Re: Re: Re: Contra-Octave in band playing


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Posted by Jay Bertolet on May 05, 2001 at 22:35:14:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Contra-Octave in band playing posted by Austin H. on May 04, 2001 at 17:44:17:

I don't even know the piece you're talking about (mostly because I don't play much band music these days) but my opinion would be that you were probably not honoring the composer's intentions by taking what you did down the octave in the Ticheli piece. I happen to know Frank Ticheli, he and I went to college together, and he frequently sat right in front of me in symphony band (he was in the trumpet section) and was hearing really good college tuba players all the time. Frank knows full well what the tuba can do. He's had lots of personal experience playing in some of the finest college bands in America and knows really well what kinds of sounds they have to offer. If Frank didn't write it, he probably didn't like it.

Another poster made exactly the point I'm trying to make. Render the music effectively, not so it sounds cool to you. Unfortunately, sounding cool all too often entails making the part you're playing more engaging by changing it to your liking. Just like the quote, paraphrased from the movie Amadeus: "Can't you just remove some of the notes, are they all necessary?"

My opinion for what it's worth...


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