thirty forty fifty people in an orchestra, 0:08:10.120 --> 0:08:12.560 it wouldn't do to have that violinist. So the composer 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:17.000 themselves would lead the orchestra. And then, like you said, 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:24.560 once Beethoven came along and brought his really groundbreaking compositions, 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:29.800 that they needed a conductor. A lot of times it 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:34.200 was still the composer, but then came the idea of 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.480 someone that didn't compose it, is not playing in it, 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.560 and that the only job they have is to direct 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:42.199 the orchestra. 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.120 Yeah. And there's a great story that seems to be 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.960 true and accurate that at the debut of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:56.040 which is the Ode to Joy, which is the part 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.480 of which is playing when they opened the vault and 0:08:58.520 --> 0:08:59.040 die hard. 0:09:00.320 --> 0:09:01.320 That's what it's best known for. 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.160 I think he wanted to conduct it himself, but he 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:09.320 had fallen death by then. Well he was Beethoven, this 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.240 is his ninth he'd already made a name for himself 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.960 even during his lifetime. So they led him. But they 0:09:14.400 --> 0:09:17.520 had another conductor, the real conductor that the orchestra was 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:21.520 instructed to follow, because Beethoven was not able to keep 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:26.760 on time and conduct the symphony correctly. So apparently when 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:30.080 the whole thing ended, he was still conducting and somebody 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.520 had to tap him on the arm and be like, 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.520 turn around. The audience is applauding for you right now? 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:41.080 Yeah? Is that scene is captured very very well in 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:46.480 the Boogey Beethoven movie Bookie Knights and Immortal Beloved, the 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:47.960 great movie about Beethoven. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.520 Gary Oldman, Oh, yeah, is it good? 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.040 Yeah, it's good. I haven't seen it in a long time, 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:56.080 but I loved it back then, and also I was able. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.400 It was lucky enough. I was so broke back when 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.160 I was living in New Jersey back in the nineties. 0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:01.880 But how broke? 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.760 Were you so broke that the only way to get 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:09.560 into Carnegie Hall, not practice to see Beethoven's Ninth Symphony 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.839 performed by the New York Philharmonic, was to hand out the. 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:16.400 Hour later. 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.480 No, no, the the not the bulletin, just the program 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:25.080 for the performance. Yeah, like the playbill. Somehow got on 0:10:25.160 --> 0:10:27.839 that little volunteer staff. Oh, and they're like, you can 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:29.920 hand out these playbills and then you can stay and 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:32.199 see the performance. And so I got to see O 0:10:32.320 --> 0:10:34.719 de Joy at the Carnegie Hall and oh wow, with 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:37.840 a full German choir, and it was just like unbelievable. 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.360 So you go, hey, what's that guy doing waving his 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:41.040 hands around? 0:10:42.120 --> 0:10:42.800 I did. 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:48.240 Back. Let's get serious, though, Chuck. Okay, we said that 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:52.600 Beethoven was the reason why conducting became a necessity because 0:10:52.920 --> 0:10:56.480 the music he was making was so complex that it 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:58.960 required way more people, like you said, and the more 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:02.480 people play saying, the more you need a conductor. And 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:06.800 so it was actually more about just keeping tempo as 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:09.440 it had been when you had the violinists like waving 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:13.240 their bow or some dude smacking his foot on the ground. 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:18.120 Even before then, it was about like actually interpreting the 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:27.240 music because the more dense and expressive and sophisticated the score. 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:32.240 The harder it is to write out exactly what every 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:34.880 single instrument is supposed to be doing at every single 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:39.400 moment in exactly what way. So there was a lot 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.960 of interpretation left and that role fell on the conductor, 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:47.080 And here we finally reached what a conductor really does. 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.520 This is like the foundation. The basis of their job 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:54.480 is interpreting the score and then getting the orchestra to 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.640 produce the sounds that meet that interpretation. 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:05.080 Yeah, exactly. You know, even something written by Beethoven or 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.640 Wagner or something, it can be pretty detailed. But like 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.760 you said, there's there's no way to indicate every single 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:16.640 nuance that comes through in an orchestral performance by writing 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:20.880 it down on paper, and that's where interpretation can come from. 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:26.120 In fact, I believe it was Heyden and Mozart both 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.680 at times didn't indicate tempo like super clearly for things, 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:34.200 and they had the expectation that, hey, you know, the 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:37.880 musician should get in there and understand the spirit of 0:12:37.880 --> 0:12:41.240 what's happening and they will instinctively kind of go to 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:46.800 what the right speed is. So that's where interpretation comes in, certainly, 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.720 not to you know, change the actual notes. But there's 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.000 so much more beyond the actual notes that goes into 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:53.280 a performance. 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.520 Right, right, And there was a I guess I think 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:02.120 Mahler had a second symphony where he noted that trombones, violins, 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.559 and viola should only play if necessary to prevent the 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:09.240 chorus from deflating. And I mean that who's going to 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.960 decide whether the chorus is deflating or not the conductor. 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.520 So as that music became more and more sophisticated, the 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.840 need for conductor became greater and greater. And I say 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.480 we take a break and we'll rejoin the conducting profession 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:26.600 afterward in about the nineteenth century. 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:55.720 Great, all right, so I guess we'll talk a little 0:13:55.760 --> 0:14:01.000 bit about how this happens, right, Like what happened? If 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:05.520 you're a conductor and you're like, here's the piece that 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:09.439 you're going to play for the Christmas concert in Atlanta 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.960 this December, first thing you're going to do as a conductor, 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:18.760 and really want to recommend this wired video on YouTube. 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.880 It's an interview with a conductor named Kent Tritele tr 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:27.360 I t l E. I can't remember exactly what the 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.640 video is, but it's just a really good interview with 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.320 an actual conductor kind of talking about the job of conducting, 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:37.560 and Kent points out that like kind of what you wanted, 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:39.480 what you're trying to do when you first get that piece, 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:41.560 and this is you know, you're not in a room 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.560 with the orchestra at this point. You're on your own. 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:47.640 It's like a movie director or a play director getting 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.280 a script. You want to really just figure out the 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.440 architecture of the piece as a whole and really dig 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:59.480 into every instrumental part, like every single one. You have 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.160 to know a understand where they come in, where they 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:07.000 come out, where it should be a rising sound or 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.680 falling sound, and of course there's great Italian names for 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.320 all this stuff, whether it should be punchy or whether 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:17.200 it should be flowy, and sort of notate just like 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.000 you would break down a movie script or something or 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.640 replace script, just the architecture and the feeling that you're 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:25.920 trying to convey and really just take note of all 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:26.520 that stuff. 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.360 Yes, So, I mean that's like the first step in 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:34.760 putting on a symphony concert, Like that's what the conductor 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:37.280 has to do is go through and figure out how 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:40.400 they're going to present it. And then comes the time 0:15:40.440 --> 0:15:44.240 where you have to teach or work with all of 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.400 the musicians that are going to perform this with you 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.520 to explain this is how we're going to do it. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.680 And there's a couple of ways to do this, and 0:15:53.760 --> 0:15:56.720 one was practiced by some of the most well known 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:00.000 conductors of the twentieth century. It is like the Golden 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.480 Age of conductors. One was that you could be a 0:16:03.520 --> 0:16:08.440 dictator and a jerk and what was known as now 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:13.920 kind of derogatorily is a maestro. That was one way 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.600 to do it. Fortunately, there seems to be a much 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:24.480 larger push these days toward much more communal I guess, 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.440 a nicer, kinder, gentler way of approaching it, working together 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.120 rather than bossing around, and that that's kind of the 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.120 way that composers seemed to do it. Apparently there's a 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:40.480 lot of there's some old maestro is still working, yeah, 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.400 and that a lot of people are waiting for them 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:45.440 to die apparently. Yeah. 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.360 I think the collaborative approach in general and the arts 0:16:48.480 --> 0:16:52.560 can be a great way to go. Although all tourship 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:59.840 and films and I guess the maestro, maestroness, you know, 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:02.360 some people made great work doing that stuff. So it's 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:04.879 not to say that that can't work, but it just 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.000 seems as a whole like the arts have become a 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:12.280 little more collaborative. Sure in the last fifty years, forty years. 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:15.960 Yeah, I read a really good description of that. It 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:20.160 was a blog post from the Symphony Nova Scotia, their 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:26.000 director of music, their lead conductor, Holly Mathieson wrote, Maestro 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.760 maestra or Holly and it's about, you know, which one 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.000 does she want to be called? And she goes kind 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:35.000 of into detail about, you know, the history of those 0:17:35.320 --> 0:17:42.000 ill tempered, mean, dictatorial maestro maestros. I can't remember what 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:44.240 the plural would be. I guess maestree. 0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:48.760 I think it would No, I mean that sounds right, 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:50.240 all right, I'm. 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:55.119 Just going to keep with maestros. That like how that's 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:57.640 changed and how like you said, it's become much more 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:00.879 collaborative over time. So it was definitely worth reading. It 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.560 gives a really clear picture of, you know, just a 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:05.760 couple of different approaches to the whole thing. 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:10.120 Yeah, for sure. What is also can kind of vary 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.000 as how, you know, how flashy they are and how 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:17.080 much attention they might be trying to draw. Because if 0:18:17.080 --> 0:18:20.920 you've ever seen a conductor who is really getting down 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:25.280 up there. They may just be feeling that passion and 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.600 just getting into it. They may have an ego which 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:32.160 is saying, look at me, look at me. That certainly happens, 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.480 but not always. Sometimes they're you know, everyone has their 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:39.880 own their own style. Sometimes there's not much emotion. Sometimes 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.240 you know, you're they have their back to the audience, 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:44.679 so the only time you're going to see their faces, 0:18:44.720 --> 0:18:46.960 and like a televised performance or something like, that's what 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.760 your orchestra is seeing. But I do want to recommend 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:55.280 another video. I hope you watched this one that just 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:59.040 look up Candide the dancing conductor on YouTube and his 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:02.760 conductor named our Old Fear Wits. 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:04.960 I guess I am going with the left for Wits. 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.400 Okay, I'm going with whatever he wants to be called, 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:12.840 because this guy is a treasure and the fun and 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:16.840 emotion that he has while he's conducting is just infectious, 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:18.560 and I just I want to, like, I want to 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:20.200 hug this guy. I want to have him over for dinner. 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.040 Yeah. And I saw that, you know, he's kind of 0:19:22.280 --> 0:19:25.560 putting it on pretty thick because he knew that this 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:28.720 was being filmed. But it does. I've seen other stuff 0:19:28.720 --> 0:19:32.000 of his too, when he's you know, a little more subdued, 0:19:32.080 --> 0:19:35.639 but compared to other conductors, he's you know, very expressive. 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:37.919 And yeah, you definitely want to hang out with him 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:40.439 and maybe give him a hug here or there, just 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:42.040 because he seems like a great guy. 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:43.400 Seems dude. 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:47.280 Yeah, So that's I mean, that's what the public, the 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:51.760 concert going public who don't really know what's going on, 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:56.359 tend to notice the most. But the the behind the 0:19:56.400 --> 0:20:00.359 scenes work that leads up to that. Again, when you're 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.040 interpreting a score, you have to figure that out yourself, 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.240 and then you start working with the musicians. You have 0:20:05.280 --> 0:20:08.680 to work with every single musician to get the absolute 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.440 most out of them. You have to gain their trust. 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:14.800 And if you can gain their trust, then you can 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:18.199 actually get them to play the way you want. If 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.840 they don't trust you, they're going to kind of go 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.280 around your back and collaborate together without you, kind of 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:26.119 like me. It's the lead singer of that band I 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:29.400 was in in dust school, right. They were not listening 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:31.800 to me or following my lead. And I saw a 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:35.800 great quote about that. There's an ama on Reddit with 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:39.280 a conductor from twenty eighteen and this conductor who I 0:20:39.280 --> 0:20:44.480 think was at the Flagstaff Symphony at the time, they 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.480 said that when a bad conductor makes a mistake, no 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:50.280 one notices. When a good conductor makes a mistake, it's 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.840 a disaster. And that's because the symphony doesn't follow a 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.679 bad conductor, so when he makes a mistake, it doesn't 0:20:56.720 --> 0:21:00.080 translate through to the symphony. But a good conductor, if 0:21:00.119 --> 0:21:03.240 they make a mistake, the symphony is actually following them, 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:06.240 and so that mistake gets telegraphed through the actual sound. 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:08.840 So that's a huge part of it is gaining the 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:13.879 trust and the respect of your orchestra, and one of 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.040 the ways that you do that is working closely with them, 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:17.760 but also knowing what you're talking about. You have to 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.600 be a master not necessarily how to play, but in 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:25.520 understanding how every single instrument, what you can get out 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:26.560 of it, and how to do that. 0:21:27.280 --> 0:21:31.359 Yeah. Absolutely, So, you know, backing up a little bit, 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:33.200 if you want to get this job, the first thing 0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:36.800 you have to do, basically is get a degree in music. 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:40.960 I don't know that that's a requirement as far as 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:43.959 like a standard or anything, but I can't imagine anyone 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:46.360 rising to the level of you know, kind of prominent 0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:51.239 conductor that didn't have a degree in music. So you 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:55.280 have your degree in music, you are almost one hundred 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:58.960 percent of the time a former player in an orchestra. 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:02.280 You can just you know, be someone who can play 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:04.560 an instrument and decides right away you want to get 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.600 into conducting. So you you go to a civic group 0:22:07.720 --> 0:22:09.080 or a high school and you kind of start and 0:22:09.080 --> 0:22:12.760 work your way up. But chances are you have played 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:16.000 in an orchestra and that you can play at least 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:20.919 one instrument very very very well, at a very high level, 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.440 probably like orchestral professional orchestra level, right, But chances are 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:30.240 that conductor plays more than one instrument, you know, that 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.360 can play a little violin, a little piano, maybe even 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:35.120 a little tube every now and then you never know. 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:38.320 Well then they've captured my heart. 0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:42.840 But if you are that conductor, usually like in a 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:45.879 if you're the conductor for like a city, uh and 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:49.520 there and their their symphony, then you are probably also 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:52.840 the music director. So your job is not just like 0:22:52.920 --> 0:22:54.959 all right, I got to get this piece together. It's 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:58.720 I have a full time job of running being the 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:04.359 musical director, running this program, working with a community any 0:23:04.400 --> 0:23:08.480 sort of like kind of stuff the conductors probably don't 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:11.080 love doing as far as like, oh, if you've got 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:13.280 you got to go to dinner with these fund funders 0:23:13.280 --> 0:23:15.520 and people who are raising money, like all the kind 0:23:15.560 --> 0:23:18.040 of stuff that goes along with just as you would 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:20.919 if you were if you ran a theater and you 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:23.760 were directing plays, like the directing of the play is 0:23:24.000 --> 0:23:26.440 the least of your job at times, I'm sure. 0:23:26.760 --> 0:23:29.240 Yeah, that's a really good analogy too. Like imagine that 0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:33.439 you have like a good like a playhouse in your town. Yeah, 0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:37.000 there's like one person who's like running the playhouse, and 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:41.480 they're probably also the lead director. They're the director who 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.720 has the highest esteem among the directors probably other directors 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.800 that work for too. Same thing. With a symphony or 0:23:47.800 --> 0:23:51.240 an opera, you have a lead conductor who's probably also 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:55.480 the musical director, so that in addition to conducting symphonies, 0:23:55.760 --> 0:23:57.560 they have to do all the other stuff that you 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:01.040 said too. And then there's assistant directors who might direct 0:24:01.320 --> 0:24:03.239 a symphony and they help in other ways, but they 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:06.600 don't have the responsibility heaped on them that the music 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:09.680 musical director does as well. I saw it down to 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:13.840 things like helping design and approve those those programs that 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:17.159 you were handing out to get into. Yeah, they have 0:24:17.280 --> 0:24:19.800 their their hands and like basically everything that's going on 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:23.679 for you know, a particular symphony that they're they're working on. 0:24:24.480 --> 0:24:29.360 They have their fingers in every woodwind hole. Yeah, let's 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:30.200 probably have a name. 0:24:31.480 --> 0:24:32.920 Uh, I think it's just holes. 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:35.240 Yeah great, Hey. 0:24:35.080 --> 0:24:35.600 You nailed it. 0:24:37.600 --> 0:24:40.280 Let's talk about the baton a little bit because when 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:42.600 I when I asked Livia to help us with this article, 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:45.520 I specifically said, you know, what's up with the history 0:24:45.520 --> 0:24:48.479 of that thing and what's it all about? And it 0:24:48.760 --> 0:24:51.879 hopefully comes as no surprise that the baton is is 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:56.040 not some magical wand that a magician might use. It's 0:24:56.119 --> 0:24:58.879 just something that's bigger and then you can see it 0:24:58.960 --> 0:25:01.560 better and it's more wavy, and it allows you to 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:05.680 make bigger gestures. Not all conductors use the wand or 0:25:05.720 --> 0:25:08.960 the baton, but most of them do these days. And 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:11.560 I think you generally kind of think of that baton 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:14.000 being held in the hand when you think of a conductor. 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:17.720 Yeah, apparently you can thank Louis Spoor, the German composer 0:25:17.760 --> 0:25:21.199 and conductor from the I guess early nineteenth century for 0:25:22.240 --> 0:25:25.520 adopting the baton first, And it was a kind of 0:25:25.520 --> 0:25:30.520 a cone shaped wooden implement at first, And then I'm 0:25:30.560 --> 0:25:33.399 sure Louis born. People who follow were like, I'm getting 0:25:33.480 --> 0:25:36.320 carpal tunnel here. Can we use something a little a 0:25:36.359 --> 0:25:39.840 little lighter, a little thinner, And so the baton kind 0:25:39.840 --> 0:25:43.720 of evolved became longer, a little pointier. It used to 0:25:43.760 --> 0:25:45.800 be made of wood or ebony. Today it's much more 0:25:45.920 --> 0:25:48.720 likely to be made of like like carbon fiber or 0:25:48.760 --> 0:25:52.480 something like that. Yeah, high tech stuff. And I saw 0:25:52.520 --> 0:25:55.359 that they're between about ten to twenty six inches in length. 0:25:57.040 --> 0:26:00.000 And what they're doing with that, it's like you said, 0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:05.159 it emphasizes gestures. And the reason why most conductors do 0:26:05.400 --> 0:26:08.600 use a baton is because the size of symphonies today 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:12.040 are so huge. The people in the back need to 0:26:12.080 --> 0:26:15.119 see your hands and what they're doing a lot better 0:26:15.920 --> 0:26:17.639 than they would have if you had just like a 0:26:17.760 --> 0:26:21.560 twenty piece group that you know, we're all sitting all 0:26:21.600 --> 0:26:22.439 close up on you. 0:26:23.040 --> 0:26:26.600 Yeah, exactly, did I get that across? 0:26:26.640 --> 0:26:27.920 I want to make sure because I can say it 0:26:27.960 --> 0:26:28.720 all over again. 0:26:29.480 --> 0:26:31.879 I think you got across. Okay again, I want to 0:26:31.920 --> 0:26:36.240 recommend that Kent Tritle wired video because over about twelve minutes, 0:26:36.400 --> 0:26:39.280 an actual conductor really breaks down what they're doing with 0:26:39.359 --> 0:26:42.320 their hands. And I'm not going to just repeat what 0:26:42.359 --> 0:26:44.800 he said or pretend to actually understand all of that, 0:26:45.760 --> 0:26:50.000 but overall what's going on is because most people are 0:26:50.040 --> 0:26:53.080 right handed, the right hand is generally the one with 0:26:53.160 --> 0:26:57.360 a baton, and it's generally the metronome. It's the timekeeper, 0:26:57.800 --> 0:27:00.359 and that is one of the biggest parts to the 0:27:00.440 --> 0:27:05.040 job still is keeping the time for everyone to see. 0:27:06.080 --> 0:27:10.679 And you have to be really, really, really good at it. 0:27:10.880 --> 0:27:13.760 You got to have a great, great sense of tempo. 0:27:15.200 --> 0:27:18.600 You know, a drummer probably obviously is somebody who would 0:27:18.600 --> 0:27:20.280 be a little more prone to be a good conductor, 0:27:20.280 --> 0:27:24.160 I would imagine. But it's very hard to do because, 0:27:24.200 --> 0:27:29.239 as Kent Tritele explains, keeping time period is hard and 0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:33.840 when he has students, the first lesson is literally just 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:37.879 keeping a sixty second beat, so lowering your hand and 0:27:37.920 --> 0:27:41.920 stopping at the bottom every second to a click track 0:27:42.000 --> 0:27:44.439 or a metronome, And he said, doing that is just 0:27:44.440 --> 0:27:47.560 hard enough. But then when you add you know, one 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:49.720 hundred and twenty beats a minute, that's still kind of 0:27:49.760 --> 0:27:51.639 easy because it's just double. But what if it's one 0:27:51.720 --> 0:27:54.120 hundred and thirty two, one hundred and forty one right, 0:27:54.359 --> 0:28:00.000 seventy three, and you're in this performance and you're adrenaline 0:28:00.040 --> 0:28:03.439 and is surging, and somebody might mess up or do 0:28:03.600 --> 0:28:06.679 something and that makes you takes you out of your 0:28:06.720 --> 0:28:10.159 mindset and you have to like throw out all that 0:28:10.200 --> 0:28:13.800 emotion and still be able to keep that perfect beat 0:28:13.880 --> 0:28:15.760 with your right hand for everyone to see. 0:28:15.960 --> 0:28:18.480 Yeah, Because the point he was making was that when 0:28:18.800 --> 0:28:21.880 when somebody does mess up, or when you're adrenaline is surging, 0:28:22.280 --> 0:28:25.840 time starts to take different shape than it does like 0:28:25.960 --> 0:28:29.520 under normal circumstances when everything is calm and you're just rehearsing. 0:28:29.920 --> 0:28:32.040 But you have to be able to keep that sense 0:28:32.080 --> 0:28:35.200 of time no matter what the circumstance. I just think 0:28:35.200 --> 0:28:35.920 it's amazing. 0:28:36.280 --> 0:28:40.239 Yeah, Like a drummer in a rock band, you know, 0:28:40.240 --> 0:28:43.400 it's it's very common when you perform like a show out, 0:28:43.800 --> 0:28:47.160 that you play all of your songs faster than you 0:28:47.200 --> 0:28:50.280 do in a rehearsal because you're up there, you're jazz, 0:28:50.840 --> 0:28:52.840 and all of a sudden, that drummer behind you instead 0:28:52.840 --> 0:28:56.400 of one two, three four counting it out. It's like, well, two, three, four, 0:28:56.800 --> 0:28:58.320 and you're the ramones. 0:28:58.320 --> 0:29:01.560 Right, pretty great, No, the ruins are great. 0:29:01.720 --> 0:29:05.720 Yeah, but that's just sort of a thing. And it's 0:29:05.800 --> 0:29:07.240 kind of the same thing. You have to be able 0:29:07.280 --> 0:29:10.239 to block all that out. You're keeping time with that 0:29:10.320 --> 0:29:12.880 right hand and then your left hand. The other thing 0:29:12.920 --> 0:29:15.920 your right hand is doing is not just tempo, but entrance, 0:29:16.520 --> 0:29:18.560 like when you would wait for the strings to come in. 0:29:19.680 --> 0:29:23.880 Your left hand is generally indicating the exit and then 0:29:24.200 --> 0:29:29.200 everything else the emotion, the flow, the rising and falling, 0:29:29.240 --> 0:29:33.840 whether or not it's punchy and staccato or like really flowy. 0:29:33.880 --> 0:29:35.240 So smooth is Billy D. 0:29:36.240 --> 0:29:38.200 It smooth as Billy D. And while you're doing that 0:29:38.240 --> 0:29:41.640 with that left hand and pointing at you know, the 0:29:42.120 --> 0:29:45.760 brass section to stop, you still have to be keeping 0:29:45.800 --> 0:29:48.000 that perfect beat with the right hand. So again, like 0:29:48.000 --> 0:29:50.560 a drummer, you have to have real independence of your 0:29:50.600 --> 0:29:51.400 left and right hand. 0:29:51.560 --> 0:29:53.720 Yeah, the left hand can't know what the right hand 0:29:53.760 --> 0:29:57.160 is doing, and vice versa. Yeah, And that takes a 0:29:57.200 --> 0:29:59.840 lot of practice too, not just keeping time, but like 0:30:00.120 --> 0:30:03.400 making your hands do different things at different time while 0:30:03.440 --> 0:30:08.120 also keeping tempo. It is like like that's why there's 0:30:08.400 --> 0:30:11.520 just really a handful of people running around on the 0:30:11.520 --> 0:30:15.400 planet right now. We're qualified to conduct an orchestra because 0:30:15.440 --> 0:30:19.560 of all the effort and training and understanding that it 0:30:19.640 --> 0:30:22.520 takes to do that. I mean, I thought that was 0:30:22.520 --> 0:30:24.760 pretty neat before, but it was just so alien to 0:30:24.800 --> 0:30:29.120 me that I just kind of admired it out of 0:30:30.120 --> 0:30:33.480 its status in the world of art high art. Now 0:30:33.480 --> 0:30:36.240 that I understand it even more, I admire it even further. 0:30:36.320 --> 0:30:38.800 I mean, like just what they do is mind blowing. 0:30:39.480 --> 0:30:42.480 Yeah, it's super cool. And just to put a little 0:30:42.480 --> 0:30:44.560 button real quick because I know we'll probably get letters. 0:30:45.280 --> 0:30:46.800 You know, the right hand is keeping that beat, and 0:30:46.840 --> 0:30:48.960 I said, it's always sort of doing that, but the 0:30:49.040 --> 0:30:54.000 right hand can take breaks from just that metronomic rhythmic 0:30:54.080 --> 0:30:57.200 thing that you're doing. Because sometimes you'll see a conductor 0:30:57.360 --> 0:31:01.840 using both hands kind of mirroring one another and opposite directions. 0:31:02.960 --> 0:31:06.280 That's when you know, you might be a big sweeping 0:31:06.800 --> 0:31:09.600 sort of motion with both hands, but then it'll go 0:31:09.680 --> 0:31:11.200 back to kind of keeping that beat. But there are 0:31:11.280 --> 0:31:12.760 little breaks here and there with that tempo. 0:31:13.160 --> 0:31:15.360 Yeah. The only thing is is if you're giving your 0:31:15.440 --> 0:31:17.160 right hand a break, you don't want to shake the 0:31:17.160 --> 0:31:25.080 wrist out or else. Security impact the score. Oh, that's 0:31:25.080 --> 0:31:27.440 one thing I said, It impacts the score. The other 0:31:27.480 --> 0:31:30.080 thing about the conductor is they're the only person in 0:31:30.080 --> 0:31:33.640 that whole orchestra up there performing that has the entire 0:31:33.680 --> 0:31:36.560 score in front of them. All the other people are 0:31:36.680 --> 0:31:39.320 playing the violent parts, or the tuba parts, or the 0:31:39.360 --> 0:31:41.600 obo or bassoon parts. That's what they have in front 0:31:41.600 --> 0:31:44.479 of them. They don't know, at least not on paper, 0:31:44.760 --> 0:31:47.280 what the people around them are playing, so they have 0:31:47.320 --> 0:31:49.760 to rely on the conductor to help to help them 0:31:49.840 --> 0:31:52.720 understand who's doing what by watching the conductor at any 0:31:52.720 --> 0:31:53.360 given moment. 0:31:53.880 --> 0:31:55.640 Yeah, you know what I couldn't find, And I know 0:31:55.680 --> 0:31:58.320 someone will know this because I know for sure we've 0:31:58.320 --> 0:32:03.480 had listeners that play in orchestras. But what actually do 0:32:03.560 --> 0:32:06.360 they have in front of them, as like a violinist. 0:32:06.800 --> 0:32:09.840 I know it's obviously the violin part, but is it 0:32:10.200 --> 0:32:13.720 just the violin pages or is it. 0:32:13.520 --> 0:32:16.200 Like really like a Hustler magazine. 0:32:18.880 --> 0:32:22.760 Or or they're you know, like, you can't just only 0:32:22.800 --> 0:32:24.400 have your thing. You've got to know kind of what 0:32:24.440 --> 0:32:26.520 else is going on a little bit No, because it 0:32:26.520 --> 0:32:29.560 seems like that'd be like having only your lines in 0:32:29.600 --> 0:32:31.720 a script, right. 0:32:31.800 --> 0:32:35.040 I think that's why some conductors are dictators. There can 0:32:35.120 --> 0:32:38.920 be dictators because you are so reliant on them. And 0:32:39.000 --> 0:32:41.880 I think you figure it out during practice and rehearsal, 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:45.440 like you understand. But I think, well, what I saw, 0:32:46.320 --> 0:32:48.840 they have just their their part in front of them. 0:32:49.680 --> 0:32:53.720 So there's no you know, spaces in between that says 0:32:53.720 --> 0:32:55.600 like woodwind part or anything like that. 0:32:55.880 --> 0:32:57.680 I don't know if it says that, but it wouldn't 0:32:57.720 --> 0:32:59.400 have the notes the woodwinds are playing. 0:32:59.640 --> 0:33:02.760 No, no, no, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying anything to 0:33:02.800 --> 0:33:05.800 indicate where they are in the piece. That's not only 0:33:05.840 --> 0:33:07.480 I see. Yeah, like a framework. 0:33:07.600 --> 0:33:09.760 I have no idea. I can make up an answer 0:33:09.760 --> 0:33:14.200 if you want, please do. Uh. No, they don't have 0:33:14.280 --> 0:33:15.360 any frame of reference. 0:33:15.800 --> 0:33:17.720 Now we'll hear from someone and we'll follow up on that. 0:33:18.520 --> 0:33:21.080 I say, we take another break. I'm two for two 0:33:21.120 --> 0:33:22.360 for calling the breaks today. 0:33:22.880 --> 0:33:23.320 Nice work. 0:33:23.760 --> 0:33:26.880 Uh And then we'll come back and we'll talk about well, well, 0:33:26.960 --> 0:33:30.000 we'll answer a question. Okay, I'm not even gonna say 0:33:30.000 --> 0:33:30.640 what the question is. 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:31.920 I think they know. 0:33:57.240 --> 0:34:00.000 All right, Chuck, So here's the question. Do you really 0:34:00.240 --> 0:34:03.920 need a conductor to perform a symphony as an orchestra, 0:34:05.200 --> 0:34:07.960 Well do you huh? 0:34:08.080 --> 0:34:12.800 Yeah, great question, because you know when you see that 0:34:12.880 --> 0:34:16.600 kind of showmanship up there, and you might think, I mean, 0:34:16.640 --> 0:34:20.319 for me personally, I'm there for that, like I want 0:34:20.360 --> 0:34:23.520 to see my conductor just going off, and I want 0:34:23.520 --> 0:34:25.640 to see hair flying around yea, and I want to 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:28.000 see somebody really getting into it. Other might people might 0:34:28.040 --> 0:34:30.920 be turned off by that. We should mention that. Tritle 0:34:30.960 --> 0:34:34.239 and others confirmed that, like, hey, that's that's part of it. 0:34:34.320 --> 0:34:36.640 But you can't let that, let that get in the 0:34:36.640 --> 0:34:39.840 way of things. But all that sort of leads to 0:34:39.880 --> 0:34:41.960 what you're saying is like, do we even need these 0:34:42.000 --> 0:34:42.640 people up there? 0:34:43.440 --> 0:34:43.560 Uh? 0:34:43.719 --> 0:34:46.040 And there have been efforts to find that out right. 0:34:47.120 --> 0:34:50.839 Yeah. There's a very famous conductor named Andre Previn who 0:34:50.920 --> 0:34:54.200 I've even heard of. He too, is or was, I'm 0:34:54.200 --> 0:34:57.239 not sure when he stopped. He was definitely performing up 0:34:57.280 --> 0:34:59.640 until recently if he's not still, but he was the 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:03.719 conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. When a TV documentary 0:35:03.760 --> 0:35:05.959 back in nineteen seventy three was made, it was called 0:35:06.120 --> 0:35:10.920 Who Needs a Conductor? Yeah, And he started out conducting 0:35:10.960 --> 0:35:16.640 the London Symphony Orchestra with Beethoven's Fifth Right, Yeah, they 0:35:16.640 --> 0:35:18.680 get started and going and he's conducting, and then all 0:35:18.680 --> 0:35:21.160 of a sudden he just stops and exits the stage, 0:35:21.960 --> 0:35:26.400 and the orchestra just keeps going without literally without missing 0:35:26.400 --> 0:35:29.719 a beat, and they perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for the 0:35:29.719 --> 0:35:33.960 rest of the time without any incident or hardship. And 0:35:34.000 --> 0:35:37.360 that does kind of lead to the question like, could 0:35:37.400 --> 0:35:41.200 you just do away with conductors? The answer seems to 0:35:41.239 --> 0:35:44.040 be to an extent, but you really wouldn't want the 0:35:44.120 --> 0:35:47.880 results as like a concert going public, and really no, 0:35:48.160 --> 0:35:50.400 the answers kind of no, you don't want to do 0:35:50.480 --> 0:35:51.920 away with conductors. 0:35:52.200 --> 0:35:53.480 Yeah, And I think a lot of it has to 0:35:53.480 --> 0:35:56.360 do with everything we talked about that has everything to 0:35:56.440 --> 0:36:00.800 do with anything other than just standing there and your arms, 0:36:00.840 --> 0:36:05.320 like all the preparation, leading the rehearsal, being the director 0:36:05.400 --> 0:36:09.000 of their performance. And Livia points out that you know 0:36:10.320 --> 0:36:14.120 that singular sort of vision for how you're going to 0:36:14.200 --> 0:36:17.279 do the piece. If you don't have that, then it's 0:36:17.320 --> 0:36:20.319 not saying that people will all just be doing their 0:36:20.360 --> 0:36:24.280 own thing and it would be garbage, but getting everyone 0:36:24.280 --> 0:36:26.439 on the same page eventually which is where you would 0:36:26.440 --> 0:36:28.600 have to get to to perform it in front of people. 0:36:28.600 --> 0:36:31.439 I would think that would just be a nightmare trying 0:36:31.440 --> 0:36:33.440 to get that many people on the same page as 0:36:33.440 --> 0:36:35.000 far as that interpretation. 0:36:34.600 --> 0:36:37.520 Right, I mean, think about it. If you've got a 0:36:37.760 --> 0:36:40.640 beef between your tuba player and your bassoon player, and 0:36:40.960 --> 0:36:45.200 everybody is talking about how, you know, how this one 0:36:45.239 --> 0:36:48.560 part's going to be played, and they're disagreeing, who's gonna 0:36:48.600 --> 0:36:51.880 win out right? That's where the conductor comes in. The 0:36:51.920 --> 0:36:55.480 conductor says, I'm winning out both of you. Shut up, 0:36:56.080 --> 0:36:58.719 shut up, and they sit down and shut up, and 0:36:58.920 --> 0:37:00.560 you do what the conductor tells him to. 0:37:01.280 --> 0:37:03.839 Yeah, tuba would win though, because the old saying in 0:37:03.320 --> 0:37:06.360 the in the symphony, you don't with the tuba player. 0:37:08.960 --> 0:37:11.440 It's true. Goodbye sixth grade classes. 0:37:11.840 --> 0:37:16.160 Right, So should we mention if you mentioned Andre Previn? 0:37:16.239 --> 0:37:18.160 Of course? Should we go over a few of these 0:37:18.480 --> 0:37:20.160 other famous conductors. 0:37:20.440 --> 0:37:22.279 Yeah, let's start with Tuscanini. 0:37:23.440 --> 0:37:26.000 Yeah, you mean Arturo Tuscanini. 0:37:26.760 --> 0:37:30.520 Very nice. That is a spinning image impression of how 0:37:30.600 --> 0:37:31.600 Tuscanini talked. 0:37:32.920 --> 0:37:38.480 So Tuscanini was obviously Italian, directed the met Opera in 0:37:38.560 --> 0:37:43.360 New York and Tuscanini sort of spanned a couple of 0:37:43.400 --> 0:37:46.920 time periods I'm bridging the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and 0:37:47.160 --> 0:37:50.520 was a child prodigy and kind of one thing he 0:37:50.600 --> 0:37:54.440 was known for was his photographic memory, such that his 0:37:54.560 --> 0:37:57.640 eyesight failed later in his career and he still could 0:37:57.719 --> 0:38:01.400 conduct because he had these orchestral pieces, you know, just 0:38:01.400 --> 0:38:02.440 committed to his memory. 0:38:02.960 --> 0:38:05.239 Yeah, and apparently he was one of the ones who 0:38:05.280 --> 0:38:13.040 started to form this image of like the temperamental, dictatorial conductor, right, Yeah, 0:38:13.040 --> 0:38:15.399 But I also read that he was very well known 0:38:15.520 --> 0:38:19.680 for working very closely with musicians to help get things, 0:38:19.960 --> 0:38:24.160 you know, hammered out like he was a dedicated leader. 0:38:24.200 --> 0:38:27.120 I guess so he you know, he was a very 0:38:27.440 --> 0:38:30.959 complex and complicated person, and he helped kind of lay 0:38:31.000 --> 0:38:34.040 the groundwork for what the general public understood is the 0:38:34.120 --> 0:38:37.200 maestro and what was acceptable, some of which is kind 0:38:37.200 --> 0:38:41.960 of unacceptable. But he overall seems to have been generally, 0:38:42.640 --> 0:38:45.239 at the very least a great conductor, if not a 0:38:45.480 --> 0:38:48.520 you know, so so person. But you know who isn't. 0:38:48.400 --> 0:38:51.279 Yeah, well, you know it's a position of power. And 0:38:51.480 --> 0:38:52.560 have you seen the movie. 0:38:52.360 --> 0:38:55.279 Tar I No, I don't know what you're talking about. 0:38:55.880 --> 0:39:07.400 It's oh god is Tar? No? No, oh god, no, 0:39:07.800 --> 0:39:11.000 people are screaming at me right now. It's uh. It's 0:39:11.040 --> 0:39:15.239 a movie about a woman who is a conductor, made 0:39:15.239 --> 0:39:18.000 by Todd Fields, one of the few movies he's directed. Oh, 0:39:18.080 --> 0:39:19.160 Kate Blanchad, of course. 0:39:19.640 --> 0:39:22.960 Oh you're talking about Tron. 0:39:23.040 --> 0:39:25.399 Oh man, you just you're you're in a roll today. 0:39:25.440 --> 0:39:29.239 Huh uh No, this is out a couple of years ago. 0:39:29.280 --> 0:39:32.000 I feel like, no, I haven't heard of it. Yeah, 0:39:32.040 --> 0:39:35.600 twenty twenty two, t Ar. And it's a movie about 0:39:35.600 --> 0:39:40.719 a woman, Lydia Tar, who is a conductor, and kind 0:39:40.719 --> 0:39:44.160 of like a little bit of the how power can 0:39:44.200 --> 0:39:48.319 go wrong in that position, And it just seems like 0:39:48.840 --> 0:39:52.520 it is one of those positions where you know, hopefully 0:39:52.560 --> 0:39:55.920 you use your power wisely, but like you mentioned, with 0:39:55.920 --> 0:39:59.960 these temper tantrums and dictator dictatorial sort of methods, it's 0:40:00.080 --> 0:40:02.799 definitely a position that can historically get out of hand. 0:40:02.920 --> 0:40:05.520 Oh and Tuscanini also is well known for as a 0:40:05.719 --> 0:40:07.680 philanderer too, And I think that that was a big 0:40:07.719 --> 0:40:12.200 deal during the twentieth century for some of those maestro conductors. 0:40:12.239 --> 0:40:16.880 They were playboys, to say the least. For sure, and 0:40:16.920 --> 0:40:19.720 they did, and they found some of their conquests from 0:40:19.840 --> 0:40:22.799 their orchestra. And yeah, I mean today we look back 0:40:22.840 --> 0:40:25.360 when we're like, yes, that's an abusive power. You're abusing 0:40:25.400 --> 0:40:27.759 your power because you're in such a powerful position. These 0:40:27.800 --> 0:40:30.360 people are looking up to you, and you're leveraging that 0:40:30.520 --> 0:40:33.120 to sleep with them. So that's like one of the 0:40:33.120 --> 0:40:39.040 big criticisms that twentieth century maestro have leveled at them. 0:40:39.400 --> 0:40:42.200 And then they say like, hey, we were all like 0:40:42.239 --> 0:40:44.760 Boomers and Boomer's parents. This is what we did. 0:40:46.520 --> 0:40:48.480 Well, talking and touches on that stuff. So I think 0:40:48.480 --> 0:40:49.920 you'd like it. You and you me should watch it. 0:40:50.000 --> 0:40:52.239 Oh, I like Kate Blanchette any day, she's great. 0:40:53.640 --> 0:40:56.840 I'll mention Leonard Bernstein another famous conductor. Yeah, he's great, 0:40:57.400 --> 0:41:02.200 gentleman from Massachusetts, from Lawrence, mass and was the first 0:41:02.320 --> 0:41:06.719 American conductor and musical director of the New York Philharmonic 0:41:06.760 --> 0:41:10.040 from fifty eight to sixty nine and really just sort 0:41:10.040 --> 0:41:13.920 of brought classical music to a really big audience. And 0:41:14.280 --> 0:41:16.360 one thing we haven't talked about is just the impact 0:41:16.400 --> 0:41:21.479 that the recording industry and recording orchestras did not only 0:41:21.520 --> 0:41:25.120 for just making classical music and orchestral music more popular 0:41:25.680 --> 0:41:28.360 and bringing it to the masses, but making some of 0:41:28.360 --> 0:41:31.920 these conductors stars because the record you got wasn't just 0:41:32.400 --> 0:41:35.880 Beethoven's Knight. That was you know, Leonard Bernstein and the 0:41:35.920 --> 0:41:38.239 New York Philharmonic to Beethoven's Knight. 0:41:38.440 --> 0:41:42.759 Yeah, pretty cool. We also we can't not mention von Carrion, 0:41:43.040 --> 0:41:48.319 Herbert von Carrajon. He was one of those bad boy maestros, 0:41:48.440 --> 0:41:51.440 but he was also well known as being like one 0:41:51.480 --> 0:41:53.640 of the greatest that's ever lived too. Like that's the 0:41:53.680 --> 0:41:56.200 other thing too, That's why these guys got away with 0:41:56.239 --> 0:41:59.800 this is because they were so good at what they did. 0:42:00.680 --> 0:42:02.520 They were just looked up to in so many ways. 0:42:02.520 --> 0:42:07.320 It just excused all this other behavior. And then there's yeah, 0:42:07.400 --> 0:42:09.560 that's one thing. I'm glad you brought that up. Carayon 0:42:10.320 --> 0:42:13.120 was a literal Nazi. He was born in Austria. He 0:42:13.200 --> 0:42:16.120 was a member of the Nazi Party, and he's like, 0:42:16.640 --> 0:42:18.640 we're just gonna leave that behind the past. Let's not 0:42:18.680 --> 0:42:19.800 talk about that anymore. 0:42:20.600 --> 0:42:22.560 Yeah, he was to be fair, he was cleared by 0:42:22.600 --> 0:42:26.040 an Allied tribunal, but that sort of followed him through 0:42:26.040 --> 0:42:27.920 his career for sure, as it does, even though it 0:42:27.920 --> 0:42:29.080 didn't seem to hurt it that much. 0:42:29.280 --> 0:42:34.040 No. On the other side of the isle is Carlos Kleeber, 0:42:34.040 --> 0:42:36.920 whose father Eric Kleeber, was also a conductor, and they 0:42:36.960 --> 0:42:40.160 left Germany because of the Nazis because they were like 0:42:40.239 --> 0:42:43.880 Nazis suck. So they moved to Argentina and Carlos Kleeber 0:42:43.920 --> 0:42:47.080 developed his craft there and became a very well known 0:42:48.000 --> 0:42:51.200 not just conductor, but recluse and carry on. Said that 0:42:51.560 --> 0:42:54.400 Kleeber only conducts when the fridge is empty, like he 0:42:54.560 --> 0:42:56.480 just for the last like ten or twenty years of 0:42:56.480 --> 0:42:59.480 his life, he just he did not want to conduct. 0:42:59.560 --> 0:43:01.520 He conducted only what he wanted to and he only 0:43:01.520 --> 0:43:03.560 did it when he absolutely had two basically. 0:43:04.200 --> 0:43:08.400 Yeah, I want to shout out yol Levy, who this 0:43:08.560 --> 0:43:13.640 was the musical director at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra starting 0:43:13.640 --> 0:43:16.799 in nineteen eighty eight for about twelve years, and I 0:43:16.960 --> 0:43:18.840 just remember it was a very big deal. Yo Levy 0:43:19.000 --> 0:43:23.240 really kind of vaulted Atlanta's Symphony into a world class 0:43:23.320 --> 0:43:27.680 organization and really put him on the map as far 0:43:27.680 --> 0:43:31.080 as you know, it was Atlanta and it was the 0:43:31.160 --> 0:43:33.680 late eighties, and so I think there was this idea 0:43:33.760 --> 0:43:36.480 of like you know, the sort of the third Area 0:43:36.560 --> 0:43:40.200 Podunk Symphony, yea, and he really really changed that. In 0:43:40.200 --> 0:43:46.360 Atlanta is a world class symphony now being directed musical 0:43:46.360 --> 0:43:51.279 director and lee conductor by Natalie Stutzman, who was the 0:43:51.280 --> 0:43:54.600 first woman to be musical director here in Atlanta. And 0:43:54.840 --> 0:43:56.680 it's a good time to talk about women because we 0:43:56.719 --> 0:44:00.000 probably said he quite a bit. The history of conductor 0:44:00.360 --> 0:44:05.960 is just rife with white European men. In general, I 0:44:05.960 --> 0:44:11.839 think eleven percent of musical directors were women, and this 0:44:11.880 --> 0:44:17.000 is a twenty twenty three report, and you know that's 0:44:17.040 --> 0:44:19.279 changing more and more. There have been women here and there. 0:44:20.239 --> 0:44:22.799 Cap Lanchette certainly one of them, but we got one 0:44:22.800 --> 0:44:26.280 here in Atlanta, Natalie Stutzman. That's neat French. 0:44:26.440 --> 0:44:30.000 Yeah. There was a woman conductor who was back in 0:44:30.040 --> 0:44:33.759 the early twentieth century, Antonio Rico. She was like the 0:44:33.800 --> 0:44:37.200 first one. But I read that like after the first 0:44:37.200 --> 0:44:40.759 decade or so of her, like the novelty kind of 0:44:40.800 --> 0:44:44.120 wore off, and she had trouble finding work. So she's like, final, 0:44:44.239 --> 0:44:46.520 just found my own symphony, and she did in Denver, 0:44:47.120 --> 0:44:50.000 and she kept that position for decades until her death. 0:44:50.000 --> 0:44:52.680 And I think nineteen eighty nine, but she really opened 0:44:52.719 --> 0:44:55.000 the door for female conductors to come. 0:44:55.880 --> 0:44:59.000 Yeah. Absolutely, And we're talking about a lot of Americans too, 0:45:00.400 --> 0:45:04.759 you know, considering where classical music came from, not surprising 0:45:04.800 --> 0:45:09.480 that Europeans are mainly conductors. But they've also pointed out that, 0:45:09.600 --> 0:45:13.399 like you know, they they don't do it well here 0:45:13.400 --> 0:45:16.600 in America as far as having a real system in place, 0:45:16.880 --> 0:45:21.239 right to get great young assistant conductors and things like that, 0:45:21.320 --> 0:45:26.319 a real pathway to leading like a major orchestra in 0:45:26.360 --> 0:45:28.560 the United States, and that's something that they're i think 0:45:28.560 --> 0:45:29.920 trying to work on and get better at. 0:45:30.000 --> 0:45:33.359 Yeah, which would be a big deal because among conductors 0:45:33.360 --> 0:45:39.319 and musical directors it's mostly white European men. If you 0:45:39.640 --> 0:45:42.719 look at assistant directors, it's much more diverse. So if 0:45:42.760 --> 0:45:45.600 you can start figuring out how to promote talent from there, 0:45:45.680 --> 0:45:47.560 then yeah, you'd have the whole field would be a 0:45:47.560 --> 0:45:51.080 lot more diverse, which is great. Anytime you ad diversity, 0:45:51.360 --> 0:45:52.200 things expand. 0:45:53.040 --> 0:45:55.600 Yeah, and you're right when you look at the ranks 0:45:55.600 --> 0:45:58.960 of assistants and then even on down the line, because 0:45:58.960 --> 0:46:01.680 there are many many people that together, more and more 0:46:01.680 --> 0:46:06.640 people of color getting involved. I think only four the 0:46:06.920 --> 0:46:09.960 twenty five largest ensembles in the United States. Twenty one 0:46:10.480 --> 0:46:16.200 of the twenty five are European. Still, so still a 0:46:16.200 --> 0:46:16.880 lot of work to do. 0:46:17.200 --> 0:46:20.960 Yeah. Oh, one more person I want to shout out 0:46:21.040 --> 0:46:24.839 is Simon Raddle. He's with the Berlin Philharmonic, which is 0:46:25.120 --> 0:46:30.880 typically either the first or second best symphony in the world, 0:46:31.120 --> 0:46:33.840 depending on who is rating it at the time. I 0:46:33.880 --> 0:46:38.160 also saw Cleveland very frequently falls into the top five 0:46:38.239 --> 0:46:38.640 to ten. 0:46:40.040 --> 0:46:42.160 Nice Cleveland rocks, Yeah, exactly. 0:46:43.000 --> 0:46:46.000 But Simon Rattle, I think is kind of emblematic of 0:46:46.040 --> 0:46:49.080 the way that conductors are going these days. He started 0:46:49.120 --> 0:46:56.520 instituting free lunchtime concerts, educational programs for underserved communities, streaming 0:46:56.560 --> 0:47:00.640 stuff online. He's doing more twentieth century composed, not just 0:47:01.000 --> 0:47:03.400 people who've been dead for a couple hundred years. 0:47:03.480 --> 0:47:03.760 Yeah. 0:47:03.800 --> 0:47:06.799 So it's really like it's just it's expanding. I think 0:47:06.840 --> 0:47:09.360 it's always good when things expand, because it's not like 0:47:09.400 --> 0:47:13.840 they're going to just abandon all the traditional stuff. You can't, 0:47:13.880 --> 0:47:15.879 why would you. But that doesn't mean you can't also 0:47:15.960 --> 0:47:18.400 incorporate new stuff too. Why do you have to go 0:47:18.480 --> 0:47:20.319 see the same thing year after year? 0:47:21.880 --> 0:47:24.120 Casual Friday, flip flop Wednesday. 0:47:24.800 --> 0:47:28.040 That's right, Taco Tuesday, Taco Tuesday. 0:47:28.120 --> 0:47:30.160 Yeah, that's perfect man. I want to be in that organ. 0:47:30.239 --> 0:47:32.600 Yeah for sure. Well, if you want to know more 0:47:32.600 --> 0:47:35.720 about conductors, just go online and start watching some videos 0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:37.880 of them. It's pretty fun and you'll hear some pretty 0:47:37.920 --> 0:47:40.480 good music too. You might even hear something you heard 0:47:40.480 --> 0:47:43.439 and die hard. And since I said that, it's time 0:47:43.480 --> 0:47:47.719 for listener mail, I'm gonna call this. 0:47:47.920 --> 0:47:50.360 Hey, let's get into the weeds with quartz vibration. 0:47:50.800 --> 0:47:52.280 Oh no, I saw this one. 0:47:52.960 --> 0:47:54.400 There were a couple of these, because there are some 0:47:54.400 --> 0:47:56.200 people out there that know a lot more about this 0:47:56.239 --> 0:47:59.240 than we do. Thankfully. Hey, guys, been a consistent listener 0:47:59.239 --> 0:48:02.040 for about ten years. Your enlightenment and witty banter has 0:48:02.080 --> 0:48:04.000 seen me through many good times and bad. I'm a 0:48:04.040 --> 0:48:07.400 computer design engineer and listen to the Atomic Clock episode yesterday. 0:48:07.600 --> 0:48:09.840 I want to clarify what seems to be a misunderstanding 0:48:10.160 --> 0:48:14.440 about the resident frequency of quurts. You commented that Courts 0:48:14.640 --> 0:48:19.399 repeatedly vibrates at thirty two, seven hundred and sixty eight 0:48:19.440 --> 0:48:22.479 hertz when energize, which is often the case of many 0:48:22.520 --> 0:48:26.400 time pieces, but Quurtz does not inherently vibrate at thirty 0:48:26.440 --> 0:48:30.080 two point seven to six eight killer herts. Yeah, that 0:48:30.200 --> 0:48:31.439 was just different than the herts. 0:48:31.840 --> 0:48:32.000 Ok. 0:48:32.080 --> 0:48:36.360 Sorry, there would have to be some sort of divine 0:48:36.400 --> 0:48:39.959 miracle for courts to vibrate at thirty two thousand, seven 0:48:40.040 --> 0:48:42.440 hundred and sixty eight herts, which just happens to be a 0:48:42.560 --> 0:48:45.600 very computer friendly number for a time piece. As you know, 0:48:45.640 --> 0:48:47.839 almost all computers are designed to work based on ones 0:48:47.840 --> 0:48:50.600 and zeros, and those binary numbers are stored as a 0:48:50.640 --> 0:48:56.040 vector of binary digits bits. Hey, so they tend to 0:48:56.080 --> 0:48:59.719 support a number of range a number range up to 0:48:59.760 --> 0:49:02.879 some value. That's a power of two point three two 0:49:03.880 --> 0:49:08.600 seven six ' eight just happens to be two to 0:49:08.640 --> 0:49:11.359 the power of fifteen, which means thirty two thy seven 0:49:11.440 --> 0:49:14.120 hundred and sixty eight is the upper limit represented by 0:49:14.120 --> 0:49:18.080 a fifteen bit digito. Whow by a fifteen bit number 0:49:18.600 --> 0:49:20.440 in a computer that can count the ticks and a 0:49:20.480 --> 0:49:22.720 digital watch before incrementing the seconds. 0:49:23.160 --> 0:49:26.239 Whoo, Now I know how other people feel when I 0:49:26.360 --> 0:49:27.440 try to explain something. 0:49:28.800 --> 0:49:31.640 Scott finishes up by saying, quartz crystal will naturally have 0:49:31.719 --> 0:49:34.920 a variable resonant frequency depending on its size, though it 0:49:34.960 --> 0:49:37.080 could be thirty two point seven to six a killer 0:49:37.120 --> 0:49:40.600 hertz or two megahertz or two hundred megahertz depending on 0:49:40.640 --> 0:49:43.680 its size. The mass produced thirty two point seven six 0:49:43.680 --> 0:49:47.120 a killer hertz crystal, commonly used in time pieces, was 0:49:47.160 --> 0:49:51.279 specifically grown and laser trimmed to the exact size and 0:49:51.280 --> 0:49:54.480 shape to make it computer and time piece friendly. I 0:49:54.480 --> 0:49:57.960 actually finally understand. That is excellent, Scott, he says, come 0:49:57.960 --> 0:50:00.920 see us in San Jose, California sometime. 0:50:01.480 --> 0:50:03.719 Yeah. Nice, Scott, thank you very much. We have to 0:50:03.800 --> 0:50:05.720 go back and reread that one so I can absorb 0:50:05.760 --> 0:50:06.280 it fully. 0:50:06.960 --> 0:50:11.200 Sure you will, I will, okay. 0:50:10.640 --> 0:50:13.960 Fine, If you want to be like Scott and explain 0:50:14.080 --> 0:50:16.839 something to us in depth, we love that kind of thing. 0:50:17.000 --> 0:50:19.200 It just might take us reading it a couple of times. 0:50:20.120 --> 0:50:23.600 You can send that email to stuff podcast at iHeartRadio 0:50:23.680 --> 0:50:27.440 dot com. 0:50:28.560 --> 0:50:31.440 Stuff you Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 0:50:31.520 --> 0:50:35.719 more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 0:50:35.800 --> 0:50:37.640 or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.