 The Doublers BBoard
|
Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2010-06-17 06:21
I have been asked if I'm interested in playing for WSS this fall, there will be 3 reed players hired to cover 5 books. The book I would be playing is book 3, which has EIGHT instruments. I play oboe, eh, tenor and clarinet. I COULD play bass clarinet and bari sax but I'd have to procure horns (not a HUGE problem, but still an issue); but I can't play flute or picc at all. Of course, those are both C instruments and I might be able to play oboe to cover the parts. OR, since we are covering parts for each other anyway, we might be able to swap out and have the real flute/picc person cover there.
Has anyone played this part? I have read some of the past discussions about this show and I would LOVE to play it - there is no one else in town (for the pay) that can play this book - they could get a doubler but they wouldn't be able to play the double reed parts. Please give your opinions - I'll let you know what happens!
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Chris P
Date: 2010-06-17 15:36
I've played the reed 3 book several times now - they really ought to get the right amount of players in to cover all the woodwind parts.
Reed 1 is piccolo, flute, Bb clarinet and alto sax.
Reed 2 is Eb, Bb and bass clarinets.
Reed 3 as you know is Piccolo, flute, oboe, cor, Bb and bass clarinets, tenor and bari saxes.
Reed 4 is piccolo, flute, Bb and bass clarinets, soprano and bass saxes.
Reed 5 is bassoon.
Even having five players in to cover all the books in this arrangement is still not enough as you're all doing the work for around twelve woodwind players. A lot of the bass sax part is covered/doubled with bari sax.
You really need 3 flutes/piccolos and 3 bass clarinets for some numbers.
Still probably my favourite book to do in this.
When you get your copy of the Reed 3 book, work your way backwards to see which instruments you can pack away - you don't need bari sax for the 2nd half, so that can be put away during the interval. But be sure you keep the instrument needed for the curtain call on stand if they happen to pick a number from early on with it in.
Sorry - I just realised this is the doublers board and not the clarinet board, so probably repeated what I've already mentioned somewhere else on here.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
Post Edited (2010-06-17 15:38)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Merlin_Williams
Date: 2010-06-18 03:50
Reed 3 on WSS is a great book, and there are some lovely (and crucial) oboe/EH bits - BUT - the majority of the time you play clarinet.
You cannot arbitrarily drop books from WSS. There are important solos in all of the books.
For example - Reed 4 has the flute solos that occur right after Reed 1's alto solos. Reeds 2,3 & 4 have very important bass clarinet parts (at the same time!) in A Boy Like That. The bassoon has many important solos that are not doubled or cued in the other books.
Reeds 1, 3 & 4 have the flute/piccolo trios in America. The Rumble has signifcant intertwined solos on all of the ww books.
Bret Pimentel's site offers the following info on a different version of the show:
West Side Story (alternate instrumentation)
1: Piccolo, flute, clarinet, alto saxophone
2: Flute, piccolo, E-flat clarinet [optional], clarinet
3 [optional]: Piccolo, flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone
4: Clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone
5 [optional]: Bassoon
That would seem to be ideal. No oboe/EH to worry about, no bass sax, and bassoon and Reed 3 optional.
Not the real thing - but better than a hack and slash makeshift book.
Jupiter Canada Artist/Clinician
Stratford Shakespeare Festival musician
Woodwind Doubling Channel Creator on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/WoodwindDoubling
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2010-07-05 22:22
Also, there are multiple versions of this show out there - I myself have played six or seven different productions, involving three different orchestrations (both in engraved and in manuscript forms). So, a lot depends on which version you end up with.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2010-08-31 23:21
Well, I don't know if anyone is interested but I'm very excited to have my reed 3 book for WSS! We are actually going to have 5 musicians, so coverage will be pretty good - but honestly I am the only person for 100 miles that could even cover 6 horns out of 8. There are others who could play the flute/clar/sax combo, but no one I'm aware of that can play double reeds with clar/sax, so there ya go. I suppose I could try to get my flute chops going, but there is no way I would sound decent by showtime, and I really don't care to play flute (face doesn't work that way).
Looks like I can cover most of the flute stuff on the oboe (mostly looks do-able). I think I mentioned the last time this theater mounted WSS they used ONE wind player to cover all FIVE books - so this will be a huge improvement.
Very nice to have the books SO early - we have 2 months til showtime (Oct 29)! I don't think I've EVER had books with more than a month.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
