Archive for January, 2007
January 31st, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 writer know we do warm up before we play? Or is he/she talking about an oboe sound on some machine? (I’m too lazy to really read more of what he wrote. I just cracked up at the paragraph.)
And no, I don’t take 15-20 minutes to “start up”. Sure, I have to warm up, but it can go pretty quickly if I really have to make it happen.
Today, though, I’m taking some time to get moving at all. I did manage to do yard work, but then I really crashed. So I’m going to allow myself some hours off before I teach and go do another Camelot show.
Update
Oh. Wait. The guy who blogged about the oboe plays oboe. Odd.
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January 30th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 tired.
I have to get up at around 6:30 AM to take Jameson to school.
That means I should be in bed right now.
The thing is, I played a show.
And that means I’m a bit on the wired side.
So there you go.
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January 30th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 sound check, break, show.
I feel as if Tuesday’s dead or something.
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January 29th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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.
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January 29th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 Applied Biosystems in 2005 found that playing a musical instrument affected humans at the genomic level, preventing biological responses to stress. The specific responses are closely associated with heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other serious afflictions.
In practical everyday terms, the results of the third study — published in December — were even more startling. Regular music-making made octogenarians measurably healthier, happier and more active.
Article here.
I do wonder about the differences between the amateur musician and the professional. Does it cause us to be healthier as well? We are under a bit more stress, I would think. The articles I’ve seen always deal with those who are doing music for the love of it, and it has nothing to do with a music career.
Just wondering.
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January 28th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
Your playing is like salt water taffy. You see all the beautiful colors, red, yellow, blue, but they all taste the same.
-Marcel Tabuteau
January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
Another video of the oboe quartet. And yes, triplets again.
I guess I’m in the minority!
Gee … what a surprise. Heh.
January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 about other oboists. Do tell!
January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
A dog barked, some four year old boy screamed, and chickens died.
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January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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.
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January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 off the hook.
Whew!
January 27th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOZART!
You still sound mighty fine.
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January 26th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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?
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January 26th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 it fun. But the woman on this video says differently.
Well … okay … I have heard that some oboists actually love to make reeds. (They’re sick, I tell ya. Sick!) Most oboists I’ve run across who say this are male. I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard a woman say “I love to make reeds!” If I have, I’ve blocked it out.
But now there’s this video and a woman is saying that reed making can be fun and I’m simply puzzled. ;-)
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January 26th, 2007 by Patricia Mitchell
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 MikeR, and the OSJ newsletter that came out to ticket buyers announced it a few weeks ago as well. Odd. Is Opera San José acting as if it’s still a secret? I hope not. That would just be silly.
Secondly, I read this:
The Magic Flute will be performed by UCSC students, directed by Brian Staufenbiel, and conducted by Nicole Paiment . That happens Thurs., May 31 through Sunday, June 3 at the UCSC Music Recital Hall. Confidentially, it wouldn’t surprise me if we heard many better voices in this production than any of the other flutes around here. More on this later.
So what does this mean, I wonder? Now I’ll have to bookmark the blog and keep checking for an update. Better voices sounds great to me (although I’ve always been impressed with UCSC opera productions). I plan on attending the opera anyway—I go to as many of “my” university concerts as possible. (Which isn’t saying a lot; my concert and rehearsal schedule often conflicts.) I’m looking forward to Flute already and this adds a bit more excitement to the mix. Maybe they’re bringing in Nathan Gunn. (Btw, if you click on that link you get to hear him sing.)
No, I’m kidding about his joining the UCSC opera production. Really. Just working on my hits. Gotta compete with TSR. ;-)
Or not.