oboeinsight

You DO know what today is … don’t you?
Happy April Fools’ Day!
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Of course, being a musician, I myself am rarely at work (or even awake) before noon, . . .

-Stefan Katz (quote found here)
Okay folks, I have news for you: I never sleep until noon. And I never have.
My alarm clock goes off on weekdays, for the time being, at around 6:20. Except on [...]

World Record Concert

So it was long. And there was an earthquake. And there were more than 900 musicians.
But there is NO mention of an oboist.
I ask you, can it really be considered a concert, then? No sirree. ;-)
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… MAYBE.
I was sent two (free!) reeds from Back Bay Reeds. Thank you so much, Meredeth Rouse! They are quite good. One was a student reed, using the fake cork staple, and the other a professional, using a cork staple. Both played well when I received them. Both were “concert ready” to be honest.
Now [...]

It’s got nothing really to do with race: Black flutists don’t sound black any more than female violinist sound female, so let’s leave that preposterous debate alone.
Oh well. I thought the reason people said I sounded beatiful was because I’m … oh … never mind. And when someone says “Your tone was really fat,” (not [...]

Some orchestra members came prepared for very specific adventures: Bassist Don Evans, cellist Michael Lipman and librarian Lisa Gedris all brought their golf clubs. Early in the morning, they drove north from Ventura Beach to a course in Ojai, where they played a round together. Cellist Adam Liu accompanied them on the outing — his [...]

… this isn’t supposed to sound like a real orchestra. I’ll have to read more to see if Notion is saying this recording sounds like real musicians, but this page makes me think that they think they sound real.
They don’t.
Maybe I’m not getting it though. I don’t get a lot of things. So I’m [...]

Authorities in Vienna are planning to drive drunks and drug addicts from the city’s main underground station, Karlsplatz, by the judicious use of the music for which the city has become renowned – opera.

I’ve written about this before, and I’m guessing I’ll write about it again. But oh well! It just irks me that we [...]

No, not the kind that parents set up for their children. (I actually despise the whole “play date” thing … when I was a kid I just walked down the street, knocked on the door and said, “Can Sherri play?” But now I’m sounding OLD, aren’t I?)
This “Play! date” is about a video game concert. [...]

“There are a lot of musicians who come here thinking that the most important thing is their art, and that other concerns—like making money—don’t matter.” Around the beginning of fourth year, though, “People start to get a little scared. They start thinking, ‘what am I gonna do next?’”

Read the article.
I think a lot of music [...]

No longer tired, Henry comes away from the wall where he’s been leaning, and walks into the middle of the dark auditorium, toward the great engine of sound. He lets it engulf him. There are these rare moments when musicians together touch something sweeter than they’ve ever found before in rehearsals or performance, beyond the [...]

Oboe Movie – A Day in the Life. (A typo—Elivis?!—and an oboe with missing keys … but cute!)

And now off to work on reeds, and to practice the Ravel for next week (English horn: Ravel’s Piano Concerto).
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For example, the music John Williams wrote for E.T. is like a symphony. It’s complex and it’s not that easy to play. (Ahhh. So that’s what makes a symphony!)

and from the same article:
Classical music used to be written to accompany plays on the stage or as background music for another activity, but we became purists [...]

Terri Gross: What kept you going to high school and college, in spite of the success that you were having?
Booker T.: Well, I had not yet met my own standards, I wasn’t yet writing the music I was hearing in my mind; I had a classical background and a curiosity for all of the [...]

My headache did finally leave, I have a new “do” (as in haircut) … well … it looks the same, I suppose. But it’s lighter (as in thinned out a bit … have a lot of hair) and I think it means I’ve lost weight. Or something.
But anyway, I’m home now, and it’s off [...]