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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000053.txt from 2007/10

From: herb fawcett <herbgosia@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [DR-L] Play loud ...and louder!
Date: Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:35:10 -0400

David,
I imagine the relationship between principal oboe and CM is probably closer
and more frequent than the CM/bassoon set-up. I am a little shy of being a
Prima Donna in rehearsals (save it for Alborada) so I keep my discussion
within the section. A little of that goes a long way if one has a "fussy"
conductor who wants everyone to hear his every expiration. Can't get much
done during rehearsal, and the breaks are taken up by the brasses doing
their Arbans exercises.
Where is the joy in playing sharp? Especially on a horn built to 440?
Herb

On 10/4/07 9:01 AM, "David Lurie" <klingsor@-----.com> wrote:

> At 11:31 AM 10/4/2007, you wrote:
>> Conductors - Bah!
>> Herb
>
> Hi Herb
> Obviously, saying a pox on them is not the answer to this problem.
> They just aren't going to go away. So the only sensible thing is to
> decide what is the most effective way to deal with them. First, if
> you have a friendly relationship, you can talk to them and explain
> that there IS a problem, assuming that they don't even know it
> exists. Then make some suggestions. You can also talk to the
> concertmaster about the mechanics etc of tuning the orchestra. I have
> done both of these and found that it worked quite well.
>
> David
>
>
>
>> On 10/4/07 8:15 AM, "David Lurie" <klingsor@-----.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Harold
>>>
>>> I just replied to your earlier msg about playing louder. Now I think
>>> I understand the problem a little better. In part at least, it's that
>>> everyone else is playing too loud, so you have to try to keep
>>> up. This is quite characteristic of amateur orchestras, where
>>> everyone plays as loud as they can so as to be heard, even when the
>>> music says ppp. It was a constant thing for me back when I was still
>>> in high school.
>>>
>>> But seems to me at least, that this is a problem for the conductor to
>>> manage, not just one woodwind player. The conductor should have an
>>> idea how loudly or softly the other players should be playing, and
>>> then control the balance. If (s)he's doing the job properly, there
>>> should be no problem. However in your case, maybe (s)he doesn't even
>>> know that there IS a problem.
>>>
>>> In that case, assuming you have a good enough relationship, maybe you
>>> could explain to the conductor what the problem is, as well as offer
>>> some suggestions how to solve it.
>>>
>>> Good luck.
>>>
>>> David
>>>
>
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