How the world hears you (not OT)

[jluckett]

On the other hand, it's an advantage when people don't know what you're going to do next, or if a glitch is a glitch or not. At Noel Hill's last concertina school, a student asked him on the last day: how do you go about deciding where you put ornaments and variation? Is it all done on the fly, or do you practice certain versions with the ornamentation set in stone, or what? Mr. Hill joked, "ornaments? ... Oh, those. Those are all mistakes."

Caj

Wow! Thanks, Caj! I feel a lot better about my playing now!

In addition to recording, which can be a great help, I also torture my sister. (Isn't that what siblings are for? ) She's a performing musician, and has been a terrific sounding board in just about every aspect. If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend victimizing someone who understands music from a performance standpoint.

Jan

[chas]

Mr. Hill joked, "ornaments? ... Oh, those. Those are all mistakes."

There's a saying among classical string players that goes something like "Vibrato can cover a wealth of errors." I've often wondered of those players with really deep vibrato just don't play as cleanly.

[peeplj]

I've actually heard flute students in public school who play everything...even fast 16th note runs...with constant, unwavering vibrato. This vibrato doesn't change even from their lowest note to their highest.

And I've heard at least one band director tell his flutes to play with vibrato in an effort to cover the fact that he couldn't get his flutes tuned to his satisfaction.

Even before I started playing trad music, I felt a vibrato you couldn't control was a liability and never an asset, in part because the wide fast vibrato is 90% of why I don't like opera, even though some of the melodies are some of the most beautiful that have been written.

In the classical world, flutists are expected to play with vibrato, but they are also expected to be able to control it and turn it off at will. Sometimes you will hear jazz flutists play completely without vibrato almost as an effect...it catches the ear because most folks never hear a flute played that way.

--James

[Flyingcursor]

I always think I sound like crap. Even though others don't. Even when listening to a recording of myself.
But an interesting thing happended a few months ago. I was cleaning out some old cassette tape boxes and going through, listening to the ones that were unmarked. I found one with pretty good flute and realized it was me. I had recorded on that tape about 20 years ago. For a brief moment I wasn't blinded by the knowledge that I listened to myself.

[TonyHiggins]

I've been using recording recently for a very specific purpose. I'm playing a number of tunes at my sister's wedding this Saturday. I already know that some things I do sound find in my ears when I'm playing, but, when I hear them on a recording, I realize they're less than ideal. So I've been recording a tune, listening for what works and what doesn't, then going back and trying it again with a different idea. It's made a big difference to me. It's not as useful as having a knowledgeable player make suggestions, but it's the next best thing. Like I said, some things, I just can't hear what they sound like to a listener.

Having said that, my theory is that the people who hear the most of what's going on in a tune are other musicians. The general audience, especially people who aren't familiar with Irish music (in my instance- I forgot, not everyone here plays Irish music ) are very forgiving and don't hear much of what's happening good or bad. If you get a decent ryhthm going, that will carry the day.

Side note on this wedding: my sister is a bit flambuoyent (spelling?) and her friends are a bit on the wild side. We're also having at least six relatives from Dublin attending. One of my cousins is going to (attempt) to teach a little Irish dancing during the reception. I'll play a reel, Wind that Shakes the Barley and a waltz (?) Shoe the Donkey. I just downloaded the abc's for the waltz to learn. Should be a riot. If it's a fiasco, so much the better. We'll blame it on the champagne.

And how's this for shear luck? When I put in my year's requests for vacation days last March, I randomly picked today and Friday for a couple of them. Hence, I'm sitting here drinking coffee and I'll be getting out the whistles presently for a long practice today and tomorrow (and a long warmup on Sat am).
Tony