If everyone has sheet music and all the timing information down, then what’s the composer’s role?
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You’re absolutely correct when you say that professional musicians won’t have any issue playing the music on their sheet or playing at the correct tempo.
The conductor is doing a few things during a performance:
1. They “live mix” the band by telling certain players/instruments to change their volume. It is notoriously hard to know how loud your instrument sounds to the audience when you’re sitting in the band. The conductor can hear all instruments from up front and can keep people from playing too loudly or softly.
2. They offer a visual way to keep time, especially for the percussion section. When you’re on stage, it’s actually really really hard to keep time with an instrument that’s in front of you vs behind you. Instruments in front of you will naturally be heard with a slight delay, but instruments behind you will be heard instantly. That’s why the percussion section is always in the back, so the entire band hears their rhythm correctly.
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