If everyone has sheet music and all the timing information down, then what’s the composer’s role?
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The closest answer is “real-time mixing”.
You know how DJs need to adjust a ton of elements from how fast a track is playing to how loud it is and they mix several tracks together? An orchestra is basically that, but each track is a group of musicians who play the exact same thing. You can have 13 violins in total, but not all 13 will play the exact same thing – you might have 3 play track A (Violin 1), 5 play track B (Violin 2) and 5 play track C (Violin 3). (Not an actual orchestral setup but just as an example.) Each musician in the orchestra knows what they’re playing – they know their own track to perfection by the time of the performance. But it’s not their job to know the other 40 or so tracks to perfection and to know how to adjust their own playing so that it goes well with the others. And they can’t really hear the other tracks that well either.
This is where the conductor comes in. The conductor is positioned with the orchestra in a semi circle in front of them so that they can hear each and every instrument well. They then “go ham” and wave their little baton (the stick) around and every movement is a cue to the musicians, even the tiniest movements. A good conductor has no wasted movements. Smaller movements indicate that the volume should be quieter. Huge movements demand louder volume. Swinging the baton or the entire arm in a circle tells the musicians to play faster. A palm facing the musicians tells them to slow down. Eye contact with a certain group tells them when they’re about to come in for a special part. And all of this happens while the conductor keeps a rhythmic movement of the baton to keep time in general – so that all 40 groups of musicians playing the 40 tracks don’t fall out of sync with one another.
It may seem like the musicians aren’t looking at the conductor, but in most orchestras, musicians look at the conductor about as much as they look at their music, if not more. It’s like driving – you’re not staring at the road, you’re looking at everything in front of you, like traffic lights and road signs, while keeping an eye on the road itself. Imagine the sheet music as the road and the conductor’s movements as speed limit signs and exit signs and traffic lights and stop signs. You still have to pay attention to them, but you can do so all while driving down the road. The musicians’ job really is to make sure they’re the best they can be at playing their instruments for that piece. The rest is up to the conductor.
The conductor also has a unique interpretation of each individual piece. No two conductors will make the same performance, just like how no two DJs will mix the exact same song. The conductor has to take into consideration the acoustics of the performance hall as well, and even the weather and climate (temperature and humidity affect the instruments and their sound!), which means that no two performances will ever truly be exactly the same.
Conductors add a surprisingly necessary human touch to an otherwise stiff orchestra. There are videos of robot or AI conductors but if you listen to that versus a professional orchestral recording of the same performed piece, you’ll find that the AI conducted performances are usually really stiff and stylistically bland in comparison. Even if you don’t know exactly what’s happening or what to look for when you listen, you might gravitate towards the human conductor just because it sounds more organic. Give it a try!
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