Friday, January 23, 2009

Fake Music

So Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two musicians you've never heard of were faking their performance at the Inauguration. They went through the motions of playing, but what you heard on TV or even on the mall was a pre-recorded performance by the same artists. Scandal or footnote?

Footnote. Faithful readers, you just have to accept that everything you see on TV is faked. In 1986 I participated in "Liberty Weekend" -- the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty. I was part of the 600-voice "Liberty Chorus." We rehearsed for weeks, got ourselves to Giant Stadium in New Jersey, and sang our hearts out. The TV audience actually heard a pre-recorded version of our songs sung by 50 professionals. We weren't even told until afterward.

That's just how TV is. All that matters is the image. I'm not surprised at all.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's not surprising. It's hard to play a string instrument at a world class level when your hands are no doubt shivering and numb with cold.