Rhythm and Time
Mark Walter
Music that touches the heart, or mind or soul of the listener is music that reflects the rhythms and patterns of life. It’s music that evokes the listener to say ‘There’s something about that music that I deeply resonate with’. When done at its best, this evocation comes from people who are able to reach deep into their own souls and hearts and resonate an inward chord that also resounds within their audience. To be able to do this while performing, and to be able to get an entire orchestra to do this simultaneously, is challenging.One way the BCO achieves its goal of playing music that’s fun for the musicians and fun for the audience is through its applications of rhythm and time. You need space, in percussion for example, to pass the rhythm and melody back and forth, and to give the rhythm and melody an opportunity to stand out.
“Spatial, tonal and rhythmic passing around includes the spaces or rests,” states BCO music director Scott Walter. “By passing these effects around an orchestra, we create a percolating effect that’s very different from simply playing in unison.
“If we have six parts all playing together in unison, the sound is thick, and when the parts all land on the same note at the same time the chord is thick. When parts are interchanging through the use of rhythm and time it can take on the form of conversation, of speaking, of question and answer, or of statement and reply.”
A group as large as an orchestra includes not only a large number of musicians, but a diversity of instruments, personalities and expression. Keeping such a large group focused on the technical aspects of the music is one thing, while keeping an orchestra focused on what the music is expressing is something completely different. However, if an orchestra gets into the expression of the music then a lot of fun things can happen. Those things happen because the orchestra is getting connected to the natural rhythm and timing of a musical work, speaking back and forth in a way that brings life to the music, which by extension brings an enjoyable and often moving experience to the audience.
In an orchestra, like in life, it can be easy for a musician be too into his or her self, or to overextend themselves too much. In either case, this falling out of time causes the individual to fall outside of ‘the groove’, which brings disharmony to the group and to the listeners.
“We work on expressing our selves though our instruments” continues Walter. “We are not out to simply perform. We are out to play. When a musician is really doing this well it’s called ‘being in the groove’.
“There’s something that happens when this occurs, a phenomenon that can’t be described but is recognized when it’s experienced. Having an orchestra in the groove is a powerful experience. It’s not just a few instruments or vocalists making that connection, it’s an entire orchestra. That’s a blast!”
Walter goes on to explain that time is a unit of measurement that we reference things to, while rhythm is an expression in time that sets us apart, or shows our differences relative to time. So, while an orchestra is certainly able to play in unison, it should also be creating those spatial, tonal and rhythmic effects that allow the music to go past being performed, where everyone in the performance hall experiences the powerful effects of well placed rhythm and time.
An orchestra can be viewed as a microcosm of our world. It’s full of different voices and viewpoints, it’s capable of expressing the full range of human emotions, and it’s able to portray the paradox of contradiction and unity being expressed at the same time.
Orchestral music should be able to show our differences, but do it in a way that gives us the unique experience of being centered in the groove. An enjoyable evening of music is about finding ‘the groove’, when the musicians and the audience are simultaneously experiencing a well timed syncopation of musical communication and expression.