(If youвЂ™ve been living under a rock, Hamilton is a hip-hop-infused retelling of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton and is currently sold out on Broadway for the foreseeable future.)Д«ut the original cast recording, which was released in September, has brought the show and the music to the world, so we decided to nerd out with Lacamoire about all of the inspirations and secrets behind the sound. Atlantic Records agreed and the rest is history, quite literally. While most original cast recordings (pro tip: never call a musical theater album a вЂњsoundtrackвЂќ unless you want to unleash theater geek fury) are recorded in a day and a half due to time constraints and the cost to bring the actors into the studio, Lacamoire suggested recording 'Hamilton' more like a pop album, where the time was spread out over about two weeks. Lacamoire also spent about вЂњa month and a halfвЂќ working with Questlove and Black Thought of the Roots, recording and mixing the original cast recording, which holds the number one spot on the Billboard rap album charts for the week of Nov.В 28. вЂњI had always heard the music and always listened to it, a little bit passively, but because of Lin, I started to actively listen to what hip-hop was doing.вЂќ (The two first worked together on 'In the Heights' and also collaborated on 'Bring It On: The Musical.') вЂњOnce I met Lin, he opened my mind because here was a dude who was loving on вЂDefying GravityвЂ™ just as much as he was loving on EminemвЂ™s вЂLose Yourself,вЂ™вЂќ Lacamoire says, sitting in the living room of his Upper West Side apartment. However, Lacamoire was not a hip-hop head until he met Miranda. to Jason Robert Brown in the lyrics and the melodies, Lacamoire was crafting orchestral odes to everyone from the Beatles to the Beastie Boys to DвЂ™Angelo. (Lacamoire also plays keyboards, giving him a total of five hats to wear.) And while Miranda was dropping references to everything from The Notorious B.I.G. So seven times a week (his associate does one performance) he has the вЂњbest seat in the house.вЂќДЄlong with 10 pit musicians-a pop rhythm section (drums, percussion, guitar, bass, two keyboards) and a string quartet (two violins, viola, cello)-Lacamoire creates the 'Hamilton' sound. The music director, who also orchestrated the score and co-arranged the songs with composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, serves as the showвЂ™s conductor.

Alex Lacamoire has probably seen 'Hamilton' more times than anyone.

Hamilton composer