Fieldwork Notes 4

This is the first rehearsal that I've been to without Brian. According from Mike (from his interview), these rehearsals basically run the same way, just Brian isn't there. In fact, he says that they're almost more productive, because there are fewer side conversations (though they still do occur). I must not let this "prior knowledge" affect my observations today.

They talk about performing on Wednesday, but say it's probably not going to happen (weather? They wanted to play outside). But then Marc says he hasn't been to the new mail room yet and wants to check it out--could they play there? Micah asks to end rehearsal at 7:10 so he can get ready for jazz band (rehearsal) because he has to break in some new reeds. Marc says the Bach sounds like a good thing to start with (out of the Larry Teal book). Mike says they should try to get stuff ready for their "performance" on Wednesday.

Apparently the correct "standing order" is Alto 1, Alto 2, Bari, Tenor, or Alto, Bari, Soprano, Tenor. (The group got into an order and Mike said, "Isn't this how it's supposed to be?") They go for the "correct" order when Sarah plays alto, but to make "the logistics" (Micah) easier, they're not going to make her move. Sarah says this shouldn't be a big deal because she and Micah will still be in the middle, just not in the correct order. They tune. Mike has a tuner; they use that to get Marc in tune and then try to match him. Then they play an A major chord, and then Mike suggests that they go bottom up and try to make something that sounds good (one note/player at a time). Micah's ready now and tunes. Marc jokes that he was out of tune earlier because he was listening to a baroque band today and tuned to them.

Marc seems to be taking control of this rehearsal. They're talking about the slow section of this piece. Marc asks the group what they can do to make the part sound less "plodding." Micah says that's how he interpret this section, but Mike says that it says dolce in his part. Marc says he can hear the dolce. They decide to follow the rule: if the line goes up, go up, if it goes down, quiet down. Mike asks about rubato--they decide it's ok for Mike to do a little. Micah tells Mike he can stretch however much he wants, just he may have to shrink too the accompanying part lines up. They kind of converge around Mike; Marc says that he thinks that Mike has basically a solo, so play out. "It sounds good, I hear those blocks right now, rather than the whole 8 bars." They're going for separate 4 bar statements. Marc has some suggestions for Mike. One is something he says Brian tells them to do a lot--to accelerate and crescendo into the ending of the phrase for directions. Mike tries it by himself. Micah and Mike say they don't like it. Micah says they shouldn't' do too much with the tempo. They're talking about phrasing. They're skipping the repeats.

Marc's final comment: He says he feels it at a point, and not so much at other places, but they decide it's good enough for the post office. Mike says, "or gov't work." Sarah says he doesn't understand; Mike says it's kind of like "good enough for jazz" and she understands.

They're now playing a Scherzo by Rimsky-Korsakoff.

There was a problem. They stopped because someone (or more than just one) came in right. Mike asks about tonguing. Marc says they're tonguing everything, but Mike says he has slur two tongue two for groups of 4, tongue groups of 3, and tongue/slur/tongue for 6. Micah and Marc say they like tonguing everything better. Micah asks how he should interpret the eighth notes; Sarah says they're separated but not staccato, and Marc says they're almost bell tones. Marc says to think of this as a march and to build up to the fourth eighth note in each beat, to build up to four and one (it's in 6/8). He then counts it off in 6…Marc stops the group and asks Mike to play his eighth notes a bit longer and flatter, not as harshly, more like da's than ta's, but to still leave the space in.

Matt McGarrell comes in to start setting up for jazz band and they (and me) say hi. Mike's phone rings. Marc asks who it is, Mike says his parents and stops it from ringing, saying, "denied."

They start again…Micah says that the last note should be longer, almost a full beat but not quite. Mike says that they should start at 110. Sarah says it was a wind symphony cut off--the lowest note was the last one to cut off. This comment was for Matt, as it references the last note in the Holst suite that we performed last Friday. Matt replies that it is the best way to do it.

This Scherzo is not perfect note-wise, but is musical nonetheless.

Marc stops the group to address a dynamic issue--piano at 90 that "I didn't hear us do."

Mike mimics the phrasing Micah did when his part was similar earlier (or the last time they played it?). They decide it's good enough.

Now they're discussing the spelling of Scriabin, where sometimes there is a "j" because there isn't a corresponding English letter to the Cyrillic alphabet (Scrijabin?). Mike says something that I'm not going to post, but I make a face at Sarah and she makes a different one expressing the same idea (awkwardness) back.

They (finally? They’ve been out of tune—sharp—for a while now) decide to re-tune. Mike holds the tuner for Micah, and the rest join in and tune themselves when he is in tune.

They start the Scriabin. This piece is slower. Micah is conducting this one--he has the "solo" part. Sarah (at least) looks at him when there's a fermata (I think), and the entire group cuts off together. Micah cuts off the last note with a circle similar to the expressive ones he was drawing. Marc says there weren't too many dynamics, so Micah suggests that they do it again so that they can actually do them. They're talking about an earlier fermata, where Micah is the only one holding. He says it'll probably be short because he'd like to make it through a prior measure without taking a breath. He says probably one or two beats, and then he'll cue them in like he did.

They start again. Mike looks at Micah a lot. The others don't really look up from their music, but perhaps they can see him out of the corner of their eyes (Mike is the only one not next to Micah). Mike says "I don't know about you guys, but I can memorize about a phrase at a time, so we should do that and watch each other." They talk about a forte (?) that they missed, and resolve to do it. Mike asks for it one more time. Marc says, "Micah, I feel like you could really sing, add some vibrato, really sing."

They then decide to try Mediterranean from the Bagatelle. But Marc forgot his music…They then decide to try something old (a Fugue) because Sarah hasn't seen them on Soprano yet.

Talking about the Fugue, Marc says he didn't come down as fast as he should have--wasn't following Standard Fugue Procedure (again something Mike mentioned). He conduct the retard at the end with knee bends, and usually bends his knees on the beat--sometimes every two, and sometimes he sways to the left or right instead. Marc tells Mike and Sarah to "sing." Sarah cuts them off at the end with a circle drawn with the bell of her (soprano) sax, but Marc's definitely conducting the rest of the Fugue. I think he was the arranger.

There really are much fewer side stories now as compared to rehearsal with Brian.

Movement while playing, based on observations during the entire rehearsal:
I think Mike is technically responsible for conducting (as the 1st alto player), but he isn't doing too much. However, the group are excellent musicians so at least in terms of time, they don't need anything. He bends forward at the waist with the beat sometimes, but beyond that is fairly motionless.

Micah is relatively motionless in terms of keeping time, but likes to move his sax up and to his right when emphasizing things such as the last note of phrases. For slower music (Scriabin): Micah also draws circles with the bell to his left.

Marc sways to the left and right and bends his knees on the beat, but also on eighth notes, for example, for emphasis.

Sarah sways up and down like Marc, but not as much. Her left arm (top arm) is normally held out just shy of horizontal, and she moves it up to horizontal on the beat.