Banned from Broadway, a new generation of musicals is shrinking from musicals | Australian music

Few fans of Disney’s The Lion King he would think that I should oversee the sound of the orchestra of the Capitol Theater in Sydney. But if they did, they would find the musicians with plenty of elbow room.

In the first season of The Lion King in Australia in 2003, there would have been 17 actors. Now there are only 11.

The Lion King isn’t the only musical to limit the size of its ensembles and cast. With high-quality programming, commercial theater producers around the world are eliminating musicians to cut costs.

James Steendam, president of the musicians section of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), said: “Our fear is that singers are at risk of disappearing from the theatre. Steedman is also a Sydney-based violinist and fiddler, with two decades of stage work under his belt, including over a thousand shows of Hamilton – and music has been reducing their pit bands since its inception.

But now, according to the MEAA, it’s getting worse: next-generation music software from German company KeyComp is threatening to inflict even deeper wounds on what used to be a regular gig for professional musicians.

‘I’m very worried about the future’

Developed by former Apple programmer Christoph Buskies, KeyComp allows musicians to play along with recorded instruments without rendering them “live”.

The use of pre-recorded instruments and samples is not uncommon; several systems similar to those already used in theaters around the world. KeyComp differs in that it allows a single keyboardist to play live music while the software adds recorded (rather than “off the shelf”) orchestral instruments that dynamically match the musician’s touch and tempo in real time.

Due to the successful campaign of the union, the program is banned in New York, Washington DC and in Hamburg, where the software company is based. The MEAA is calling for it to be banned or banned in Australia, too.

“In Los Angeles, if a producer wants to use it, they have to pay a big tax to the syndicates; and in New York, where the syndicates are very strong, there are very few orchestras per show,” says Steendam. “That’s what the MEAA is investigating now.”

Brisbane singer Diana Tolmie has also noticed a decline in pit singers. He has played woodwinds for 30 years in over 100 productions in Australia and on tour in Asia, and is currently performing Beetlejuice is a Musical. That gig ends on July 5; The show’s producers canceled its entire Australian tour, citing “a number of complications that made continuing the tour unsustainable”.

Tolmie says that the orchestral shrink-factor can be reached for two reasons: smaller orchestrations (songs re-arranged to have fewer instruments) and the addition of KeyComp. Where there were six singers in the orchestra, now there are one or two, inspired by the KeyComp components, which are played by the singer.

“Early music was based on 24 bands,” says Tolmie. “The new jukebox music features small, rock-oriented bands.” Then there are the little visiting Bibles. It’s these little songs that are often used in Australia when local music goes up.

For developers with an eye on maximizing profits, using KeyComp makes sense. For musicians, however, it represents an existential threat.

Tolmie, who is also principal teacher at the Queensland Conservatorium, said: “Years ago, you could learn the strings without too much pressure when you were in a large group. “It’s all different now. Where there were four sides of the reed, now there are one or two; where there were six strings, now there are one or two. Where there was drumming, the expectation now is that the drummer does both. Some instruments have completely moved away from the live pit – oboe, bassoon and bassoon.

And for musicians securing a gig, the job is getting tougher, Tolmie adds.

“I peaked last year with seven instruments on the show – piccolo, flute, clarinet, soprano/alto/tenor and baritone saxophone. It was busy and never gave me a break.”

These additional requirements have beneficial effects. “The hope is that you’ll be able to do things like someone who’s already trained,” Tolmie said. “That’s especially difficult because the pit stop takes time to get used to: listening to the music skipping, jamming with the old notes, following the conductor on the monitor that has a delay and hearing the vocals on stage.”

‘Do we value our musicians?’

Australian manufacturers argue that using KeyComp and similar programs is a necessary solution to financial problems. Building, transportation, theater rental and advertising costs have all skyrocketed in recent years, and audiences who are struggling with life’s pressures can’t expect a higher ticket price.

The concerns are real, Steendam admits, but says developers are looking for money in the wrong places.

“Musicians are being paid around 20-25% less than they were in 2003 if we adjust for inflation, so that’s not why the money is running out,” he explains.

“I recently counted the envelopes and by cutting six actors a big show would save about $9,500 a week – which isn’t a lot of money when you consider The Lion King is the biggest hit of all time.”

Academic and author Rod Davies, from Monash University, says the way musicians are being pushed out of theater shows how Australia often treats musicians.

“The bottom line is, it’s a matter of culture and wisdom: do we value our musicians? And how will we help our musicians in their art if they are hindered by modern technology?”

The threat posed by these types of programs exacerbates the insecurity already felt by orchestra and pit band musicians, says Lachlan Bramble, violinist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and national president of the Symphony Orchestra Musicians’ Association.

And although KeyComp doesn’t create music from an AI dataset, other programs, such as Suno and Udio, can.

“At the moment, the biggest threat is seen among musicians who work in sports, film, TV and commercials. The recording and production of gigs has already begun to dry up, because what was done in the recording studio can be imitated – although it is very difficult, I might add – with artificial AI,” says Bramble.

Removing real musicians isn’t just life-threatening, Bramble says; it also reduces the audience. “You can’t change the feeling of what happens when you have people playing real instruments,” he says. “AI and software like KeyComp can mimic that.”

Tolmie agrees. “I’m worried that if we embrace KeyComp the audience will no longer understand what ‘live music’ is, it won’t be intuitive, and it will spread to other areas of music.

“For musicians, we are invisible – therefore the most vulnerable.”