I thought of another analogy to the Joshua Bell busking in the Metro story

[xiphias]

So, if you took a world-class neurosurgeon and put him on a battlefield doing battlefield trauma medicine, how would he do?

I bet he'd do fine. Even do pretty well. But he wouldn't do significantly better than a good medic. He probably wouldn't do quite as well. He'd still do well, but not as well as someone who was specifically a battlefield medic.

That's what they did to Joshua Bell. And he did pretty damn well, $32 in 45 minutes.

You put that neurosurgeon in a top-flight hospital with all the other things he'd have around him, he'd be able to do even more amazing things. In a battlefield situation, given the time constraints and the environment, even if he's got his own tools, he's going to be limited in what he can do. He'll be able to do the sorts of things that a battlefield medic can do.

Put a top-flight concert musician in a busking situation, and, at best, he's going to be able to do what a busker can do. And he did it. He really, genuinely succeeded at it.

Comments

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

There is an assumption in that article that everyone is going to be stopped by the Power of Classical Music.

I won't be. I mostly don't get it.

I WILL be stopped by the Power of Jazz though.

There's an assumption of "inherent quality" that classical music aficionados make that irritates me to no end.

I think he did well too. I think it's more a lesson about the assumptions that go along with the unexorcised notion that Western Music of Venerable White Men is inherently Better Than anything else. If that were the case, I'd see less crowds around the breakdancers and more around the classical cellist at 42nd.

N.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

At the right time of day, at the right time of year, when the weather is good and when people actually have time, I see crowds around the juggler doing the tightrope act, the cellist, the breakdancers, the beatboxers, AND the four guys doing Beatles covers.

They ALL have power, done well.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

Most definitely. But when you read the article, theres a sort of "bemoaning" that more people weren't Stopped by the Power of Classical. Particularly the critic at the beginning who predicts a huge crowd will form.

I think that's where the .... objectivity of the article fails for me. I found it rather hard to read for that reason.

N.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I can't figure out if that part is Classical Music Chauvanism, or simply total ignorance of how busking works. Or both.

[ckd]

I think the critic can be a few minutes late to work without getting fired, and figures that everyone else is in the same situation.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Not sure. I wonder what the critic would think of a world-class jazzer in a train station...

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Children were stopped by the power of classical music, but their parents hurried them along.

The experiment hasn't been done with rock or jazz of comparable quality, but it would be worth trying.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

Children will also be stopped by madmen in the street waving their arms, clowns, people roller skating, dogs, me making funny faces, snow....

I hardly think it's objective to use that argument as children are pretty distractable by most anything.

N.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Speaking of top flight neurosurgeons and battlefields,A shockwave of brain injuries, which I find quite scary and depressing.

The online chat with Weingarten was also pretty interesting.

[gilmoure.livejournal.com]

As a former battlefield medic and musician who's been on the groung and tried performing on the street, I'd take all the talent I could get out there. But yeah, expecting a magical transformation in people, due to great chops and hardware, I think they've watched too many movies.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Joshua Bell thought he did pretty well, too.
I'd be interested to see how he did during evening rush, when people are likely to be a little less rushed.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

*nod*

Being a classical musician in the sense that Joshua Bell is does take performing talent as well as musical talent - after a point they overlap so much it doesn't matter - so I think if he had lots of practise at busking he'd get even better at it.

But yeah. What you said.