Interview with the Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Interview with Alexander Mickelthwate


Standing at the head of an orchestra with a conductor baton in hand can be a pleasant but daunting dream. It is a profession that few of us really consider on our way to work in the morning. It is quite intimidating to think of the challenges associated with managing an orchestra, but at the same time it must be rewarding. This romanticized role seems like a vocation from a time long ago, a reminder that the influence of the past isn't as far away as we often think. 

This distinguished profession is reserved for the few that have an incredible, natural talent to meticulously calculate pitch, tempo, and the ability to manage many diverse musicians. Alexander Mickelthwate is one of the determined few that has employed his musical abilities into his career; He is currently the Music Director for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. However, the path was not paved for the young man, it was laid brick by brick with relentless determination and skill.

Alexander was exposed to music at a very young age, he has dedicated most of his time to disciplined, meticulous, practise fuelled by passion for symphonic creation. During a phone interview, Alexander recalls his first musical experiences in surprisingly accurate detail.

"When I was six years old I started playing the piano. My parents took me to my first symphony at that time, it was 'Hansel & Gretel'. When I was eleven I started to learn the cello. As a teenage youth I started working with the chamber trio, singing choruses and playing various instruments. At seventeen, thats when my career choice became apparent, I had that important conversation with my music teacher and he suggested that I study conducting."

Alexander studied piano and performance conducting in Karlsruhe, Germany where he refined his new found passion in the artform.

As a new fan of the WSO I had many questions as to the resurgence of orchestral music in our humble city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Alexander expressed that the prevalence of this old and wonderful genre in the modern music market really does depend on each cities independant culture. 

"Each major city generally has one orchestra and the popularity of the genre really is determined by programs that make the music accessible. A very notable case is in Venezuela, where 4,000 kids come together after school to learn this music." Says Alexander.

Moving all the way from Germany to North America must be a dramatic change, especially jumping into a very traditional and geography specific genre of music, I couldn't imagine the challenges that were faced upon arrival. Alexander was quick to correct my pre-conceived notion.

"Actually, adjusting to North America has been a breathe of fresh air." Says Alexander, mentioning that freedom in composition in North America lacks the traditional constraints he found in Germany. 

I was interested to gain some insight as to how professionals of this classical art form view the modern age production tactics of computer assisted engineering and composition. For some reason I was convinced that orchestral professionals were completely boycotting the use of computers, as they prove in each concert their total distaste for sampling, because they have the real musicians right there.

Alexander shed some light on the topic and mention that alot of composers are writing their works with Ipads and proprietary software like Finale. This completely shattered my vision of a composer taking long draws on a pipe, dipping his illustrious feather pen into an ink receptacle, and drawing in each note with prestige on a five line staff adorned scroll. I am glad to hear that many composers are unlocking the power of digital when they record ideas and compositions, feather pen or not!

Additional digital technology being employed in the 'band-stand' world are, to my surprise and utter excitement, looping pedals. Alexander reflected on a couple Cellists who have recorded loops and over dubs with a loop-recording pedal, creating original on the fly soundscapes during a Philharmonic concert. I suppose this concept of using a 'guitar-pedal' for orchestral instruments isn't that foreign, looking back on the historical fact that the first Wah-Wah pedal was designed for the trumpet.

Alexander also recalls sharing the stage with a couple different Dj's and Hip-Hop artists throughout the years. Now I know what he's saying about the artistic freedom over here, it's really not as traditional as I thought, these guys are pretty innovative!

I am very pleased to mention that the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra has a great program for young adults under 30, It's called Soundcheck. Basically they make it extremely affordable for students and young people who want to give this timeless music a shot, for perhaps the first time. Just think about how much you've paid in the past to see a headlining DJ. For only $15 bucks, you can see a whole Orchestra! Tell those Dj's to pack it in, and come see where they get their samples.

For a little bit over the price of movie tickets you could show your date the most incredible night out by escorting him/her to the orchestra. The only way you won't get a second date, is if you spill wine on your partner. So play it smooth, drink with two hands, and come check out the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

Don't fear the Reaper!

The video from our latest production seminar @ 125 Adelaide St has been recorded and uploaded for Fidelity Fixation. Using the previously introduced guitar (Fender Stratocaster Custom 72) I was featured as the session guitar player to add some melody to this speaker busting bass track!

I will present a brief explanation on how the track was built from the ground up. The next tunes to uploaded will be examined in greater depth focusing on specific parts of the production process.

Reaper is the digital audio workstation used for the song "Speekah Flex," the interface is displayed on the screen by projection. Cockos is the developer of this ground breaking audio software, they employ an "honest business model" that is enhanced with regular updates by a team of passionate engineers. It is amazing that you get all these free updates for this incredibly intuitive and ever evolving software for an insanely low one time cost.

This "honest business model" as defined by the companies website, invests capital exclusively for the function of improving the software directly; They do not invest most of the R&D budget into marketing campaigns and piracy protection like other brands of software. This honor system has kept the price point very low and consumers are very satisfied and often express beaming product reviews to fellow audio professionals.

Cockos offers a discounted license of $60.00 for producers making under $20,000 with the software; a commercial license costs $225.00 for studios making over that amount. This clever and surprisingly fair price point policy is just another example of how Reaper is designed with your everyday producer in mind, keeping the playing field fair and accessible varying levels of users.

Now that we have a background on the software used for the session, here is a breakdown of composition:

Step 1 - The track was started with a brand new Reaper session loaded up on an empty template.

Step 2 -  First four stereo drum tracks were created and then we asked students to come to the front and select drum samples for our new track. This was a very interesting experience having four different individuals compose the drums, they worked together quite well!

Predominantly the rhythms were selected from a huge bank of drum loops on our production hard drive. With a little bit of looping and layering we finalized a booming driving drum track with a glitchy breakdown.

The drums were mixed to taste by inviting class members to the front to do some sweep and cut EQ'ing which left us with a draft mix for the drums.

Step 3 - Now MC Pucona just arrived and he is itching to spit some lyrical content on this track! He conducted a group survey asking each member of the class to select a word, he wrote each word down on the white board to be the foundation for his rhyme (You can see the words on the white board behind me playing guitar). He hit the track hard in one take dropping his signature flavor on the mix!

Step 4 - Collectively again the class came up one by one cycling through different synth patches to find the perfect match for the beat. We had all kinds of wobble synth bass and ethereal textures that were recorded on the fly. The synth layers gave the track some movement, some low end you felt in your rib cage as it played back on the sound-system.

Step 5 - Next up was me on the guitar laying down my part of the tune, playing seventh style chords shapes to fill the tune out with some funk elements. This is where the video ends.

In upcoming posts we will explore additional elements of production as we dive into a new song. Hope you enjoyed the video!