A Fun Rehearsal Happens When...
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
hi again guys XD
read this post written by Mr. Yim, our new recruits band conductor and clarinet instructor and thought it was quite meaningful((: so sharing with you guys.
the original link is
here.
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… fellow musicians say hi to me, or give me a nod or a smile in my direction when I enter the rehearsal studio. This is important to me, and probably every one else, because it means that my presence is important to the rehearsal; and that I, like everybody, is essential to the music making process when it happens at rehearsals.
I feel happy when I see that the attendance is good, especially when everybody is present. This signals for me, that I will be able to experience the full ensemble sound, something that ought to be consistently heard during at the preparatory stages towards making a successful concert. Being present shows your respect for fellow musicians, and the acknowledgement that it is a logistic challenge to gather sixty-odd musicians in one room at the same time for making music together.
I will be delighted to know that all my fellow musicians are punctual. Often, too little time is available to work out every detail in the music that we play. Therefore, every second counts. Being punctual means that I, together with everybody can make full use of the three hours of rehearsal. We do not have to waste time waiting for tardy people, shortening the music making experience we can get. It is even more delighting, when I hear fellow musicians doing individual warm-up routines before the actual rehearsal begins. Warming up helps us get into the best state for a good rehearsal. Making good sounds from our instruments, with good intonation, with good sensitivities is possible only through proper warming up.
The conductor takes the podium, and begins the ensemble warmup. It is during this time, we get adjusted to other musicians, weening out the intonation differences and attempting to ease into an ensemble pulse, melding into one organism called the band, or orchestra. Twenty minutes should be all it takes for every musicians to sync with one another, achieving good blend, good balance and good ensemble-ship.
The first notes of the music begins. We run through the music. It is heartwarming to know that my fellow musicians have prepared for the rehearsal. We have studied our rhythms, our notes, the dynamics, the different articulations, considered the stylistic nuances, worked through difficult fingerings, eliminated most intonation problems, and we try to bring our own interpretations to the music. Yes, the ensemble may not sound musically united at this point, but everybody is trying to play the best that they can. We present our musicianship to the conductor, who can now direct our efforts towards his interpretations. The music begins to take shape as we work out the balance, blend, interpretations, phrasing, style under the conductor’s directions. Where the painter paints with his colors on his canvas with various strokes; musicians paint with sound as our color, with time as our canvas, and our unified interpretations as the strokes. This is music making at its best! Everyone is paying attention, not only to their own parts, but to others’ too, figuring out the ways they can maximize the effectiveness of their own parts to build the great works that composers have written for us.
After three hours of pure music making especially when we end off with some epic grand finales, we will be tired, both physically and mentally. It’s time for the musicians to mingle around. Compliments are mutually exchanged, congratulations on a good rehearsal is exchanged, doubts are clarified with the conductor, suggestions and advices are exchanged, a little more individual practicing happens here and there to work out the stubborn parts, and some will group together to play some chamber pieces before everybody packs up. An after rehearsal meal will generally be a sweet way to end of the day before we head back to our own businesses.
Through this sharing, I hope to encourage musicians in Singapore, and perhaps worldwide, to fight for good rehearsals, and to experience music making at the highest levels possible. When it happens, the experience is simply exhilarating.
Yim Chee Weng
jEnNy(:
breaking the MUSIC.
1:07 AM
here are some nice words from our own batchmates
as promised(; for remembrance sake (too)!
Joyce: I suppose we all know what we had/have to do yeah, let's just take this as a reality check sigh. Remember all that was told today and lets make not only cadenza but our entire band journey successful^^ Work hard, everyone. ♥
XinYing: jiayous everyone and put in the effort RGSSB deserves of you, enjoy the music and let's make it a successful Cadenza (: ♥
Devni: let's be serious here… from now until the end of Cadenza (and beyond), let's work as hard as we can, because we're not going to make this successful if we're not glued together as a band, and being a good section isn't the only way to start.
Huiru: I trust that everyone in our batch has been working hard- it's really really the last lap so let's all double our efforts!...JIAYOUUUU everyone and let's walk off the stage with no regrets (:
Thengyi: GOGOGO we can do this!! Keep hoping and keep on practising. I'm sure no one will regret putting in just a bit more effort because that little effort when put together may just wow you:)
Kylie: If we really want Cadenza to be a success, we cannot just talk and cry and mope and not do anything. ...I feel like we have to step up and do whatever it takes. Cause I (and all of you as well, I'm sure) really really want our first and only cadenza to be something to be remembered fondly forever ♥ SO DON'T JUST TALK AND CRY AND EMO AND RANT. START DOING SOMETHING.
SiHui: just thought i wanted to share a quote (sort of) from vivian :) "You're responsible for your own music!" So yeah no matter how mo and our seniors keep pushing us forward, if we dont put in effort/ double our efforts, nothing is going to change. Whatever comes out of our instrus is what WE define and can change. So yep jiayous for Cadenza bandemonium!
I love you guys :')
PS: why does blogger look so weird.
jEnNy(:
breaking the MUSIC.
12:11 AM
only when you look at a glass window in the dark can you see a reflection.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Alright, let's accept everything that has happened today. As Ms Lam said, everything can be taken positively (okay that was a bit of an inference) but my point is that it is only when you are in a moment of darkness, when someone switched off the lies that were deceiving you all along, that you can truly see yourself. And what you've been doing. Or more importantly, what you haven't. Hence the cryptic title.
I'm just going to record down everything I thought of today for remembrance's sake. Not everything, but things. So
1. Don't do things you know you will regret. I think this is something everyone is guilty of. So often, we have discovered: I should have done this, or, I should have done that. But the point is why didn't you do it then? In fact that question isn't really an accusation, but maybe if we could answer the question, it would help us to understand ourselves and make a change. Anyway, my point is (sorry for being so beat-around-the-bush): make every moment count. Know that every minute you spend in band, you're making good use of your time. You are not wasting your time, you are not slacking (even if you rest think about stuff as you rest), you are not spending your time in a way you know one day you will regret. And I think if we can do that, simply MAKE EVERY MOMENT COUNT, we can make a lot of difference. Not just in band, but in our lives.
Kay sorry I don't think that made a lot of sense. :( But it makes some sense. Then you can take it in whatever sense thou wilt. (RnJ?)
2. Use your anger to make good what's wrong. Yup basically chope from Laura Lee's speech lah, but I think the message she imparted was very powerful: that anger can be "channelled to a higher purpose" to make good in our community what we have realized needs to be changed. Yup so today, don't feel disappointed, don't feel discouraged, instead use all our guilt (which is in its basic form anger toward ourselves) to push ourselves forth and if not make good, make better the undesirable situation we have found (and created) for ourselves.
3. Respect yourself. It's our/your DUTY to impact our audience. I think now it's not so much about leaving a good impression, it's about doing something you are proud of. Since band is already a part of our lives, why are we not making it a part of our lives we are proud of? Why do we choose to give less when we can gain so much more when we give more? :) Okay forget about respecting yourself. It's a bit out of point. Whoops.
4. Love band. I don't know, but this always helps. Love is powerful. I mean, I think the reason we started to hate/be angry with ourselves, it all came from love right? When we witnessed/experienced everyone's love for band, our open expression of love, our own love, it was so powerful most of us really didn't know what to say. :( Caught speechless. Anyway, use your love for band to inspire yourself to achieve whatever you set out to achieve. And make a difference to others with that love.
5. Dare. I think all of us learn along the way. And daring to make mistakes is the best attitude to have towards learning. That's what I think luh. So DARE. Try things out and improve every time you try it again. Dare to play loudly (and risk being too loud but you learn!), dare to play the rhythm (and risk being wrong since it's sight-reading, but the second time it won't be!), simply dare, and that would make all the difference.
6. Dream. This is essentially an extension of daring, since you have to dare to dream to dream. Dare to believe that you can be better. Dare to set goals for yourself that you never imagine you can achieve but that you want to, with fervor. Dream as in know what you want to hear before you play. Dream as in imagine the most beautiful sound your instrument could possibly produce. Dream that your music can make the audience cry. Dream all that you once undreamt simply because it was too far away. Because, time and time again, we have proven to ourselves (in other areas, perhaps?), we can do. so. much.
On another note, I've never really thought of Cadenza as something we have to do exceptionally well. In fact I just got reminded today it's our only Cadenza. I think we shouldn't treat this extra seriously simply because it's our only Cadenza, or because we are seniors, or because idk! All the strange and somewhat irrelevant reasons we have to take this seriously? We should treat this seriously simply because we are not doing what we know we can!
To end off, sorry this quote won't be very nice (as in politically correct) to have but anyway here's (an excerpt? sounds strange) from my blog:
"A nice quote today:
“The Trombone is the only instrument that in theory can play in perfect tune, but in practice never does.” -Sokrates, March 17, 421 B.C.
Nice cause I think it applies to so many things, and sometimes, things don't need to be as perfect as they can be. Cause that gap between perfection and non-perfection will be filled up by something else. And maybe that makes more of a difference than achieving perfection."
(not from my blogpost) On a sidenote, I think that gap surfaced today, and don't you think we learn so much more from such moments than when easy success comes? And it is moments like this that make that gap to perfection that little bit smaller. :)
Musical Carnival
breaking the MUSIC.
11:15 PM
hello-since-forever!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
LOL WOOPS IM SO FAIL HAVEN'T VISITED HERE FOR A LONG TIME T.T
sorry.
hehehe.
Anyway how's everyone doing? hopefully y'all not too stressed eh, take care of yourselves and don't keep falling sick (like me sigh.) I' m really happy that a few of us are actually coming down consistently during the morning for batch bonding! ((: A little slow are we, but never mind. (x I think our batch corr is seriously a (Y) place! ITS SO PEACEFUL AND QUIET AND GREAT TO SLEEP/STUDY.
Alrightt good luck to everyone for your SAs, PTs, AAs, CADENZA!, directs, and whatnot((:
Bandemoniumftw<3
<3,
Joyce
joyce
breaking the MUSIC.
7:10 PM
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