In his excellent music podcast Broken Record, Malcolm Gladwell was without his cohost Rick Rubin for his interview with Pentatonix.
Maybe that explains the following exchange:
Scott Hoying: We usually learn everything on our own, and then come to rehearsal, and then, if we have it all learned, it comes together very quickly as a group.
Malcolm Gladwell: That’s interesting…that’s not…I…that completely surprises me. So, in the beginning, you might pick a song and then you will all go off on your own, and…is it obvious to you what your piece of it is?
Scott Hoying went on to explain how an arranger will provide them with sheet music and MIDI part tracks to learn their parts.
What struck me, in listening to this, is what an uphill battle we have in educating the general population about the work it is that we do as conductors, as composers/arrangers, as singers. If as deep and broad a thinker as Malcolm Gladwell can imagine a scenario where a group can pick a song, go off on their own, and come back with a cohesive arrangement, it is clear that the wider population is harboring some deep misconceptions of the musical process.
I want to be clear: I’m not criticizing Malcolm Gladwell. He is not a musician, and his wide-eyed enthusiasm and curiosity is part of what makes Broken Record great, especially when paired with Rick Rubin’s musical brilliance.
But we need to do better in helping the world to understand how music gets made!