Wicked Good Composer Turns to Yamaha
BUENA PARK, CA (January 27, 2006) — Yamaha artist Stephen Schwartz has written music and/or lyrics for some of the best-loved musical productions of the last 30-plus years, including Godspell, Pippin, and animated features Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Prince of Egypt. His work has earned him three Academy Awards, four GRAMMYS®, and four Drama Desk awards to date. His latest hit, the musical Wicked, is currently touring 22 U.S. cities in addition to its ongoing run at Broadway's Gershwin Theatre.
The process for putting together a Broadway musical like Wicked takes about five years from conception to opening. Explains Schwartz, "I might do some musical sketches when I first know I'm going to do a project, but I tend not to start writing until at least some of the book has been written, and that doesn't happen until we've worked out the structure. Once that's in place, song-spotting occurs. Then I try to realize those specific songs."
The Yamaha Disklavier® proves very useful when Schwartz is connecting the songs. "It serves two functions: I write on it, and if I'm playing something and want to remember it, it serves as a kind of tape recorder. I can play something and save it, so I don't have to write things down yet," says Schwartz.
Later when he is actually doing the transcription, Schwartz usually plays the song on the Disklavier and ports it into a transcription program on the computer.
"The Disklavier captures the nuances of what I play, details I might want to include in the final score. So the Disklavier is a great tool in terms of getting the show prepared, writing the music and disseminating it. And it's such a flexible instrument in the orchestra pit. It gives you so many more possibilities than either an acoustic piano by itself or a MIDI piano by itself," comments Schwartz.
In the orchestration for Wicked there are 23 musicians in the Broadway orchestra, including keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, harp, strings, brass, and woodwinds. The touring orchestra incorporates more electronics and slightly fewer musicians. The first keyboard part in Wicked is specifically scored for the Disklavier.
"We use it because it's able to act as both a regular acoustic piano and a MIDI instrument. With the Disklavier, there are things you can do in terms of sound that you can't do with any other instrument. It can have no sound of its own, or be just the piano, or a combination of those things, which is extremely effective."
For more information on Wicked tour dates and tickets, please visit www.wickedthemusical.com.
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
 Yamaha artist Stephen Schwartz and the Broadway cast of Wicked |
The Yamaha Disklavier® proves very useful when Schwartz is connecting the songs. "It serves two functions: I write on it, and if I'm playing something and want to remember it, it serves as a kind of tape recorder. I can play something and save it, so I don't have to write things down yet," says Schwartz.
Later when he is actually doing the transcription, Schwartz usually plays the song on the Disklavier and ports it into a transcription program on the computer.
"The Disklavier captures the nuances of what I play, details I might want to include in the final score. So the Disklavier is a great tool in terms of getting the show prepared, writing the music and disseminating it. And it's such a flexible instrument in the orchestra pit. It gives you so many more possibilities than either an acoustic piano by itself or a MIDI piano by itself," comments Schwartz.
In the orchestration for Wicked there are 23 musicians in the Broadway orchestra, including keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, harp, strings, brass, and woodwinds. The touring orchestra incorporates more electronics and slightly fewer musicians. The first keyboard part in Wicked is specifically scored for the Disklavier.
"We use it because it's able to act as both a regular acoustic piano and a MIDI instrument. With the Disklavier, there are things you can do in terms of sound that you can't do with any other instrument. It can have no sound of its own, or be just the piano, or a combination of those things, which is extremely effective."
For more information on Wicked tour dates and tickets, please visit www.wickedthemusical.com.
For more information, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Piano Division, P.O. Box 6600, Buena Park, CA 90622, telephone (714) 522-9011; or e-mail infostation@yamaha.com.
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