Washington Post Experiment

[911Rob]

Here is a true story; you can draw your own conclusions from the story. Some of my thoughts follow; I would love to hear what your conclusions are, because truly they are dependent on the individual and their train of thought at the time they read this?
Rob

Subject: Joshua Bell in the Subway...

http://www.joshuabell.com
A man sat at a metro station in Washington D . C . and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of
them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, a man leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him
along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the
parents, without exception, forced them to move on. In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He
played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100. Joshua Bell -playing incognito in the metro station - was organized by
the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour:

Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:- If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Will one of the nation's greatest musicians be noticed in a D.C. Metro stop during rush hour? Violinist Joshua Bell experimented for Gene Weingarten's Sunday Magazine story in The Washington Post. ...

Captured on YouTube: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw

Although the Washington Post emphasizes the fact that we are missing other beautiful things in our lives; which is likely very true, I have some additional thoughts about the “intended lesson” of life therein. I can only imagine how beautiful and outstanding the performance must have been? In addition, we must admit that there is a perception about reality herein; is there really one violinist that is the BEST in the world?, or through marketing, imaging and impressions we are led to believe that he is the best? I think this is more true, although I wouldn’t want to take away from how beautiful it most certainly must’ve been? Life has a way of branding each and every one of us and I think more than ever, that this branding comes from within; our perceptions of ourselves. There are far too many wonderful and beautiful things in our lives NOT to be happy and joyful. Regardless of other peoples perceptions of you, be happy; follow your bliss. My two cents. Rob. I would love to hear about your two cents?
Joshua Bell In Concert: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=rKwmfkDQ_Ws

This is a true story.

See http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp

[pwd72s]

I'd have sure as hell recognized Eric Clapton playing guitar...

[Zeke]

An interesting thread topic. For a few days now I have been contemplating starting a thread aimed at the younger members here, advising them to step back and take good look. I might still.

There is a farmers market here in Sunday at the marina. It's really a nice place to be on s Sunday morning,yet I get there all of twice a year. There are usually musicians playing. The one I have to stop and listen to is a guy who brings an upright piano in the back of a pick up. He sits on the edge of the bed and knocks out the best blues you'd ever want to hear.

My wife is usually walking away to the car just like the moms in the story above.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I'd have sure as hell recognized Eric Clapton playing guitar...

Exactly. It's all subjective and tuned to what we like.


Also, regarding the experiment....ever been somewhere and you bump into someone you "know" but can't place them? We filter our environments.... We'd filter this experience out into a. violin player in the subway. b. ah nice tune. c. oh it's something I recognize. d. oh, it's someONE I recognize. e. OMG, it's THAT GUY!!!!


Rob, do a search on Weingarten w/in the last 6 months. The follow up article was really interesting. Seems there was some kind of link to the past in this...No kidding. After the SuperBowl, I'll look for it if you can't find it.

[lm6y]

Music, as is with most other types of art, has to speak to you.

If the best rappers in the world were doing their thing, I'd pass without pausing.

If it were a guitarist, I'd stop. I play guitar, and look for tips anywhere I can.

Violins, not so much my thing, but unless he was playing a piece I knew, I would just stop to study his technique for any tips I could get.

I paid $75 to see TOOL, but I wouldn't pay $100 to see Joshua Bell. I bet most of Bell's audience couldn't tell the difference between him, and a "lesser" musician. Most are there to impress themselves, and each other with their "taste" and "sophistication".

If I were late for work I wouldn't stop for anyone.

I love music, but work pays the bills.

[onlycafe]

if it was anne marie calhoun.......



......i'd have missed the train for sure!

[Rick Lee]

They should have gotten Vanessa Mae to do it.

As someone who has spent thousands of rush hour commutes on the DC Metro, most of which involved Metro Center, the biggest stop, I can say most folks ain't on that cesspool of mass transit because they want to take their time and check out the local music scene. Rush hour in DC consists of people trying to and from work. Since most of the street musicians play at the top or bottom of the giant escalators, it's not exactly a great place for spectators to gather while the rats are racing to get around them. Oh, did I mention the vast, vast majority of street muscians in DC absolutely SUCK? Sometimes I've wanted to pay people to stop playing or so they could afford some more lessons. Seriously, they SUCK. I saw one guy in Alexandira once who was playing Stanley Jordan songs on his guitar and that blew me away, not just because of how hard it was, but because he was the first decent street musician I had seen in DC. There's also the Korean Moonie nut who gets on the trains and sings hymns. Of course, he doesn't start until the doors close, so he has a totally captive audience. After a few years of putting up with all the nuts there, it really would take a total star to get me to pay attention. Commuting on the DC Metro is why the iPod was invented.

[TimT]

Ha! I linked some Ann Marie Calhoun recently.....

She is tres hot and can play

[masraum]

Here's the text of the actual Washington Post article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721_pf.html

It actually calls him "one of the finest classical musicians in the world" which is not quite the same as saying that he's the best.

[304065]

What did they expect? Try that in New York, you could have the reincarnated spirit of Miles Davis blowing the trumpet and nobody would care.

Congratulations to the Washington post for proving what everyone knows, that there is a time and a place for everything. Next: auctioning off a Porsche 550 Spyder in an empty auditorium.

[masraum]

Yeah, I've stopped to listen to performers before. Have him playing someplace like a park or a beach or someplace that folks are spending leisure time, and there probably would be a crowd, but I doubt most folks budget extra time in their morning commute to listen to a street performer. Even a really good one.

If I were late for work I wouldn't stop for anyone.

I love music, but work pays the bills.

[VaSteve]

Kind of a cool follow up to the original story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/24/AR2008062401153.html

[Christien]

I read that story a while back when they first did the "experiment". Being a violinist, I'm biased, but I can without a doubt that if I'd heard a performance of that calibre in a subway, on the street, etc. I would absolutely have noticed, and would have taken time out of my day to stay, unless I was missing a limb and on the way to the hospital. Even then...

6 out of "thousands" is probably a similar proportion to society at large that would pay to see a violinist perform live. Factor in that of those thousands, maybe only half were within proper earshot to be able to hear the difference between a pro and an amateur and it's not a surprising result. Remember, most people don't care about the arts, beauty, etc. At least not more than their boss yelling at them for being late.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by masraum

but I doubt most folks budget extra time in their morning commute to listen to a street performer. Even a really good one.

Most don't budget, but many will give their time.

Last February I produced a concert here in Hamilton at the GO station (commuter rail/bus) during the evening rush hour. We set up a stage in the middle of the room where everyone walked by getting off the train or bus to go to the parking lot, city bus stop, taxi stand, etc. In an hour we probably had several hundred people walk by, and were amazed at the number of people who stopped and stayed, some for the whole thing. One woman told me after the concert that her husband was a bit pissed that she was late and didn't believe that she was watching a concert in the station! We got a ton of positive feedback, and many people wanting to know if we'd be back the next day, or we were doing more of this around town. Alas, budgets.

Admittedly, this was more of a concert than a street-musician plant. But it did tell me that people will take time out of their day for something special.



Video from the local newspaper:
http://cledroit.googlepages.com/nminp.wmv

[trekkor]

I'd slow my pace for a moment and then get going.

Not a big fan of the violin solo.

Now if it had been a trombone...


KT

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Christien

6 out of "thousands" is probably a similar proportion to society at large that would pay to see a violinist perform live. Factor in that of those thousands, maybe only half were within proper earshot to be able to hear the difference between a pro and an amateur and it's not a surprising result. Remember, most people don't care about the arts, beauty, etc. At least not more than their boss yelling at them for being late.

Oh, I'd recognize a good performance too if I came across one. But rushing to get to work or home from work is not when I'm paying attention to the street musicians. When I saw that guy playing Stanley Jordan songs, I was strolling around Old Town, Alexandria on a Sat. night with nowhere I had to be. That's when I'll have a good listen if they sound like they might be good.

The DC Metro is where a lot of really stupid people try to get publicity and just don't realize that they're in the wrong place and targeting the wrong people. You'd be amazed by all the voter registration people trying to sign folks up around the Metros. Newsflash - every single person who's eligible to vote in DC and works in that part of town votes like it's a religious duty. Most of them work in the politics and elections business. Everyone else is a tourist who's not eligible to vote in DC.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

The DC Metro is where a lot of really stupid people try to get publicity and just don't realize that they're in the wrong place and targeting the wrong people. You'd be amazed by all the voter registration people trying to sign folks up around the Metros. Newsflash - every single person who's eligible to vote in DC and works in that part of town votes like it's a religious duty. Most of them work in the politics and elections business. Everyone else is a tourist who's not eligible to vote in DC.

lolz I've seen it too.

[fingpilot]

I'd make a violin move, and have a Nano in my pocket playing a maestro if I thought I could make $64 dollars an hour tax free in a heartbeat!

That Obama guy is really on the ball. He said he'd make a job for me, and here it is. How much are those Nano thangs anyway? There's a beat-up violin in a closet somewhere around here......