tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43645015462984139652024-03-13T08:27:32.502-03:00Trumpet MetaAnd that's when I realized, it's not about the tone... it's about the TRUTH.
(Actually, it's entirely about the tone. And that's the truth.)Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-84136391136322976122013-08-03T23:49:00.001-03:002013-08-03T23:53:58.802-03:00Son of the Curse of the Revenge of the Return of the Trumpet Meta Strikes Back 2: Trumpet Meta-erOH MY BACH. IT'S HAPPENING. IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING.<br />
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HE'S WRITING A NEW POST.<br />
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Hello internet! Long time, no see! That's right, I'm back, I'm ready to go, I'm a new person. Kind of. And... wow, I've had a hell of a couple months. I'm gonna be back to the regular minimum-one-post-per-month-and-maybe-more-if-I-feel-adventurous way of doing things, STARTING TODAY. So, sorry for the hiatus, but considering how many page views I got over approximately three months of not posting, there might even be some pretty good traffic coming in over the next little revival.<br />
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July. July was... well... July was quite the month. July changed me, for the better. What happened, you ask? I attended two different summer music programmes: a brass seminar with world-renowned international faculty members, and an orchestra camp that, though less well known, taught me a surprising amount more than I was expecting at the beginning. And my approach to practicing is completely different from what it was before.<br />
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First, the brass conference. And where I usually keep things anonymous, I figure the bigger the event, the less relevant keeping it anonymous is. I attended the Domaine Forget brass seminar in Saint-Irénée, Québec. In particular, the trumpet masterclass-givers were Thomas Rolfs, principal of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Eric Aubier, considered one of Maurice André's most successful students. And both were amazing for different reasons. Aubier is one of the most musical players I've ever heard, without a doubt. Everything he played, no matter how angular or modern, sounded like a dance. And he seemed to have every single piece of music memorized, whether Tomasi or Jolivet or Bohme, and demonstrated pretty much everything he talked about, always wowing the students. Rolfs, on the other hand, is probably the most powerful player I've ever heard live. I've never heard one of the "great" orchestras live, but I've heard countless recordings, and thought I had a pretty good idea of what a principal trumpet sounds like. Then Rolfs played the opening of Mahler <i>5</i>, while sitting less than three feet away from me, and my presuppositions were completely shattered. It was a sound unlike anything I had expected. Rolfs' classes were almost entirely focused on breathing, as he's a Cichowicz (YEAH SPELLED IT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY) student, and that was kind of Cichowicz's thing.<br />
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Throughout the masterclasses, I quickly realized that being the principal trumpet in my little town meant nothing. Out of twenty-six trumpet majors, I was easily in the bottom five. Part of the curse of living in the out-of-the-way cities that I have for more or less my entire life is that I lose a proper sense of scale, and now I have a much better idea of what trumpet students who take their art seriously are supposed to sound like. If there's one thing I "knew," and definitely should have known, but learned for the first time, it's to never let yourself get away with anything. As Rolfs said more than once in masterclass, "You just proved you can play with a good sound, why would you chose to play with anything less?" There really isn't a reason, especially when practicing, to let any note that comes out of the bell sound worse than the absolute best note you can produce, and that's a philosophy that I'm trying to implement absolutely every time I pick up the horn.<br />
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The event also came with a student gala, where we were put in chamber groups based off of our placement auditions. Most of the top-tier students got quintets, and I ended up being put in trumpet ensemble. I hesitate to call it a lower level ensemble, since all of us are top students in our respective schools, but if I'm being honest, I'll call it a mid-range ensemble, for the musicians present. But you know what, I really enjoyed it. The fact that we had all traveled to this explicitly to make brass music meant we were all much more dedicated than a random pile of university students of various music-related majors that many smaller schools have for ensembles. We all learned from each other, we all gave it everything we had, and we sounded pretty solid come the concert. Oh, and though I usually don't like trumpet ensembles, we played the one piece written for them that I love forever, which blogger isn't letting me embed for some reason: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vh0Bwe6p0g">Ewazen's <i>Fantasia for Seven Trumpets</i></a>.<br />
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The faculty concert. THE FACULTY CONCERT. Sounds that I didn't think were possible happened. Two sounds in particular. First, Jesper Sørensen, second trombone in Berlin, played excerpts from a Schumann song cycle (I forget which, but really want to say it was <i>Dichterliebe</i> (YEAH TWO FOR TWO IN SPELLING WEIRD THINGS RIGHT)), as well as a Schumann <i>Romance</i>, and... I don't think I've ever heard a sound that beautiful. Not from a trombone, not from a brass instrument, not from any instrument... no natural sound. But man, he did it. And second... this thing:<br />
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Next up, the orchestra camp, PRISMA. Actually, I think I might leave a lot of my discussion about this for a separate post, since I have a lot I want to say about the trumpet sound that I've thought about because of that, and since then. But I will say that the third movement of Tchaik <i>6</i> sounds amazing in full brass sectional, and we can probably just forget about the rest of the orchestra.<br />
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But yeah. I guess the coolest thing about these programmes is... you meet people who are GOING places. The trumpet students I met at Domaine aren't barely passing undergrads who are falling through the cracks. These players are the future of the orchestral trumpet scene. I'm confident that over half of these players will have established themselves in performance careers in the next five to ten years, and some of them may even make the major orchestras.<br />
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That brings me to one moment from PRISMA that I do want to address now. One of the scarier moments was when we had a discussion, full students and faculty, about auditions. When people asked the faculty about their audition experience, it turns out many of the string faculty members were offered big-names jobs almost freely, or won concertmaster/principal positions on their first audition, or were active orchestral musicians before they hit twenty. And that had me (and probably several other students in the room) scared... how could we ever hope to do THAT?!<br />
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Thankfully, the next day, the brass faculty asked if we wanted to veto sectional in exchange for a brass-specific audition discussion, which all us students agreed to. And hearing their stories was... a relief. These players, all fantastic musicians, had to go through our struggle. They (and their students, colleagues, and mentors) played dozens of auditions before getting their first gig, had to go through the brutal audition circuit, and face orchestra politics. They told us stories of people in our situation, with our level of skill, who made their careers happen through determination, motivational drive, and enthusiastic, disciplined practice. They made us realize that people out there were once just like us, and that if we care and apply ourselves to our MAXIMUM potential, we can do the same. And that's something everyone needs to hear.<br />
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So yeah, I think that's enough for today. I have one or two more related posts I'm planning on making based on my summer adventures, and then back to the old norm of alternating stuff about my playing life with random continued featurettes that I do. Thank you for your patience, dear internet, and I'm glad to have you back! And I hope you continue to follow my little pointless drivels as I keep writing them! I'm going to send you off with this, a lovely concert that I know more than one person would refer to as "brass porn" (not NSFW at all):<br />
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Until next time!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-38641890162454632812013-04-29T04:00:00.000-03:002013-04-29T04:00:18.992-03:00Take that! Triple Concert Finish!Because vague-but-not-actually-vague nerdy jokes are a super effective way to title these monthly updates!<br /><br />...<br />...<br />...<br />HI.<br />
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So, the three biggest concerts of the term just finished up as of last weekend: solo recital, orchestra, and quintet recital. And y'know what... I'm okay with how each of them went. None of them were perfect, of course, and I can't say I truly feel that any of them were ideal, but... I can't say I'm disappointed in any of them. I'll give y'all a recap of what I actually thought. About me, I mean. Not saying anything about the other players, positive or negative, because I don't want to offend anyone, either directly, or indirectly by omitting for them what I praised someone else for.<br /><br />First off, the recital. In order: Bach <i>Cantata 51</i> (first movement), Arnold <i>Quintet</i> (first movement), Ewald <i>Quintet</i> <i>no. 3</i> (third movement), Clarke <i>Side Partners</i>, and Horowitz <i>Concerto</i>, with Scheidt <i>Galliard Battaglia</i> as an encore. First thing I noticed is, I managed to draw a really nice crowd. It *might* have been the biggest crowd to a first-year grad recital this year, it was hard to tell with all the spotlights pointing at me. But I'm pretty sure I won out, in terms of attendees. Opening a show on picc is terrifying, and it took me a couple lines to get settled, but once I did (about halfway through the first A section), the rest kinda just went. It felt really natural, but part of that may have been because I was thinking more about the ensemble than what I was doing, myself. Maybe that's why I like playing in orchestras so much, if I let all my concern wash on to other people, I just play and my autopilot does a better job than I would have. The quintet stuff was a preview for our concert, and both of those went really well. The duet was also really well-received, as was the Scheidt, with the same trumpet player (it started with just us, and the quintet walked on stage before the first big tutti, making that opening super awesome).<br />
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As awesome as that recording is, I'm afraid that playing the Scheidt in the original mixolydian mode has forever ruined the major/ionian version for me. The lowered sevenths just sound so much... BETTER. Anyways, the Horovitz was the biggest piece, and I think it perfectly summed up the good (and bad) things about my playing. My articulate playing has improved significantly from where it was a year ago, but still isn't where I need it to be to be a competitive trumpet player. My sustained, lyrical playing still needs a LOT of work. And... endurance. Endurance is always a factor. The last page, before the couple bars off on the third-last line, was INCREDIBLY rough. I felt like I was throwing mostly airballs those last two lines of that section (so I guess fourth- and fifth-last of the page). But, y'know what, it's done, and the audience loved it.<br />
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Next was the orchestra concert. We opened with a Mozart mass thing that only had us in the first and last movements, and I played second. It was pretty brainless. Next, I was lead for the Bernstein <i>Chichester Psalms</i>, which was actually a really nice one to do. I was afraid it'd be hard, as there's a lot of high things, but Bernstein always sets you up so that you can't fail... meaning of course I missed the second concert C. Which I didn't miss in any of the rehearsals the week leading up to it. I hit the first one, but there was a scratch in it, so... I still have some work to do. The infamous last note might have been the best thing I did all show. Don't tell anyone, but the secret was... get a really soft mute, and let yourself play just a HAIR louder in the show than in the rehearsals, it'll sound gorgeous.<br />
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The second half was <i>Pictures</i>, and if you haven't watched that video yet, do it NOW. The first half is like a mini-documentary, and Solti's insights are really cool. The second half might be the best recording of that piece, like, period. I don't think I'll ever get over their sound in <i>Great Gate</i>, especially the syncopated chords leading up to the last melody.<br />
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How did I do? Well, I'm still yet to play the opening in a way I'm satisfied with. The first half of <i>Schmuyle</i> went really well, but the second was quite rough, and I had to drop a beat when it went up. Usually, if I absolutely need to drop a beat, it'd be the repeated C#s, but... life'll throw you curve balls sometimes, you just make do. <i>Great Gate</i>, with the exception of the third and fourth bars, felt really good. HOLY BACH THE FIRST BAR WAS LOUD. Like... we were totally planning on saving some so that the end would be louder than the beginning. We didn't. Communally didn't. It was kind of immature. It was very awesome. I enjoyed that.<br />
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And last, but definitely not least, and possibly the one I was more excited for than my solo recital, was the quintet concert. Ewald <i>3</i>, <i>Cousins</i>, <i>Largo al Factotum</i>, <i>West Side</i> (arr. Gale), and Arnold. Holy Mahler, that was a long programme. I played first for Ewald, <i>Largo</i>, and Arnold, and the breaks were super-appreciated. And y'know what... we did a damn good job. The Ewald in particular went stellar. <i>Cousins</i> was (in my opinion) the best the soloists had done it. <i>Largo</i> was... much faster than me or the soloist wanted to go, but actually really solid, and we got a couple laughs out (he managed to sneak some of the Vaughan Williams into the cadenza, which caused the tuba prof to chuckle). <i>West Side</i> was hella fun, though it made me wish people clapped between movements, so many of them had really boisterous, huge endings. And... I could have played Arnold much worse. I DO have to realize that I put one of the most prolific quintet pieces ever written at the end (I REALLY didn't want to play anything after that), so considering that... which I shouldn't even be considering, because real musicians have to do that all the time. Gahh. Pieces like that make me feel so conflicted... do I feel proud for what I accomplished, because few other students here could have done the same? Or do I admit that, in a couple years, I'll be competing with people who totally could have finished it much better than I did, and I'll be expected to be able to do that as well, so I need to up my game? I don't know. The quintet as a whole did really well, though, and I think we showed the audience that we're pretty legit, for a bunch of brass students.<br />
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Oh, and I transcribed this for our encore. Actually.<br />
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L8er boiz!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-37590742193612274452013-03-10T04:20:00.000-03:002013-03-10T04:25:24.712-03:00Remember the days when this used to update more than once a month? Didn't think so.Haiiiiiii.<br />
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It's been a while, but I suppose that's what grad school does to you. I've come to the realization that us musicians are clinically insane: we lock ourselves up alone in small rooms and repeat the same thing over and over, hoping for different results. Well, the smart ones don't repeat it exactly the same each time, but I'd like to think no one is 100% smart, because I feel like I have a chance that way.<br />
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It's almost high time, guys. My first-year recital is coming up in just over two weeks. On one hand, it's kind of nerve-racking. Though I've known all the tunes for a while, getting them together with the other players has been very last-minute. The worst offender by a mile is the Horovitz concerto, my big piece and highlight. I don't know if any of you have ever looked at the commercially available piano reduction, but it is <i>literally</i> unplayable. In that it is not a reduction, but merely every note of the orchestra score condensed into two lines, with no editing. There are moments with more notes than fingers in the human hand, moments with two contrapuntal lines in one hand almost two octaves apart, moments with a melody occurring in the same range as the chords accompanying it... it's a mess. Twenty-five gruelling hours of Finale later, I made a playable version, and the pianist I'm hiring to play it has been pretty solid in getting it ready. I just need to make sure I don't blink for the last two pages, or else we're sunk.<br />
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The last school orchestra concert featured Mendelssohn <i>5</i> and <i>Capriccio Espagnol</i>. The Mendelssohn is actually a really sweet piece, the outer movements in particular. I don't know what it is with <i>Symphony no. 5</i>s, but they usually seem to be right on the mark (Except Tchaik <i>5</i>. It just seems so... overshadowed by <i>4</i> and <i>6</i>). The <i>Capriccio</i> is one of those pieces I just keep loving. Like, I could listen to it on a loop for hours, it's so good. So campy, but so fun. Just... don't ask me about that cadenza. I had a long day... WHO CARES, NO EXCUSES. I've been pulling the "long day, stressful week, bad start to the morning" cards way too much recently, and I need to STOP IT. As I keep telling other people, and should really follow myself, the audience doesn't care what your day/week/life was like. The audience only cares if you can deliver. <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/"><i>SO GO DELIVER ALREADY</i></a>.<br />
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Being a musician is one of those funny things. I know for a fact that my playing now is the Vegeta to the Nappa that was my playing when I started this blog (what is it with those two popping up in here? Look out, I sense a running gag coming on), but little things are bugging me more and more. Obviously, the big things are annoying, but, as Yoda's pointed out to me on many an occasion, your ear will improve in big leaps, while your abilities have to progress at their slow, hopefully steady pace. So you start to hear more and more details, while your abilities aren't catching up at the same speed.<br />
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Because I'm insane, I've actually started to think about what I want to put on my recital next year. I was originally going to open with Ewazen's <i>Fantasia for Seven Trumpets</i>, but I've since scratched that in favour of his <i>Sonata for Trumpet and Piano</i>, and I think I'd like to open with Gabrieli's (I think I have this right) <i>Sonata XX a 22</i>. Yeah, you heard that right, 22 parts. Except I'd like to double specific parts such that (wait for it) the ENTIRE brass studio is involved. Then my baroque piece, which is still undecided, but it'd be nice to do the Leopold Mozart, or maybe that one Vivaldi violin piece that brass players seem to love doing. Hopefully I can get my same string players back. I've booked our kickass violist over a year in advance, and the cellist is being forced to play against her will if need be, so that's two of the five right there.<br />
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Other than that, I'd need a quintet piece, probably one more big solo work, and maybe time for a smaller solo or duet. Our quintet's thinking about Bozza for next year, so that's a possibility (I don't actually know how it goes, I should probably go listen to it). I've been toying with the idea of the Jacques Hetu <i>Concerto</i>, it'd be great for some Canadian content. And then just one more thing, possibly super-left field and modern. Oh dear Bach, do I really have this planned over a year in advance?<br />
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I have one more audition recording to do tomorrow... OH. This wouldn't have made the blog yet, since it was February. I had a moment, while recording the opening solo from Mahler <i>5</i> for a summer audition. I started to play, and as I began the first line, I just got this huge feeling of... understanding. Like, I <i>GOT</i> it. The piece made so much more sense than it ever had. Sadly, it wasn't a flawless run (cracked the first top line F#), but there was so much more vibrancy and emotion in the sound than I've ever heard myself produce before. My second take wasn't as enlightening as the first, but I can almost re-capture that same feeling now.<br />
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Jeez, I really do tend to ramble here. I'm gonna leave it at that for now, you don't need to hear me balk on for hours about things. Once April rolls around, I'll likely be posting more frequently, in that I'm a relatively anti-social person and don't do much when school's out, so it keeps me occupied. Until next time, peace out, and seriously go back and click on that Vivaldi video you skipped. I'm pretty sure "brass porn" is an appropriate label for that kind of performance. Until next time, fellow internetters!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-37035837596877131232013-02-14T04:06:00.000-04:002013-02-14T04:14:23.410-04:00International Hector Berlioz Awareness Day 2013!<i>(This is part of an ongoing series about Hector Berlioz. Catch up on all the Fantastique details <a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2011/10/hector-berlioz-man-myth-incessant-orgy.html">here</a>, <a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/02/happy-international-hector-berlioz.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/06/symphonie-fantastique-drinking-game.html">here</a>!)</i><br />
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Hey folks! Sorry I've been so silent recently, it's been hella busy, and pretty stressful these past two weeks especially. I'll go into more detail next week, which is reading break. But for now...<br />
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INTERNATIONAL HECTOR BERLIOZ AWARENESS DAY IS UPON US!<br />
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Ah yes, today is the day we think about that special someone we all know. That someone for which we dearly yearn, but know we can never have. The someone who makes us feel happy in our melancholy, <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2454">but is simply an idea, a concept of perfection</a>. The someone whose face we see in a crowded ball. The someone whose laugh we hear in an empty, peaceful field. The someone who is the last thought we have before our hallucinated execution. And the someone who mocks us from the middle of a demonic orgy in the same hallucination, while an E-flat clarinetist plays the only solo that could ever hope to beat the first movement of <i>Sacre du Printemps</i> for "most obnoxious E-flat clarinet line ever." And in honour of this noble day, I present you... today's top twenty Hector Berlioz facts!<br />
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Hector Berlioz performed Steve Reich's <i>Piano Phase</i> on an elastic band wrapped around a tissue box. Both parts.<br />
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Hector Berlioz is the answer to Charles Ives' question.<br />
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Antonio Vivaldi has the second-largest output of any A-list composer because every sound Hector Berlioz ever made is considered part of his magnum opus.<br />
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Eric Whitacre refuses to refer to his compositional style as anything but "aspiring Berliozian."<br />
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Hector Berlioz once had a period where he was afraid his composition wasn't up to par, so he went by the pen name "Gustav Mahler."<br />
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<a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/12/the-nonsensical-christmas-special.html">Tchaikovsky</a> is to melody what Hector Berlioz is to melody.<br />
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The Second Viennese School only existed because Arnold Schoenberg was fed up over how Hector Berlioz was the maximum attainable level of tonality.<br />
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Historical records show that the victor of every war in history is the side which had more performances of <i>Symphonie Fantastique</i> during the duration of the bout.<br />
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Hector Berlioz is your father. Actually.<br />
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Each string on Hector Berlioz's guitar is made of a strand of pure sound willed into solid form.<br />
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The ring in Wagner's <i>Der Ring des Nibelungen</i> was made out of a lock of Hector Berlioz's hair that happened to fall into the Rhine and solidify.<br />
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Camille Pleyel was cut from the final scene of <i>Inferno</i> because Dante was afraid of angering Hector Berlioz with the sight of the name.<br />
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Playing <i>Un Bal</i> while courting your significant other has a 200% success rate, in that both the target person and the second-on-the-list will instantly become infatuated with the performer.<br />
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Hector Berlioz rarely plays the flute anymore, due to the strain it puts on weather patterns to move an entire atmosphere's worth of air.<br />
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Chopin, Liszt, Sibelius, the Mighty Five, and other nationalist composers wrote in their country's style because it meant they wouldn't be compared to (and fail to match) Hector Berlioz.<br />
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Frederick Chopin once re-gifted a copy of <i>Treatise on Instrumentation</i>. That's really all I need to say.<br />
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The average person is 400% more likely to leave their significant other for someone named "Harriet Smithson" than someone with any other name.<br />
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If you play Beethoven's <i>Symphony No. 9</i> backwards, it sounds like someone saying "Hector Berlioz <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="de"><span class="hps">ist der Übermensch" ad nauseum.</span></span><br />
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The <i>Ronde du Sabbat</i> has topped every positively-inclined top 10 list ever written, regardless of the requirements of being on the list.<br />
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And finally...<br />
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Felix Baumgartner's famous space dive failed to break the record distance of the last time Hector Berlioz fell in love.<br />
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Happy International Hector Berlioz Awareness Day, everyone!<br />
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<br />Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-43886048286831888162013-01-06T02:43:00.000-04:002013-01-06T02:43:09.253-04:00Happy New Year, People of the Internet!Ohai!<br />
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Off to the start of a brand new arbitrary division of the planet's orbit with reference the tilt in its axis and direction relative to the sun! Or year. I guess that's a little bit easier to say. And this year, I'm going to try and make things AWESOME. Why, as some of my friends have openly asked the everybody-but-really-nobody that is Facebook, do we need such an arbitrary date to begin something, and would we have had the motivation to otherwise? Well, I can't answer for everybody, but I'm a kind of odd person in that, if I need motivation, I can just kind of... MAKE motivation happen for myself. I don't like to, but when I do, it really gets the ball rolling.<br />
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Anyways, what's the point of this? Do my posts ever REALLY have a point? Probably not, but that's besides the non-point. Basically, I just want to get my life resolutions (not New Year's resolutions, because it's not just this year that's making me do it... it's LIFE) down on the cold, hard, unforgiving internet, so that I can say I wrote it, and I have something to follow. Plus, paper is destructible, but once something is on the internet, it's there for life (YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED).<br />
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<b>THE BIG RESOLUTION -</b> stop being so damn depressing, both on this blog and in real life! My last several posts were about me whining that I'm not good enough to play this piece, or that this audition is really hard, or that I end up spending a lot more time alone than I would like to. In person, I'll complain about things like life being expensive, or deadlines for auditions being early, or wanting more sleep, or not wanting to write papers because of the year I took off between degrees. Well... stop it! I'm not going to stop complaining, I mean, I'm just going to stop letting it bum me out.<br />
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"But dude," you say, "that's pretty much impossible, unless you're a robot and can re-wire your brain!" "Well, dear reader," I respond, "I'm not a robot, but you're thinking about this the wrong way." I can't stop depressing things from happening. And I can't stop myself from feeling annoyed or bad about things. And I KNOW I'm not going to stop complaining. But what I can do, is force myself to see the good in things, to not let details get me down, to see deadlines as a challenge rather than as a sentence. Piece really hard? Find individual challenges that are parallel to etudes, Arbans drills, Irons drills, Clarke studies, and isolate them like that. Challenging audition? No worries, everyone else probably thinks the same thing. You'll sound better pretending to be a showoff than feeling insignificant. Spending the night alone? Write a story, draw a picture, listen to a new symphony, learn some basic programming. Life's expensive? Go out to music events, introduce yourself to other players, see if you can get set up with a gig or two. Go out to schools, see if you can get some students set up. Audition deadlines coming up? Recording's super easy, I have a lot of rep on the backburner. And don't forget about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXI_aMstZM">Neruda</a>, that thing has saved my life more than once! Don't want to write papers? Deal with it. B/<br />
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There's a great line in a <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/">fantastic recent article on Cracked</a>, where a hypothetical reader asks the author how he can get girls to like him. The author's response?<br />
<i>"... it's always 'How can I get a job?' and not 'How can I become the type
of person employers want?' It's 'How can I get pretty girls to like me?'
instead of 'How can I become the type of person that pretty girls
like?'"</i><br />
This is great in its own right, but to me, it made me realize something on a much simpler level. It made me realize that, if I'm depressed with how things are going, I really shouldn't be asking "how can I stop being depressed with my current life state?" The real question is "How can I change my life to one that I like?" And this, folks, is what I'm working on now. No more being sad that music just keeps getting more and more challenging, more finding creative and efficient ways to improve and becoming a better player because of it. No more "gotta go play this concert, groan" and more "Man, I'm actually learning to PLAY MUSIC FOR A LIVING. How is that not awesome?!"<br />
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<b>SMALL RESOLUTION #1 -</b> I'm going to learn to cook. I'm not a BAD cook, per se, I'm just an incredibly boring one. I don't know a lot of meals offhand, is my main problem, though I've never had a disaster following a recipe. So, the obvious fix to this is... amass a whole lot of recipes! If I know that I have the POTENTIAL to make awesome food, just not the KNOWLEDGE, I'm going to (watch what I do here) find a creative and efficient way (see what I did there?) to fix that, which is to fill in the missing gap. Which is the knowledge. In case you missed that part. In a more concrete way of putting things, I'm going to, at least once every two weeks (but more is totally okay!), cook something I've never made before. Or, cook in a style I never have before. A new meal, minimum twice per month. Seems reasonable to me, and I usually have the time on weekends that I can spend a little longer than throwing rice in a pot or pizza in the oven or veggies in a frying pan or whatever.<br />
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<b>SMALL RESOLUTION #2 - </b>I'm going to learn to write music. Not well, mind you. I'm going to learn to be comfortable composing. What kind of music, you ask? Well... I'm not sure yet. I might write a small piano piece. I might write for brass quintet. I might write for rock band. It might be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zckrcflhukA">jazzy</a>. It might sound like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLndAxUimpI">Luciano Berio</a>. It might sound like a bad attempt at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iLdmGqtzyQ">Mahler</a>. It might sound like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNNl3C0qvKg">Elton John</a>. It might sound like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQQNnyxpilA">Jun Senoue</a>. It might sound like a bad attempt at <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or8y5EC1_Rs">Koji Kondo</a>. The important thing is, I won't know until I give it a shot. The point of this is to learn what I like to write, and what I don't like to write. To learn how to just let ideas come to me, and to learn how to take little ideas and make big things out of them. Again, to be more concrete, I'll give myself a goal: one new, finished piece, no matter how small, per month. And it can be anything. Hell, it could be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4">this</a> and it'd count, since that is, in fact, one finished piece of music that was written by someone. Except it can't ACTUALLY be that because it has to be new. But you know.<br />
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So that's my goals, and that's what's going to happen. I'm also going to try and keep this blog fairly well updated, and especially with content! Some things to look forward to in the near future, in likely the wrong order:<br />
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*New MAHL WARS, moving on to Episode Three<br />
*Two new Video Game Musicology columns planned: an analysis of the use of leitmotif in <i>Kid Icarus: Uprising</i>, and a compositional critique of the music in <i>EarthBound</i> (which is REALLY DAMN GOOD, if you didn't know)<br />
*Launching a new section called Hidden Musicological Masters, which satirically deconstructs works by artists "Classical" musicians generally frown upon (Ke$ha, Bieber, etc), and finding little bits of "genius" in a begging-the-question fashion, starting likely with <i>Toxic</i> by Brittney Spears; requests welcome<br />
*Continuing that series on composers I said I'd start but didn't<br />
*Of course, the International Hector Berlioz Appreciation Day special in February!<br />
*General thoughts on music topics as they occur to me, and updates on life in general<br />
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Hope you guys occasionally read something here that piques your interest, and though I mostly just do this blog for my own sake, as a means of collecting thoughts, ranting about things I don't think anyone would want to sit through me talking about in person, and the like. This website really is for my own benefit, and if I end up getting a hit count of zero after a new post goes up some day, I doubt I'll shut it down, since I actually DO get super stoked about some of the things that go up here, and need an outlet. But, fans, don't think I'm ignoring you, because it's those moments people come up to me and say "So I read your blog post about..." that really just make me super-high-on-life for the rest of the day. So I really do appreciate those of you who take the time out of your days to sit through this nonsense I throw at you. See y'all next time!<br />
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<i>(I hope no one missed the fact that this was linked up there. This movement is, in my opinion, the most beautiful piece of music ever written. But that's just my opinion.)</i><br />
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Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-73695869547086203732012-12-25T01:20:00.004-04:002012-12-25T01:20:59.510-04:00The Nonsensical Christmas SpecialSWEET STORM OF OSTROVSKY LOOK AT THIS BAMF RIGHT HERE<br />
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DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS GUY IS<br />
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THAT'S PYOTR ILYICH GODDAMN TCHAIKOVSKY<br />
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AND HE IS BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERY WAY IMAGINABLE<br />
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You thought you were happy celebrating Christmas?<br />
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WRONG. TIME FOR TCHAIKOVSKYMAS.<br />
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Look at some of the things he's done:<br />
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Well, first off, he only wrote <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd4VsbM4fOo">EVERY</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sb8WCPjPDs">GODDAMN</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNxwVOZwu10">BEAUTIFUL</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5poSw7tFLB4">MELODY</a> <a href="http://youtu.be/x7ySefCTOg8?t=44s">EVER</a>.<br />
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He wrote the love theme to <a href="http://youtu.be/Cxj8vSS2ELU?t=8m59s">EVERY MOVIE WITH A LOVE THEME</a>, and then <a href="http://youtu.be/Cxj8vSS2ELU?t=5m43s">MADE IT SUPER BADASS</a>.<br />
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He wrote a piano concerto that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB_lKSNwZZM">YOU CAN PLAY IN A GODDAMN STRAIGHTJACKET.</a><br />
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He wrote <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg1dMpu4v7M">THE MOST PERFORMED PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC OF ALL TIME</a>... oh, and HE HATED IT. IT WAS TOO MAINSTREAM.<br />
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I mean, can you REALLY stand up to someone SO GODDAMN MANLY?<br />
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Even <a href="http://youtu.be/PLHj-eekdNU?t=8m30s">DANIEL BARENBOIM IS FROZEN IN AWE AT HIS MAJESTY</a>.<br />
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Get this. He married this chick, then DUMPED HER ASS BECAUSE HE'S NOT INTO CHICKS.<br />
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YEP, HE IS MORE SUCCESSFUL AS A STRAIGHT GUY <i><b>AND</b></i> AS A GAY GUY THAN YOU.<br />
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How does that make any logical sense? SCREW YOUR LOGIC TCHAIK HAS AN <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwjaHvSqRCI">AWESOME</a> BEARD.<br />
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So you know how the French lost to Russia in the war of 1812? It's because they fought against Tchaikovsky's orchestra... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8">WHICH HAD CANNONS IN IT</a>.<br />
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You know how everyone dreams to play Carnegie Hall? Tchaikovsky INAUGURATED THE GODDAMN THING. FOR REAL. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky">WIKIPEDIA SAYS SO</a>.<br />
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So you know how the Five didn't really like Tchaik that much. That's because HE COULD TAKE THEM ALL ON AT ONCE, HE'S PYOTR GODDAMN TCHAIKOVSKY.<br />
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His last symphony ends with a super-triumphant third movement... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAfvUFtCIY">WAIT NOPE THERE'S A FOURTH AND NOW YOU WANT TO CUT YOURSELF IT'S SO GODDAMN EMOTIONAL</a>.<br />
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Other composers need to write transitions between their themes in sonata forms. SCREW TRANSITIONS, ALL TCHAIKOVSKY NEEDS IS TWO BARS OF HORN. <br />
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So forget about Christmas...<br />
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...AND GET YO ASS READY FOR TCHAIKOVSKYMAS.<br />
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(...sorry guys, I have <i>no idea</i> why I thought this would be a good idea at all. XD Merry Tchaikovskymas!)Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-43314641218040352282012-12-23T20:07:00.001-04:002012-12-23T23:23:18.243-04:00Reflections on Loudness: Perspective of a Trumpet Player who Takes Dynamics SeriouslyAs a trumpet player, a lot of people know I'm a pretty chill guy. I like to crack jokes in rehearsals, make fun of the usual trumpet stereotypes of "blastissimo," and generally get giddy when things are big and brassy and loud. Sometimes, I begin to worry that people only recognize that side of me. I'm also super-serious when it comes to music, and while I like to make jokes because <i>I'm honestly having fun with the music</i>, when shit needs to go down, I make sure that I, my section, and if need be, the entire ensemble is sounding its absolute best. You don't see that side of me outside of rehearsal that often, but when it comes out, watch out, someone's not doing it right and gonna get told.<br />
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That being said, a lot of people I know would think "How can you be serious but also constantly want things to be louder? That's like the key sign of an immature trumpet player." Well, I've thought a lot about that, and I've come to the following conclusion:<br />
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<i>Most music students don't actually understand how dynamics work</i><br />
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As a graduate-level trumpet student (and I've only allowed myself to refer to myself as such recently; I've been feeling a lot more comfortable with my playing ever since having a lesson with Yoda, and taking a day off to fly back to Hyrule), it's really important that I understand dynamics, since on one hand, I could bury the orchestra (save perhaps a few low brassers I know) if I wanted to, and on the other, being told to play louder is a matter of the greatest shame for a non-horn brass player. Now, before I continue, I'm gonna protect myself here: I stand by what I said above, most music students don't actually understand how dynamics work. I have complete confidence in that statement. I am, also, a music student. Therefore, I'm going to give you <i>my</i> understanding of the topic, but I'll let you know that it could very well be subject to the music student clause above. Odds are I might change my mind after a few more years of experience, and if this blog is still up and running, I'll do another post like this where we can laugh at how silly and immature I was back now. I'm also not saying I get what I preach right every time. I am, after all, still a student, and the difference between a student and professional can often be nothing more than consistency (though I still have a ways to go on way more fronts than that). I just aim to follow this approach as closely as I can in my playing.<br />
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Now, I've heard a lot of advice on dynamic from different brass professors, and interestingly enough, my favourite advice has always come from horn players. This is probably due to the fact that the horn points backwards, and therefore horn players need to play with more power relative to the rest of the brass section. Brass students know that, if you stand directly next to the bell of a professional horn player, they often sound like a steamroller, in a non-flattering way. However, stand in the middle of a concert hall while they play the same thing, and it's as if the heavens opened up and the most beautiful sound in the world echoes through the building. Same guy, doing the same thing, but that's the nature of the horn, and what really matters is what the audience hears, not what the guy beside you hears.<br />
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So now, I'm going to give you my two "rules" of dynamics, and explain how each one makes sense to me, as a trumpet player (I'm thinking from a brass perspective, but I'm sure other instruments can make it apply to them as well). And they are:<br />
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<b>Rule #1: "Piano" means "soft," and "soft" means "not prickly."</b><br />
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<b>Rule #2: "Forte" means "strong." Vegeta is strong, Nappa is not.</b><br />
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These might sound odd right off the bat, so let's go into more detail.<br />
<b> </b><br />
First, consider piano. What's the mistake you expect a beginning brass student to make when they play a passage softly? Easy, not enough air, support, or "body" to the sound, and it fizzles and dies. I've even heard this happen to string students, they try so hard to be soft that the sound crackles like a bad microphone. The horn professor back in Hyrule had my favourite way of getting students to get over this: have them play it mezzo-forte or louder, and then play it "the same intensity and direction and support, just less volume." And it worked. Here in Termina, Obi-Wan had an idea that "piano is a colour," which was essentially a way to get his students to use a "forte" amount of air, but sweeten the sound out so that it comes across to the listener as being softer than it is.<br />
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Both of these approaches are true, and both are very good ways to conceptualize "softness." My way of conceptualizing it is to think of soft as a texture, as opposed to prickly. When the player isn't adequately supporting, their sound becomes full of bubbles and holes and burrs and shit... basically, it becomes "prickly." Playing with a soft, velvety texture allows a full use of air. Look at freshly-dyed velvet; it's not faded, it's full of vibrant, solid, pure ink. That is soft. Of course, the decibel level IS physically lower, but that ends up being a by-product of having the proper texture of tone. It will have less volume, but more importantly, it will actually be a <i>softer</i> note.<br />
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Now, for the controversial one... forte. What does forte mean to a trumpet player... the bane of strings and woodwinds everywhere. Well, it's along the same lines, but it's actually quite a bit deeper than piano.<br />
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Take a look at these two fine gentlemen. For those of you who missed the 1990s, the one on the left is Nappa, and the one on the right is Vegeta, the primary antagonists (and in Vegeta's case, eventual <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritagonist">triagonist</a>) of the first story arc of <i>Dragon Ball Z</i>. And they also present an excellent example of what inexperienced players <i>think</i> loud is, versus what I believe a correct loud to actually be.<br />
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When these two Saiyans land on Earth, the heroes instantly single out Nappa as their primary concern, and he actually fights them by himself for the first little while, with Vegeta throwing in comments and barking out orders on occasion. What the Earth's finest didn't realize is that size ≠ strength. So, inexperienced players, with their often shrill or bland tone, play louder by filling the room with MORE of a shrill or bland tone, and this really does nothing but hurt peoples' ears.<br />
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Vegeta is the real strength of this operation. Sure, he may look smaller, but to Saiyans, size really means nothing. Size is secondary. Vegeta has a higher level of chi, or power/energy, depending on whether you go by the manga or the anime.<br />
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And that's really what it's about. Forte, strong, loudness, is about filling the room with a FULL, VIBRANT, BRILLIANT sound, not just a "loud and no other quality but loud" tone. Nappa is big, and just big, and he was easily dispatched by Goku. Vegeta was <i>powerful</i>, and gave the Earth's heroes a huge run for their money. From this, we discover that there are two errors often made by inexperienced trumpet players. The first, of course, is what I said before: making more of a sub-par tone colour, and calling that loud. True, the decibel level goes up, but it's not STRONG, which is the literal translation of the Italian word <i>forte</i>. It's like, having a whole keg of a weak beer, rather than just a pint, doesn't make the beer stronger.<br />
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The second mistake, and this is an odd but common one (especially for players who were often told "you're too loud, stop smacking the audience in the face!"), is to attempt to bring up the volume, but do so with a soft, piano tone. Even a mezzo-forte tone. Notice what I said above: "forte is filling the room with a full,<i> vibrant, brilliant</i> tone." The trumpet is a naturally brilliant instrument. That's why we play it, rather than cornet, or some odd kind of soprano Bb or C horn that probably exists but I'm too lazy to look it up (or a descant horn, I guess). Players who have fallen to the trap of the first error, loud in an unpleasant way, often try to remedy it with this. The answer is not to take anything away from what the player was doing, it's to <i>FILL THE TONE</i> until it matches the dynamic level. If your playing is crass and therefore incorrectly loud, the answer isn't necessarily to play softer, it's to <i>add beauty</i> until your volume makes sense. And as a bonus, this will actually sound easier on the ear, and BLENDS! A proper, full sound will fit in an ensemble, even when the player is nearing the top of their dynamic register (though, this probably never happens in actual orchestra playing).<br />
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I should just throw in: THIS DOES NOT GIVE YOU LICENSE TO PLAY YOUR LOUDEST AT EVERY FORTISSIMO. There's still the matter of being tasteful. This does, however, give you the license to not be AFRAID to play the trumpet in a full way. A real orchestral trumpet player rarely needs to strain for a dynamic, no matter how many <i>f</i>'s are on the page, because they can ride the wave of the rest of the brass section. And when they do need to put more power behind it, keeping it beautiful, vibrant, colourful, and brilliant will also keep it pleasant to the ear, and balance better with the rest of the ensemble, meaning you won't APPEAR to be "loud for the sake of being loud" like so many non-brassers assume us trumpets are (especially those, like me, who like to goof around and play up the stereotype in a non-serious way outside of rehearsals).<br />
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Here's a case study for you: go out and listen to Bud Herseth. Listen to basically anything the CSO released between 1948-2001. It's my firm belief that, from what I've heard of them so far, <i>Bud has never played an incorrect dynamic caught on tape</i>. In fact, let me give you a recording.<br />
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I'll even help you out more, <a href="http://imslp.org/wiki/Special:ImagefromIndex/43534">here's the first trumpet part</a>. Don't mind the minor blip at nine after rehearsal 10, it gets back on track. Listen to the pianissimo at rehearsal 13 in the first movement. Sure, it's actually fairly high in decibels, but he plays with such a velvet, "precious" tone colour, that we hear it as having a "solo soft" quality. Same thing at six before 19. Then, compare that to the fortissimo back at rehearsal 9. He's not overtly trying to blast, because he's filling the room with his radiating, vibrant, colourful sound. This man knows how to make a dynamic happen. It's worth listening to him in their Solti recording of Beethoven 5, the fourth movement is balanced wonderfully, I would say even better than the Mahler above. It's not that he's not doing extremes in dynamics, it's that the WAY he does them is by using tone colour to his advantage, and that makes it happen SO MUCH more effectively than mindless blasting or holding back to the point of not properly sustaining the tone. That's part of why this guy is my trumpet idol, he knows just what to do to get the job done in an orchestra.<br />
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So, that's my rant, and I hope you guys either learned something, or at the very least, don't think I'm a delusional, misguided fool who'll never succeed with that attitude. Next time... well, maybe a little Christmas surprise if I remember/have time, but if I don't... MOAR MUSIC.Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-57734469575160200952012-12-10T03:31:00.001-04:002012-12-10T03:39:12.461-04:00One term down, three to go...Hey internet. I'm listening to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhoYauWJh54">Berlin play Tchaik <i>4</i></a> as I write this. Since you totally were wondering. It was actually in my top three symphonies for a little while, though that was before I knew Mahlers <i>1</i> and <i>3</i>, and its younger brother Tchaik <i>2</i>, which I enjoy more due to the personal connection (in that I've actually played it, and it was one of my strongest concerts to date, plus the ending is just so comically triumphant and it makes me very happy).<br />
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I'm gonna try to not sound too bummed out, because I really shouldn't be. Jeez, this whole blog's been a real downer for the past couple life-related posts, hasn't it? First term's over, I somehow got my Biblio paper "written," and I'm generally doing successful in school and classes and ensembles sometimes and stuff.<br />
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I had a bad concert last week. We performed Britten's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTd2aXLTA84"><i>Four Sea Interludes</i> <i>from Peter Grimes</i></a> and Handel's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il09pH-8dwQ"><i>Dettingen Te Deum</i></a>, as I may have mentioned last time. And... wow... that lineup was really hard on me. >.< I was playing Trumpet 3: Director's Cut for the Britten, and I ended up having to drop a lot of the unison parts of the second movement, which was probably noticeable since my picc sound is so different from the other guys' C sounds, but I kind of sort of maybe got some of that nasty run after rehearsal four. To be honest, I kind of blocked the memory from my mind, so I *think* I got the high concert D, but I can't be sure.<br />
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The Handel, on the other hand, was another story. I actually started the first two movements much stronger than I expected, but the stupid amount of trumpet lines caught up to me. And then... the worst happened. I farted all over the introduction to the sixth movement, the trumpet and bass duet. Kind of the most important movement to get right. It was definitely the most embarrassing moment of the term for me, and the next concert's so far away that I don't have a way to "redeem myself" before people forget about it. Which I know sounds unnecessary, but I'd really rather there be a big show sooner rather than later, so instead of people thinking "Oh look, he improved," they'd think "Oh look, he's actually not as bad as Handel led me to believe." Which is me being immature. I admit it. I'm sure eventually I'll be glad I had the experience to do a bad show so that I know mentally how to deal with it, but... that's later and this is now. So I'm going to be bitter. So THERE.<br />
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(Wrote this paragraph as an afterthought, so I'm almost at the end of the third movement of Tchaik, at the part where it quotes the fourth movement... or... vice-versa, I guess) I guess the thing about this that's the most humbling is the fact that... well... real trumpet players CAN do this. There are shows out there that are worse. Apparently Handel's <i>Music for the Royal Fireworks</i> is an even MORE tiring trumpet part, and looking at the excerpts, I can tell. But... real players can pull it off. And I can't. Not yet. So... that's not acceptable. I NEED to be able to do this. No getting away with "oh, that was a hard show, you did your best." NO. Not allowed. So it's time to get back to practicing, cuz my best better pick up the pace.<br />
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So I'm ditching Termina and heading back to Hyrule for a couple weeks, later this week. It's going to be nice to see people again. I mean, I am making some pretty good friends here, but I've generally been less social than I have been in the past (part of this because of not being in a youth orchestra, and part because I'm practicing on average 2-3x as long per day as I did last year). Damn guys the second movement just started playing, I love this one... sorry, easily distracted. As I was saying... being less social in general. I'm actually curious as to whether that'll carry on when I go back home, playing 4-5 hours a day and pissing off the folks (maybe I'll go to the school some days so they don't have to deal with it, maybe not, idk). I can't imagine why it wouldn't, except that I won't be entirely on my own schedule and have to conform to the family's routine, so there's that.<br />
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So I'm applying for like five or six summer programmes, I've decided, which means... audition DVDs! Totally using the grad degree as a (legitimate) excuse to not be able to travel or spend money on auditions, meaning I have to record a bunch over the next two months (I'll end up making a big graph to see which recordings I could technically do back-to-back without stopping the camera, might make bookings easier). I want to do a few over the break, back home, though I'd also rather get some done here in January, since I'd have more practice time, and get to have a lesson or two with Yoda first. There's two in particular I'm hoping for, due to complementary schedules and excellent opportunities/resume lines, though if nothing goes through, there's always the Pallet Town Ping Pong Festival (which I'd love to do, don't get me wrong I really enjoy it, but another programme that I REALLY SHOULD go to overlaps with the end a bit).<br />
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Okay, I'm gonna go continue to reorganize my iPhone music library (whyyyyyyy didn't I splurge for a 16GB device?). I leave you with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdmAId64Keo">this</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SivIizzrQz0">awesome</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baDyVOQcWak">masterclass</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjikq0aRhh8">from</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQbmhdKigUQ">Tanglewood</a>, it's about an hour, but really worth the watch. Ohhey, the third movement's starting up, I love this one, too! K, peace out, y'all.Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-25149259882832659652012-11-21T03:04:00.000-04:002012-11-21T03:04:07.019-04:00Eighth notes are short, sixteenth notes are long, it really shouldn't be as hard as it isHello fellow internetters, it's that one guy again. It's been close to a month since my last post, and I've had a long string of feeling like I haven't accomplished much, so I decided to spend another hour not accomplishing things and write a blog post. Logic! I know.<br />
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Of course, playing's the first thing I have to mention. I've had three gigs outside school now, so I'm slowly getting to be known, but it's going to take a while to get off the ground, especially in a city with so many strong casual musicians. Seriously, though, the average instrument owner in Termina seems two or three levels more advanced than the ones in Hyrule, and I've heard that it's because there's a lot of military retirees here... though, a stronger music programme in schools helps, for sure.<br />
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Either way, playing's being frustrating, as usual. Every lesson I hear the same piece of advice, and it's the same I've been hearing for years. I tried to explain to Obi-Wan what I'm thinking, and he's doing his best to help me, but I've really just got to re-program myself. When I play, I instinctively feel a need to end the current note before beginning the next one, and so the faster I go, the worse that is for air flow. It's like, for strings, at a certain speed, playing off the string just doesn't happen. I've really got to learn to keep fast notes on the string... and then, when I'm getting close to being right, the notes that are allowed to be off the string become uncharacteristically long. I guess it's just being able to switch back and forth, and being aware of which style to be playing at which moment... and not playing the wrong style out of habit. It's getting better, but it's still going to take a lot of work. After all, I'd love to play <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQNymNaTr-Y">this</a> some day, and that's just not going to happen the way I'm playing now.<br />
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We've got a pretty tank concert coming up next week, playing Britten's <i>Four Sea Interludes</i> from <i>Peter Grimes</i>, and Handel's <i>Dettingen Te Deum</i> (and some Mozart I'm not in... and rumours of a Cage). That Handel part is BEASTLY... the trumpet basically plants itself on A5 for about half an hour. The thing is, I know I can do it... once. I just need to make sure I don't have any other playing commitments on concert day, and everything will be fine. Thankfully, it's written in such a way that you can play tank without destroying the other sections. Handel knew how to handle brass instruments. Note the distinct lack of pun. That was on purpose.<br />
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I've been having kind of a hard time getting motivated as of late. Part of it is probably due to the year off I took last year. Don't get me wrong, it was super beneficial and I'd recommend it to everyone thinking about grad school, especially in music. However, I really got used to not doing homework, and though I haven't missed anything yet (I was always really good at knocking off short assignments early), some of the longer projects are really a drag to start. I just want to get past the course work and to the part where I'm doing nothing but playing, is that too much to ask? Part of it is also probably that reading week was last week, and though it was nice to have time off and practice, I didn't get a whole lot of human interaction, which is kind of something I thrive on, though something at which I admit I'm terrible. Cascade never believes me when I claim I'm like the most antisocial person ever, and that's because, living in a house of technically six (though really two tribes of three), I kind of have to force myself to be social, for fear of the others thinking I'm a terrible grinch of a person. It's not really the same at school, and I'm really not good at getting to know people (I like to stick to two or three really good friends, and am not usually great at branching out past that), and so I end up kind of keeping to myself a lot. Which is good when I need to practice, but not as good for morale. I know, I make no sense. But that's how it is.<br />
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As a few of you know, I got really interested in competitive Pokémon back when <i>Heart Gold</i> and <i>Soul Silver</i> came out. The competitive scene is really not similar to the game, and if you bring in a team from the campaign and expect to play it like you did against computer opponents, you will suffer a swift demise. But, because musician and therefore have no time to breed and EV train and win all those Life Orbs and Choice Bands and Power Anklets and stuff, most of my battling I do on simulators. When I went to pick up my copy of <i>White 2</i>, I met a few people that are part of a fan club here, and so I went to a few of the sessions. There's a really heavy focus on the card game, though, which is something in which I'm really not that interested. I'll give it a few more sessions, though, see if anything I'm interested in happens, or if I end up getting to know any cool people. There's even another music student in the group, which is nice.<br />
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So yeah, all in all, life is life, and that's that. I submitted an application for our national youth orchestra today, which would be absolutely fantastic. Since the local youth orchestra here never emailed me back when I asked if I could do a distance audition from Hyrule, I've been without my weekend rehearsal commitment, and I kind of miss it. Oh, well, I'm in town now, so I can totally apply for next year. After all, I keep telling people, don't turn down a gig if you can help it. It's not really fair, in that I'm graduate and therefore have no courses, and a lot of the others are music undergrad, or music ed, with huge course loads. But, I'm usually decent at not getting burned out (last two orch rehearsals I'm calling the exception to the rule, it got kinda rough), so hopefully that'll keep up. We'll see, there's still a couple weeks left, plus all of next term. Time to kick it up a notch. Awesome mode, activate!<br />
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(Obi-Wan's suggested listening for a particular piece on almost every instrument's excerpt list for this season, check it out:)<br />
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Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-25034885173429924482012-10-28T17:24:00.004-03:002012-10-28T17:24:34.193-03:00The Hero of Winds is Better Than You at EverythingSo, time to take a brief break from music to talk about a few nerdy things that come to mind, so it's time to get back to an old favourite: <i>The Legend of Zelda</i>. The idea for this post came from <i>ScrewAttack.com</i>'s list of Top 10 Nintendo GameCube titles, in which <i>The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess</i> claimed the number two spot, beating out <i>The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker</i> due to the only-one-game-per-franchise rule. <i>The Wind Waker</i> was then dismissed as being "stupid" and "for kids" by this overtly "bro" website. That sparked a bit of rage in me, and that's because...<br />
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<b><i>The Wind Waker</i> is maybe the best damn thing Nintendo has accomplished in the past ten years</b><br />
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This is the part where you're probably like "what, that silly thing? How so?" Well, hypothetical reader, I'm glad you asked, so allow me to present you with my own list:<br />
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<b>FIVE REASONS WHY <i>THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: THE WIND WAKER</i> IS SO DAMN GOOD YOU JUST DON'T EVEN KNOW ANYMORE</b><br />
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So, without further ado, let us <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8U_0Gdf89s">jump into the awesome</a> of this game that you might just have a higher opinion of by the end of the next ten minutes or so.<br />
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<i>(Spoiler Warning: Obviously, the ending of this game will be ruined, but also several references to </i>The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword<i>'s religious implications and revelations will be made, complete with a spoiler warning when they do pop up)</i><br />
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<b>#5: A huge world... that you actually WANT to explore</b><br />
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Obviously, the <strike>overworld</strike> ocean<b> </b>in this game is the largest of any <i>Zelda</i> game so far, but I suppose you could argue that if you go by just land mass and not the sailing sections, it probably loses out barely to <i>Twilight Princess</i>. Fun fact: the islands are so far apart so that the GameCube can load them while you're sailing, making the entire overworld seamless, UNLIKE in <i>Twilight Princess</i>. However, this is where games like <i>Ocarina of Time</i>, <i>Twilight Princess</i>, and even <i>Skyward Sword</i> lose out: sure, the world is big, but it gives you no incentive to explore it. The sky in <i>Skyward Sword</i> is the worst perpetrator: you have an entire SKY to explore, complete with islands, but the idiotic Goddess Cube system I mentioned in <a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/01/other-stuff-they-did-right-in-legend-of.html">this</a> article makes traversing it boring and a waste of time.<br />
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This is where <i>The Wind Waker</i> got it right: you start with virtually nothing on your map, and your Sea Chart, even when complete, has minimal information on it. You collect other charts, but no one chart has everything, you have to piece the information together, even cross-referencing treasure charts with your main Sea Chart. This sounds like a lot of work if you haven't played the game, but it has a wonderful side-effect: you WANT to see everything there is to see. Some islands have no plot relevance... so what are they hiding? What secrets can you get? You're sailing between islands, and you see... a lookout tower! A submarine! A fish! Sunken treasure! Let's stop and fight/explore/ask for hints/scavenge. There's so many things, and this is the secret. Unlike the other games I mentioned, where the overworld feels frankly mechanical, the ocean here feels ALIVE. You can ignore the plot for days on end and just... explore. There's so much depth, and that's what <i>The Legend of Zelda</i> has been about since 1986. The original game had so many useless areas, but that's because you didn't care, you just wanted to see everything, to explore. And that's what almost every 3D <i>Zelda</i> game did wrong, but <i>The Wind Waker</i> did right.<br />
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<b>#4: Finding the Triforce of Courage... without main dungeon-crawling</b><br />
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There comes a point in the plot of the game where the dungeon-crawling comes to a halt, and you are expected to find eight pieces of the Triforce of Courage, which might be the longest stretch outside of a dungeon in a <i>Zelda</i> game to date, depending on how much exploration you've done up until this point in the game.<br />
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Again, this is another thing so many <i>Zelda </i>games do one way, but <i>The Wind Waker</i> tries another way... and gets it perfect. The shards of the Triforce themselves are located under the sea, meaning the player must salvage them manually, but cannot do so without a chart. Getting the chart, on the other hand, is where the adventure comes in. For example, one is found on the bottom floor of the Savage Labyrinth, which puts Link's endurance and courage to the test. One requires you to solve what you thought was a side-quest involving schoolkids and a teacher on Windfall Island in order to get a key to a private villa. One involves traversing a maze to get the Ghost Ship Chart, which then sends you chasing a vessel that changes location depending on the phase of the moon.<br />
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Sounds like an awful lot of work, doesn't it? But again, this is a game that makes you WANT to explore. The Triforce Charts really integrate the ocean into the plot of the game, making the overworld feel just as puzzling and exciting as the dungeons, and gives the game a homogenous feeling of exploration throughout, something the other games don't always accomplish. Sure, you're not finding a dungeon item and beating a boss with it, but this is really what makes it feel less artificial, less like a "game," and more like an adventure. Because at the heart of it, that's where <i>The Wind Waker</i> really gets it right - it's an adventure.<br />
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<b>#3: Ganon is a total badass</b><br />
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Thanks to <a href="http://zeldawiki.org/Hyrule_Historia"><i>Hyrule Historia</i></a>, we now have the Nintendo-Approved timeline to <i>The Legend of Zelda</i>, so we can make statements on the progression of the one character who exists in the most titles in the series: Ganon (remember, each Link is generally considered a separate person in a line of spiritual successors of the Hero of Time; same goes for Zelda).<b> </b>At the end of <i>Ocarina of Time</i>, Ganon is sealed in the Sacred Realm by the Seven Sages, and Zelda sends Link seven years into the past so he may live the childhood he missed, due to being sealed in the Temple of Time for seven years. According to the official timeline, Link and past Zelda reveal Ganon's plot before he can enact it, which leads to the execution scene from the flashback in <i>Twilight Princess</i>. However, in the future Link just left, his bloodline is permanently removed, thanks to Zelda sending him back. If we continue among this timeline, Ganon eventually breaks out of the Sacred Realm and amasses an army, and the people of the land pray for the Hero of Time to save them again.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujEZQbBi2Yc"><br /></a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujEZQbBi2Yc">...but the hero did not appear.</a><br />
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Eventually, the Goddesses "answer" the Hylians' prayers by flooding the land, killing basically everyone not living on top of a mountain (except, ironically, Ganon), and resetting everything. <i>The Wind Waker</i> takes place while Hyrule is still underwater, and Ganon has realized he can once again return Hyrule to its former state through the power of the Triforce.<br />
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Eventually, when Link meets Ganon, he learns Ganon's motives, and the player's hatred of this man hits a brick wall. Ganon just wanted the Gerudo people to be able to experience the fresh world, the feeling of inclusion and acceptance, that the Hylians had. I mean, granted, he's a proven lying bastard, so the fact that he's [SPOILER] a being manifested out of Demise's pure hatred, making him essentially Hyrule's Anti-Christ, probably has something to do with it, too.<br />
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In the final fight, Ganon's true colours emerge. Once he's deprived of his chance to rule the beautiful lands he coveted, he decides that, since he's about to die under the crushing weight of the ENTIRE OCEAN, he might as well take you down with him. And this is arguably the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXwHeAIXbjY">most spectacular and fun fight in the entire franchise</a>, with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g1sGc9YM-M">Koloktos</a> from <i>Skyward Sword</i> being the only enemy I can think of to even come CLOSE to the scope of this particular bout with Ganon.<br />
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Of course, he must eventually be defeated, but even when he is, he closes with one of the most badass last lines in gaming.<br />
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"The wind... it is blowing..."<br />
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<b>#2: Traditional Gender Roles are skewed, then re-established... then upended all over again</b><br />
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I'm not talking much about Aryll here, who serves as our damsel in distress for most of this game. It's Tetra that's the interesting one. Tetra starts out the game as a pirate captain, bossing around the boys, and looking several years too young for some of the lewd implications the other pirates make about her. She's tough, she's confident, she's the girl in charge... and then everything changes when she and Link go to Hyrule Castle, which is held in suspended animation under the sea.<br />
<b> </b><br />
It turns out that, surprise surprise, Tetra is actually this game's princess Zelda, and therefore [SPOILER] the physical manifestation of Hylia, making her this game's Jesus. This is where the game really rubs me the wrong way, similar to how Pokémopolis claims Togepi ruined the strong female lead of Pokémon by turning her into a one-dimensional maternal figure (couldn't find the link, sorry). Zelda remains in Hyrule Castle, where the King wants her to be safe from Ganon... of course, she is kidnapped eventually. She went from ass-kicker to helpless maiden locked away to damsel in distress... way to "feminize" in the worst possible way, Nintendo.<br />
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Eventually Link makes it to the final battle with Ganon, and promptly gets his ass handed to him. Before Ganon is victorious, the King buys Link a couple seconds of time, and guess who shows up... ZELDA. With the Master Sword. Link ends up taking the sword, and Zelda the Light Arrows, and they gear up for a two-on-one battle against Ganon.<br />
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Here's where things are really shaken up. Sure, in <i>Ocarina of Time</i> you fight Ganon with Zelda, and she uses magic to pin him down for you to deliver the final blow, but it's pretty damn obvious that you don't need help. You're the Hero of Time, dammit, you just owned this fight all by yourself, you could keep going for hours. Yeah... not in this game. In <i>The Wind Waker</i>, Ganon is more than a match for BOTH of you. Pay attention to the third phase of the fight, after Zelda re-awakens after being knocked unconscious, but before she gets the idea to reflect light arrows off of your shield. How many times did you hit Ganon? Oh, that's right... NONE. Without breaking into the code to confirm, I feel I can safely say that short of exploiting glitches, you CANNOT hit Ganon in this phase. He is infinitely better than you, poor player.<br />
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This is where Zelda comes in. You see, she started as being the badass you hoped to be, was then diminished to passive female lead, and then to damsel in distress. All of a sudden, she's now your only hope of defeating Ganon. The fight is impossible to win on your own, and she becomes your lifeline. Partnering with Zelda is the way you overcome, and when you finally do triumph over Ganon, it's because <i>the lead female character opened up a can of whoop-ass</i> <i>on him</i>. However, don't forget, there's still one more thing even better about this game...<br />
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<b>#1: The Hero of Winds is better than you at everything</b><br />
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Hey, he used <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEi4I6UWuDQ">the title of the post in the post</a>, how cute.<b> </b>Anyways, let's jump back to <i>Hyrule Historia</i> for a second, and realize something pretty huge about Link. You see, at the end of <i>Ocarina of Time</i>, Zelda sends Link back to the past, but in doing so, removes Link's bloodline from this chronology. When Ganon eventually breaks from the seal holding him in the Sacred Realm, there is no descendant of the Hero. Ganon's entire purpose, [SPOILER] being the incarnation of Demise's hatred for the Hero of Time, is now lost, and so he's free to go about his slightly-less-mindlessly-evil evil ways.<br />
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Enter this Link. The Hero of Winds. Link here is treated in the beginning of the game as the butt of almost any joke. He's smashed against walls, ridiculed by pirates, strapped in barrels and catapulted into evil fortresses, thrown into the sea, chased around by snot-nosed kids and pigs, and all sorts of humiliating things. He just can't get a break. Then, of course, in traditional <i>Zelda</i> style, it turns out you're the hero... BUT WAIT.<br />
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No, go ahead, watch it again. I'll wait while it sinks in.<br />
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Seriously, this has to be the greatest idea Nintendo had in <i>The Wind Waker</i>. Previous games use incarnations of the legendary Hero of Time, knight of Skyloft who [SPOILER] vanquished this game's equivalent of the devil, Demise, and whose bloodline is burdened with keeping his malevolent intentions at bay. <i>The Wind Waker</i> does nothing like that. Link is not the reincarnation of a legendary hero. Link is not connected by fate to the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword. Link is not destined to wield the Triforce of Courage.<br />
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But you know what? HE DOES IT ANYWAYS.<br />
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Seriously, this is brilliant. It's all because Ganon kidnaps Link's sister, thinking she looks enough like what Zelda is supposed to look like that maybe she is. Obviously, we find out it's Tetra, but Ganon's not above kidnapping girls until he stumbles across the right one by chance. And that's his mistake... he messes with this little kid with no destiny, no background, no anything. Just a whole lot of courage, and a whole lot of determination. Ganon could have never seen it coming. He lets Link live at the beginning of the game, because he's not the Hero of Time, he's some worthless kid.<br />
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But Ganon KIDNAPPED HIS SISTER.<br />
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And for that... he dies.<br />
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Link, the Hero of Winds, goes down in the books as one of the biggest badasses in video games.<br />
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<i>(Also, this track is amazing)</i><br />
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<i> </i><br />
<i>(Next time: probably some trumpet stuff!)</i>Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-72327605024242569292012-10-10T03:15:00.002-03:002012-10-10T03:15:37.929-03:00Confessions of a Recovering TrumpetophobeHello, Internet! How are you today? Looking fine, I see. Is that a new haircut? No, wait... new frames. Yeah, that's it. Been working on any good Bach lately?<br />
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Okay, all introductions aside, I do have the ideas for two nerdy posts I'm probably going to do back-to-back, but first, I thought this might be relevant. It's something that's come up a lot for me recently, and something I'm also getting really adamant about, mostly because I'm angry with myself that it's something I even have to work on. This should be instinctive, but... alas.<br />
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I've been enjoying my lessons with Obi-Wan, though I've noticed a recurring theme. It's something that I haven't really thought of as an issue before, though I've heard it said in a few different ways in retrospect, but never in a way that's made it out-prioritize everything else I'm working on until now. Now, several people in the non-trumpet brass department back in Pallet Town have been on my case for several reasons in the past, and rightly so, I don't consider myself to be that fantastic a player. As I've said before, I don't think anyone should consider themselves that fantastic a player, since once you do, you risk allowing yourself to not improve, and justify it by saying you've reached your goal.<br />
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Random aside, because it seems appropriate in the moment. I came up with this plan to keep myself motivated throughout my career, and I encourage you to do the same. It's a very basic plan, and when you'll hear it, you'll think it trivial, but it's necessary. All you have to do is make sure that, once you achieve a goal, you set a more impossible one. For example, one of these days, I'm going to perform <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPpqZXI_vP4">Brandenburg</a>. That's my first goal. Once I do that, don't remain satisfied. I set a new goal: I'm going to perform <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5bfkhyGfQI">Hungarian Schnapsodie</a>. After that monster is under my belt, I'm not done. By that point, I'll be considerably more skilled than I am now, so I have to make my goal more impossible... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQAWJHITdhg">how about this</a>? If I manage to accomplish that (and before you scoff, I've heard it performed ON THE TRUMPET, so it's possible! Look up Malcolm McNab, I think he's on iTunes), then I just aim higher. This way, there is the sad reality that I will never accomplish all of my goals, because I'd have a never-ending stream of goals going. But, it means that I never stop working to just get better and better.<br />
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Anyways, back to business. I don't consider myself a fantastic player, but I'm trying really damn hard, and I'm getting more legit as time goes on. Anyways, people have been getting on me for ages about various flaws. The usual trumpet ones always pop up: your sound is too brassy, your sound is too shrill, your attacks are too harsh, you're too loud (heh, going to rebut that one in a second), your notes are too short, and so on, and so on. All you trumpets have heard this all before, I'm sure. So, when I went to Viridian City, I expected the comments to be mostly the same.<br />
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Then, Obi-Wan's very first comment in my lesson came as a shock. I find people here are very nice when they critique... sometimes I wish people would be meaner, I'm certainly used to them being that way! He told me my sound was too small, too contained, too lacking in colour, too... careful. Part of it was just an inhale thing, but even when we sorted that out, my sound would start big, then revert during moving lines. After some experimentation (as O-W so correctly said, we're all essentially learning the instrument on our own, and our teachers only hear us one hour a week, so they give advice, but the other 167 hours, we have to critique ourselves and teach ourselves), I figured it out... I had become so self-conscious of all these little things that I had inadvertently made an introvert out of myself. I had become afraid to go out there and play. I had become afraid of my own instrument.<br />
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Probably the two most useful pieces of information I have gained in the past month of lessons is this fact, and on just how useful air patterns away from the horn are (seriously, they fix like all the things). O-W was right in saying that, in a real 60-piece orchestra, I'd be dead tired in no time, I'd conditioned myself to play to myself, and not PLAY the TRUMPET for people. This has been the main focus of my practice for the past couple weeks, is just getting a relaxed, confident, colourful, free-flowing, full, broad, TRUMPET sound. So many other issues don't even need fixing when this happens, because they no longer become issues, you're playing the instrument the way it's meant to be played, and so everything works out.<br />
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Now don't get me wrong, the advice everyone has given me in the past is valuable, and I'm not going to disregard anything. I've just learned the most important lesson about the trumpet: don't let anything, and I mean ANYTHING, get in the way of filling the entire room, concert hall, even WORLD (conceptually, of course) with your huge, gorgeous trumpet sound. And it's not volume, you can still play pianissimo, but a THICK pianissimo. If you think of the quality and dynamic of your sound as the size and colour of an object (it really doesn't matter which is which, they're interchangeable), changing one shouldn't effect the other, so why let it? A nice, thick, ringing pianissimo and a nice, thick, ringing fortissimo differ in dynamic, and a little bit in colour (I don't want you to get the wrong idea when I say that), but need the same intensity, the same depth, and the same ringing quality. Really, the secret is simple: immediate, deliberate, continuous, advancing air. Never step back, never give up, never surrender. It's that easy.<br />
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So, that's my little rant of the day. As I said before, I have two nerdy posts to make (maaaaaybe three, given the events happening this and next week), and by that point it'll be after the masterclass and probably after the orchestra concert, so back to the trumpet. See you then!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-6481038136960798992012-09-20T02:53:00.001-03:002012-09-20T02:54:49.752-03:00I have a bad habit of being interested in, like, the worst possible peopleHey guys, it's two weeks into the new year, and a whole lot of cool stuff has been going down. Since the internet has made it possible to write arrogantly long rants wreathed with vanity on ones own experiences, I figured I might as well chat about things for a bit, fill y'all in on the first little while of my time here in Termina.<br />
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<i>(Termina rather than Viridian City because I've realized that almost everyone I see here looks like someone I've seen before, just edited somewhat... it's kind of freaky, really)</i><br />
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Obviously the biggest thing I've had to worry about was my ensemble placement audition, which was on the first Friday of my being back. I had to play the last movement of JS Bach's cello <i>Suite #1</i>, a short melody blatantly ripped from the violin line in the first movement of Mahler <i>5</i>, and another wind ensemble-esque fanfare thing. And... I thought it went poorly, at first. I got a huge hit of nerves partway through the Bach excerpt, and had a really hard time breathing for the rest of the page, which isn't exactly the best thing on brass. I took a bit of extra time to try and catch my breath for the Mahler-esque one, but I still felt like my breathing was really shallow (I played the Mahlery one on C, for that added touch of detail, I think it went over well; can't say for sure as the audition was blind). Finally, by the concert band one, I had calmed down enough to play normally, and that one actually kind of rocked.<br />
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Thankfully, it worked out for me, and I ended up getting into the orchestra rather than the wind symphony, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I guess, if people would ask me what my advice would be for a stressful situation like that, it's "keep going, no matter what." I really think my nerves were audible, but at the same time, I didn't let anything stop me. Even when I was struggling for air, I kept the flow of the piece (I may have sped up a tad >.>) and tanked my way through. It's kind of the same in rep class / perf class / masterclass / whatever your school calls it: you're trying to emulate a performance, so DON'T STOP. Tank your way through, and if you do want to stop, have a good, justifiable reason for it.<br />
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Firebird was making fun of me because I discovered something I had made fun of her for once: the half-hour practice session. I used to do the marathon thing when it came to practicing, and I kind of hate my old habits of doing that. Doing 3-5 half-hour sessions in a day is CLEARLY the superior option, as I've been feeling fresh for each one, having an easier time concentrating, and getting tired less often, not to mention having a better batting average in ensemble rehearsals. Maurice frickin' André was an advocate of the half-hour session, for crying out loud... how have I not discovered this before? But, yeah... do it.<br />
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We had our first quintet rehearsal today, and it looks like we'll probably be doing two per week, one coached and one independently. It was good to read through some things, and I think we'll work out to be a pretty solid group, once we start doing some serious woodshedding.<br />
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It's a little unusual to me, but ensembles are really early at this school. Like, the latest I'm usually done is by 6pm, meaning I generally get back home by 7. This means, being the antisocial hermit that I am, and since I don't have an undergraduate amount of homework to do, I get bored a lot easier at night. Not that that's interesting to anyone, but as I said, laced with vanity or something.<br />
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And so yeah, that was my not-terribly-interesting post of the night. Not sure what's in store next time, might be another one of these, might be a silly one, might be something completely different. I do have an idea for a silly one, but it's a very rough plan. So, instead, I'll leave you with something that's just... also silly. Peace out!<br />
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Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-67609741537102570892012-09-06T02:53:00.000-03:002012-09-06T02:53:19.657-03:00MAHL WARS: EPISODE II - RESURRECTION<i>(This is the second part of the Mahl Wars franchise. The first part is <a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/06/mahl-wars-episode-i-titan.html">here</a>. Also, I was too lazy to look up rehearsal numbers this time. Remember to follow along with your own recording at home! Mine's Chicago with Claudio Abbado)</i><br />
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<i> </i><b>Part I - Allegro Maestoso</b><br />
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The scene opens with the vast, deep emptiness of space. As the oboe enters, the scene pans to a fleet of Imperial Planet Renders. <b> </b>Darth Wagner makes his first appearance, accompanied by a demonic brass fanfare. As he announces to the ship his plan to capture the grave of Anti-Non Brucknobi, two Schöentroopers exchange confident glances on a lower deck. The camera pans in and reveals these two to be none other than Gustav Skywalker and Hugan Wolfo, disguised and infiltrating the Empire ships. They slip into the crowd as the fleet departs from Viennescant. There is a brief struggle around the 3-minute mark as Gustav steals security codes from an officer, and he and Wolfo make a daring close escape, fooling the guards on the next floor into thinking they're helping pursue the intruders (<i>did you hear Gustav's theme from the first movie in the flute around 4 minutes?</i>).<br />
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However, their escape is short-lived as Darth Wagner comes down to their floor (<i>sehr langsam begginend</i>). As the <i>Deus Irae </i>begins, Wagner reveals his plan to extract the essence of Master Brucknobi in order to fully wield the power of Titan for himself. He makes his departure cackling maniacally at the extremely John Williams-sounding chords. Skywalker and Wolfo start making their daring escape, sneaking through the Planet Render to get to the escape pods without being noticed by the Schöentroopers. They escape, but not unnoticed. When asked if the pod should be shot down, Wagner orders his troops to hold their fire, saying he has his own plans for Skywalker. As the movement ends, Wagner says to the helmsman, "Set a course for Viennescant."<br />
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<b>Part II - Andante Moderato</b><br />
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The scene opens in the relaxed Resistance base on Viennescant (unlike their Lucasean counterpart, these rebels are largely inexperienced and tend to not worry about things too much). Gustav goes to a closed-door meeting, where he meets up with Princess Alma. As he explains Darth Wagner's plans to the council (which is obviously represented by the scherzo-esque sounds here), they have a hard time believing him, since they aren't privy on the ways of Muzyk, a "dying old religion." Princess Alma (obviously represented by the waltz) makes her case that they should listen to Gustav and protect the tomb from a possible Imperial assault. At the big brass entrance, a call-to-arms has been organized, and the Resistance members are put back into combat training to protect the planet from Imperial action. As Gustav thanks Alma for helping out, we get the first hints of their non-sibling attraction. Gustav leaves the meeting in a daze, and the pizzicato show how in-the-clouds his head is.<br />
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<b>Part III - In Ruhig Fleißender Bewegung</b><br />
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Nighttime. Anti-Non Brucknobi's tomb. Enter the incredibly handsome bounty hunter, Bobaszt Franz. The Resistance guards start questioning him on his whereabouts, but his dazzle proves too much for their weak minds, and as he sweet-talks them, he manages to hit them both with stun blasts from his blasterforte. He escapes from the tomb with Brucknobi's urn, making an overly-heroic brassy clamour as he does. He retreats from the tomb to his ship across the city, charming the patrolling guards all the way down. No one, regardless of gender, orientation, or identity, can resist the overwhelming power that is Bobaszt Franz. Even Gustav, who bumps into him while walking still in that daze, doesn't notice through his Muzyk that something is amiss. With a big brassy cacophony, Franz can't help radioing to Resistance headquarters to brag about how he stole Brucknobi's remains, and the guards are too entranced to do anything about it.<br />
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<b>Part IV - Urlicht.</b> <b>Sehr Feierlich, Aber Schlicht</b><br />
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Darth Wagner is meditating, and in a vision, sees Anti-Non Brucknobi. Wagner is no longer a robotic excuse for a human, but appears whole as before his fateful confrontation with the dragon Fafner. Wagner demands Brucknobi honour his promise of years ago and explain the full secrets of the Titan for him.<b> </b>Brucknobi explains that there is no secret, and that the Titan's power exists within everyone. He goes on to clarify that Gustav was not <i>granted</i> power by anyone, but has total mastery of Muzyk on his own accord. Enraged by his old master's words, Wagner vows not only to master Muzyk, but to become a Gesamptkunstmaster, having total control of every aspect of everything, an accomplishment that the Composer's Guild both banned and thought impossible. Anti-non bids that he has nothing more to say to a man he once called his friend, and departs. <br />
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<b>Part V - Im Tempo Des Scherzos</b><br />
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An Imperial Planet Render approaches Viennescant space, but the Resistance is ready. Gustav, meditating before the inevitable struggle, sees Anti-Non in a vision, who tells him that he has the power to ward off Darth Wagner for now, as he is blinded by his own ambition. Wagner radios the Resistance command, saying he is holding the remains of the hero Brucknobi, and demands an easy surrender. Gustav is in the room, and makes a speech on how the body means nothing, and Brucknobi will always be with the Resistance through Muzyk. As the connection is cut, the council must decide whether it's worth it to make an offensive, as the Empire does not appear to be hostile, and it's decided that the safety of the planet's inhabitants must come first.<b> </b>Gustav decides to go on a solo covert mission to retrieve the urn from the Empire.<br />
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(<i>Am Anfang Sehr Zurückgehalten</i>) By using his Muzyk to confuse the Schöentroopers, Gustav manages to sneak aboard the main Planet Render. Sneaking through the corridors, he discovers the urn guarded only by a few troopers, and entrances them with his Muzyk, taking the urn and heading back to his ship. (<i>Wieder Sehr Breit</i>) He takes off successfully, and heads back into Resistance space, but not before leaving an identical (though empty) urn behind. (<i>Maestoso. Sehr Zurückhaltend)</i> Gustav is surprised to see that a firefight has broken out between the Planet Render and a Resistance Frigate Pathetique. However, the Frigate quickly causes the Imperial ship to fall back, not expecting the Resistance to have been anticipating combat.<br />
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(<i>Wieder Zurückhaltend</i>) Gustav is confronted by Bobaszt Franz on the surface, who tries to use his charm to get him to return the urn, which wasn't his to begin with. Gustav's Muzyk thankfully is with him this time, and he can see through Franz's faulty charm to the logic underneath, refusing to give back the urn, and after a brief struggle, manages to slice the blasterforte in half in Franz's hands with his violsabre.<br />
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(<i>Sehr Langsam Und Gedehnt</i>) The next day, Gustav is honoured by the Resistance and the Olde Castlee that was the ancient base of the Composer's Guild. Suddenly, the lights dim and a heavenly chorus can be heard singing all around. Anti-Non Brucknobi appears to those present, causing cries of "He's alive! He's returned!" Master Brucknobi says softly that he has not returned, but through his Muzyk, is making himself alive in the souls of the Resistance members, and that every act they take to making the galaxy better for the listeners out there is honouring his memory and work as a Composer. He charges the Resistance to continue to spread the power of Muzyk through the galaxy, and though his image vanishes, the chorus continues to sing. The scene pans up and out to space, as the chorus continues to sing, and the credits roll.Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-45688335861419625772012-08-30T02:10:00.000-03:002012-08-30T02:10:56.730-03:00Touchdown in Viridian CityHello people of the internet! Most of the people I'm writing this for are either currently in or have histories of being in Pallet Town, so this is directed at them. It's the end of my first full day in Viridian City, after a twelve hour flight and a four hour time difference, and I'm just starting to get settled. I'm having a bit of a time getting all the things out of my suitcase, mostly due to laziness combined with the lack of a proper desk, but probably moreso the first one.<br />
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The first thing I've definitely noticed is I've had less chances to talk to people from Pallet Town than I've wanted, and I worry that this may end up being a recurring theme. Which sucks, I have so many good friends from there. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure those connections aren't lost, so don't you fret, M. Marius.<br />
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My first plan in decorating is to put up a few posters, hide some of the awkwardly green walls. As I said, I lack a desk, which is really bugging me. However, I have a SOFA that I didn't think I had. So, the bedside table might become a desk, the chair might become a bedside table, and the sofa might take over for the chair. Plus, it means I can have guests without awkwardly making them sleep in plain view of five other roommates. I also have a wardrobe, which will be used as such, and another thing with shelves that'll probably become a bookcase against its will. And I have a little closet-under-the-stairs style closet, but no hangars in there, so it'll be... for something. Maybe storing these suitcases... though one of them will likely become an impromptu laundry basket.<br />
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I have an office at the university, which is kind of awesome. It's a glorified practice room with a desk, but still. I'm waiting to see if there's a music orientation, since I haven't heard of one yet, and would really like to familiarize myself with the department a bit more... find out all the details that I took for granted that I knew at the old school. About halfway through writing that last sentence, I found the department handbook online, and it looks like a lot of things will be starting fresh next week, so I'm not alone in this. Which is good.<br />
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I got an e-mail from the guy that's teaching trumpet first term (yes, I don't get "my" teacher until January, but I knew that going into this, and I think two different approaches might be a good thing), and have sent him a brief bio of myself as per his request. So that's taken care of, looks like Tuesday lessons will be the norm for another year.<br />
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Ensemble rehearsals are generally twice a week for large ensembles, and looks like once a week for brass choir. Presumably smaller brass ensembles would also be once a week, not sure since they haven't been assigned. What they do with rep classes is kind of cool, though. I have two rep classes per week. One of them is for all trumpet majors, and just trumpets. The other, and this is a neat one, is restricted to performance majors only, BUT isn't segregated by instrument. All the performance majors are divided into three groups, and those groups have rep class throughout the year, coached by instructors of different instruments each time. I think it's pretty nifty.<br />
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So yeah. Still alive, still going, getting ready for school, getting bored, getting nervous... lots of getting going on. I have no idea how frequently I'll be updating this throughout the next term, but I'm going to try and keep a steady stream going, both for you folks at home, and for the new folks that may flock to this in the coming months. Either way, it'll be an adventure!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-85135641453410852472012-08-10T22:29:00.002-03:002012-08-10T22:29:36.693-03:00Random Sociology Rant #1: Why Horatio Caine is Actually the Embodiment of the Modern Internet CitizenI'm going to preface this by saying I don't watch <i>CSI: Miami</i>, to the extent where I actually had to go look up the fact that it IS the Miami one I'm talking about here, so this probably could be longer.<br />
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Anyways, THIS GUY.<br />
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Sigh... where do I begin? As someone who has seen maybe four episodes of this show, all at different times, and with the most recent one well over a year ago, I have no idea why this guy is the star. I mean... he's kind of lame, his jokes aren't funny, and he just kind of reeks of loser. See, I don't even know enough about the show to tell you what I don't like about him. I just don't like him. Yet, he's the star, and considering TV shows like this usually don't mind switching their cast around, there has to be a reason for it.<br />
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And then it hit me.<br />
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Horatio Caine is us.<br />
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That's right, people of the internet. This guy is EXACTLY what each of us wants to be. In him, we see ourselves as we want to see ourselves. Mr. Caine makes some big enemies in his time, and pulls off some spectacular kills (or so the internet/Wikipedia/IMDb tells me, I'm just kinda rolling with that). He always puts justice and the innocent first. He's generally a badass.<br />
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And here's the thing about that: he kinda just comes across as an average Joe. He's not an Arnold Schwarzenegger, more buff than we'll ever be. He's not a Ryan Gosling, more good-looking than we'll ever be. He's not a Rowan Atkinson, funnier than we'll ever be. He's not a Stephen Hawking, more brilliant than we'll ever be (though I'm sure he's pretty sharp, don't get me wrong). He's just kind of a guy, and an incredibly badass one. He has no reason to be badass other than he just is.<br />
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And that's what's so appealing about him. All of us average Joes on the internet, either see ourselves or want to see ourselves as much more badass than what we are. Enter Horatio Caine: someone we can identify with because he seems to be just an average guy. He has no unrealistic superpowers. He's not a super-genius like Charlie Eppes. Though his past is far from pleasant, it's not shrouded in mystery like Dean Winchester. This is someone who, through a lot of off-screen hard work and determination we don't like to think about, has achieved a level of awesome we'd all like to see ourselves. He always does the right thing, which obviously we all do every time, right? He's basically John McClane but still has hair.<br />
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"But person whose name I probably know but might not," you say, "why are you singling him out instead of John McClane, or Meredith Gray, or Fox Mulder?" Well, to combat your pseudo-random list of characters... it's the one-liners.<br />
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These one-liners serve a dual function: first, they de-idolize him in a sense, bringing him from a "perfect" TV character, to someone who sometimes says stupid things. You know, KIND OF LIKE US. Admit it, you say stupid things, too. Their other function is to make it clear to the viewer: regardless of how bad most of his one-liners are, he's still the big bad guy on the scene. By giving him a common trait among us (incredibly bad joke attempts), and showing that it in no way lowers his awesome level, viewers come to sympathize with him, while also hoping "maybe <i>I</i> can be as way past cool as that, since <i>I </i>can TOTALLY come up with better one-liners than he can!"<br />
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And so, dear internet, a toast for our idol. For the man we want to be. For Horatio put-your-damn-glasses-on Caine.<br />
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YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH.<br />Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-40699292558435421552012-07-28T22:27:00.001-03:002012-07-28T22:27:29.522-03:00Musicology of Video Games #2: Evolution of Sonic the Hedgehog theme songs and Sega's changing audience perspectivesI didn't own any game systems when I was a little kid, so when I got <i>Sonic 3 & Knuckles</i> for the PC one day for Christmas, about two years after its original PC release and five years after its Genesis release, I didn't know what to expect, since I didn't know anything about games. I would soon come to consider this the title that defines my childhood as a gamer, and the game with the most personal value. And back in the day, I was damn good at it, too. I got to the point where I could do a virtually flawless run to get the best ending in an afternoon, which is more work than I have ever put into a game, including <i>Super Smash Bros</i> (I used to try and play that one competitively, it didn't work out very well). Anyways, being an avid fan of the Fastest Thing Alive, I felt I'd dedicate a post to the way his game's themes have evolved to follow their audience over the years. For this one, I'm only going to talk about titles that actually have distinct theme songs with lyrics, so the godly <i>Sonic 3 & Knuckles</i> will be left off the list. All right, let's begin!<br />
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<i><b>Sonic CD</b></i><b> - "Sonic Boom"</b><br />
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GUYS LOOK AT HOW INCREDIBLY '90s IT IS. Now that I have that out of my system, <i>Sonic CD </i>came out at the peak of what I call the "First Golden Age" of Sonic games, which takes us from the Genesis release of <i>Sonic the Hedgehog 2</i> to the release of <i>Sonic & Knuckles</i>. These three games (<i>StH2</i>, <i>CD</i>, and <i>S3&K</i>) are still revered as the best in the series by most modern Sonic fans, or at least most fans my age, and all modern games are critiqued as to how faithfully they carry the mood of <i>2</i> and <i>3</i>.<br />
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At this point in the blue blur's lifestyle, he was Sega's card-carrying member against a slew of Nintendo heroes, most popularly Mario and Donkey Kong, though in retrospect Link and Samus got the real "golden" games of the Super Nintendo. To compete against Nintendo's family-friendly demeanour, Sega had to play up Sonic's badass factor. In this wonderful opening, the kids who were "2 kool 4 skool" enough to have a Genesis with the CD attachment are reaffirmed by Sega that yes, you are a badass, and look how much of a damn Sonic does not give right now. That's you, not caring. Because you're awesome.<br />
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<b><i>Sonic 3D Blast</i> - "You're My Hero"</b><br />
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<i>Sonic 3D Blast</i> was smack in the middle of the first shaky era for Sonic games... there was a bit of a trouble finding Sonic's true 3D niche, and as much as Sega hates to admit it, it really took the inspiration of <i>Super Mario 64</i> to finally find the right direction to go with 3D Sonic (more on that later). For now, we got the lacklustre <i>Sonic 3D Blast</i>, which wasn't particularly fast, wasn't particularly challenging, and... well, it just didn't play up the badassery we had come to expect. Our hero is now rescuing birds by sending them to another dimension... right. And this game was basically a replacement for what would have been <i>Super Mario Galaxy</i> over ten years before <i>Galaxy</i> came out, a project that Sega cancelled in its early stages, but a demo of which can be seen in its early stages of production <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvS_beXtXk">here</a>.<br />
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This tune is technically credits music, and not a main theme, so I can be a little more lenient in that it's meant for something different than what "Sonic Boom" was. However, when we look at the next one, we realize that Sega was taking a different direction for a couple years.<br />
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<b><i>Sonic R</i> - "Super Sonic Racing"</b><br />
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<i>Sonic R</i> is a game that polarizes Sonic fans, mostly because of its short length, being a racing game (with... *shudder*... FREEZE TAG), and having all the tracks sung by the same woman, TJ Davis, who is distinctly NOT "2 kool 4 skool" like the gals in "Sonic Boom" were. I'm not sure what had gotten into Sega by this point, but this does have a very... Sega Saturn sound to it. This is thanks to Richard Jacques, the game's composer, who was steering Sega more in the direction of pop music (not in an MJ/<i>S3&K</i> way either). It's not a surprise to hear that Davis sings in an ABBA cover band.<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Adventure</b></i><b> - "Open Your Heart"</b><br />
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Now... HERE we go! <i>Sonic Adventure</i> brings in the "Second Golden Age" of Sonic gaming, which lasts until the release of its sequel (these two titles themselves are enough to constitute an age, yes). The main theme here, sung from the perspective of our hero as he prepares to fight Perfect Chaos at the end of the game, has become what we expect from Sonic titles.<br />
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This was the first song written by the collaboration of Jun Senoue, a guitarist who worked on <i>Sonic the Hedgehog 3</i>, and vocalist Johnny Gioeli, who would later be known to Sonic fans as Crush 40, the defining band of Sonic music. In fact, Gioeli's vocals are heard on more Sonic music tracks than anyone else combined.<br />
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Most people might not notice it at first, but <i>Sonic Adventure</i> was greatly inspired by <i>Super Mario 64</i>, what with the new (to Sonic) style of proper 3D movement, fixing the errors of <i>Sonic 3D Blast</i>,<i> </i>and reliance on central hub worlds to connect to the levels<i></i>. Thus, since Sonic was actually straying back into Mario's territory, it made sense for the music to take an even further leap from Nintendo's plumber and play up the "way past cool"ness of our hedgehog. And none of us fans are complaining.<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Adventure 2 </b></i><b>- "Live and Learn"</b><br />
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<i>Sonic Adventure 2</i>. My second-favourite Sonic game, and definitely in my personal top ten game soundtracks. <b> </b>This song, another Crush 40 composition, is the quintessential Sonic song, being referenced in the finale of <i>Shadow the Hedgehog</i> and the <i>Super Smash Bros Brawl</i> Sonic trailer.<br />
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Something the Adventure series really gets right is that its songs reflect the emotion of the game, and especially of their respective finales. Shadow is discovering the error in his ways, and the promises he made in the past that he has forgotten, and this song is representative of the trials our amnesiac anti-hero must overcome. Also, how many video game theme songs do you know that have gotten <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCcqSJ3mnYU">an entire room fist-pumping</a>?<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Heroes</b></i><b> - "Sonic Heroes"</b><br />
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Although this is another Crush 40 tune, the <i>Sonic Heroes</i> theme seems a little too... nice, compared to the previous two. This comes from a kind of "Silver Age" in Sonic history, where the games were actually still alright, but couldn't really live up to the Adventure series. However, the biggest thing, I believe, about <i>Heroes</i> is that it was slated for multiple platforms right away. Whereas previous Sonic titles were meant for Sega platforms, and Sega <i>knew</i> that their followers were more badass than others, this was to be released on the Nintendo GameCube, and even the PC. Therefore, though it still has the same rock sound, it's a gentler message, showing the characters as infallible idols than broken heroes in need of redemption.<br />
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Speaking of broken heroes in need of redemption...<br />
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<i><b>Shadow the Hedgehog</b></i><b> - "I Am.. All of Me"</b><br />
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<i>Shadow the Hedgehog</i> is a... different game. It's the first game aimed at a "more mature" audience (haha, E10+), and contains dubious morality, in that the player's choices determine whether they take the role of a hero or villain. Crush 40's theme this time is MUCH more intense, and matches the nature of the game, which is itself much more intense. Players expecting to see the happy Team Rose-esque nature of <i>Heroes</i> will definitely have to "step inside and hold on for dear life." I also suggest you check out the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRAI1gM7AKM">credits theme</a>, one of Crush 40's crowning achievements, in my opinion.<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Riders</b></i><b> - "Sonic Speed Riders"...? Or something?</b><br />
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I don't know much about <i>Sonic Riders</i>, besides the fact that Sonic's on a hoverboard... when he's the fastest thing alive... because that makes sense... I don't even know about this one, guys.<br />
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<b> </b><i><b>Sonic the Hedgehog </b></i><b>(2006) - "His World"</b><br />
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Sigh... <i>Sonic </i>'06 will be forever known as the game that ruined it all. <b> </b>Terrible acting, an abundance of glitches, poor synchronization, lazy animating... this game had it all. Or, rather, lacked it all. The only (and I mean ONLY) upside is that, as usual, the soundtrack isn't half bad. "His World" shows a change of direction from the usual theme, what with rapping and strings thrown in. On one hand, it's a nice tune and a nice change, but on the other, I can't get over this game.<br />
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"His World" was written by Zebrahead, who did an alternate version <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcUFFDBTyms">here</a> that has a more traditional rock band sound. Crush 40 also did a version <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnKb6GZcnLg">here</a>.<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Unleashed</b></i><b> - "Endless Possibility"</b><br />
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Sega knew they had to redeem themselves. <i>Unleashed </i>was their first attempt, and though it did a few things right, it did several things wrong (werehog). Like the werehog. There probably should have been more Sonic-running-through-levels-as-himself in it. Did I mention the werehog?<br />
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<b> </b>That aside, Sega seems to like the direction "Endless Possibility" has brought Sonic music. It is lighter than most Crush 40 things, but it seems they're trying to almost channel the pre-Adventure days. For the past several games, Sega knows that they had a perfect formula, they just can't seem to remember what it was, and so they look back to the older games, with varying degrees of success. This was beaten out by...<br />
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<i><b>Sonic Colours</b></i><b> - "Reach for the Stars"</b><br />
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Besides the obvious<b> </b>in <i>Generations</i>, <i>Colours</i> is the closest Sega has gotten since 2006 to recapturing their lost glory. This theme very closely resembles the previous, and I see this as Sega trying again. They realized something wasn't quite right last time *cough*werehog*cough*, and so they fixed the mistake and gave it another shot. And so <i>Colours</i> was born. "Reach for the Stars" is again one of the lighter, happy themes, but I do see a reason for this:<br />
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Even if we take out the bad controls, bad acting, bad animation, and glitches, <i>Sonic</i> '06 was too serious. There was too much plot, and fans didn't particularly care. We just want to run through levels and smash robots. And so, by cooling down and taking it easy even in the main theme, Sega is showing us that they're relaxing and going back to the good old days of "I just want to run really fast." Because in the end, that's what Sonic is about. You're the fastest thing alive.<br />
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I'll leave you with this gem from the <i>Sonic Colours </i>soundtrack. Next time... I don't know, possibly Mahl Wars, possibly something else, but definitely music. We shall see!<br />
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First off, the orchestra. This was a project started by two people in the area, and they've really put everything on the line for it. And it's been much more successful than I had anticipated. I've played with them only last summer and this, and I've noticed an improvement in ability and morale over the past year of my not-being-there-enough-to-not-notice-gradual-things. It just seemed like a much better attitude this time around. I still miss the youth orchestra, but that's okay. I'm not sure how ALL the competition stacks up at my new school (they've had trumpets in the National Youth Orchestra, so that's a thing), but I just hope I make it into the school orchestra, I can't stand going from two to none. I mean... I am one of only two doing a masters degree, you'd think I should be able to, but I can't just go around underestimating the other students, so for the sake of making sure I'm prepared for the audition, I'm going to assume that every one of them has the potential to oust me.<br />
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This concert's gimmick was that there was music and dramatics going on at (mostly) the same time, and instead of short scenes, the four pieces were actually one long production, like a movie or something where you sit through the whole thing before applauding (this is where you go "Silly person whose name I don't actually know if I'm one of the random people that doesn't know you in real life, people don't clap at movies" and I go "You didn't see Deathly Hallows Part 2 in theatres"). I'm not entirely sure what the plot was, since, y'know, I was PLAYING a lot of the time. Something about a woman whose husband is killed while at sea and then she goes crazy and thinks the ocean IS her husband...? Maybe? Let's go with that.<br />
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Now, of course, I have to rant about how I, personally, did. That's like, what I do here. And you guys read it. Maybe. It's actually kind of silly. Anyways, if I'm really nice to myself, then there were some pretty excellent moments. Except, me being the masochistic musician everyone really has to be, I've decided that every time I have excellent moments, I change my scale so that those are considered "standard" moments, which really just means a larger percentage of what I played is now sub-par moments. Yes, that's silly and demoralizing, but that's the kind of thing that I need. If you ever need a kick in the pants to improve, take what used to be excellent, and make it your norm. All of a sudden, your usual doesn't cut it, EVERYTHING has to be what was, yesterday, excellent.<br />
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But, you know what? It works. I'm used to hating things about how I play, so I can deal with that, and I think that's something you really need as a musician. A lot of people I know (anyone reading this thinks I'm singling them out, go stand over there with the other fifty people I know who probably also think that) have the advantage of having always been the local maximum. Best in your high school, for example. Well, when you get to a certain level, everyone who's left has the advantage of having been best in their high school, and eventually best in their university. So, all of your competition is waving that same flag of entitlement. I had the advantage of not having any chances at a young age of being the best in any particular group, so I'm used to always having to work at surpassing people, and I don't plan to stop that any time soon. However, there are a lot of people who seem to think they're there already, and if that's what you think, my lesson to you is thus: maybe you should adjust your scale. Bump your expectations up a few degrees. And don't use being a student as an excuse, your time as a student is ever-diminishing.<br />
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I have a few stories to keep people tied through the rest of the summer (including the next installment of Mahl Wars), and then I'll be moving cross-country at the end of August, so get ready for lots of exciting experiences! This is where you'll hear it <strike>first</strike> three weeks later!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-71742786052971027852012-07-16T23:36:00.000-03:002012-07-17T00:08:41.898-03:00Time to get serious... activate serious mode... very seriousHey guys... I hope you're ready for a rant, because I'm in rant mode, and I'd hate to not oblige you with such a thing. I guess I'm just in one of those depressed moods.<br />
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So, we had a recital yesterday. Firebird, McBawss, and I did an entire hour of brass trio music. Think about it for a second... that's a lot of playing. That's technically more playing than a quintet concert of the same length, if you think about it. And those two are just awesome. I have mad respect for both of them, I'm really glad we had a chance to do it.<br />
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Now, I did have one big issue with the recital, and it had nothing to do with the other guys. As I said before, nothing but respect. My issue was me. It just... wasn't anywhere near good enough. Now, before people start telling me I'm ridiculous, let me give it to you from my perspective: I have two years, you see. I'm going into a masters programme in a month and a half. After that... I'm going to try to win a job. I know I won't have what I want right out of school, but it'd be nice to win a job at some point. How can I compete, if this is how I STILL end up performing today? Is two years really enough to fix that? IT'S JUST NOT ENOUGH.<br />
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...Okay, I'm sorry, I meant this to be longer, but I'm in a bit of a bad mood... so I'm gonna have to cut this one short. It's just... there was a lot of people in the audience, and three or four people I wanted to especially make an impression on... and that didn't happen. I'd've rather they heard me in an orchestral setting, I know I play much better leading a section than I do solo or chamber (and to think, I've caught the chamber bug this year... I actually want to have a fully-fledged quintet at some point). I'm just frustrated that I let myself wimp out, frustrated that I didn't keep my head and remember to just think about playing easily, frustrated that I looked like a n00b in front of people I wanted to impress, and frustrated that I let the other two down. I really have to stop being all mopey... everyone enjoyed the show... but... RAGE.<br />
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I made a passing comment at Lucca the other day that, if you just looked at my Facebook wall, it looks like I'm constantly stoked on life, since virtually everything I post is awesome. Well, sometimes I also use awesome things to make me happy when I'm feeling down, so I guess looks can be deceiving. Maybe all I need is a little bit of nerdy awesome, and to wake up tomorrow and hit the practice rooms with a reinstated fervour. All right, me, get it together.<br />
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One of these days, I'm going to be AWESOME.<br />
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(This is one of my favourite tunes from a game I've been playing recently, and is one of the most fun games I've had the pleasure of playing in several years)Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-61247324775619777222012-07-08T22:33:00.003-03:002012-07-08T22:33:46.838-03:00Making things real, one step at a timeSo, I'm reading this book at my work (my current summer job doesn't give me a whole lot to do for the time that I'm there) about how to be successful in the classical music industry, though interestingly enough, the book doesn't talk about the concepts of talent (which I don't believe in anyways) or hard work in the sense of practicing and developing your skills at an instrument. It assumes that most musicians at least know that they need to practice, and instead talks about how to market oneself, how to create performance opportunities, how to get recognized and build a network, and so on. Anyways, the first thing that this book talks about is setting goals. Here's an interesting quote in regards to a study at Harvard:<br />
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"The study monitored graduates of an MBA program from 1979 to 1989. Researchers found that after graduation the three percent who had written goals were making 10 times as much money as the other 97 percent combined."<br />
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While the author goes on to explain that the money part of that won't apply to musicians, it is true that having a plan makes that plan much more likely to happen. And so, I felt like I'd write down some concrete career ideas of things I want to do in the next little while. And, to make sure I'm accountable, and because I thought it might be an interesting post, I decided to put it up here.<br />
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<b>SHORT-TERM GOALS</b><br />
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+ When I make it to Vermillion City, I'm going to give people a fantastic first impression, so that they realize I mean business.<br />
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+ I will make sure that I keep up the progress I've been making on my consistency, so that I don't crash nearly as often as I have been known to.<br />
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+ I will LIGHTEN UP.<br />
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+ I will make sure that my range will gradually shift to a larger (if not exclusive) focus on air speed and a smaller focus on embouchure muscles and other silly physical things.<br />
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+ I will be a member of a small brass ensemble at the University, and we will actively seek performances outside of school<br />
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+ I will actively seek out as many opportunities as I can to participate in ensembles/duos/trios of various instrumentation<br />
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+ I will have two kick-ass recitals in my Masters, which I will graduate with excellent marks. <br />
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<b>LONG-TERM GOALS</b><br />
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+ I WILL secure an orchestra job<br />
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+ I will, at some point in my life, play lead on either Mahler 1 or 5. Either one's fine. Both would be nice.<br />
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+ I will be a member of a brass quintet that performs on a fairly regular basis<br />
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+ I will release a CD of the four Ewald quintets with said group<br />
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+ I will release a recording of the Saint-Saens septet with a locally established string quartet<br />
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+ I will return to Pallet Town at some point to put on a concert of brass music, solo and chamber<br />
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+ I will collaborate with a pianist to release a CD of trumpet chamber music.<br />
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+ I will play the Arutunian with a real orchestra. And I'll write my own cadenza (gasp! blasphemy!). It will be an epic of epic epicness.<br />
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Of course, there's a lot of other things I want to do, but those are just the trumpet-specific ones. I might come back and add more later, once I think of them (I'm probably forgetting something really obvious, I blame it on the hour of night). For now, I have a plan, and YOU GUYS can hold me to it!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-38036186602514384922012-06-21T23:54:00.000-03:002013-03-14T04:40:53.460-03:00Symphonie Fantastique Drinking GameThis is part three of a series on <b>Hector Berlioz</b>. Check out the other parts here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2011/10/hector-berlioz-man-myth-incessant-orgy.html">A completely scientific and formal biography of Hector Berlioz</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://trumpetmeta.blogspot.ca/2012/02/happy-international-hector-berlioz.html">A completely factual, honest, and true list of real information and data about Hector Berlioz</a><br />
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<br />
So, it's looking like a little while until the next International Hector Berlioz Appreciation Day wanders around, so most of you probably haven't listened to Symphonie Fantastique for a few months... but, why? Why should your appreciation of <strike>Jesus</strike> <strike>Chuck Norris</strike> <strike>Morgan Freeman</strike> <strike>Optimus Prime</strike> <strike>Aragorn son of Arathorn</strike> Hector Berlioz, man among men, be confined to a single day? After all, was Berlioz's deep, passionate longing for one Ms. Smithson confined to a single day? Of course not, it was all-encompasing and eternal. As one who knows a touch of that bitter taste of unrequited love, we must of course pay our respects to the absolute master of unrequited love, and his Holy Graile of a worke that confined it so perfectly: <i>Symphonie Fantastique</i>. So, while you should of course listen to it on his holiday, feel free to invite friends over to listen to <i>Fantastique</i> on any day of the year! To make this more appealing to those who haven't seen <b>The Truth</b>, I've made a nifty little drinking game to gather their attention.<br />
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Now, of course, the first thing you'll need is a recording of <i>Fantastique</i>. I'll provide a pretty good one here, though my favourite (as usual) is Chicago... I'm such a huge Herseth fan. Though ironically, I'm not too fond of his solo recordings. It's his recordings in symphonies as a principal where he really shines, and <i>Fantastique </i>is no different.<br />
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Pay close attention to the theme that starts at 5:34. That's the Beloved's theme, the object of our protagonist's affection. It'll be a central part of this game. Now, here are the rules:<br />
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<br />
+ Off the top... take a drink! After all, you're the lonely bachelor... and we might as well get this party started with a bang.<br />
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+ Singing along will be required in certain passages, but is encouraged throughout. There is no penalty for not singing along in areas not covered by the rules, but the other participants are allowed to make fun of you for it.<br />
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+ For every movement besides the first, take a drink when you hear a new timbre. For example, the harp entry in the second movement, the English horn in the third (I believe), and the tubular bells and the <i>col legno</i> in the fifth.<br />
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+ If anyone makes a sound during a Grand Pause, take two drinks.<br />
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+ THE GOLDEN RULE: Every time the Beloved's theme enters, the first person to yell "THEME!" gives a drink to the rest of the players. Then, after drinking or yelling, everyone must sing along with the theme, or take two drinks if they stop or ignore it. If you falsely called for the theme, take five drinks. Use your discretion for the fragments in the first movement (most of them wouldn't count as a full entry). The snippet in the fourth movement counts, and is in fact one of the most important ones.<br />
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+ NEW RULE ADDED MARCH 2013: This is a direct corollary to the Golden Rule, and completely changes the way the game is played. When a player activates the Golden Rule, if there is another player whose real life <i>idée fixe</i> is a mutual friend of them and the THEME-yeller, and the THEME-yeller doesn't know it, that player may elect to publicly reveal the identity of their <i>idée fixe</i> to all present. Everyone avoids their drink, and the THEME-yeller must finish their drink and get a new one. If the <i>idée fixe</i> is present in the game, they must finish their drink and get a new one as well, regardless of whether they knew or not.<br />
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+ If you get bored during the third movement, take a drink to make the time pass faster. You can do this multiple times.<br />
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+ There are two shepherds at the start of the third movement. At the end, there is only one. The usual interpretation is that the other one left to escape the rain on the horizon, but I've always found this passage unnecessarily eerie, and interpreted it as the other shepherd having passed away. Everyone takes a drink in his honour.<br />
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+ In the fourth movement, everyone cheers and drinks a toast during the two brass fanfares.<br />
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+ THE GALLOWS: Another super-important rule, near the end of the first movement, the Beloved's theme returns. After/during that, everyone must yell "BANG!" in sync with the guillotine, or else finish your drink and get a new one. This stacks with the Golden Rule, so be quick about it so as not to miss the guillotine!<br />
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+ During the second entrance (first full entrance) of the Beloved's theme in the fifth movement, anyone in the room who has ever played an E-flat clarinet can elect to either finish their drink and get a new one, or get slapped in the face. I hope you didn't miss the guillotine, because those stack!<br />
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+ During the fifth movement, everyone must sing along with the Deis Irae, using the lyrics "Deis Irae." No penalty, but just... do it. It's fun. Especially if you sing it in as deep a voice you can for the low brass entrances.<br />
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+ And, of course, cheer, applaud, and toast for the grand finale!Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-55517930128875514222012-06-13T23:12:00.000-03:002012-06-13T23:12:05.126-03:00MAHL WARS: EPISODE I - TITAN<i>I'm not going to post a recording, but feel free to follow along at home with your own copy, or search one up on YouTube, iTunes, the Classical Music Library, or Nexus Music Library! As usual, I suggest the Chicago/Solti recording... the trumpets are amazing, Herseth is so incredibly on the ball in that one!</i><br />
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<b>Part I - Langsam. Schleppend.<span lang="de"></span></b><br />
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Scene opens in the vast, deep emptiness of space. A beat-up looking pod soars by the camera, which follows it. Resistance spacecraft can be seen in the background, in orbit around the planet Liepzooine. The pod soars towards the planet, landing in the desert near a small farm.<br />
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[5th bar after rehearsal 4] Out of the farm comes Gustav Skywalker, a strapping young lad full of ambition, but too poor to make a name for himself in the galaxy. His dream is to join the Star Resistance and fight against the evil Empire. As he goes out into the farm to work, he begins to daydream about flying, fighting Imperial ships, and saving maidens. He phases in and out of being able to pay attention to his work, and glorious visions of space battles.<br />
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[Rehearsal 12] Gustav discovers the pod, which opens to reveal a small robot. The robot reveals to him that he has a message to deliver to Anti-Non Brucknobi. Gustav wonders if this will lead him on to an adventure, and travels with the robot through the early morning mist to meet Old Ant Brucknobi.<br />
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[Rehearsal 15] The robot tells Anti-Non that the Resistance is in dire trouble of losing the Viennescant system to the Empire. The Resistance representative, Princess Alma, asks if Anti-Non can return to them the power of Titan. Gustav asks what this is, and Anti-Non explains that Titan was the nickname of a famous fighter pilot that used to fight against the Empire before it was established, but hasn't been seen in years.<br />
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[Rehearsal 26] After much discouragement and warning about the evils of the Empire, Anti-Non finally decides to take Gustav with him and teach him the ways of the Composers' Guild, an ancient order that uses the craft of Muzyk as a source of power.<br />
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<b><span lang="de">Part II - Kräftig bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell.</span></b><br />
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Anti-Non and Gustav enter the main city of Mos Liepzig, where a Resistance outpost is taking recruits. Gustav is at first turned away, but Anti-Non vouches for him, and manages to persuade the recruiters to take him, using the mystical powers of Muzyk.<br />
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[Rehearsal 5] Anti-Non and Gustav board a Resistance ship, flying to the capital planet of Viennescant. Gustav is overwhelmed by all the people, the procedure, and the amount of stuff he's expected to know and do. He's also rather clumsy, and makes a fool of himself often.<br />
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[Rehearsal 16] Gustav, while trying to find the briefing room that will explain what he should do when they reach their destination, accidentally stumbles upon Princess Alma's quarters. Though she is timid at first, the two take to each other well, though they are both rather awkward and shy.<br />
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[Rehearsal 26] Gustav finally makes it to his briefing, and is taught some basic things about flying his own spaceship, since the Resistance is quite strapped for pilots. He then decides to seek out Anti-Non learn about Muzyk, and Anti-Non tells him they will begin his training when they touch down.<br />
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<b>Part III - <span lang="de">Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen.</span></b><br />
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<span lang="de">When they arrive on Viennescant, Anti-Non takes ill, and passes away in his sleep that night. A funeral is held the next day, and while most people believe it was Brucknobi's old age that did him in, Gustav doesn't think someone that wise in the ways of Muzyk could die of natural causes.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 5] Gustav notices some shady characters leaving the funeral, and decides to tail them through the city. They end up in a dingy pub, called Bernstein's. He orders a drink to look less conspicuous, but after taking a sip, passes out.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 10] Anti-Non comes in a vision to Gustav, saying that the power of Titan belongs to anyone strong in the ways of Muzyk, and that by releasing his spirit, he is allowing Gustav to absorb the powers of the Titan into himself. He then tells Gustav to seek out Master Yogner as soon as he can, who will be able to oversee Gustav's training.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 13] Gustav comes to his senses, and finds himself tied to a chair in the pub, with the shady characters all around. Through the powers of Muzyk, he manages to improvise a story to explain his being there, get them to untie him, and make a sneaky escape.</span><br />
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<span lang="de"><b>Part IV - </b></span><b><span lang="de">Stürmisch bewegt</span></b><br />
<br />
<span lang="de">Gustav makes it back to base just in time, an Imperial Planet Render has come out of hyperspace accidentally and stumbled across the secret base at Viennescant. The Resistance decides to scramble as many fighters as they can spare, and take it down before it can make communications with the Emperor's flagship</span><span lang="de">. Gustav, being a new trainee, is still given a small, cheap ship, because the Resistance simply doesn't have the numbers to deny even the newest recruits to take part in the battle.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 15] Princess Alma seeks out Gustav before he lifts off, and tells him that she has taken a liking to him, and to be careful. Gustav cannot believe his luck, and is momentarily dumfounded, before realizing that there is a battle going on, and the fighters must be scrambled.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 21] Gustav's squad takes off, flying into space. They arrive at the site of the battle, and are immediately intercepted by Wie-Fighters. Though Gustav has never flown before, he finds that with the power of Muzyk, outflying the Imperials is much easier than he expected.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[4 before Rehearsal 34] As Gustav is neck and neck with an enemy Wie-Fighter, he hears Anti-Non's voice in his head, telling him "Yes, Gustav Skywalker... you are the Titan they so seek." Gustav channels this power, and uses it to take out the Wie-Fighter. He then turns his focus on the Planet Render.</span><br />
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<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 38] Gustav flies underneath the Planet Render's shield, and though it looks like he is lost in a firefight, he manages to neutralize the ship's generator with a well-placed torpedo, allowing the Resistance flagship to enter and dispose of the larger ship. Gustav's ship has undergone heavy damage, though, and is brought back to the surface, though no one has heard any correspondance from him. Fearing the worst, they open the helm.</span><br />
<span lang="de"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 45] Gustav is found in critical condition, and brought to the hospital. It is discovered that there is some shrapnel close to his heart, so the surgeons immediately get to work. It looks like he is alright, but one piece has lodged in too close to remove. As the surgeon tries as hard as he can, the barely conscious Gustav reaches out with Muzyk to give him the power he needs.</span><br />
<span lang="de"><br /></span><br />
<span lang="de">[Rehearsal 52] Gustav has recovered, and is awarded a medal for bravery by Princess Alma. The scene pans back up to space, and shows fireworks and Resistance ships flying past in jubilation. Cue the end credits.</span>Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-18218116738088725632012-06-09T13:39:00.000-03:002012-06-09T13:39:58.435-03:00Pallet Town Ping Pont Festival! With music sometimes.So the music festival finished yesterday, with our big concert being that one piece by that one guy. You know, that one.<br />
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This piece was actually ridiculously fun. Some folks were terrified of the counting, especially in the last dance, but I'm pretty tank at odd meter, so it worked out. As much as I didn't want to believe it at first, you can totally just get in the zone after a while, and not worry about screaming beats in your head... the piece has kind of a groove that's pretty easy to lock in to. Anyways, the point is, I can say I've played this in front of people who paid to hear it now, and that is amazing.<br />
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So, a few of the observations about Festival this year: one, our trio is awesome. McBoss, Firebird, and I were really making excellent efforts, connecting, and just having fun by the end of it. I kind of want to see if they'd be willing to do a recording at some point over the summer, not to sell or anything, but as just kind of a demo to have on hand. If nothing else, it could be the best YouTube recording, since I haven't found a professional one there, but I'm not a huge fan of putting my stuff online.<br />
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Quintet was pretty fun, though I did at times feel like we were rushing to get some things together near the end. I don't remember the piece taking as long for the University quintet to get together, but that's probably just because that group only changes by maybe one member a year, and the Festival quintet had mostly just not played with each other before. Still, it was a blast. I feel like we got along better in this quintet than in the one in last year's festival.<br />
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Of course, I didn't play as well as I wanted to in the masterclass, but I wasn't expecting to blow people away. I had been working on the piece for... probably just under a month, and I was playing it without piano, so I was rather nervous off the top, not taking a cue to come in. Oh, and it was this. On trumpet.<br />
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I had another lesson with Big Boss, and although he had a lot of great points that I'm going to try to focus on all summer to make them second nature, I'm glad to hear that it sounds like I'm improving. I sometimes worry that I go long amounts of time without making a difference, but considering the things he suggested last year and the things he suggested this year, it sounds like he has a lot more confidence in me now, and I'm getting more confidence in myself, too. Although I still worry about whether I'll be on par when I get to Viridian City, I'm feeling a little better about myself after this festival, which is much more than I can say about last year.<br />
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Hey, speaking of last year... this blog has been around for a year, hasn't it? *checks calendar* A year and a week, actually! So, I totally missed the birthday, but I think I will end up celebrating it by kicking off a new mini-series, starting as soon as I have a free two hours some evening.<br />
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So, I noticed something after 'Vinsky last night... I miss having a musicology friend. Empress went to the concert, and we chatted for well over half an hour in the lobby afterwards about random things... Beethoven and living in conservatories and Schoenberg yelling at Shirley Temple fans and playing things to make them sound like you're trying really really hard when you might not be... just, stuff. And because of a certain someone having moved away, I don't get my musicology fix nearly as much as I used to, so that was... just nice, I guess.<br />
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Anyways, next time, the birthday kickoff, which will launch a nine-part series (they won't be back to back, they'll probably be between regular updates) that you REALLY don't want to miss. Because it might involve Star Wars somehow. I'm not entirely sure how, yet, but it will.<br />
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<br />
Hello fellow brassers. We are gathered here today so I can<i> </i>enlighten you on one of the most fundamental treatises of brass playing, that so many students overlook. This short manual contains every necessary fact, hint, and piece of advice that there is to know about orchestral brass playing.<br />
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I am talking, of course, about the Pokémon theme song.<br />
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This one short text, fittingly set to music, is a many-layered metaphor for some of the fundamental principles of orchestral brass. Now, for the first time in recorded history, I shall dissect it line by line, and show to the world its secrets to success. The divine lyrics are in bold, with my explanations underneath.<br />
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<b>I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was</b><br />
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Of course, this should be the overall mantra of the orchestral trumpet player. A true musician does not settle for being "pretty good." A true musician does not listen to their own sound and say "that's acceptable." A true musician strives for a perfection that they know they cannot accomplish, and that no one alive has accomplished. Only when the musician tosses aside acceptance of imperfection, can they begin their journey.<br />
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<b>To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause</b><br />
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The brass player will soon realize the skill set they must possess to hope to achieve the impossible goal, but must be willing to spend tiring hours working to attempt to achieve this. Their whole being must be focused into the training of these necessary skills, and to never being satisfied with the level they have reached. <br />
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<b>I will travel across the land, searching far and wide</b><br />
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The brass player may be tempted to latch into a single regional style, but this will ultimately limit the brass player, whose goal should be to be limitless. Thus, training in a multitude of regional styles, with different mentors with different backgrounds, is the only way the aspiring brass player will hope to achieve the impossible.<br />
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<b>Each Pokémon to understand the power that's inside</b><br />
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A brass player and the player's instrument are partners in a journey. The brass player must become comfortable with their own instrument, and know how it will respond, and how to make it respond in an ideal way, when its tendencies can and will be less than ideal.<br />
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<b>(Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all)</b><br />
<b>It's you and me</b><br />
<b>I know it's my destiny</b><br />
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Though the brass player knows their eventual goal of beyond absolute perfection is impossible, the player must convince themselves that, not only is it possible, it is within the realm of the player to accomplish, and is in fact what the player shall accomplish. This way, the player will not become discouraged at a goal that can never be reached, but shall march fervently towards a goal that they believe they are destined to reach, no matter how unrealistic. <br />
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<b>(Pokémon)</b><br />
<b>Oh, you're my best friend</b><br />
<b>In a world we must defend</b><br />
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The brass player must be totally committed to the art of playing, and any sense of weakness or temptation from the path should be met with resistance. The fates will seem to draw the brass player away, to less favourable life paths such as non-music, but the brass player must remain strong and fight for the goal the player has set.<br />
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<b>(Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all)</b><br />
<b>A heart so true</b><br />
<b>Our courage will pull us through</b><br />
<b>You teach me and I teach you</b><br />
<b>Pokémon</b><br />
<b>Gotta catch 'em all</b><br />
<b>Gotta catch 'em all</b><br />
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The brass player will no doubt meet colleagues and rivals in the journey, but the natural arrogance of the brass player will be naught but a hindrance. The brass player who aims to achieve the goal of unreachable perfection realizes that every individual the player meets can offer insight that will make the path to the goal a little brighter, no matter the age, background, or experience level of the individual.<br />
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<b>Every challenge along the way, with courage I have faced</b><br />
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The brass player will no doubt be put in a situation with insurmountable odds, where short-term personal triumph is impossible. This must not unnerve the brass player, but rather, the player must approach every obstacle as if it is the simplest of tasks, and must at all times show utmost confidence in the player's own abilities.<br />
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<b>I will battle every day to claim my rightful place</b><br />
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The brass player may be tempted on their journey to suspend the search for knowledge and skills, but the true brass player realizes that, in hopes of accomplishing the impossible, no straying from the path the player has set out is permissible.<br />
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<b>Come with me, the time is right, there's no better team</b><br />
<b>Arm in arm we'll win the fight, it's always been our dream</b><br />
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Above all, the brass player must realize that any rivalry is merely impeding a friendship. The brass player must have ultimate faith in the player's section-mates, because in an orchestral setting, only togetherness can produce the desired result of perfection.<br />
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<b>(Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all)</b><br />
<b>It's you and me</b><br />
<b>I know it's my destiny</b><br />
<b>(Pokémon)</b><br />
<b>Oh, you're my best friend</b><br />
<b>In a world we must defend</b><br />
<b>(Pokémon, gotta catch 'em all)</b><br />
<b>A heart so true</b><br />
<b>Our courage will pull us through</b><br />
<b>You teach me and I teach you</b><br />
<b>Pokémon</b><br />
<b>Gotta catch 'em all</b><br />
<b>Gotta catch 'em all</b><br />
<b>Pokémon</b><br />
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And so, fellow brassers, take these words to heart. Every single important notion of brass playing, summed up in three minutes of music. More beautiful words have never been spoken. May the Grace of our Lord Arceus, and the Love of his Son Mew, be with you all.<br />
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<i>(Also, if you're a Pokémon fan, check out this leaked teaser for Black 2/White 2. It's pretty intense.</i><br />
https://s-static.ak.facebook.com/rsrc.php/v1/y2/r/5l8_EVv_jyW.swf?v=10150837632588547&ev=0 <br />
<i>Next one will be serious, I promise!)</i><br />
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<br />Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-14280064604350469432012-05-12T23:24:00.000-03:002012-05-12T23:24:01.676-03:00What does the scouter say about his power level?If you don't get that reference, you haven't been following my blog very closely... shame on you! But anyways, writing because I'm waiting for a potion to brew on Pottermore, and because I have some things I want to blab about, so felt like a good idea.<br />
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First off, had the second of two gigs with the local community orchestra tonight, and this night went better than the first, I'd say. On the program was Schubert's <i>Stabat Mater</i>, Beethoven's <i>Choral Fantasy</i>, and Mozart's <i>Magic Flute</i> overture. Not in that order. In, like, that order but backwards. Didn't really like the Schubert, Beethoven was average but nowhere near the level of his symphonies, and the Mozart's one of my favourite things he wrote (nothing'll ever beat his <i>Symphony 25</i> for me, but <i>Magic Flute</i>'s a good one).<br />
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So, here's a weird thing that I've noticed happens to me before orchestra sometimes: every now and then, before a gig or a rehearsal, I'll have a temporary rush of going Super Saiyan. Like, everything I play will be spot-on, and then some. During my warm-up before the gig tonight, I did the slow section of the Poulenc trio (first movement) flawlessly, and did a run that ended a third higher than what I tell people is my max capacity on a long horn (played the show on C, as is my usual when I can help it). It usually only happens before a rehearsal, and even then, it's always before orchestra rehearsals, never band, quintet, or chamber.<br />
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I feel like it has something to do with relaxation, and the fact that I'm usually the most at peace in an orchestra setting. Either way, if only I could harness this power, and use it whenever I want... the power of the Super Saiyan will be mine, I tell you!<br />
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Speaking of relaxation... I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. The music festival is coming up, and... well, here's a story about last year. I have a notorious history of getting slumps, but by now it's basically just history, and I'll only ever be out for maybe a day, sometimes even only a few hours. But, when festival rolled around last year, I was off my game for the first week, and a little bit into the second. I don't know if I ever really gained the respect of the quintet back. I just really put on a bad show, and this time, I KNOW it can't happen. I know I'm better than I was last year, even if I hadn't had the slump. I know that my skills have improved, and that I can pull off the piece we're looking at. We haven't come to a full conclusion yet, but I'm really hopeful for the Malcolm Arnold.<br />
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I know that this time, I have to be on top of my game. I have to be ready, and I'm going to show them. And, y'know what... I WILL. It's gonna happen, I'm gonna rock. I'll unleash maximum capacity, and I won't make a fool of myself for another year. I swear to Arceus, this year is going to be awesome!<br />
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Next time... something so ludicrous, you serious people might as well just skip it and come back the time after. XPYour Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4364501546298413965.post-69336555213424914762012-05-06T00:00:00.002-03:002012-05-06T00:00:48.114-03:00The Orchestra Rehearsal Drinking GameGaaaah Blogger, why'd you change the layout on me? I don't know where everything is now D:<br />
(Editing layout, the blog itself should look the exact same)<br />
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So, in the last month or two of rehearsals with the youth orchestra, some of the other members of the orchestra may or may not have noticed certain members of the stage-left brass making odd drinking motions in semi-unison. I don't remember ever getting odd looks from the other sections, so we seem to have gone unnoticed. But, I have permission from the creator of this idea (in the trombones) to release a slightly edited and anonymized version (that's a word now because I said so). All the criteria were her idea, all I did was take out player-specific drinks, and distinguish between sips and shots (it was all the same in the original version).<br />
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This is... the Orchestra Rehearsal Drinking Game!<br />
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This game is tailored for the stage left brass (trumpets, bones, tuba), so edits must be made for the other sections if you want to play along. My comments are in italics.<br />
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+ Take a shot every time you count through a long rest, inhale to play a line, and are cut off by the conductor.<br />
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+ If you play beyond a cutoff, one sip per bar.<br />
<i>If it's been a slow rehearsal, you can do one sip per bar of the last person in the orchestra to stop</i><br />
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<i>+ </i>Take a shot if the conductor asks to hear winds and brass, but the only ones playing at that section are winds and horns.<br />
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+ Take a sip if offbeats end up slipping to the onbeat behind them<br />
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+ Take a shot if offbeats push to the onbeat in front of them<br />
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+ If your conductor has a favourite word for rehearsal marks, take a sip for each time you hear it<i>.</i><br />
<i>Let's take it at M for Mozart. Wait... no, N for Nielsen.</i><br />
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<i>+ </i>Of course, take a sip every time you're told brass is too loud<br />
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<i>+ </i>Got someone famous for being super loud? Like, a lead trumpet or bone with an enormous ego and volume? Finish your drink if they're told to play louder.<br />
<i>Inspired by our principal tuba, who can... well... PLAY the TUBA.</i><br />
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<i> </i>+ One sip per late string/woodwind player to the rehearsal. A shot for a late brasser/percussionist... HOW DARE THEY.<br />
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+ Take a shot for a violin line that goes so high, it becomes less of a pitch and more of a creak.<br />
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+ Take a shot if someone is audibly eating during rehearsal.<br />
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+ Anyone who has technical issues, like sticking valves, has to take a sip<br />
<i>Inspired by a trombonist who was missing their water key... like actually, the hole is there, but the key is not, so he has a cloth perpetually tied around it.</i><br />
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+ Take a sip every time three or more horns look at the rest of the brass section funny.<br />
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+ Finish your drink if the room goes silent.<br />
<i>HAH. Good luck.</i> <br />
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+ If you've got a potty-mouth in the group, sip per swear word.<br />
<i>Looking at you, lead trombone.</i><br />
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<i>+ </i>Take a sip per string player doodling while instructions are being given<i>.</i><br />
<i>I wonder if they think they're too quiet to be noticed?</i><i><br /></i><br />
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<i>+ </i>And finally, one sip per second before anyone can answer the world-famous question: who has the melody right now?Your Friendly Neighbourhood Trumpet Playerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11745125665473952078noreply@blogger.com2