The gert big music thread
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Sounds like 2001 soundtrack in places to me. Clashing dischords.
I’m not technical but I would say the composer is not interested in melody and rhythm, so not whistleable or danceable.
On a different note (😉), I found out what a Dizzie Bell is today 🤓.
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That's the piece. Kinda my point was that people will listen to a lot of 'difficult' music without problem if it amplifies what's on screen. Music can be all sorts of things to all sorts of people... obviously the further you get away from what you're used to (be that conventional harmony, rhythm, groove, texture etc), the less accessible it gets, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not worth the effort. A lot of 'classical' music has offended people when it was first played... at one stage even a major 3rd was considered a discord, violins were only worthy of street music. In the jazz world, swing was going to be the end of civilisation, and so on.
Ha, still on Ligeti, this is still a hard listen (though only five minutes), but maybe it gives one or two more handles to cling onto.... there's a groove that comes and goes, and he uses a lot of complex/scrunchy harmony, and explores various textures, and has a shape of varying tension until the two hands end at the extremes of the keyboard.
Obviously I also like Count Basie stuff, Frank Sinatra etc., but there's room for everything.
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I’m fairly open minded when it comes to music, and I put this mainly down to my O level music lessons (Tippett was difficult for a 15 year old) and my unfinished A level. So like art on the other thread some will be difficult, challenging and interesting, and then there is the boring and stuff and then there is music that touches the soul and evokes emotions of all varieties.
I will listen to the 2nd piece when I get a quiet 5 mins.
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Ooh, Tippett. Second Symphony is fab!! (I did like it when I was 15, haha!)
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Well that probably explains why you are a musician, and I play some tunes.😁
The Tippett piece was Concerto for Double String Orchestra.
I got on with Prokofiev a lot better.
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Yeah, Prokofiev is definitely a bit easier to 'dig', but I do like that Tippett piece too, as well as his Fantasia on a Theme of Corelli. Didn't like it at first, but got into it. I was also quite a Schoenberg and Webern nerd, to the extent that when I was asked to make intelligent comments on a piece of music and guess the composer as part of the interview at Royal Holloway, I told them the composer and the piece. When they asked me how I know, I had to admit that I knew the edition number that was at the foot of the page.
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Evan Dando last night - absolutely chaotic and all over the place but when he hit the right chords completely mesmerising.
Came on at 9:15 and put a couple of paintings, a skateboard and a pile of books on stage next to his cuddly toy, with a 4ft tall painted "setlist" off to one side.
Played an acoustic set of some of the songs on the setlist, Lemonheads songs and covers, sometimes stopping because he needed to tune his guitar in the middle of a song, heard a walkie talkie from a security guard or wanted to make a paper aeroplane of his lyric sheet. Some guy came on to play a new song with him, and had to whisper the lyrics to him before each verse.
At about 10:30 they announced the winner of the raffle to win the setlist painting, and took that off, so he didn't seem to have any idea what he should play so played a load of random covers and a few requests, sometimes stopping halfway through when he got bored.
11pm the curfew, so they told him he had to stop, he waved, then came back to sing Frank Mills without a mic, and climbed off stage - which was fine for me being right at the front, but nobody else could hear anything. Ended the gig like this:
Fun night.
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Saw excellent duo last week - When Rivers Meet - bluesy and the female singer had a brilliant blues style voice.
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Didn't want to start a new thread so thought I'd put this here. @briantrumpet is the obvious one to answer but would like opinions from anyone with experience. I was thinking of starting to play a musical instrument again for a bit of fun (as obviously I need yet another hobby!) and having previously played in brass bands as a kid going for one of the brass family seems the most logical. I don't want to spend a fortune so was thinking of going plastic and was just wondering if plastic "brass" instruments are worth bothering with? Due to size and availability of music I suspect I'll go for a trumpet despite having never played one before and gradually getting put on larger instruments when I was in a band until I ended up on E flat bass (tuba) as I could just about keep up with the more cumbersome pace. Also, are there good mutes / silent system available for plastic instruments as I doubt the neighbour will be happy with a novice trumpeter. Finally, are there any good online (free) teaching resources? I would also be tempted by a saxophone but found reed instruments hard to get a sound out of when I tried in the past.
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I'd not hesitate to say no to a plastic trumpet, for two reasons, Pross...
Firstly, the instruments themselves aren't very good or satisfying to play - the trombones are just about OK, but you can get a quite passable metal trumpet or trombone pretty cheaply these days (John Packer in Taunton have a range of Chinese-made instruments to JP specs.
Secondly, I'd recommend trombone above trumpet for someone who's more than just a bit beyond school age (😉), because it's really hard to get a decent trumpet embouchure once all your muscles are set in their ways, and any problems are amplified (as well as the frustrations) by the fact that it's just about 1cm of lip that produces all the sound.
So, trombones are just waaay easier to get a good sound out of (the embouchure is much less problematic), you can get a decent metal instrument for a few hundred (Yamaha would always be my go-to, either new, or S/H from eBay or Gumtree, or dealers), or possibly the John Packer Rath model tenor trombone.
Do feel free to PM me if you find anything you like the look of, or any other advice!
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Thanks for that. I remember you mentioning before that a trombone is easier, the main things putting me off are the relative size (I already need to find somewhere to keep the digital piano I’ve bought the wife for Christmas!) and that I’ve always found the slide positions baffling whereas O can just about remember the valve combinations for most notes on cornet, tenor horn etc. That said, the MDs of both my choirs are accomplished trombonists so would be able to pick up some tips and maybe have some lessons. I’d be tempted by a euphonium as I’ve always liked the tone and my brother-in-law is a very good player but that would take even more space.
I had a quick look earlier and was surprised how cheap some brass instruments are even brand new. It feels like they are the same price as they were when I played 35 years ago. I might see what shops there are in Cardiff or Bristol to try something.
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You can get some pretty compact trombone cases (the Yamaha ones are good in that respect). The good thing about trombone is it's used in pretty much every genre (classical, jazz, ska, brass band), whereas euphs aren't. Also, good euphs are fiendishly expensive, partly because of the complication of the plumbing (compensators are much better... can explain if you have an hour or two), but also because the market is dominated by brass band purchasers, who will pay several thousand for a good euph, and they put the bass in the market for s/h instruments. They are also big (as you mention) and heavy.
Just as a 'for instance', this is a perfectly decent trombone:
Yammies hold their value well too, so you won't lose much if it doesn't work out, or later you decide to upgrade.
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Also looks very passable:
Case is minimal, but wholly protective.
If you do go via the s/h route, you need to ask very specifically that the main slide works perfectly with no resistance at any point, and (obviously) no dents, however minor.
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We used to have two teenagers from a local school as guest soloists at our choir concerts as our conductor was their head teacher. Both were very good musical theatre performers. One has since gone on to start working a bit with TV and writing plus a bit of stand up I believe. The other was invited back as our guest soloist last night for our big concert (our current conductor was his music teacher in school).
He’s now in his third year doing opera at the RCM where he was given a scholarship after a bit of a bidding war between all the conservatoires he applied to. When he auditioned there they called the head of department down to listen and he offered a place on the spot. I’m not massively into opera but for a 22 year old his voice is incredible, absolutely effortless without blasting like a lot of aspiring opera singers seem to think is needed to show off their ability. I’m no expert but I’d be surprised if a big career isn’t ahead of him.
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...
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Just seen McCartney central section second row tickets on Twickets pop up for face value of £1,142 per ticket 😮
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Now that’s something you don’t see for sale everyday….
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I thought he was stopping performing live. Having seen him (unwillingly) at Glasto I wouldn't pay any money for a ticket.
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No-one is going to make you.
I'm looking forward to seeing him next week.
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Paul Heaton last night, a truly great songwriter.
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Even if they are fairly useless for anything other than fanfares, it's currently a very low price for six decent instruments.
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The auction ends tomorrow, so I would expect the price to shoot up. It will be interesting to see what they go for. They re amazing looking instruments.
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Yup. Slightly intrigued that they are owned by an individual rather than an institution...
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Im going Sunday. I see Ringo is in the UK right now ... 🤞
2020/2021/2022 Metric Century Challenge Winner0 -
Went for £1,554 in the end….. Hope they went to a college of some sort.
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Still quite cheap for what they are. Yes, hope they get used!
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I just managed to buy a ticket in the stalls proper for the Thursday at the O2 for actual face value. Previously had a less good ticket for the Wednesday, so very excited to get a decent view of the last night of the tour.
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With a bit of luck he might do the frog song.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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The reviews for last night are pretty spectacular. Enjoy!
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