… and with singers, too!
It was our first sitzprobe. It was my second cracked oboe reed in two days.
Yeah, really.
Yesterday one of the reeds I had designated as “this just might be good” (TJMBG™) cracked. (Oh, I already wrote about that, didn’t I?) So today … another TJMBG™ did the “gclk” thing on me. Figures.
I’d work on reeds now, but it’s too darn hot. And reed making would probably just be futile.
I want a tiger oboe. I do. I’ll happily say that. Or write it. Whatever.
I have started students as young as eight. The problem, in my little often erroneous, opinion, isn’t the complicated keywork, but the spread of the fingers and the embouchure we have to form. Hands need to be a bit larger than a six year old’s, and muscles a bit more formed. I could be wrong … I’m quite willing to admit that. But in any case, read the following and tell me you don’t want a tiger oboe too!
Did you ever think of playing oboe when you were a child? Probably not; in fact, it’s pretty much impossible for a child to play a standard oboe, with its complicated mechanics and steep lung requirements. My sister is an oboist in Kristiansand symfoniorkester, and on a crusade to recruit new oboists – because orchestras of the world struggle to find them. Marion’s found tiger oboes, oboes specially designed so children as young as six can play them, and she’s just starting up the first ever kids’ oboe class at the Kristiansand kulturskole. Being a performer and story-teller at heart, Marion has decided the black and yellow striped kids’ oboes are clearly relatives of tigers – and so she’s written a story about how the oboe got its stripes, and has even struck a deal with the zoo where the young oboists get to play music for the tigers and visit the zoo regularly.
I read it here.
I did google tiger oboe and came up with the link above, but nothing more. I guess I can’t buy one. :-(
The Met and Wainright sound as if they parted amicably. The reason given for not doing it there is that he wanted it in French and they didn’t. And he wanted to have it presented earlier than they.
You can read about it here.
I will confess I’m skeptical about the opera, but willing to give it a go. I should probably be a Wainright fan, but I’m not; there’s something about his voice that just makes me think “whiney”. Of course how he sings has nothing to do how a pop singer writes an opera.
And yes, you’d think I’d like whiney, since I play oboe and I whine. Go figure.
Gelb is quoted, “Presenting a new opera that is not in English at the Met, when it could be in English, is an immediate impediment to its potential success with audiences.”
Honestly? I really wonder about that one. Opera folk are quite used to other languages, and with supertitles these days, it’s not really any big deal. Is it?
Blessed be the oboist who tunes a little low out of sympathy with the other wind players.
Hmmm. How about just giving an in tune A? Seems reasonable to me. ;-)
This opera is my favourite opera. I’m being totally serious. I love this opera. The more I hear it, the more I love it. Part of it is that it’s a contemporary approach to opera which is different from the classics. The more I see older operas, the more I like this one.
-David Cronenberg, talking about the new opera The Fly
So I had opera today, and it was wonderful to get back together with some of my favorite musicians! What a joy to get to play incredible music with them. Tomorrow we get to meet the first batch of singers in the first sitzprobe, and there are some new names — and new voices — so I can’t wait!
My reeds that looked to be Happy Reeds on Sunday aren’t so happy right now, and I’m not sure if they’ll grow into decent things or if I’ll have to nix them. Well, I know one is a goner; I started to play on it and heard this “gclk” (yeah, that’s how you spell that) and, lo and behold, it cracked. Which means it was probably already cracked. Which explains the saggy oboe middle C.
Oh. Well.
Then, as I was cleaning my oboe later in the day I looked down the bore and saw something in the top joint. Say what? I’m not sure what it is … a piece of fabric hooked on something? A piece of cane that is stuck in there? I dunno. It’s very small, and perhaps I’ve just been blind to it forever and it’s been there all along, but I don’t think so. Sigh. I’m not sure what it means to the happiness of the oboe.
Prior to the opera rehearsal (it was a 1-4 call) I wound four reeds, after having wound 6 yesterday. One guess as to what I really want to do tomorrow morning! 8-)
But now? Now I’m watching “my” Giants. 0-1, middle of the sixth, bad guys. We’ve lost two in a row already. If I blew it two days in a row I think I might be given a warning about my performance, so I’m wondering if I should send them a warning.
Okay. Baseball is different than oboe playing. I know. Just look at the salary diff. ;-)
20 more minutes of this game and then I have to go back and forth between the game and … drumroll … Project Runway.
Yeah. Really.
Sigh.
You’d think that people in the Arts would have better ideas. You’d think they’d have a clue. But this ad tells us they do not. (Thanks The Standing Room for … um … this.)
I keep hoping this is just something that was on a Comedy Central show, you know? But no such luck. They do things a bit better there.
Update
Okay, okay, I have seen worse ads. It’s just that this one is about the arts, and I think that people in the arts should do better than this. It’s just so average in its creativity.
But it made some of you laugh, so there’s that.
(I do wonder if they could get in trouble using the Raisin Bran box so obviously. Is that legal?)
I have been summoned to jury duty. And I’m not happy. Couldn’t they have snagged me in the summer, when at least I didn’t have much playing work? I’d have had to cancel students if I was called in, but at least I wouldn’t have had to worry about playing work unless it conflicted with Merola.
Here’s the thing: if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. If a contractor for a freelance job calls to hire me for those dates and I say, “Oh, by the way, I’m on jury duty,” you can bet he or she will say, “Never mind!” If I have to miss more than one rehearsal of Symphony Silicon Valley I’m out for the entire run, and I have to give them more than a day or two of notice so I’m not exactly sure how that would work. (I think it’s 21 days notice, although I’d have to check for sure.) Opera is a bit more generous with absences, but it’s still a costly thing to do and they have to have two weeks’ notice. If I miss UCSC students I have to reschedule and make up all lessons missed. This isn’t easy to do, since a quarter goes so quickly. And private students? If I don’t teach, I obviously don’t earn any income and, even worse, my students won’t know until the day before if I’m called if their lessons are on or off. If I do get called I get to go sit in a room with a bunch of people and not get chosen when I tell the attorneys I’m a professional musician. Yes, it’s happened twice already and I’ve gotten into the jury box only to be dismissed. I’ve been told (of course who knows if it’s true) that attorneys tend to dismiss professional musicians.
Surely there must be a better system?
The only good thing was that I opted to change the dates for a week when I at least don’t have symphony or opera. But still. Sigh.
Okay. I’ll stop whining now.
Today is our first rehearsal for Eugene Onegin. This means no singers (rats!), but I’m really looking forward to the opera. I’ve not played it for quite a while … not since 1995, in fact. Wow, time has passed. Go figure.
So here, to get you ready too, are a few clips (do take note of the oboe!):
Now go get your tickets!
Here is another interesting fact, I have heard that you can’t actually listen to music and think at the same time. Your mind can’t think about two things at the same time. People who function well multi tasking are actually just great at leaping back and forth between thoughts.
So I guess I must not be listening when I’m playing much of the time. Because I’m pretty sure I’m thinking.
But next time I’m playing I’ll be sure and think on this and see if it’s true.
I’ve written about this before, and I’m sure I’ll write about it again. But my readership is small, and I guess I’ve never gotten emusic to pay attention. But maybe she will.
This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened to me (or you I’m sure). Music sites that tell you Beethoven is the performer, that “Allegro” is the name of the piece, that the piano soloist might be the Berlin Philharmonic. I find these experiences endlessly frustrating. I don’t understand how something so simple has to be so hard to figure out. (I take that back. I do understand. Believe me, I really, really do. But it still makes me crazy.)
I know the idea of the composer (or songwriter) and the performer being two separate but equally important people is complex for those outside the music world. And the idea that a soloist, conductor, or orchestra might all be equally important makes things a little more complicated than most folks can handle.
But hello, music services! These are essential elements to dealing with this music. You’re dissing entire genres here. Any service that bothers to offer music without taking these elements into account is a joke. Sorry dudes. I know it’s not easy doing what you do and that some music is weird. And you’ve probably figured out how to make millions off your service without giving a second thought to their metadata. But yeah, you make me sad.
Yep. I’m sad too. And frustrated.
I’ve offered my assistance to both emusic via this site. Neither have taken me up on this. Surprise, surprise.
There’s an article in the Merc about the classical music season beginning. It’s nice to see groups I’m in mentioned, of course. I’m self-centered that way. But where is San Jose Chamber Orchestra? Curious. I’m wondering if the editor had to cut some things from the original article, as SJCO is a rather important part of the scene in San Jose. At least as far as I’m concerned. (Even though I rarely get to play with them, as they are a string group.)
One of my oboes — the one I use most frequently — wasn’t functioning properly this morning. I’m not sure if I turned a screw, or if it was just something that moved on its own (yes, they do that sometimes), but something was awry.
Thank goodness for Carl Sawicki’s A Method for Adjusting the Oboe and English Horn. I carefully went through things, step by step.
All’s well. Whew!
Sadly, I don’t see the book in print, or I’d make it a requirement for all university students to purchase it. Really.
Immediate update!
Well, Van Cott Information Services lists it as available. I sure hope this is correct … I’ll email them to verify. (And UCSC students, be ready to purchase this!)
I had a dream that this one guy in my class who hates band was gonna be in band this year playing OBOE! And the dream was really funny because his oboe was WHITE WITH PINK POCADOTS! YAY!!! So I had a good night’s sleep dreaming about pink spotted oboes.
(Yes, this does have something — well, a small bit — to do with music.)
I’m just home from the Giants game. (They lost. Sigh.) It was Jewish Heritage Night (no, I’m not Jewish, but they did let me in) so on occasion they played parts of the film of Fiddler on the Roof. At one point they got to the Russian men singing, when they congratulate Tevye on his daughter’s engagement (part of the “To Life” tune, about 3:00 in on the clip below). I couldn’t help but wonder how that went over with anyone who is Jewish; these are the people who later in the movie kick all the Jews out of Anatevka. Seemed like an odd choice to include that music. Later on in the game they played the same clip. I thought the bottle portion of the number at the wedding would have been better, but no one asked me!
Maybe I’m overly sensitive …??
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