A Passion for Conducting

The greatest days of all for conducting is most definitely January 4, which has been officially been named Conducting Day. It celebrates the greatest conductors, both alive and not alive! From old classics such as Alberto Q. Hemmingston, Frank Weigneng, and Warming Delfuth to the new-style jazz type guys like Christos, Yoma Bacsargov, and Aaront Tripeuzenerous. Today, we have the lovely Yoma Bacsargov here to give you a little information about what conducting is all about...

Yoma Bacsargov steps up the wooden stand broadly. His hair is a slick black - shiny, but not too shiny. He is covered in black, a color that is well associated to the musical environment. He has on his lucky silver watch, which was given to him by his uncle, the great musical composer Harry Viscargov, when he was a little Kyrii. Now Yoma is a grown Shadow Kyrii, ready to perform in front of a crowd of many people. He raises both hands up, his right hand holding his conducting stick, and his left hand - which he calls 'the hand that holds the other conducting stick' even though he is grasping nothing in it. The saxophones bring their horns up, the drummers prepare to play, the violinists silently give a sign of preparation, and they produce - no, not noise, not something very loud, but beautiful, flowing music.

"Music is all about love. If you got no love, you got no music," says Bacsargov. "Love is in everything - the trees, the soil, the sky. It's absolutely essential to life. And most importantly, music. No, I'm not saying music is a higher priority than life; of course it isn't! That would be silly. But music is just what gets your day going. In the morning when I wake up, I enjoy listening to music. It gets me pumped up, it gets my body energized. It's just like a battery."

A harmonic melody tickles the audience's hunger for music. Grande ala Capprisimo: Sight 2, one of the most elegant musical pieces composed by one of the most well-known composer in the history of Neopia, Gramms Strobanh. It's a piece that starts off in a slow, hollow mood in the beginning, with only the lowest of notes playing. But it grandly builds up, just like a climber climbing the heights of Terror Mountain. It progresses onto the medium stage of notes. And it goes on, even over the top, to notes so high they could hurt your ears. Well, maybe not literally, but notes so high, you just get that feeling that you are inside the music, and the music is part of you. And then it falls down, and rises up. It is a very complex musical tune, indeed. It is also one of the greatest.

"If I were to choose a favorite composer..." Bacsargov begins, rubbing his goatee. "I would definitely choose Strobanh. Gramms Strobanh, I'm pretty sure you all know him. And your next question is my favorite piece, right? Heh, that would be simple: Grand ala Capprisimo: Sight number 2. It's just the greatest of all pieces. Such a lovely tune."

Ta-ta-ta-tum. Ta-ta-ta-tum. Ta-ta-ta-tum. Da-ta-da-ta-da-ta-da-da. Da-ta-da-ta-da-ta-da-da. Dum. Dum. Dum-ta-tee-dum. Dum. Dum. Dum-a-tee-tee.

The point of the song, the action builds up and rises to the top. It's almost about to overflow. The audience is intently watching. And Bacsargov is putting all his might into his conducting.

"Ah, conducting. It's definitely great to know how to conduct. If you were to ask me what the greatest thing about music is, which you just asked me!, I would say conducting. Conducting is what sets the tune up. It leads the players. It is just like a pack of wolves, and I am the leader. We are in a storm, and they are struggling to get through. I tell them where to go, and they follow, doing as I tell them. And we make it through together. It's just like all musical pieces."

Taaa-taaa-teee-taaa-tiii-tiii-taataataataateee taa-taa. Raa-taa-taa. Laa-laa. Teeeeeeeeeee.

It's a voice. The instruments play together so beautifully. Just as if in unison. They sound just like one instrument. No, two instruments. The band and the conductor. "Conducting is all about spirit. You've got to have that spirit in there. No spirit, it's just waving your hands around like that. Young Neopians think conducting is a really interesting thing to do. Most of them really don't understand it. They think it's just about waving your hands wildly about, just doing it for comedy and to get a good laugh. That is true, but not in real conducting. Conducting, you sway with the music. Think of it like the ocean. Maraqua. If you have ever been to Maraqua, the waves move along together with the wind. And maybe a Darblat if one makes a strange noise. That's conducting along with the band, not counting the strange noise.

"If you want to strike left, move your body along to the left. If you want to strike right, sway your body a bit towards the right. My tip on conducting - do not, I repeat, do NOT ever practice it or memorize it. It's good if you mess up a time or two. That's what it's all about, leading the band. But if your conducting is just off, just forget about it. If you have a routine in mind, it won't work. I've tried it before, and our music was great. Absolutely great. But what was missing in it was the thing I had talked about at first - love."

Taa-tee-taa-too. Taa-tee-tee-teeteetaa.

The music rapidly changes on and off. Vivace, or quick and lively, then Adagio, or slow and leisurely. Vivace, Adagio, Vivace, Vivace, Adagio, Vivace, Vivace, Vivace, Adagio. It's just so intense, the audience is practically dancing along with the music. And then-

Taaaaaaaaaaa. Tee-tii-too-tuu-tuuuuuuuuum. Ta!

A long, exhilarating pause, Yoma Bacsargov is breathing intently; his face is filled with sweat. He has already taken off his royal black coat. The pause remains. Then Bacsargov faces the audience and bows.

"BRAAAVO!!!" an audience member shouts at the top of his lungs. And applause. Applause. The thing that follows a great performance by a great conductor and his mixed orchestra.

Ah, now we have covered the fine arts of music and conducting. Not much of a difference, aye? Let's have a final word with Bacsargov.

"There isn't much of a difference between music and conducting. The only difference I can name: conducting is not in music, but music is in conducting. So if someone asks you who Yoma Bacsargov is, you better not say 'some guy who does music!'. You say, 'some guy who conducts!' "