|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| I really miss my life with helen. i wish she would move back to boston, and then we could resume our lives together, as they were before we moved apart. it's not just that i miss her, but that i miss the US of togetherness. don't get me wrong, i enjoy spending time with my friends. but sometimes i just wish that i could spend that time with her. | | |
| donald mcronald & the hamburglers ... a.k.a. ryan o'donnell band
just got back from a random gig. with paul gunsberg and three guys i just met like 3 hours ago. paul said they needed me to play. so we went to harvard square and took up at tommy doyle's, which is this traditional irish pub where the house of blues used to be. i hadn't been there since it was house of blues, when bootyjuice played there, maybe like three to four years ago.
it was a nice hang, all the other dudes are from nec. we just went on stage and had a good time. the instrumentation of the rest of the band was: toy drum kit (like for kids), two guitars, one tape recorder, backup vocals, alto saxophone, and radio.
after we finished our set, people in the place were dedicating songs and stuff to us, i guess we really touched them. introduced them to different music. there were a few other acts that played; they were all acoustic country-western/folk bands.
anyways it was fun to get out and play with nec folks. go nec, go... | | |
| GREAT NEWS
I HEAR H.K.'S IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man I wanna go home and get my teri okinawan noodles w/ papio & chili peppa water! | | |
| uh... no, no i don't...
i had an encounter recently that reminded me that i don't fare well towards cockyness when it comes to music... basically, that if i don't know someone's playing intimately first, they'll get the cold shoulder from me if they're gonna try being braggy.
here's the anecdote:
so the other day, a fellow i know says to me, "sometimes ... i just feel like going into Guitar Center (a store), picking up a [insert favorite brand of instrument] bass, and showing off."
this was a comment to which i didn't know how to respond. a little background info: this fellow and i are closer to acquaintances than friends; he's played electric bass in a few amateur bands (i think) but nothing much more; he knows i'm a conservatory-trained professional musician; and, we've never heard each other play.
in that split second that he said this, my mind flashed through the following questions:
1. how good does he think he is? (he must think pretty highly of himself, if he's going to go into a store and 'show off') ...
2. is he comparing himself to me (like, is he insinuating something?)
3. why would someone want to do that?
4. what makes someone say something like that?
5. what reaction does he expect to solicit from me??
so, to dodge whatever was being expected (if there was anything being expected), i politely shrugged and said, "oh. i usually don't go into those places," and thus leaving out the parenthetical comment "because of people like you, who say and do things like that."
then, excused myself to go get another beer (we were in a bar), and just kind of left things like that. | | |
| Questions.
Why do we hold auditions based on how we sound individually, when the whole game is "what kind of section players" we are?
To what extent are conservatory-trained musicians setup for occupational failure, whether or not we win big orchestra jobs? (i.e. "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" syndrome)
How can I get good enough that I never have to practice any more?
Thoughts.
Walking through JH, I heard what I thought was a period wind ensemble today, but their sound was really huge, so I was thinking, "that can't be, there'd have to be tons of them." I thought it might've been a period group because the intonation was really fuzzy and it sounded like a lot of natural horns, etc. Later on I found out it was a middle school symphonic band.
Man percussionists gotta deal with long fuckin' lists. Look at this. Jeezus. I shouldn't even be complaining about bass lists or repertoire:
Percussion
Percussion applicants may audition live (auditions are first-come, first served) or by tape. Please see above for taped audition guidelines.
In addition to the application materials required for all instrumentalists, percussionists must submit a repertoire list of no more than 1 page, listing works studied and/or performed in the last 2 years. Percussionists must prepare the following four solos in addition to all of the required excerpts listed below.
Solos
1. #6 from Keiskleiriana Book 2 by J. Delecluse for snare drum
2. a timpani solo of choice
3. a two mallet solo of choice
4. a four mallet solo from the contemporary repertoire
Timpani
BARTOK Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, mvt II: mm 300-340
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9, mvt I: mm 513 (18 mm before rhl S) to end of mvt
MARTIN Concerto for 7 winds, timpani, percussion, and strings, mvt III: 6 mm after rhl 18 to 7 mm after rhl 22
STRAUSS Der Rosenkavalier Suite
STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring, rhl 186 to end
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4, mvt I: mm 333-352 (2 mm before rhl T to 3 mm before rhl U)
WAGNER Götterdämmerung, Funeral Music (complete)
Xylophone
BARTOK Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, last mvt: mm 173-183 (at quarter note before 3/2 play double notes)
GERSHWIN Porgy and Bess Overture, Opening
HINDEMITH Kammermusik Op. 24, No. 1, Finale: mm 137-154 and mm 267-278
W. SCHUMAN Symphony No. 3, Toccata: mvt IV: mm 227-247 (in octaves)
Bells
DEBUSSY La Mer, mvt II: rhl 16 to rhl 19
DUKAS The Sorcerer's Apprentice, 4 mm after rhl 17 through 4 mm after rhl 19; rhl 22 to rhl 24
MOZART Magic Flute, Finale of Act I
RESPIGHI Pines of Rome, beginning through 8 mm after rhl 4; rhl 7 through 16 mm after rhl 9
Snare Drum
1) one pp roll ca. 10"; one ff roll ca. 10", one roll pp-ff-pp
2) excerpts:
PROKOFIEV Lt. Kije Suite, 1st part, rhl 1 to rhl 2
RAVEL Alborado del grazioso: rhl 26 to rhl 27 (Tamb. Militaire part); rhl 33 to end (Tamb. Militaire part - stems down)
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade, mvt III: rhl D to rhl E, rhl G to rhl I; mvt IV: rhl P to rhl R
W. SCHUMAN Symphony No. 3, Toccata: mm 143-165
SUPPÉ Overture to Pique Dame, 13 mm after rhl 6 to rhl 9, rhl 17 to rhl 19 (Payson Book Edition); or 4 mm before rhl C to 8 mm before rhl D, and rhl H to end
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 10, mvt II: rhl 98 to end
| | |
|
|
