The truth of making sweet music...sex!

[Cynth]

I was under the impression that to get a position or promotion in a symphony orchestra required harrowing auditions behind curtains, so that no one would know who was auditioning. That would then ensure that the best musician would get the spot. I think it is taken very seriously.

I also thought unions played some role in making sure that musicians were treated fairly. Exactly what that role is I don't know though.

I highly doubt a conductor could plunk a babe down in the middle of the oboes without causing a mutiny among the players. I don't know about Broadway and karaoke.

I wonder why she is not still playing for the New York Philharmonic? Wouldn't that be a pretty up there position for an oboist? I think there is a reason this woman changed fields. I'm sure hanky-panky goes on everywhere, but I'm not sure any of her paricular stories are true. How can they be verified?

This was a long way of saying I agree with herbivore12.

[Nanohedron]

I have it on good authority that uilleann pipers are into bondage and leather.

But they're always playing with themselves solo, aren't they? Always providing their own accompaniment, poor things.

Hey, who's gonna know you better than yourself? But solo playing is not de rigeur. Any extras do, however, need to make adjustments to fit the piper's "tuning" (pronounced "quirks") du jour. A very...umm...specialised lot with specialised tastes and needs.

[emmline]

Dear Dr. Ruth Whistleheimer:

There are quite a few Chiffers who insist on whistles with plenty of backpressure. What does this mean?

p.s. I don't really want to know.

[Flyingcursor]

I agree with everyone from Sunnywindo on.

On the other hand, I'm mortally offended she didn't mention flute players.

[Lambchop]

I agree with everyone from Sunnywindo on.

On the other hand, I'm mortally offended she didn't mention flute players.

I noticed that. Noted also that she said good things as well as bad things about the musicians she did discuss.

It must be that the flute players had better judgement than to have slept with her.

[Flyingcursor]

This all reminds me of a Eddie Murphy skit I saw on SNL. He was "Gumby Dammit" and said, "Wilma Flintstone made to the top on her BACK!"

[I.D.10-t]

Reminds me of a song...

We never mention Aunt Clara;
Her picture is turned to the wall.
Though she lives on the French Riviera,
Mother says that she’s dead to us all.

[Nanohedron]

I agree with everyone from Sunnywindo on.

On the other hand, I'm mortally offended she didn't mention flute players.

I noticed that. Noted also that she said good things as well as bad things about the musicians she did discuss.

It must be that the flute players had better judgement than to have slept with her.

Then again, (male) flute players have long been the subject of innuendo as to the likelihood of their "dancing at the other end of the ballroom", if you will. The fact is we can't even FIND the ballroom.

[fearfaoin]

I was under the impression that to get a position or promotion in a symphony orchestra required harrowing auditions behind curtains, so that no one would know who was auditioning. That would then ensure that the best musician would get the spot. I think it is taken very seriously.

All this depends entirely on the symphony in question. I remember reading about a study to see if
the curtain resulted in less discrimination than non-curtain auditions. This leads me to believe that
there are symphonies w/ curtains, and symphonies without them, otherwise there'd be no control
group for the study.

I highly doubt a conductor could plunk a babe down in the middle of the oboes without causing a mutiny among the players. I don't know about Broadway and karaoke.

This sort of dissention goes on within orchaestras, regardless. And if anyone makes too much
of a stink, they can easily be replaced: there are a lot of out of work musicians!

I also thought unions played some role in making sure that musicians were treated fairly. Exactly what that role is I don't know though.

Many states (called "right to work" states, my own included) have laws that prevent people
from being forced to join unions, thereby reducing the power of unions in that state.

[Cynth]

That is interesting, fearfaoin. I sure wouldn't want to be working in an orchestra with problems! I guess every work place has them, but as you said, there are a lot of out of work musicians, so things could get pretty tense I suppose.

The fact is we can't even FIND the ballroom.

I hope this helps. As I was once told by a fisherman, "You aren't gonna catch a fish if you don't get your hook in the water." I would wear clean socks, too.

[Chang He]

Many states (called "right to work" states, my own included) have laws that prevent people
from being forced to join unions, thereby reducing the power of unions in that state.

Actually this is a national law, the Taft-Hartley act so villified by Ralph Nader and his ilk. It is a valuable protection, as unions are not incorruptable any more than governments.

[fearfaoin]

Many states (called "right to work" states, my own included) have laws that prevent people
from being forced to join unions, thereby reducing the power of unions in that state.

Actually this is a national law, the Taft-Hartley act so villified by Ralph Nader and his ilk. It is a valuable protection, as unions are not incorruptable any more than governments.

Interesting. I was under the impression that in some states, unions were allowed
to force workers to be members. For example, the Screen Actor's Guild in California:
as I understood it, you can't even hire extras for any movie if they are not
represented by SAG. Supposedly, that's why so many movies have been made
in NC recently (Braveheart, Patch Adams, Nell) to save on the cost of unionized
actors. But I could, as always, be very wrong.

[anniemcu]

... and got so bored on Broadway...

This lady obviously got bored rather easily.

Yup... over and over agin, apparently... (cough)

[StevieJ]

Finally got around to reading this thread. Good old Mark, we're lucky you haven't a day job

But I'm surprised nobody seems (from my skimming of replies) to have pointed out that other music scenes are hardly free of this kind of intrigue (even if there aren't many paid gigs in Irish music to be had allowing yourself to be bonked - at least none ever came my way ).

Quite a few years ago I took a visitor to a session in Montreal. It was an unusually large gathering, after some event or other, and everybody was sitting around in a large circle playing happily together and the visitor was amazed at the effortless music, the apparent harmony and good humour.

Yes, I said smiling, wonderful, isn't it. Thinking to myself, what you don't know is that:

• she has been with him, him, him and him and now has her eye on him
• he here lived and travelled with her over there for 5 years but when things began to go wrong he moved in with her over here within a few weeks; when that went wrong in a matter of days he was moved in with her standing outside the circle there
• this guy is in love with that girl, they went out for a while but his heart was broken when she went off with her
• there are/have been probably twice as many intrigues within this circle that I don't and don't want to know about

I kept all this to myself of course but (going beyond sex now) at any number of other sessions the following might be observed:

• he (yes the guy with the enigmatic smile over there) (with whom she, she and she are or have been in love, the dafties - he treats them all like sh*t) loathes all the other good musicians who play the same instrument as he and refuse to acknowledge his superiority
• that fellow is not on speaking terms with anybody who has ever worked in a band with him
• the fiddler who just walked in is really pissed off to see that (unusually) three of his old enemies have turned up and are having great tunes together
• she here drives him over there mad by refusing to understand what a session is about and jumping in with tunes every time there is 5 seconds' silence
• that one drives this one crazy by starting the same boring old tunes in the same boring old sets every week
• that one drives everybody crazy with his tunes played on a non-traditional instrument in a non-traditional way
• he and he make their living at this, and they'll be paid $40 at the end of the night, except that their bar tab for half-price beer will eat up more than half of the money, not leaving much to take home to wifey and kids.
• and so on ad inf

You _could_ write a book about it, but who would care?

[MarkB]

I'm lucky that I don't have a day jod either Steve. What you wrote above sounds somewhat like of our sessions here in Windsor/Detroit. Yep just stand back on a good crowded night and just go around the room and there are more stories and situations that you really didn't want to know about.

MarkB