>From: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Reassurance >In short, the music is good, the musicians are good and it is a viable, indeed >desirable, career choice. There is more out there than orchestra.
No problem there. I hear you loud and clear. I love to play in bands. Why is it that someone always misunderstands something I say in my posts??? huh? Huh?? My post was tongue in cheek; using some 'half truths' for emphasis. <further snide remarks deleted here> Where the military is concerned; I have a great deal of respect and envy for military bands; having met and played next to some of their ex-hornists. They are great players, no lie. However....what they don't tell you on the recruiting poster is you only get to play if you aren't too FAT for the uniforms. You see that is why they call it a 'uniform' so everyone looks 'the same' at parade rest. This is not tongue in cheek. Back in 1982 I applied for the President's Band; several years after getting my master's degree and right after doing a gig in a foreign country. They actually were going to accept me on the spot over the phone; until the last question was asked; how much do I weigh? My answer to that question cost me the appointment. With all due respect, military, you don't get to have all the good musicians; just the ones who are both decent players and who aren't bigger than size 12 To elaborate a bit more seriously- What I do not love about playing in large brass bands or mixed bands are two major things: 1) (in my case), the fact that I seem to get very tired within 1/2 hour of playing in a large ensemble, and for no apparent reason. 2) all of the good horn lines are doubled by *somebody* else who is naturally louder than the horns The theory behind this was presented in an old thread some years back: ______________________________________________________________ 'The sound travels from your bell up the horn and hits you in the chops.' Over time, this will wear down whatever endurance the hornist may have had before. _______________________________________________________________ There is a quick and dirty fix for lack of a wall behind a horn section. Just get one extra music stand (one for each member of the horn section), flip the top over and drape a soft cloth over that; then position each person in front of each stand. This will serve to protect the hornist's bell from picking up too many of those extraneous vibrations as well as provide a reflective surface (but not too live). We did this in an orchestra performance of Mahler 3 (where the 100 member chorus was positioned directly behind the 8 horns) and it worked very well. Of course the professional orchestras buy their horn players those nifty little PlexiGlas sheets that clip on to the chair. (where can I get one of those?) Rachel Harvey _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
