MURRAY: Now it's time for--
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MURRAY: Yes!
The people in your neighborhood!
[RAPPING]
Who are the peeps that you meet when you're walking down
the street, or who are the people in your neighborhood?
Gotta say right away without delay they're the people that
you meet each day.
Ovejita, you took me to Lincoln Center, but where are
the people in my neighborhood?
[SPEAKING SPANISH]
MURRAY: Oh, hi!
I'm Murray!
ALAN GILBERT: Hi, I'm Alan Gilbert.
MURRAY: Oh, Alan, are you one of the people in our
neighborhood?
ALAN GILBERT: Yes, I am.
I'm the conductor of the New York Philharmonic.
MURRAY: Whoa!
A conductor!
I can't believe you're a conductor!
Alan, what is a conductor?
A conductor is someone who stands in front of a group of
musicians and moves around in order to try to help them play
really beautifully and well together.
MURRAY: Who are all these people here?
ALAN GILBERT: This is a wonderful group of musicians,
players from the Juilliard School.
MURRAY: Whoa.
What are all the instruments here?
ALAN GILBERT: These are all string instruments.
We have violins, the viola, cellos, and then the really
big instrument in the back is a double bass.
MURRAY: You know, Ovejita, my little lamb, she
loves to play the drums.
ALAN GILBERT: I'd love to hear her play the drums.
MURRAY: I could get her on the timpani.
She's awesome.
OVEJITA: Hee hee hee.
MURRAY: So tell me, what is that you're
holding in your hand?
ALAN GILBERT: This is called a baton.
A baton is a stick that I hold in my hand to make the
movements I do easier to see for the musicians.
MURRAY: Oh, why do they watch that?
ALAN GILBERT: There are a number of things that I can
change by the way I conduct.
One of the most important is tempo.
That's how fast the music goes.
MURRAY: Can you show me how you change
tempo with your baton?
ALAN GILBERT: I'll try to do that.
Let's play a bit of music, guys, and let's do it slowly.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MURRAY: Wow!
And now what would happen if you made it faster?
ALAN GILBERT: OK, let's try it faster.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MURRAY: That is so cool!
ALAN GILBERT: I think it's cool.
MURRAY: What other things can you control
with that little baby?
ALAN GILBERT: I can help show whether the music should sound
loud or soft.
Let's see if I can show you how that works
with this baton here.
MURRAY: OK, yeah, yeah, yeah.
ALAN GILBERT: But I'm not going to tell you which it is.
MURRAY: OK, I'll listen really close.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MURRAY: That was definitely soft
ALAN GILBERT: That was soft.
MURRAY: Yeah, yeah, I knew it.
Do you think you could play a piece of music for us?
ALAN GILBERT: I would love to do that.
MURRAY: You think I could join the orchestra?
I'm really good with cymbals.
ALAN GILBERT: You know what?
There is no cymbal part in this piece, but I think
there should be.
MURRAY: We're going to make our own music with maestro
Alan Gilbert!
OK, maestro Gilbert, what piece of music are going to
play today?
ALAN GILBERT: We're going to play Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,
which means A Little Night Music, by Mozart.
MURRAY: All right!
I'm all ready.
I got on my tuxedo.
I got my cymbals.
The only thing I don't know is, when do I play?
ALAN GILBERT: I'll give a cue.
MURRAY: OK.
I'll be ready for it.
Everybody ready?
Let's do this thing!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
MURRAY: That was a real crash course in conducting!
Boy, I sure do love meeting peeps in the hood!