 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: C.Elizabeth07
Date: 2012-09-02 14:36
Two questions....
#1. I have been preparing a bunch of excerpts for upcoming auditions. (the minuet from Beethoven 8 is one and so is Galanta) There are spots in both of these where a tempo marking is printed in the music yet I really don't agree with it. I feel like the tempos are way to fast and I can't ever recall hearing it at those tempos. So the question is, do I ignore what is printed in the music and go with the tempo's I have found are most common OR do I adhere to the printed tempos?
#2. I live in an apartment building now in a city (first time ever, I've always lived in a suburban-ish area). For practicing in the apartment... is there anything I should know about doing that, any proper courtesy thihngs for my neighbors or should I just keep in between normal daytime hours and wait for someone to start complaining?
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2012-09-02 15:41
Per #2 - I wouldn't wait until someone bangs with a broom handle on the ceiling.
First of all, I'd check if the landlord has imposed some house rules re noise and taboo hours. These will offer basic protection against grumpy neighbours.
Then, if you haven't already done so, invite your neighbours to a house warming party and inform them there about your practising habits and ask if there's a time frame that's less inconvenient than others.
Most conflicts don't even start when everyone feels involved and informed.
--
Ben
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Author: TMHolstrom
Date: 2012-09-02 16:20
Responding to #2, as well:
I think checking with your landlord, as Ben stated, is probably the best first step. Personally, my landlord has specific times set aside where it is acceptable to be noisy in the building (obviously the hours when most people would be awake). If your landlord doesn't have a policy similar to this, then just use your best judgement: 9:00pm is the latest I would personally practice, though I try to practice in early to mid-afternoon when most people will be awake or out of the building.
An alternative to a house warming party, slip a note under your neighbor's doors! When we moved in, my roommates and I (all musicians) put together a friendly note for our neighbors basically saying that we are all classical musicians and may practice in our apartment and if we were disturbing them to have them call or text us. Like Ben said, most conflicts don't even start when everyone feels involved and informed.
As a paying tenant of the building, it is your right to practice in your apartment if you so choose, but being respectful to your landlord's policies and your neighbors is of high importance.
Happy practicing!
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Author: Ed Palanker
Date: 2012-09-02 17:21
My suggestion for the excerpts is to listen to three recordings by known conductors and choose the "average" or the one that makes the most sense to you. Some conductors take everything fast and some slow. Remember too, the mm markings for the Beethoven Symphonies are very controversial. Some conductors do them very strictly so everything is fast, but some feel they are not correct because the metornome was new at that time and it's said that Beethoven added the markings after he already wrote most or all of them and was deaf already when he did, never actually hearing them. How accurate was the metronome at that time too.?
ESP eddiesclarinet.com
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-09-02 17:30
Good advice from Ed. I would add that you find recordings of the ensemble you are auditioning for. They will have a style and a way of performing. Being aware of that will hopefully give you brownie points.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Garth Libre
Date: 2012-09-02 19:30
I lived in NYC for years and never had a problem with anyone practicing in our pre-war apartment on Riverside Dr. Of course, those wall were brick but you could still hear a piano, or a saxophone through the walls. There was an understood time limit for practice and no one ever violated it. Nowadays people sometimes blast their stereos during parties in our suburban neighborhood in Miami and I sometimes can hear it a block away. Even car stereos can sometimes be heard through our thick, hurricane plate glass. I never heard a piano or orchestral instrument practice session that pushed me over the limit even though one of my neighbors in NY spent an entire year digging into one particular Chopin piece. Any earnest humbling practice on an orchestral instrument with the exception of maybe tympani should be acceptable even by people who have lost so many of their brain cells and and a good percentage of their hearing to rap, bass and club music. I would find it inappropriate if a neighbor objected to my clarinet practice during normal hours on anything short of continuous altissimo ff work.
Garth, 305-981-4705. garthlibre@yahoo.com
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Author: Buster
Date: 2012-09-02 19:54
Disagreeing with "editorial" tempo markings, and those provided by the composer, are differing matters. (The "Great Beethoven Broken-metronome Debate" is something that will likely not be resolved until we cross over to the 'other-side')
Sitting on a panel, I'd prefer hear an auditonee play a piece at the notated tempo (leaving Beethoven out of matters) and then simply ask them to vary it if need be.
Demonstrating that flexibility to convey the excerpt equally well, when a change is requested, can win you some "points" over another auditionee so locked into their practice tempo that they fall flat on their face when any variation is attempted.
(and if by chance you ever play The Miraculous Mandarin cadenzas, do take the time to look at the score. There are a few key markings absent in the clarinet part.)
-Jason
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