 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-11 02:56
Wow his section mates are real ass-holes.
This should NEVER have happened (allowing the horn to fall to the floor is just beyond the pale).
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: dubrosa22
Date: 2015-11-11 04:52
Did he save the instrument? Looks to me like he tried to, but didn't quite make it!
OT: I edited a orchestral concert TV program recently where the tenor saxophonist yawned, stretched, sighed and rolled her eyes throughout the entire concert (I don't think she had a big part!).
Normally this would not be too much of a problem, however the focus of the TV show was on the conductor and she just so happened to be smack bang in front him and very much in-focus and apparent to the long camera lens capturing his actions. Jeez, it was a very enjoyable cutting around her sleepy antics :(
V
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Author: kdk
Date: 2015-11-11 06:30
Having played in a concert at which the principal trumpet player collapsed with heart failure on stage (and died soon after), I have mixed feelings watching this. Hopefully, he was only napping (which is certainly a problem). It's hard to see how anyone could fall that deeply asleep in the middle of all that Rimsky-Korsakov color - brass, woodwinds, percussion - the cymbals probably right behind him might have been enough to awaken him. Worst case is that there was actually something wrong that needed medical attention and they still had the entire Fandango to play.
Karl
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Author: Tobin
Date: 2015-11-11 07:37
Or he's massively hung over -- his section mates are letting him sleep and fail because he's already betrayed the performance.
That might also explain how he can sleep through the performance itself, and not notice when he dropped his horn.
James
Gnothi Seauton
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-11-11 18:16
I think a person sleeping normally (or even hung over) probably would awaken when he felt his horn slipping out of his hands. He might be narcoleptic, he might have some other medical condition or he might be having a bad reaction to prescription medication. I'm inclined to give the man the benefit of the doubt.
His colleagues were in a difficult situation. With the sleeper's head down that way, the audience might not have been able to see what was going on back there in the horn section, but trying to wake him up might have caused significant disruption. I wonder whether the musicians around him might have known about their colleague's problem in advance, or whether the conductor might have signalled them to do nothing. The man in the next seat did try to catch that horn, but he had to do so one-handed, to avoid dropping his own horn -- and it looked to me as if he might have broken the instrument's fall or even let it down gently. Hard to tell.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2015-11-11 20:59
They used to put a "wake up Bix" notation on the second trumpet's chart to be sure to arouse a hung over or inebriated Bix Beiderbecke for his trumpet solos. Alas, he died young of 'four roses of the liver"
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2015-11-11 21:04
In this thread, someone has to recall the story of Jack Brymer falling asleep (in a rehearsal, rather than a concert). In this case, unfortunately, he broke the middle tenon of the instrument he was holding. He claimed that it never played as well again after being mended - and that the sound of the other member of his pair also lost something at the same time.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-11 22:07
I saw the London Symphony on their Chicago tour way back in '78. They played Symphonie Fantastique, and in the long Bb solo Brymer had a prominent squeak. As I was looking at him through opera glasses, I saw Maurice Murphy just behind him laughing, silently but quite obviously.
.............Paul Aviles
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Author: Wes
Date: 2015-11-13 11:32
When the late Gail Robinson was playing horn with the Pittsburg Symphony, they toured Europe. At a concert in Switzerland, the Queen of England was sitting up front. On a movement where he had no part, he closed his eyes. On opening them, he saw the Queen looking at him while rubbing her index fingers together as if to say "shame on you". His story!
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Author: Robert Moody
Date: 2015-11-13 17:07
Horn player should be asked not to return and any that knew he was asleep or otherwise disposed of should be reminded that the point of being on the stage as a part of an orchestra is the performance for the audience. That means you do whatever is necessary to make the best performance possible...every time.
As a substitute player, I get EXTREMELY annoyed when I am asked to play and see how lackadaisical "regulars" are about their opportunity to play. During rehearsals, people are texting, watching videos, talking, etc. So this kind of video hits home in particular to me.
Robert Moody
http://www.musix4me.com
Free Clarinet Lessons and Digital Library!
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-11-13 19:59
Dear Mr. Moody,
Yes I agree with the essence of what you say. It should be in every musician's core to do the best job possible at every moment (even when no one is watching). But the orchestra is a team. Just like a chain that depends on each individual link, the team must work together (it's not just a bunch of individual "hot shots"). So it should be incumbent on ALL to see to a good final product.
We spoke about some possible medical or chronic issues. If that were the case, then something should have been done FOR this musician to prevent what we saw and that includes halting the proceedings until he is put into proper care (whatever was needed).
There have been a few cases of musicians collapsing and dying on stage right in the middle of performances in the last few years. The show didn't "GO ON" around them. The same courtesy needed to be in place for this fellow.
As far as follow up, I would endorse trying to reform the problem if it were more on the order of some "weakness" on the players part BEFORE immediately heading to a pink slip.
We are all in this together.............or not.
...................Paul Aviles
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Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-11-14 00:53
On second thought, I agree with Paul Aviles. Certainly check the person's respiration, at least. But, if there's any possibility that a sleeper is narcoleptic, be careful. One typical symptom is unusually heavy breathing with a stentorian snore.
Most narcoleptics can fall asleep at inappropriate times, but the stereotypical guy who suddenly blacks out with his face in his soup during dinner is extremely rare. It's much more common for a narcoleptic to doze off in a way that might be inappropriate for the circumstances but otherwise doesn't look abnormal. Awakening some narcoleptics can cause them to leap in the air, shout, *throw* anything they happen to be holding (whether it's yesterday's newspaper or an expensive musical instrument) or even physically attack the person who's gently touching them, before they fully awaken and come to their senses.
(I'm not going to invade someone's privacy by explaining why I know these things, but trust me, I know.)
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
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Author: clarinetguy ★2017
Date: 2015-11-14 01:22
I recall reading a story many years ago about a Chicago Symphony concert that featured a Mahler symphony (perhaps the seventh) with a mandolin part. The orchestra ended up hiring an older man, and I seem to remember that he was a retired barber. There was a lot of sitting and waiting until his entry, and when his time came, he was fast asleep!
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