I Gots To Know

Thank you! It is absolutely the same way in the Visual Art world. One big happy Artspeak ghetto.

I was thinking about the issue of "doing homework" before a concert in relation to movies. Before seeing a movie, you've got kind of an idea of what the movie's about. Maybe we should start making trailers for concerts.

Molly says: True, but the trailer is just made from clips of the movie, not extra "program note"-y information (unless you count that awesome disembodied voice in your ear). Arguably, all the information you're going to get from a movie is already inside. Does familiarity do the trick?

Well, the new music trailer would have to be a little different in that respect. It could include "program note"-y info along with clips of the piece. Who would be the best new music voiceover though? Hmmm...

Molly wonders: Yes, who is the Garrison Keillor of new music?

I continue to hit a wall whenever I promise online to provide some "notes" for a piece of music I am in the process of composing. It may be that I'm just not that talented as a writer or critic. But I have to say that my experiences in rehearsal with fellow musicians, the conversations we have regarding a piece, and the frustrations that inevitably bubble up in the process whether you're creating a piece for one instrument or an elaborate piece for dancers, film, and music - all of that stuff is private. It's sacred. I DON'T want to share that part of the process with a bunch of strangers. Brian, can you relate? Or no?

Trying to anticipate the intellectual and emotional needs of my audience strikes me as incredibly condescending. I understand what we're discussing here and don't necessarily disagree with your points. But you're presenting your points as questions. So I have to ask (and I've asked it before) - why is it on us the artist to explain ourselves in advance and somehow try to assure the experiential "comfort" of our audiences?

Are we really in danger of "losing" people? Not making money? Confusing people who thought they had tickets to a Taylor Swift gig?

It may be that blog culture assumes that we should just let it all hang out. So anyone who might questions similar to mine may not even be reading this discussion...

Thoughts? I promise to be reactive...