Even though it's not Wednesday, Noel and Elmore, I wonder, do you have the same kind of creative control issues (or even different creative control issues) as Charles and Panni mentioned yesterday (in relation to my question about why playwrights have more control over their work than screenwriters).
DRBen, I have no control over what's done to my work usually; in theatre work, it constantly changes shape as the production develops and I'm under the control of the MD, who's usually under the thumb of the director/choreographer. On OH KAY! at Goodspeed, I scored the opening number four times because the choreographer and director kept playing with the number. I finally told them if they wanted another go at it, they had to bring in someone else, and they did!
When my reconstruction of JUBILEE was done at Carnegie Hall, Herb Ross - know some might like him, but he's no friend of mine - felt nothing about about ordering the musical director to make changes in my work, most of which I felt had more to do with putting his hand in than respecting what Cole Porter wrote. Most interestingly he ignored my casting suggestions to the producers of the benefit because they weren't "Stars" - among them Karen Ziemba, Kristin Chenoweth, David Elder, and Greg Louganis for the Johnny Weismuller role - and he never once spoke to me.
On my first album THE SONGS OF NEW YORK for Book-of-the-Month Club, Joe Papp sang "Don't Monkey With Broadway" and he was out of town until the day before the session, so I scored it in a key suggested by whoever it was who played for Joe, then John McGlinn called me after rehearsing with Papp and asked me to lower it a step because it was too high. All the parts were copied a step lower, Joe came to the session, decided the key was too low and it was recorded with the band transposing back up a step. The problem was that a lot of piano was lost because it was too chromatic to be transposed at sight quick enough for the schedule. If Joe Papp had been charming at the session, I might not have minded it, but he was difficult, and I don't think the scoring came off as well as it could have.
The truth of the matter is, in recording, I'm there to serve the singer, make hm or her look good, and keep the producer happy. However, in every musical job, I'm subservient to the conductor, composer, if he's around, and the producer. I'd rather butt heads in rehearsal than the session because I feel it's pretty much frozen by that point, but thinking fast on your feet is always a valuable asset, and I'm pretty good at it.
Often I'll hear tracks from a session I couldn't make in London and find the concept changed in the studio without my involvement and it can be frustrating: you're often praised or damned for work you didn't do.
So enough of my kvetching about control. The TOD is interesting, and I have several addictions, the newest being HHW, the worst being shopping, especially on eBay. Beyond that, I'm practically perfect!
