I cut up the recording and multiplied the loop maybe 7-8 times. I had intended to use the oboe as the main melody instrument, but since I was so eager to try the structural idea, and since the oboe takes 15-20 minutes to “start up”, I went for the low whistle instead. Hmmm. Doesn’t the [...]
Archive of entries posted on January 2007
Tired in a Major Way
We started the show about 15 minutes late. They said it was due to “parking issues”. (I do know the Sharks were playing tonight.) I was at my car at 11:00 PM. I began work at 10:00 AM, which means I was at the hall a bit after 9:00 AM. This means I’m very, very [...]
No Time. No Time.
I got got got no time. Today is the Camelot marathon. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Come home, eat a very early dinner, watch 10 minutes of Law & Order and a few minutes of BBC news. Check email. Read a few blogs. Blog this. Soon I’ll be in black and back in the car. Then it’s [...]
MQOD
Musician: Do you want more vibration here? Guest conductor Susanna Malkki: (pause) I want … (pause) I want it to be beautiful. Read at the SLSO blog, written by Eddie Silva. The orchestra was rehearsing John Cage’s Credo in US. —–
Be Happy. Be Healthy. Play Music.
A study of cancer patients in 2000, led by Dr. Barry Bittman of the Mind-Body Wellness Center, linked a particular type of drumming activity to increased immune response. It seemed to help patients’ immune systems seek out and destroy cancer cells. A study by Bittman and colleagues at Loma Linda University and the Bay Area’s [...]
MQOD
Your playing is like salt water taffy. You see all the beautiful colors, red, yellow, blue, but they all taste the same. -Marcel Tabuteau
Another
Another video of the oboe quartet. And yes, triplets again. I guess I’m in the minority! Gee … what a surprise. Heh.
How do YOU Play It?
So … Mozart’s Oboe Quartet … how do you play the grace notes? In this video the oboist turns the grace note with two sixteenths into a triplet, as does this player at what looks to be a student recital(?). I’ve always played a true grace note, as has another oboist-friend of mine. I’m curious [...]
Bet a Bad Reed Could Kill Too
A dog barked, some four year old boy screamed, and chickens died.
Hmmm … Um …
So I guess Christopher Lee (AKA Count Dracula, Fu Manchu, Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, Saruman) has a CD out. And you can also hear him sing a metal version of The Toreador if you’d like. Well. Okay then. —–
Women May Attend Unclothed
Gentlemen are kindly requested to wear evening dress for premieres. Gentlemen are in any case required to wear a jacket and tie at all performances. Items of clothing which do not comply with a proper theatre decorum shall not be accepted. La Scala has decided to tell the men what to wear. We women are [...]
251
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOZART! You still sound mighty fine. —–
Just Plain Ducky
The enticement of a string of decoys and an adjustable double reed variable tone caller must be compelling to the average feather-brained mallard. I knew you wanted to know that. Part of the article itself is pretty odd … a woman opens her fridge and finds a duck staring her in the face. Cool eh? [...]
Making Oboe Reeds
It’s not a very difficult process, the only thing is in the refinement, but it can be a lot of fun. Sort of like carpentry. And not many of the other instruments apart from bassoon do the same thing. Hmmm. Am I in the minority here? I find reed making difficult, and I’ve never found [...]
Interesting
I landed on this site and read a few interesting little things. I’ve now read at two different sites (see this for the other) that the writers were given inside information about the 2007-2008 Opera San José season. Huh? I find this a bit curious, since I posted it a few weeks back, as did [...]