Just when we thought the pain and suffering of hearing the next door neighbours kids learning to play the piano was over, they now have an oboe.
[name here] got an awesome present from her Grandma Jean this evening. She wanted to play the oboe in band, but we could not afford one so she ended up playing clarinet. My mom and dad brought over a beautiful oboe from Music Go Round for her and it sounds amazing. One evening of practicing with it and she was playing sustained notes in scales to the beat of her new metrinome. What a fantastic gift for a very talented girlie :)
How sweet!
[name here], quit throwing spit balls at the oboe player!
Thanks Sibelius for always making me doubt myself. I really do know the range of an oboe, so please don’t tell me I’m wrong. Stupid computers.
(For those of you who aren’t familiar with the it, Sibelius is music notation software. The writer isn’t referring to the composer.)
Tuesday was the start of a very short run of a musical. So short, in fact, that it’ll be over before I can even imagine. I can’t remember the last time I did such a quick one. We had two rehearsals, and the same day as the second rehearsal we had our sound check and first performance. We have seven more shows to go. Monday it’ll all be over.
I’m not happy with my reeds, but I’m never comfortable using new reeds once I begin a show. Oh shoot … let me be honest and say I’m never comfortable using new reeds! I like reeds that have been played a bit. I like reeds that I am familiar with. So there you go. Older reeds it is, and I’ll deal. Besides, when you are the World’s World (thanks, dk!) Worst Reed Maker™ you just learn to live this way.
The performance last night went well. Sure, everyone had a few problems: first shows can be like that, since we are all still figuring things out. Fortunately I’d played it before, but it was still a wee bit of a challenge. The show moves quite fast, and it’s a whole lot of playing so we are constantly on our toes. (Figuratively speaking.) The concentration level is high, and when we are done we are all pretty weary. I have some sweet little solos and they are my cup of tea so I enjoy those.
But there was ONE NOTE.
I think I should start calling myself One Note Patty™. That is, after all, all it takes to mess with my head. One note that didn’t respond the way I wanted. One note that I felt was then tattooed on my head with the words, “I’m not a musician. I only pretend to be one in the pit!”
I hate when that happens. This morning I have to work on distracting myself so I don’t obsess. And in a few hours I have to get back on that bike and attempt that silly little (and mostly insignificant) note again. Will it work? Who knows? That’s really the life of a double reed player. But I have to believe it will work. I have to lie to myself and say, “This is easy. This is not a huge deal. No one hears you anyway. It doesn’t matter!” even while I usually am pretty aware that I’m lying to myself. But really, it’s what we have to do. If we go in with the “You’re gonna miss this again,” you can really sink yourself. So here’s to positive thinking, preparation, and bravery!
I have the same book I had last time. Some of the things I erased are back in the book! Really? Someone has to write “D” (his/her quotation marks, not mine) for an E double flat and a B for a C flat? Honest? My students know I’m a stickler about this. Less is more when it comes to markings. Some other markings could really throw me had I not already done this show. It’s interesting to see how other people think. (So sorry if some readers are ones who put these in. I don’t mean to offend, but this is just a big deal for me and my students and I am sticking to my story here.) I realize we all have our little ways with markings. I did notice some of mine had been erased too!
And then there are the ear worms…
Yep. This show is a big one for the worms. They crawl into the ear and they refuse to leave. So music has to be blasted as I sit here at the computer or I go bonkers. Come Monday I’m sure I’ll have to listen to something before heading out on my walk so I don’t continue the musical for longer than I was hired to play it! Heck, if I don’t replace it I just might end up with the tap dance part of it and no one wants to see me tap dance while I’m on a walk.
I will always love the sound of strings tuning to an oboe.
followed by …
I will always love the sound of strings tuning to an oboe.” NERD
followed by …
I will always love the sound of strings tuning to an oboe.” NERD” THANKSSS:D
WHAT I LEARNED AT THE SYMPHONY:
Most women there wear a dress or skirt
Most men there are at least fifty and have the same ring of hair cuz they’re balding
I can’t remember which is the oboe and which is the basoon
Suzophones just remind Mike Kelly’s GF Vanessa Marcano of that video on youtube of the Suzophone and the saxophone talking on the telephone
Clarinets make me sleepy
Operas tell a story but I don’t speak what ever language they are written in
The conductor introduced himself as John Bon Jovi
Intermission does not rhyme with interrogation or indeterminate
Bright cellphone screens are remarkably distracting in a dimly lit concert hall
Shout out to Chloe on a fabulous oboe recital and to IC symphony orchestra on a mind blowing concert. #concertsallday #ilovemusic
This sounds like a cross between an Incredible String Band instrumental and “A Love Supreme”… so basically, the best thing ever. Thank you, obscure late-60s psychedelic folk collective, for bringing some much needed justice to the oboe, the dorkiest of woodwinds www.youtube.com Third Ear Band – Stone Circle [Alchemy] 1969
Wanting to hear what the Facebook person is writing about? Here you go:
incoming freshmen were not afraid to dance at the football game last time…except that one oboe guy who i forgot the name of.
(100 oboes, students of D. Francisco Salanova, playing together).
Catarroja, Valencia, España. — in Catarroja, Comunidad Valenciana.
The Seattle Symphony and Opera Players’ Organization (SSOPO) today announced that a tentative contract agreement has been reached after 15 months of negotiations with the Symphony and Opera managements. The musicians of the SSOPO are scheduled to vote on May 14th to ratify the new contract, which addresses salary, pension and benefits, improves working conditions and includes a new media agreement. The term of the agreement extends through August 31, 2015.
If you could change one thing about San Jose, what would it be?
I wish there could be far more interest and support in the arts; all of the arts. There are so many struggling groups here in the city and right now. My wish is that the population in San Jose would be more inserted in what we are trying to create for them here.
The words above are from Irene Dalis. I agree.
I can’t tell if it was a compliment when people came up to me after church today and said, “At my funeral, I want you to play the oboe” Is it because they won’t be able to hear me? paranoia will destroy ya’ ….
She made it look effortless, even as she was playing the most technically difficult of all the reed instruments. She only played a handful of songs on the clarinet that night, but every time she did, she took my breath away.
I read it here.
