12-08-2015, 07:48 AM
(12-05-2015, 11:21 AM)sundance7490 Wrote: How could you tell? And I ask because I am also a violinist both acoustic and electric and have kept a close eye on the TSO for years to see if they're actually playing or not. Sometimes I think they're faking it and then other times it's clear they're not. For instance I attended the concert last year in Phoenix and during their performance of "The Mountain" Asha Mevlana, who's the lead violinist for the West group, accidentally knocked her bow into the bridge of her violin and it "popped" loudly in the speakers when she did. It made me so happy because it was proof they were really plugged in, or at least that she was. But sometimes I wonder if they are fake playing. Anyone want to interject on this?
I think they use backing tracks sometimes but apparently half of the actual string orchestra is through a backing track. A violinist who was hired to play for the orchestra section for the "Beethoven's Last Night" tour said they were informed that while there were eight of them (two cellists, three violinists and three violists) there would be eight more string players coming through electronically through the system essentially creating a sixteen-string orchestra backing.
The 'backing orchestra' is not a pre-recorded track. The orchestra's own playing is electronically processed, in real time, to make it SOUND like there are more of them. This is the same technique that is used to make 5 or 6 singers sound like a whole choir. There is no 'fake playing' or anything like that happening, there is just electronic trickery (phasing, reverb, etc) to make it sound like a bigger group. The key is that if one of the violinists would make a mistake, their 'partner' would make the exact same mistake.