Klarinet Archive - Posting 000267.txt from 2003/03

From: Jeremy A Schiffer <schiffer@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] Studio Music Question
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 14:39:05 -0500

On Tue, 4 Mar 2003, CBA wrote:

> In closing, the studio industry is as corrupt as anything else
> in getting a job. Most people hire subs by who they know. Meet
> some studio people in your area by going to live Broadway type
> shows and asking to take lessons on the instruments you play. If
> they see how well you play, they might ask you to sub sometime
> for them, and then you are in. NO ONE just looks in the music
> union book for a studio musician, as there are TONS of
> unemployed GREAT players already on waiting lists for the jobs.
> It's all who you know.

I know this thread's been dead a few days, but I wanted to add onto this
now that I'm caught up a bit. First, all of Kelly's points, which I've
removed here, are great advice. But I want to address this one
specifically, because I just found myself in this situation.

I have been taking lessons off-and-on with a klezmer clarinet player here
in New York City (just because our schedules never match up). I think of
myself as a decent player, but certainly not professional caliber, by any
means. I'm currently the lead clarinet in the Columbia Klezmer
Band and the concertmaster of the Columbia University Wind
Ensemble; not bad groups, but not the big time by any means. However,
this instructor was writing the music for and playing in an off-broadway
(okay, it needs a few more offs in there to be realistic) show and asked
me if I'd be interested in sitting in as a sub when they couldn't make it.
I was astonished that I would be a top choice for playing an honest-to-god
paying gig on a few sundays this spring, given my (complete
lack of) experience in the field.

Of course, there was one catch, which brings me to the main point:

My old teacher, the late John Denman, told me that the most useful thing a
clarinet player can know is the opening to Rhapsody in Blue. He said that
he was hired on occassion to play the piece, when a community
band/orchestra didn't have anyone who could do it well. Stupidly, I never
took his advice. So:

1) Learn how to play the opening of Rhapsody in Blue, including the shmear
from (fourth line) D to (second ledger) C. It can only help your career,
and it's a great party trick.

What does this have to do with the first story? Well, that's the catch.
This play has a scene where the clarinet player must do the opening from
Rhapsody in Blue. Can I play it? Nope. Is that a problem? Yup.

But I have a few weeks to learn it before I'll be needed, so I'll have the
time to do it. However, I nearly had to turn down my first real paying gig
because I couldn't play the opening of RiB. What a shame that would have
been.

-jeremy

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Jeremy A. Schiffer
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Columbia University
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