My school went down the professional musicians route - I always really wanted to play in the pit band, so every time we did a musical, I asked the music director, and I was in year 13 (in the uk, that’s the last year of school before university), he finally let me play, and it was so much fun.
Playing in pits as a UK secondary school student (10th-grade for those across the pond) was possibly one of the biggest turning points for me and I will never back down on the fact that students can and should have the opportunity to play in musical pits. Sure, maybe it's not Broadway-quality sound (then again it's rather rare to find a Broadway-quality high school show!), but the experience never leaves you and enriches you in a way that basically no other music activity can. In that time, I played Bass for Sister Act & Bugsy Malone, then Keys 2 & Asst. MD for High School Musical - best experiences of my career so far; led me on into careers in technical theatre, now applying for universities to study sound design & stage management and taking every local pit & MD opportunity going!
Outstanding video, Sir! Solid information, excellent presentation, backed by someone who knows what they're talking about.  I came from a high school that had an outstanding theater program (Jim Walton, Bob Walton). And instrumental program. The first few pits that I played in, I sat next to hired pro ringers.  I learned a lot from that. These days, I do a lot of high school musicals. I'm glad for the work. There are a few schools where I'm the hired pro ringer sitting next to students. Very happy to fill THAT position, too. I wish there was more like that because that's the way it really should be. A high school pit should have high school musicians. But as we know, the state of music education these days is a definition of "sad." Terrific video, Kevin - thank you for posting!
My high school had all their best students play in pit and there were occasional pros sprinkled in and it was always pretty decent. I was asked back to play after I graduated and was doing my BMus. I played tuba for The Sound of Music and the bass part for Kiss Me Kate (on tuba) Live band is always best if you have the option because you can adjust your tempo, do an extra repeat etc. to cover up any mistakes, scene changes or any other random thing that might happen. As well artistic freedom for rubato and dynamics (when appropriate) Recorded always feel very rigid in performance. Excellent practice tool though.
When I was in high school, we filled the pit with students, and hired professionals to fill in the missing parts (friends of the music director, so they weren't terribly expensive). Pit orchestra was always my favorite ensemble. Unfortunately, they only use tracks now.
YES! Another tip for choreographing to a recording - have your rehearsal pianist or MD record the dance tracks for your choreographer! I can't tell you how many MD's I've seen scramble to chop up the music (many times against the rules of the rental company, I might add) just to make the counts work, and it ends up sounding .... weird.
Thanks for the informative video. How do you feel about how Reed parts should be handled? The Reed parts are of course often written for professional Broadway musicians that can easily handle several woodwind instruments, which is less common among high school students (although not unheard of). This has led to a variety of approaches that sometimes depends on the student talent available. It seems that some musical directors will try to cover every instrument called for in the parts, rather than having doublers, which can lead to large woodwind sections with certain players sometimes having little to do for much of the show. Other directors will have one or two players for each Reed part, and will use a substitute instrument for the instrument that is called for in the part. This sometimes leads to results that differ substantially in terms of sound from the original show.
You can always split the book up among different students. The other option is for reed books that have more concert instrumentation (flute, oboe, bassoon) can often be played by the same student on their main instrument. Although it doesn't offer the same timbre as what is written, it's a good way to cover most things. I did Chicago a few years ago and had 2 students to one reed book. One covering alto sax and the other on clarinet in order to cover the parts better. It worked out pretty well!
Now that I’ve finally switched to MainStage, it doesn’t feel as expressive when I play since it’s Midi vs the actual keyboard. Is this normal? Idk how to get the sound as expressive and don’t know what to do
It depends on the patches you are using. Strings and anything that is sustained usually are velocity controlled. You can always get an expression pedal and use that to control the dynamics. Strings, brass, and most of these orchestral instruments are tricky.
My school went down the professional musicians route - I always really wanted to play in the pit band, so every time we did a musical, I asked the music director, and I was in year 13 (in the uk, that’s the last year of school before university), he finally let me play, and it was so much fun.
You orchestrated an entire show in high school?! Lmao, baptism by fire. Good for you, man.
Playing in pits as a UK secondary school student (10th-grade for those across the pond) was possibly one of the biggest turning points for me and I will never back down on the fact that students can and should have the opportunity to play in musical pits. Sure, maybe it's not Broadway-quality sound (then again it's rather rare to find a Broadway-quality high school show!), but the experience never leaves you and enriches you in a way that basically no other music activity can. In that time, I played Bass for Sister Act & Bugsy Malone, then Keys 2 & Asst. MD for High School Musical - best experiences of my career so far; led me on into careers in technical theatre, now applying for universities to study sound design & stage management and taking every local pit & MD opportunity going!
Outstanding video, Sir!
Solid information, excellent presentation, backed by someone who knows what they're talking about. 
I came from a high school that had an outstanding theater program (Jim Walton, Bob Walton). And instrumental program. The first few pits that I played in, I sat next to hired pro ringers.  I learned a lot from that.
These days, I do a lot of high school musicals. I'm glad for the work. There are a few schools where I'm the hired pro ringer sitting next to students. Very happy to fill THAT position, too. I wish there was more like that because that's the way it really should be. A high school pit should have high school musicians. But as we know, the state of music education these days is a definition of "sad."
Terrific video, Kevin - thank you for posting!
My high school had all their best students play in pit and there were occasional pros sprinkled in and it was always pretty decent. I was asked back to play after I graduated and was doing my BMus. I played tuba for The Sound of Music and the bass part for Kiss Me Kate (on tuba)
Live band is always best if you have the option because you can adjust your tempo, do an extra repeat etc. to cover up any mistakes, scene changes or any other random thing that might happen. As well artistic freedom for rubato and dynamics (when appropriate)
Recorded always feel very rigid in performance. Excellent practice tool though.
Looking great Kevin, good to see you posting
When I was in high school, we filled the pit with students, and hired professionals to fill in the missing parts (friends of the music director, so they weren't terribly expensive). Pit orchestra was always my favorite ensemble. Unfortunately, they only use tracks now.
Quality info here. Love that you're a realist about what schools can manage. And that you don't want to put me out of business with your left hand ;)
Glad you liked it! 😊
YES! Another tip for choreographing to a recording - have your rehearsal pianist or MD record the dance tracks for your choreographer! I can't tell you how many MD's I've seen scramble to chop up the music (many times against the rules of the rental company, I might add) just to make the counts work, and it ends up sounding .... weird.
That is a great suggestion!
Thanks for the informative video. How do you feel about how Reed parts should be handled? The Reed parts are of course often written for professional Broadway musicians that can easily handle several woodwind instruments, which is less common among high school students (although not unheard of). This has led to a variety of approaches that sometimes depends on the student talent available. It seems that some musical directors will try to cover every instrument called for in the parts, rather than having doublers, which can lead to large woodwind sections with certain players sometimes having little to do for much of the show. Other directors will have one or two players for each Reed part, and will use a substitute instrument for the instrument that is called for in the part. This sometimes leads to results that differ substantially in terms of sound from the original show.
You can always split the book up among different students. The other option is for reed books that have more concert instrumentation (flute, oboe, bassoon) can often be played by the same student on their main instrument. Although it doesn't offer the same timbre as what is written, it's a good way to cover most things. I did Chicago a few years ago and had 2 students to one reed book. One covering alto sax and the other on clarinet in order to cover the parts better. It worked out pretty well!
@@KevinLynchMusic Thank you for the expert response!
How about Sinfonia/OrchExtra??
Now that I’ve finally switched to MainStage, it doesn’t feel as expressive when I play since it’s Midi vs the actual keyboard. Is this normal? Idk how to get the sound as expressive and don’t know what to do
It depends on the patches you are using. Strings and anything that is sustained usually are velocity controlled. You can always get an expression pedal and use that to control the dynamics. Strings, brass, and most of these orchestral instruments are tricky.