Hello.

I'm Violetta Vibrato, but you can call me Vi.

Hi!

And I'm Roger, Roger Rhythm.

And now we are going to meet the conductor of an orchestra on our Symphonic Safari Adventure.

Let's go Hi Vi and Roger.

I'm Darko Butorac, I'm the music director and conductor of our Tallahassee Symphony.

We are so excited to meet you.

Hi!

I'm Vi, and I'm Roger.

So, Darko, what does a conductor do?

Well, on one level, the conductor helps keep the orchestra together, but that's just the beginning of our job.

Really.

It's about shaping music.

And if we can think of music being like a story in sound, the conductor is kind of like a director.

Of a sound play.

So I'm shaping music from the moment it starts until it finishes.

I manage how fast it goes.

How loud it gets, how soft it gets, how edgy or gentle it is.

And I, with my hands, I show all these different characters See, we got to see you in the orchestra, and you had a wand.

So I want to know what does the wand do?

How does it work and is it magic?

Yes!

The wand, the wand is actually called a baton.

It's a baton, It's a baton, if you've seen the orchestra, the orchestra stage is quite large, you know, probably 60, 80 feet across between the different groups.

So if I were only using my hands to conduct and you were at the back of the orchestra it would be very hard to see.

So you use the baton to make your gestures more visible to people who are far away.

Mm.

I didn't know that.

And also, sometimes musicians need an impulse.

It's as if with your hands you want to go poof, so you can do that much more easily if you have a stick.

Right.

The baton can go "tick" much better than like a whole hand could.

So that's why the baton is useful.

So as I was watching you this evening, I noticed that you were moving your hands.

And I want to know, what do the different hand motions mean?

Is there, like, a language to conducting?

There is.

That's a great way to put it.

There is a language to conducting.

So the basics of conducting are showing the meter, the bar that the musicians see in front of them.

So, you know, we have music for example, in two, [singing], right?

Yes.

Music in three [singing] Right?

Yes.

Or music in four like the 1812 overture Right?

Yes!

So if we conduct music in two, the language [Singing] Right?

Yes.

Music in three we make a triangle.

So the gesture is [singing] Yes.

Yes.

And if the music is in four, well you go is to go down and up floor door window ceiling [Singing] etc.

Do conductors get to travel a lot and have you traveled a lot?

I have.

Conductors typically work all across the world.

We guest conduct, meaning that I will go and conduct another orchestra.

And perhaps when I'm not available to conduct here, we will bring another conductor to Tallahassee and they conduct.

So guest conducting is common in the profession.

And so I've been very lucky because I've traveled worldwide making music and it's a it's a beautiful thing.

How many countries?

Yes.

I was going to ask that too.

You were!

I was thinking about that too.

Well, as of now.

67 Wow.

That is incredible.

67.

My goal is to reach 100.

Oh, so I have 33 to go So we talk to a lot of musicians and they practice all the time.

Right.

Do you practice doing this or how do you practice as a conductor?

Well, as you see, the language that I showed you earlier is not that complex.

Yes.

I'm sure even our viewers can learn it very quickly.

Up, down, triangles, floor, the window, ceiling.

It's very easy.

What the conductor needs to know is the score, what the score is.

It's all the notes that the orchestra plays in the concert and they are all in one book.

And what I have to do, I have to go through every single part that I'm conducting.

I have to learn what the musicians are going through in order to know how to shape the music, how I can help my musicians and how to shape the piece.

So most of my work actually is not when I'm rehearsing the orchestra or even when I'm performing, but rather it's at home.

When I sit for hours on end and I memorize music.

So one of the most beautiful things about being a conductor is that for your entire life, you get to study, you get to learn more, and always grow.

So you have all of those things in your head before the show even starts?

I, yes, that's the goal.

I try to memorize all the pieces I do, and if I can, I like to conduct from memory.

Do you know how to play every single instrument in an orchestra?

No, I play the cello.

I play some piano.

I also play guitar for fun.

But what I do know I know how the instruments work and I know what is difficult and what is easier in instruments, so I can help a musician if there is a difficult passage coming up to give them confidence to play it well, and also in rehearsal, I have an understanding of what I need to rehearse.

I need to rehearse the difficult things I need to problem solve.

So that's where my energy will go.

So knowing the instrument is crucial.

Well speaking of going everywhere like that.

It would be great to know more instruments personally, I'm only up to three.

Oh, that is notable.

It's really interesting, I think.

What we want to know because we've talked about it, we imagine that you have a favorite instrument.

We won't tell anybody what that instrument is.

But if you whisper it to us, we really, really want to know.

Very softly, if you could.

Well, tell us.

Tell us.

Partial to.

Yes, the cello.

Yes, I knew it!

Did you know that?

Yes I knew it!

I actually thought that it was the violin.

Well, I played the cello originally, so this is why I love it.

But also, it's not an instrument but actually the sound I like the best is that of the human voice.

I find through singing, we can connect anywhere we are in the world.

And the reason I love the cello is because it's very similar to the human voice.

It has the range.

It's quite deep, like a big old dude.

Yes, yes.

And it can go very, very, very, very high, higher than I can sing.

And that span of the cello and the lyrical quality, because it sounds like the voice is why I love it so much.

we got it from him.

Amazing.

So I think we want to ask him the rapid fire.

I think we do.

So the rapid fire is that we give you two choices.

You get to instinctively choose one really, really, really fast, fast.

Do not think about it at all.

First one is Batman or Superman?

a Superman.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

Yoda or Darth Vader?

Darkovader.

Oh, I like it.

I see what he did there!

Mustache or goatee?

Goatee.

Bach or Beethoven?

Beethoven.

You have been so much fun to talk to.

It's a pleasure to get to know both of you.

We have been so excited about meeting you.

Thank you so much for the time on our Symphonic Safari Adventure.

How wonderful.

Thank you, Darko.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Bye bye.

Bye, everyone.