Busking - Joshua Bell Experiment

[JazzReggie]

Pierrot and I got a little off topic in another thread, so I figured I'd move the discussion to its own thread. Here's the original topic:

Interesting Article

In case you haven't seen it, here's the video:

YouTube Video

And the original Washington Post article:

Pearls Before Breakfast - washingtonpost.com

Originally Posted by Pierrot

hmmm, I'd actually like to have a better and more fluid english to answer your points...

1) many people in a hurry...When you are in front of BEAUTY, how can you keep rushing? I don't get it...not even a look at whom is producing such marvellous sounds?...

2) noisy environment...I'd say that there is some noise, that's true, but far from being really disturbing...even the natural reverb of the space contributes to give a special touch to the music...

3) give money to each buskers, many of them talented... he was just PLAYING, nobody was directly asking for money...do you really believe there are so many buskers as talented as Joshua Bell, or Itzhak Perlman, or Anne Sophie Mutter? I think neither Joe Pass, nor George Benson hypothetically playing in the subway come even close and I have a profound respect for the skills of those two guys...

More, what's wrong with playing for money? The most talented players, (and a myriad of more mediocre musicians) play their music for a living. Be it in a theatre, in a small pub or in the subway, I can't really catch that difference...

4) negative connotations with busking...maybe for you, sorry. Many began playing in public in restaurants or public places, and later made a career as pro musicians playing in important concert halls around the world, but surely remember with tenderness those years of freedom...

@OP: I'm sorry, it was not, neither it is, my intention to hijack the thread, which is interesting enough by itself.

I should clarify - I was speculating as to why the crowd didn't stop, not sharing my own opinions. For the record, I love music, I think it's important, and I believe artists should be paid.

My point was mainly about context. Think of your typical working class guy - he's on his way to work, and needs to make the next transfer to make it to work on time. If he's late for work, he might lose his job, and not be able to afford his house or feed his family. Now, picture the same guy, with his family in the park on the weekend, taking a casual walk. I think he's much more likely to stop and listen in the second scenario.

Here is a really interesting article on busking, which also discusses the Joshua Bell experiment:

Busking - Strings and Hammers

His playing was certainly beautiful, no doubt about that! However, if his objective was to get noticed and make money doing it, his approach wasn't very good.

[Patrick2]

I've seen this happen in various locations in NYC. Especially in Grand Central Station and Penn Station. There are musicians there that will blow your mind. I remember watching Stanley Jordan perform for 30 minutes in temps around 35 degrees. No one cared. No one stopped to listen. Stanley was oblivious to the lack of attention. He played like there were 5,000 people watcing him. However, his axe was NOT worth $4 million bucks.

[TruthHertz]

Busking is about connecting with your audience. You don't have the luxury of having taken the money from people that are paying for expectations. This is more of a study of what penetrates the consciousness of a commuter, the average commuter, when you're competing with the demands of ...well, commuting. Can you measure a smile? Can you measure appreciation? Is the coin in the hat the only metric of acknowledgement? What does the average commuter listen to? How many of these people even heard him with their earbuds in place? Who cares how much the violin is worth? Why is this scenario set up to elicit outrage over ostensible ignorance of "culture"? What is the percentage of people that would have attended a Kennedy Center concert to begin with? Would there have been a better response in a parking entrance where the limos unload? Maybe he should have been playing a pop tune that would have tickled the sensibilities of the de-sensitized worker bee.
Why doesn't anyone write an article lauding the amazing talent of unknown buskers and how outrageous it is that they are deprived the benefits of the hype machine?
When I read this article when it first came out it was odious. It stunk of resentful elitism. "How could these pigs ignore one of our demigods and his priceless instrument?" Why was there no article about great improvisational music that is announced, but poorly attended? Heh, somebody should pay me to be outraged!
David

[ohlcv]

I read about this at the time - couldn't help thinking of this song:

YouTube Video

[MikeJ]

Reminds me of the time a local news station dressed Tommy Emmanuel up in a beard and had him busk in Sydney.. people just walked past.. then the reveal and the crowds gathered.. hmm not the music but the showman that got everyone excited.

[JazzReggie]

Originally Posted by MikeJ

Reminds me of the time a local news station dressed Tommy Emmanuel up in a beard and had him busk in Sydney.. people just walked past.. then the reveal and the crowds gathered.. hmm not the music but the showman that got everyone excited.

Hadn't heard that story - would like to read more about it, if you have a source? For example, I'm curious if he played his own music the whole time?

To some extent, we are all guilty of "hearing with our eyes" at times. It's not just the general public either, musicians are frequently guilty too. Just think of the effect that brand name and price tend to have on the sale of instruments.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Last summer I was on the island, in Nanaimo I think, and there was this busker along the boardwalk. I didn't think much of it until I noticed his guitar -- a ES-5 (with three P-90s). Whoa, baby, Rockabilly Cadillac!

I guess that makes me a guitar nerd. It might have been harder to notice Joshua Bell was playing a Strat (?)

[mr. beaumont]

I think the big thing here is that we need to realize that a high proficiency on the instrument isn't what catches people. Most folks could give a rat's ass about, say, Stanley Jordan's records. Most folks don't know who he is...

We're all musicians here, we listen differently.

Now, if they had played "Brown Eyed Girl," and sang...

[MikeJ]

Originally Posted by JazzReggie

Hadn't heard that story - would like to read more about it, if you have a source? For example, I'm curious if he played his own music the whole time?

Hi JazzReggie
This was before he made it big on the international stage. However was a huge star here in Australia already. I personally saw the show on TV. He played a range of his normal stuff.

[Patrick2]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

I think the big thing here is that we need to realize that a high proficiency on the instrument isn't what catches people. Most folks could give a rat's ass about, say, Stanley Jordan's records. Most folks don't know who he is...

We're all musicians here, we listen differently.

Now, if they had played "Brown Eyed Girl," and sang...

"Van . . The Man" I know I'd stop to listen!!

[whiskey02]

Originally Posted by ohlcv

I read about this at the time - couldn't help thinking of this song:

Beat me to it! I heard Joni singing this in my head before I played the video.

[patskywriter]

Wow, do I miss busking! When I was living in Chicago, a friend (who played flugelhorn) and I (guitar player) used to play in the downtown subways all the time. Our sound was full—he had a warm, mellow sound and I primarily played chords and bass line.

Most of the other "street musicians," as we used to call them, would play as loud as possible in their attempt to get attention. We, on the other hand, used to play at relatively low levels, preferring to draw people toward us. We always had crowds gather around us, and lots of folks would stand there and let several trains go by! We made lots of money and even got gigs out of the experience. (Sigh) Good times, good times …