THE MUSIC DIRECTOR Nothing sooths the soul like music. The right song just strikes the cord so aptly; the sense of satisfaction it brings is unparalleled. That’s for the listener, but for the musician..? It’s a whole lot more. A lot goes into the few minutes track that makes you nod or dance, even cry. Moments of inspiration, writing the notes and arranging every beat. Encrypting the words and making sure it’s not out of sync. It’s even more delicate when doing the acapella genre and with a choir. It’s a great past time for me. The experience was like walking a familiar terrain, yet every shot at a new song is simply special. The challenges make it just as compelling as the pleasure. Dealing with the emotions and motions of others and stirring hard to get a good sound soup. The jeering, shouting, chuckles, silence, grins and unspoken expressions need be recorded as much as the voices. And when one singer is out of tune, it’s so disheartening. More like weeks of rehearsals wasted. It takes a patient music director to conjure some magic and make things work. Yet sometimes, some solos must be taken by someone else- last minute reshuffling often comes to the rescue. It could be for fear of the first time in the recording booth, or complacency on the part of a seasoned singer. It’s worse off when it boils down to arrogance or even rebellion from a subset of the sect. Then, ill health, emotional stress and personal idiosyncrasies may be an embarrassment. Bottom line is, you are either in tune with the music or you are out of the booth! For a moment, I saw God in me- directing the choir of human existence. Cheering and yelling. Giving all the signs and signals to a crop of performers he selected himself. And the response? A potpourri. Some will give their very best and be approved, get trusted and entrusted with much more. Some will fail, be corrected, take correction and come out in the end just good. While some only made the crew to fall out of it. They will hear but not listen. They will see but not perceive. And after a frantic effort at redemption, some voices just won’t be heard in heaven’s orchestra, no matter how good they sounded during rehearsals...
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 01:39:36 +0000