The time when Joshua Bell went busking in the subway, and no-one noticed (2022)(classicfm.com)
classicfm.com
The time when Joshua Bell went busking in the subway, and no-one noticed (2022)
https://www.classicfm.com/artists/joshua-bell/violin-busking-washington-subway/
73 comments
Agreed.
In the lousy acoustics of a subway, there's going to be no difference between Joshua Bell and any other reasonably talented busker. Bell brings a specific kind of skill, a highly refined sound and sensibility that is unique to him, but not going to be readily apparent to a casual listener.
If anything, the regular buskers might put on a better performance. That's their job. They'll select the right music for the venue and crowd. Performing is a show, not just playing the instrument, and they'll put on the show that's appropriate there and then.
It would be a bit like watching Michael Jordan shooting free-throws in the neighborhood court. I'm sure he'd do it better than the others... but not anything you'd pay attention to. Lots of people can put balls in the basket.
As a performer myself, it's always a little irritating watching people drift to the famous ones just because they're famous -- people who would otherwise attract little attention if their fame weren't called out. It's not that they're not talented; of course they are. It's just that there are many other equally talented people who never got attention. Movies feature the same A-list stars over and over, even though they could have many equally talented actors for a thousandth the price. But people wouldn't go... because they're not A-list stars.
That's no shade on Bell, though I do think that the humorist who set up the stunt missed the point. I admire Bell for going out to entertain.
In the lousy acoustics of a subway, there's going to be no difference between Joshua Bell and any other reasonably talented busker. Bell brings a specific kind of skill, a highly refined sound and sensibility that is unique to him, but not going to be readily apparent to a casual listener.
If anything, the regular buskers might put on a better performance. That's their job. They'll select the right music for the venue and crowd. Performing is a show, not just playing the instrument, and they'll put on the show that's appropriate there and then.
It would be a bit like watching Michael Jordan shooting free-throws in the neighborhood court. I'm sure he'd do it better than the others... but not anything you'd pay attention to. Lots of people can put balls in the basket.
As a performer myself, it's always a little irritating watching people drift to the famous ones just because they're famous -- people who would otherwise attract little attention if their fame weren't called out. It's not that they're not talented; of course they are. It's just that there are many other equally talented people who never got attention. Movies feature the same A-list stars over and over, even though they could have many equally talented actors for a thousandth the price. But people wouldn't go... because they're not A-list stars.
That's no shade on Bell, though I do think that the humorist who set up the stunt missed the point. I admire Bell for going out to entertain.
this is a really good comment, and i agree with it. but i do think there is a seperate point that the experiment reinforces, which is that the perception of musical skill is highly contingent on non musical things for most people. as a musician, its sometimes frustrating because i dont want to focus on the "dumb stuff" (things that arent about rhythm, tone, melody, harmony etc), but sometimes feel like i need to. i'm not saying its wrong to meet the audience where there at, but its annoying when people overestimate their perception
I actually quite like classical music, but there are times I really don’t want to listen to a solo violin performance. On the way to the subway would almost certainly be one those times. Another such time is tonight, when I immediately had to mute my phone sound when that video started.
I took it as just an illustration of human snobbery for the sake of snobbery. There are similar experiments.
I believe Penn and Teller did an experiment on bottled water to see if anyone at a fancy restaurant could taste how much better artisanal bottled water was. All the customers commented on how much more refreshing the water was when in actuality it was all hose water filled in from the back.
There was this other experiment, I can't recall from where, where they tested if audiophiles could here the difference between an MP3 and regular uncompressed sound. None of them could tell the difference even though they all claimed before hand that they could.
>Moreover, it's a collective ritual. We don't go to the concert hall just because of the music and because of Joshua Bell, we also go because it's nice to treat yourself to an evening out, to dress nicely, and to enjoy the fancy atmosphere of the theatre with its, say, baroque frescoes or modern architectural design. Joshua Bell in that context is literally not the same as Joshua Bell in a subway, otherwise why would he dress nicely for the concert? And you know what, there is nothing wrong with that. Theatre and music have always been this way.
You illustrate my point perfectly and you partially admit my point. You say: It's not JUST about the music which makes sense. But I say, it's more than that. It's actually NOT about the music AT ALL, because the music is much more clear when listened to digitally in a private space with no distractions. People can likely get that for free with a pair of good headphones. When people buy a concert ticket they pay for the "night out" not the music.
Just replace the music with some other snobbish artsy activity and they'd still go because it's never really about the activity itself. I shouldn't just focus on rich people snobbery it happens with any type of concert or music festival or whatever. It's never about the music in actuality it's only about the music in appearance. Everyone lies to themselves about why they go.
I believe Penn and Teller did an experiment on bottled water to see if anyone at a fancy restaurant could taste how much better artisanal bottled water was. All the customers commented on how much more refreshing the water was when in actuality it was all hose water filled in from the back.
There was this other experiment, I can't recall from where, where they tested if audiophiles could here the difference between an MP3 and regular uncompressed sound. None of them could tell the difference even though they all claimed before hand that they could.
>Moreover, it's a collective ritual. We don't go to the concert hall just because of the music and because of Joshua Bell, we also go because it's nice to treat yourself to an evening out, to dress nicely, and to enjoy the fancy atmosphere of the theatre with its, say, baroque frescoes or modern architectural design. Joshua Bell in that context is literally not the same as Joshua Bell in a subway, otherwise why would he dress nicely for the concert? And you know what, there is nothing wrong with that. Theatre and music have always been this way.
You illustrate my point perfectly and you partially admit my point. You say: It's not JUST about the music which makes sense. But I say, it's more than that. It's actually NOT about the music AT ALL, because the music is much more clear when listened to digitally in a private space with no distractions. People can likely get that for free with a pair of good headphones. When people buy a concert ticket they pay for the "night out" not the music.
Just replace the music with some other snobbish artsy activity and they'd still go because it's never really about the activity itself. I shouldn't just focus on rich people snobbery it happens with any type of concert or music festival or whatever. It's never about the music in actuality it's only about the music in appearance. Everyone lies to themselves about why they go.
You are obviously not a classical musician--live music in a concert hall is a completely different experience than listening to high-quality audio by yourself. I'd bet a thousand dollars that I can tell the difference between listening to music in a concert hall vs. listening out of high-quality speakers.
It's a self-fulfilling prophecy too. Any transportation facility during rush hour would be literally the best place and time to look for people too busy for (whatever your bullshit is unless it's a ride to work). It's even called "rush hour," in case you thought it was "hey everybody who came out in public, now's your chance to interact with me hour."
Not to mention it was morning rush hour. People need to get to work on time.
> Theatre and music have always been this way.
Everything has always been this way
Everything has always been this way
Doing it at 8am on a Friday morning is interesting.
Who has spare time then?
OT, but this reminds me: several years ago on my way to my office after getting off the subway in Times Square someone approached me looking like they had a question. I don't remember exactly why I stopped to talk to them (normally I would keep my earbuds on and just ignore people who looked like they were trying to solicit something since it's generally pretty obvious when someone is a tourist and actually needs help compared to having some other agenda), but I was absolutely thrown by them asking me "What state name ends in the letter K?" I assumed this was some sort of experiment and said "I'm really sorry, I'm on my way to work and don't have time for something like this". Before I could walk away, they asked me "What state are you from?", and I interpreted the question as being about where I grew up and not where I currently lived and said "Massachusetts". They looked at me strangely and said "the answer is New York, we're in New York right now". I told them I still had to get to work and said goodbye and rushed out due to embarrassment, and I still have no idea what their purpose for asking that was.
Money or Jesus. I just don’t know how which or how.
They were soliciting for donations for some nonprofit and that was their ice breaker.
1. The author won the Pulitzer for this story
2. After winning the Pulitzer, a librarian sent the author a page from a 1930 newspaper that featured a similar prank in Chicago
3. The violinist from that story-- Jacques Gordon-- performed the prank using the same Stradivarius violin that Joshua Bell used from 1991 to 2001. (Unfortunately, Bell's prank happened in 2007-- if it had been six years earlier we would have had both pranks on the same violin!)
4. Author wrote another story about 1-3:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/0...
**
It's obvious what needs to happen next:
5. Find out who owns that Strad now, run the same prank with the same story, write a follow up about discovering Bell and Gordon's pranks, and finally, write a follow-up to the follow-up about discovering Weingarten's follow-up.
2. After winning the Pulitzer, a librarian sent the author a page from a 1930 newspaper that featured a similar prank in Chicago
3. The violinist from that story-- Jacques Gordon-- performed the prank using the same Stradivarius violin that Joshua Bell used from 1991 to 2001. (Unfortunately, Bell's prank happened in 2007-- if it had been six years earlier we would have had both pranks on the same violin!)
4. Author wrote another story about 1-3:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/0...
**
It's obvious what needs to happen next:
5. Find out who owns that Strad now, run the same prank with the same story, write a follow up about discovering Bell and Gordon's pranks, and finally, write a follow-up to the follow-up about discovering Weingarten's follow-up.
perhaps I’m being overly cynical here, but how is this even remotely worthy of a Pulitzer? it’s a slightly more highbrow version of the “Elvis at an Elvis lookalike competition” story with what I would describe as a pretty heavy lack of self-awareness regarding the violin world
Lol, this is just absurdly elitist. I personally will always stop when I can for the dudes drumming with the paint buckets because I'm really into that, but imagine me being like WHY IS NO ONE STOPPING?
Looking for a place to slot this in, your comment seems as good a place as any.
This experiment in reverse: what happens if you take a career busker and put them on stage at the BBC Proms?
https://youtu.be/BARAHLk-8dk
(Fire emoji)
This experiment in reverse: what happens if you take a career busker and put them on stage at the BBC Proms?
https://youtu.be/BARAHLk-8dk
(Fire emoji)
It's the difference between Napa vs Sonoma wineries. The difference between Cypress Point vs Pebble Beach vs Pacific Grove in golf.
Subcultures become so niche and cliquey that content hardly matters compared to branding.
The thing that really drives me nuts about the whole thing is that people not only embrace it, but seek it out.
Subcultures become so niche and cliquey that content hardly matters compared to branding.
The thing that really drives me nuts about the whole thing is that people not only embrace it, but seek it out.
Epic Sax Guy is amazing, he just pours electricity in your veins. Chaconne is an old music of the highest quality but hard to grasp for untrained ear. A decade ago I listened and re-listened to it for dozens of times until I "got it". Why did composer Johannes Brahms say:
> The Chaconne is one of the most wonderful, incomprehensible pieces of music. On a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings. If I were to imagine how I might have made, conceived the piece, I know for certain that the overwhelming excitement and awe would have driven me mad.
That's some challenge right there. "Getting" this piece is worth the effort. But I don't blame people passing by just ignoring it if they heard 10 seconds in passing.
13 years ago the Joshua Bell experiment was repeated in Romania by a local virtuoso using a Strad as well. He got more attention than Joshua. Funny thing, they interviewed people and one said - "I didn't recognise him but I knew something shady was going on". People knew great violin even if they couldn't explain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLCTvA4kq5s
Another funny story, I once saw the same violinist (Alexandru Tomescu) in concert and my f&$^ng phone rang at the last seconds. And I had it closed, but it was a helpful phone and woke up. Then had the guts to go for an autograph after the concert.
I really wish silent mode means silent like a brick mode, not just filtering some noises.
> The Chaconne is one of the most wonderful, incomprehensible pieces of music. On a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings. If I were to imagine how I might have made, conceived the piece, I know for certain that the overwhelming excitement and awe would have driven me mad.
That's some challenge right there. "Getting" this piece is worth the effort. But I don't blame people passing by just ignoring it if they heard 10 seconds in passing.
13 years ago the Joshua Bell experiment was repeated in Romania by a local virtuoso using a Strad as well. He got more attention than Joshua. Funny thing, they interviewed people and one said - "I didn't recognise him but I knew something shady was going on". People knew great violin even if they couldn't explain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLCTvA4kq5s
Another funny story, I once saw the same violinist (Alexandru Tomescu) in concert and my f&$^ng phone rang at the last seconds. And I had it closed, but it was a helpful phone and woke up. Then had the guts to go for an autograph after the concert.
I really wish silent mode means silent like a brick mode, not just filtering some noises.
> Epic Sax Guy is amazing
Just to be clear: Epic Sax Guy (of Eurovision fame) is not Leo Pellegrino.
Epic Sax Guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Stepanov_(musician)
Guy in the video: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Pellegrino
Leo seems to prefer a bari sax, whereas Epic Sax Guy prefers a regular one (I don't know if there's a proper term - the one between bari and alto)
Just to be clear: Epic Sax Guy (of Eurovision fame) is not Leo Pellegrino.
Epic Sax Guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Stepanov_(musician)
Guy in the video: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Pellegrino
Leo seems to prefer a bari sax, whereas Epic Sax Guy prefers a regular one (I don't know if there's a proper term - the one between bari and alto)
Tenor sax sits between baritone and alto
Who? Maybe the “problem” is that most people don’t listen to classical music, and among those who do, most wouldn’t know who Joshua Bell is or be able to recognize him. IWO maybe it’s not a problem of not noticing but rather one of not caring.
No. The "problem" is that people pay a massive premium to see him perform on stage, thinking they're enjoying art, even though his performance isn't significantly different from any of a hundred less famous violinists. Those premiums were them being duped by marketing, not their refined appreciation of art.
Of course they're not supposed to recognize him! They're supposed to recognize the much-higher-quality of his musical performance, even in a subway station, since a supposed master of the art is playing this time rather than mere buskers! That's what the naive, mainstream view would hold.
But -- oops -- in a surprise to absolutely no one who's heard of The Emperor's New Clothes, and to everyone who completely missed the point of that fable... they didn't, except a few who were working off other cues.
Imagine your comment in another context: "the problem is that most people don't have experience in evaluating fashions in clothing, and they wouldn't recognize when their emperor is wearing unusually good raiments". Uh, no. There's a simpler explanation. You just need to give up a cherished worldview to see it.
Yes, humans get duped by social proof. It's just not usually this obvious.
Of course they're not supposed to recognize him! They're supposed to recognize the much-higher-quality of his musical performance, even in a subway station, since a supposed master of the art is playing this time rather than mere buskers! That's what the naive, mainstream view would hold.
But -- oops -- in a surprise to absolutely no one who's heard of The Emperor's New Clothes, and to everyone who completely missed the point of that fable... they didn't, except a few who were working off other cues.
Imagine your comment in another context: "the problem is that most people don't have experience in evaluating fashions in clothing, and they wouldn't recognize when their emperor is wearing unusually good raiments". Uh, no. There's a simpler explanation. You just need to give up a cherished worldview to see it.
Yes, humans get duped by social proof. It's just not usually this obvious.
That may be true but this “experiment” doesn’t show it.
For one thing, if he was busking in NYC he would earn an order of magnitude more money. Because NYC has more people who are attuned to music and use the subway.
For another, you’re failing about a performance in a subway. The acoustics aren’t great at all.
Finally, a classical performance isn’t ideal to attract subway listeners. You have a couple of seconds to draw their attention because most of them are on their way to catch a train, catch a connection, or reach their destination. So all this says is that the best musicians cannot draw the attention of people by a few seconds of performance.
For one thing, if he was busking in NYC he would earn an order of magnitude more money. Because NYC has more people who are attuned to music and use the subway.
For another, you’re failing about a performance in a subway. The acoustics aren’t great at all.
Finally, a classical performance isn’t ideal to attract subway listeners. You have a couple of seconds to draw their attention because most of them are on their way to catch a train, catch a connection, or reach their destination. So all this says is that the best musicians cannot draw the attention of people by a few seconds of performance.
Agreed. There are so many incredible artists out there, so much great music written and performed that it seems unfair to expect a random person rushing to get to work to drop everything they're doing to pay attention to almost anything these days, especially if it's not art they care much for.
> and among those who do, most wouldn’t know who Joshua Bell is or be able to recognize him.
He's easily one of the top three violinists the US has ever produced, top two if you exclude Perlman (who immigrated as a teen). Anyone who actually listens to classical music probably has at least a CD or two of his.
He's easily one of the top three violinists the US has ever produced, top two if you exclude Perlman (who immigrated as a teen). Anyone who actually listens to classical music probably has at least a CD or two of his.
Not sure why this was downvoted. People who actually listen to classical music regularly know who Bell is, even if they may not like him. He's hardly obscure.
[deleted]
The article[1] was interesting. Most of the people who stopped to listen had played the violin for a significant amount of time as a kid, which helped them notice a really talented violinist.
I imagine many more who walked past would fancy themselves as concert-goers, but wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between him and a talented conservatoire student.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pearls-bef...
I imagine many more who walked past would fancy themselves as concert-goers, but wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between him and a talented conservatoire student.
[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pearls-bef...
Besides the reasons others have already mentioned: you quickly train yourself not to pay attention to anyone trying to attract it in public, especially on the metro. Otherwise you're inviting inconvenience as they try to follow up and you (if you're nice) try to disengage politely, if not inviting actual trouble or harassment. This is not a good environment for paying attention to art, recognizing celebrities out of context, human connection in general, etc.
Anyway, my personal reaction to a good busker is "well, they're still making noise in public, but at least they don't suck".
Anyway, my personal reaction to a good busker is "well, they're still making noise in public, but at least they don't suck".
I remember watching the WaPo videos of this experiment back when it happened. It's really hard to draw any kind of conclusion from it other than "context matters". First, nobody expects a famous violinist busking in the subway, and we know that our brain runs on its own expectations most of the time. Second, he was playing Bach's Chaconne, which is a masterpiece, but one that's less well known and less "impressive" sounding to the casual listener. Something like the Four Seasons would have probably attracted a lot more attention. Third, a number of people did notice him, and one lady even recognized him because she had been to one of his concerts recently. A few other people also did notice his skill level was unusually high. So the result is pretty much what you'd expect. To me, it wasn't so much an experiment as just a kind of silly but fun stunt.
I listen to a lot of classical music and never heard of this guy until he showed up as a free demo on my PlayStation 4 VR. I’ve been to many concerts where some attractive violinist is dragged out and I’m told they’re important. I enjoy their performance but they’re just as interchangeable as the rest of us.
Just curious – if you are asked to name some classical instrumentalists, who would you mention?
I don’t really follow classical music but frankly
I find a lot of buskers really really good. IMO the difference between mega star and random busker is a hell of a lot of luck (and dedication). On pure talent alone, the random lady outside Bond Street today could beat tailor swift.
A lot of this also comes down to your familiarity with the instrument and the genre. I know guitars and drums. I can tell if someone playing a guitar is merely good or world class.
However, my exposure to classical music is so little that I have no way of telling if someone is just good or truly spectacular.
Reckon the same applies to the average person - most have very little exposure to classical music and can’t tell how good a violinist really is.
Would be interesting to see this experiment repeated with a more popular instrument and genre - say, an electric guitar and rock.
However, my exposure to classical music is so little that I have no way of telling if someone is just good or truly spectacular.
Reckon the same applies to the average person - most have very little exposure to classical music and can’t tell how good a violinist really is.
Would be interesting to see this experiment repeated with a more popular instrument and genre - say, an electric guitar and rock.
This reminds me of the time Banksy had someone sell original signed canvases on a NYC sidewalk for $60, and sold a total of 8 in one day (two were sold for 50% off).
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2013/oct/14/b...
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/video/2013/oct/14/b...
I have friends in the art world and they pointed out that actually could be a fair price, because without a document
of provenance and authenticity the art isn’t worth anything to a collector.
At one time, the Boston subway system had live musicians, with auditions. The New York MTA still does.[1] The Boston subway now requires a permit, but not auditions.
[1] https://away.mta.info/articles/music-under-new-york-nyc-subw...
[1] https://away.mta.info/articles/music-under-new-york-nyc-subw...
I had such a permit for the T in Boston. No audition, but the application asked us to list recordings or other experience. They asked me again when I showed up in the office to get my picture taken.
There are some fantastic musicians who are busking, especially string instruments - classical guitar, violin, and for many years there was an elderly Chinese guy playing the erhu at the Park Street station or above ground at Harvard Square.
There are some fantastic musicians who are busking, especially string instruments - classical guitar, violin, and for many years there was an elderly Chinese guy playing the erhu at the Park Street station or above ground at Harvard Square.
The Toronto Transit Commission operates a permit system for subway musicians (1) too. There are designated busking areas that are marked off with a dotted line.
I think the permit system helps cut down on “nuisance” musicians that are offensive or just plain bad.
It also saves on busking drama about turf wars on prime locations.
https://www.ttc.ca/doing-business-with-the-ttc/Subway-Musici...
I think the permit system helps cut down on “nuisance” musicians that are offensive or just plain bad.
It also saves on busking drama about turf wars on prime locations.
https://www.ttc.ca/doing-business-with-the-ttc/Subway-Musici...
"...only seven actually stopped and listened for any length of time."
I'm sure almost everyone was going to work. It's not like they'd have time to stop and listen to a random guy playing a violin.
I'm sure almost everyone was going to work. It's not like they'd have time to stop and listen to a random guy playing a violin.
Precisely. I like music and I can distinguish a good player from a noob fairly well, but if I have to take a metro or a tram in the morning, it usually means that I am on my way somewhere where I cannot be late. That period of time is called "rush hour" for a reason.
It might have been slightly different on a Friday evening.
It might have been slightly different on a Friday evening.
I remember this article when it appeared. I did not like the tone of the whole experiment. The most offensive thing to me was the title in the Washington Post: It was titled, "Pearls before breakfast". Anyone familiar with Matthew 7:6 from the Bible would catch the reference, and what they were calling the public. (And that too, when they were anxious to get to work!)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pearls-bef...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/pearls-bef...
A similar experiment was performed by horror author Stephen King. King wrote under a pen name to see if his own success was due to talent or luck. [1]. "The Bachman book _Thinner_ (1984) sold 28,000 copies during its initial run—and then ten times as many when it was revealed that Bachman was, in fact, King."
These experiments sum up how being talented - or having a good product - doesn't guarantee you'll get noticed or achieve financial success. If Jeff Bezos were born today - long after the dot-com boom - and to a less affluent family, would he still be as financially successful? I think luck plays a bigger role than most are willing to admit.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bachman
These experiments sum up how being talented - or having a good product - doesn't guarantee you'll get noticed or achieve financial success. If Jeff Bezos were born today - long after the dot-com boom - and to a less affluent family, would he still be as financially successful? I think luck plays a bigger role than most are willing to admit.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bachman
to me 28,000 sounds like fairly conclusive proof that it wasn’t luck, even if he did sell ten times that many after it was revealed. authors need time to build an audience
but then writing is something that’s much more discernible to the common eye. a good author is good, a fantastic (pop) author is addictive. unless you have a very attuned ear, the same is not true for violinists
but then writing is something that’s much more discernible to the common eye. a good author is good, a fantastic (pop) author is addictive. unless you have a very attuned ear, the same is not true for violinists
> sold 28,000 copies
Which is a really good amount, isn't it?
Which is a really good amount, isn't it?
Never heard of him.
Me neither, and I listen to classical music more than your average Spotify user. However, I don't read about it, research it or engage with it any deeper than hitting the Play button. so even had I heard of Joshua Bell before, I certainly wouldn't be able to recognize him in person.
It seems to me these people seriously overestimate the impact of classical music and musicians on the music scene today and the wider public in general.
It seems to me these people seriously overestimate the impact of classical music and musicians on the music scene today and the wider public in general.
I thought the article was about Josh Bell, the baseball player: https://www.mlb.com/player/josh-bell-605137
c'mon, dude. his hair is an icon of classical music in itself
I'm a little surprised at people here who claim to be classical music aficionados and yet haven't heard of him. I would have guessed it's hard to know enough to be able to name more than two or three classical violinists and not know who Bell is.
But I think that's beside the point, because I don't think the premise is that people "should" have recognized Bell as a celebrity. The naive hope is rather that people can recognize great art when they encounter it.
But I think that's beside the point, because I don't think the premise is that people "should" have recognized Bell as a celebrity. The naive hope is rather that people can recognize great art when they encounter it.
The whole framing is weird to me. I enjoy classical music among other things, but I'm in no way an "aficionado" (whatever that means), and I can recognize around 0 classical musicians by appearance.
> I'm a little surprised at people here who claim to be classical music aficionados and yet haven't heard of him.
How about they heard of the composers that he played the music of (Bach, Massenet, Schubert and Ponce), but not of the guy that played?
When I go and buy a Big Mac, I care that it's a Big Mac, not whether the cook that re-heated it today was Bob or Joe.
How about they heard of the composers that he played the music of (Bach, Massenet, Schubert and Ponce), but not of the guy that played?
When I go and buy a Big Mac, I care that it's a Big Mac, not whether the cook that re-heated it today was Bob or Joe.
Concert soloists have their own characteristics. They often play the same piece with subtle differences and confer different feelings. Some may sound more convincing/touching than others. When I hear a version I like, I may check who is the soloist and may buy his/her album. Then I will naturally remember the name.
Cool, but I asked for a Big Mac, and so did 99.99% of the world.
You're just in the 0.01% that would have stopped and listened, just like you're in the 0.01% that would buy his album or go to his concert.
My point is that classical music soloist is a niche hobby, just like my playing cards collection is a niche hobby, and that to expect that more than 0.01% of the world would stop on their way to work to look at my playing cards collection is simply laughable. This whole article is a joke.
You're just in the 0.01% that would have stopped and listened, just like you're in the 0.01% that would buy his album or go to his concert.
My point is that classical music soloist is a niche hobby, just like my playing cards collection is a niche hobby, and that to expect that more than 0.01% of the world would stop on their way to work to look at my playing cards collection is simply laughable. This whole article is a joke.
You quoted "classical music aficionados". I was mainly reacting to that part and explaining what an aficionado would do. A random person buying a Big Mac is not an aficionado. Also from the article, 2.5% paid, 0.6% listened and 0.1% recognized him. This is more or less in line with my expectation. I certainly know classical music is a niche hobby. When I go to some chamber music concert, I often see a room of elders, very few young audience.
Solo violin is relatively niche in the vast world of classical music.
The reaction here shows that HN doesn't follow classical.
The reaction after (presumably) hearing some of the video . . . shows that they're not going to.
Regardless of celebrity, a classically-trained violinist and a busker are two very different things. (Buskers have more charisma!)
The reaction after (presumably) hearing some of the video . . . shows that they're not going to.
Regardless of celebrity, a classically-trained violinist and a busker are two very different things. (Buskers have more charisma!)
Classical music is obsolete. And the dude was wearing a baseball cap.
The name only rings a bell (sorry) because of the closing of Chasing Ice but that's five years after this experiment.
I thought he was the guy from Drake and Josh.
[deleted]
Wait, this busking happened on the way TO work and not the way home?
No wonder why no one stopped!
No wonder why no one stopped!
> this includes a $20 note from someone who recognised him.
So he was noticed.
So he was noticed.
Anyone know if rush hour is ideal busking time? My guess is if you're looking for cash it's probably pretty good, but if you're looking to interact with people you're better off when things aren't as busy.
No one is stopping in DC in the morning because most jobs there are very particular about employees being on time. It would have been a better experiment to start busikonh around 5pm instead.
The article's title is 'and no-one noticed' but then in the article they casually drop that someone did indeed recognize him and leave him 20 bucks...
I only know about Joshua Bell from this video and some VR thing he did that I downloaded on my PS4 a few years ago
i think the trick for busking is to be LOUD, look entertaining and play uptempo tunes
First of all, it relies on the incorrect assumption that 'the same people' would pay a lot of money to see him play at a concert hall. I'm not sure this is right. About one in 1000 people did stop and recognize him, and I feel this fraction is not too different from the actual percentage of people who have heard of him and would pay to see him, so this isn't surprising. He is famous, but not that famous.
Second, there is a fundamental misunderstanding on what it means to go to a concert. The whole point of the concert is to take time specifically to listen to music in an attentive and dedicated way. It's not like an improved version of listening to music in my headphones during my commute, it's a wholly different experience with a different purpose. Moreover, it's a collective ritual. We don't go to the concert hall just because of the music and because of Joshua Bell, we also go because it's nice to treat yourself to an evening out, to dress nicely, and to enjoy the fancy atmosphere of the theatre with its, say, baroque frescoes or modern architectural design. Joshua Bell in that context is literally not the same as Joshua Bell in a subway, otherwise why would he dress nicely for the concert? And you know what, there is nothing wrong with that. Theatre and music have always been this way.