The Great Italian Maestro Carlo Maria Giulini used to tell the members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in his thick Italian accent: “My friends, please don’t confuse dynamic with intensity”; I’ve been thinking about those wise words for the last 30 years.
The dictionary defines intensity as a measurement of energy, but regarding music it needs to be a little more defined. Of course, just a measurement of energy would include the difference between loud and soft; certainly, dynamic is a measurement of energy, but for the purpose of this article I will refer to dynamic as the amplitude, the loud and soft of music, and intensity as the ratio of harmonics; that is tone quality.
The nature of sound as we play, speak, or sing, normally increases with intensity when the dynamic increases, and in piano it decreases. For example, compare the soft timbre of a sweet lullaby compared to the hard aggressive quality of a rock and roll singer. However, it doesn’t necessacerely have to be that way, there is much more to sound than just dynamic variety.
Luciano Pavarotti, for example, was able to sing very softly with great intensity, and a great actor can speak a text in a very soft voice, even a whisper but with frightening intensity; some of the most terrible villains in film and theater speak in a menacingly intense soft voice. Intensity can be the regulator of our musical quality; a pianissimo with no intensity is a weak, often unstable sound, which is nearly impossible to play with regarding intonation. And a fortissimo with too much intensity can simply be ugly.
In playing music we have both dynamics and intensity as our tools of expression, balancing the two leads toward a much richer sonic vocabulary; it’s important to use them both and not to confuse them.
Part of our job as brass players, as well as maintaining our techniques of fingers, breathing, articulation, and embouchure control, is to be aware of that chronic balance calibration between dynamic and energy and to make our personal decision for the correct mix for the correct occasion. But particularly, as lower brass players we need to formulate our opinion as to whether the bass notes, the tuba notes, those that are required in most of our playing, should simply be a big sound with wide amplitude to put a basic bottom on a brass section or to calculate an energy to that sound that is more homogeneous with the higher brasses. I won’t offer an opinion regarding this but I will only say that I have been fascinated by this question for my full playing career. We, with the help of the people we work with, have a choice. Certainly, the correct solution will very from person to person as well as through diverse styles and repertoire. Personally, I recommend keeping an open mind and continuing the search for that correct calibration, the correct mix; it’s more interesting than staying with the comfortable and predictable. Sound is part of our musicality and musicality is a growing aspect that needn’t ever stop evolving. Enjoy this search.
August 29, 2009, Tokyo
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Lessons on Line
Its time has come, its emergence into the music education world is inevitable, we have both the audio and video technology to assure that it works. I have enjoyed exploring in this new teaching mode possibility and have been struck by how efficient it is and the possibilities it opens.
Setting up the camera and microphone is not difficult and in most cases the microphone in the computer seems functional enough. In fact, the only problem regarding both audio and video is having the highest quality Internet connection possible, which unfortunately, is not consistent from location to location or even day to day. Skype, which usually works very well in Japan, needs to also work well also at the location of the student. The only problem I’ve experienced is that sometimes there is a small amount of static, which is a Skype problem.
There is absolutely no question that this new mode of music education will become increasingly more available. Of course, it’s been available in general education for the last decade but the study of mathematics, medicine and economics rarely requires the high quality digital sound necessary in music.
There are other small problems to study. Of course, both the teacher and student need to have a copy of the printed music printed music; are there copyright laws to be concerned about in making the music available on line?
And how shall the method of payment work not to mention what the payment should be; should an e-lesson cost the same as a private lesson when the student comes to the teacher? --- Not serious problems but still decisions that need to be made.
I’m especially enjoying dreaming of the aspect of teaching on line frequently enough to make a livable income. It’s a nice dream because that would enable the teacher the possibility of living almost anywhere in the world of his choosing. Happily, if that possibility should present itself I think I would stay in Japan right where I am now.
If you would like to take a trial e-lesson please contact me. I expect to have everything worked out by September. In the meantime I plan to take a non-musical vacation exploring the beauties of this amazing country.
Tokyo, July 9, 2009
Setting up the camera and microphone is not difficult and in most cases the microphone in the computer seems functional enough. In fact, the only problem regarding both audio and video is having the highest quality Internet connection possible, which unfortunately, is not consistent from location to location or even day to day. Skype, which usually works very well in Japan, needs to also work well also at the location of the student. The only problem I’ve experienced is that sometimes there is a small amount of static, which is a Skype problem.
There is absolutely no question that this new mode of music education will become increasingly more available. Of course, it’s been available in general education for the last decade but the study of mathematics, medicine and economics rarely requires the high quality digital sound necessary in music.
There are other small problems to study. Of course, both the teacher and student need to have a copy of the printed music printed music; are there copyright laws to be concerned about in making the music available on line?
And how shall the method of payment work not to mention what the payment should be; should an e-lesson cost the same as a private lesson when the student comes to the teacher? --- Not serious problems but still decisions that need to be made.
I’m especially enjoying dreaming of the aspect of teaching on line frequently enough to make a livable income. It’s a nice dream because that would enable the teacher the possibility of living almost anywhere in the world of his choosing. Happily, if that possibility should present itself I think I would stay in Japan right where I am now.
If you would like to take a trial e-lesson please contact me. I expect to have everything worked out by September. In the meantime I plan to take a non-musical vacation exploring the beauties of this amazing country.
Tokyo, July 9, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Cyber Life
I remember life before cell phones and the internet and as I recall things went pretty well without them, but now that the net is here, things go a lot better, are a lot more interesting and a lot more fun. It’s not just that I was never a very good speller, was mildly dyslexic and got painful writer’s cramps after holding a pin more than five minutes; I felt disadvantaged in the skills of communication. Now with my cell phone, SMS, Skype, Facebook and email I am happily and fluently in touch with friends and colleagues all over the world.
This instant communication is mostly a good thing; personally, I have developed valued friendships in China, Indonesia, North America, Finland, Switzerland, Romania and Germany. It’s easy, when we see that we are on line at the same time we can start a chat; chatting over a long period of time, whether it be via typing, voice or video, can lead to bounded friendships. Further, age difference or gender needn’t influence the friendship, the net is safe, and one cannot catch a disease or need be aware of social stigma.
Friendship, however, whether cyber or one to one, can sometimes be annoying. I have several friends who have not communicated directly with me for well over a year even though I hear from them frequently; they “share” with me their favorite cartoons, or something they read recently. I appreciate their intent, they want to share something that was meaningful to them, I suppose that is a compliment in a way, but after months or even years of only secondhand information from these friends, I find myself longing to hear from them directly, their thoughts in their words.
As I think of those who so rarely communicate to me in their own words it seems to be mostly the older friends, the younger ones seem to have no problem to share there thoughts directly; that’s sad. Logically, one would think the older people with their accrued wealth of experiences would have more to say, more wisdom to share. Perhaps it’s that in their successful lives they have less time to contemplate their unique, personal views on life; if so, that’s even sadder.
What is the value of an accrued wealth of wisdom if it is not shared? Is it possible this may be partially the reason that teachers are asked to retire at the age of 65 in much of the world, logically, wouldn’t the wealth of wisdom be richer in people who have experienced more of life?
Dear Friends,
I thank you for all the articles, essays and opinions you have passed on to me in the last years via the internet, I value their content (most of the time), but I would value far more hearing your thoughts in your words. I am interested in your point of view.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Ciao,
Roger
Tokyo, June 22, 2009
This instant communication is mostly a good thing; personally, I have developed valued friendships in China, Indonesia, North America, Finland, Switzerland, Romania and Germany. It’s easy, when we see that we are on line at the same time we can start a chat; chatting over a long period of time, whether it be via typing, voice or video, can lead to bounded friendships. Further, age difference or gender needn’t influence the friendship, the net is safe, and one cannot catch a disease or need be aware of social stigma.
Friendship, however, whether cyber or one to one, can sometimes be annoying. I have several friends who have not communicated directly with me for well over a year even though I hear from them frequently; they “share” with me their favorite cartoons, or something they read recently. I appreciate their intent, they want to share something that was meaningful to them, I suppose that is a compliment in a way, but after months or even years of only secondhand information from these friends, I find myself longing to hear from them directly, their thoughts in their words.
As I think of those who so rarely communicate to me in their own words it seems to be mostly the older friends, the younger ones seem to have no problem to share there thoughts directly; that’s sad. Logically, one would think the older people with their accrued wealth of experiences would have more to say, more wisdom to share. Perhaps it’s that in their successful lives they have less time to contemplate their unique, personal views on life; if so, that’s even sadder.
What is the value of an accrued wealth of wisdom if it is not shared? Is it possible this may be partially the reason that teachers are asked to retire at the age of 65 in much of the world, logically, wouldn’t the wealth of wisdom be richer in people who have experienced more of life?
Dear Friends,
I thank you for all the articles, essays and opinions you have passed on to me in the last years via the internet, I value their content (most of the time), but I would value far more hearing your thoughts in your words. I am interested in your point of view.
Hoping to hear from you soon.
Ciao,
Roger
Tokyo, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Rubato vs Rigid
Rhythm can be viewed as the friendly structure of a comfortable environment or the rigid bars of incarceration; I prefer the comfortable environment.
What are the qualities that make music personal? Probably everybody would agree that it is our individual mix of tone quality, dynamics, manner of articulation, vibrato and our personal treatment of rhythm. Initially, these are skills that are learned when we begin to study a particular instrument; they begin as any new skill, awkward and uncontrolled but in time, after study, they become dependable and stable musical skills. The individual mixture of these qualities is as unique to our to our musical voice as our fingerprint or DNA.
As these basic musical skills formulate we’re faced with an infinite number of decisions that will make our playing musical and personal, among these is the modification, manipulation and personal touches we apply to rhythm; this is called rubato, when, where and how much of it to use differs in all musicians, that is the magic of music.
Many believe that rubato along with dynamics are the key to musical expression, I among them, but an experience 50 years ago in the late 1960s slightly modified that view. An exciting new recording came out called “Switched on Bach”; it was the music of Bach programmed on Synthesizer. As well as being an impressive eye-opener to an exciting new instrument, it demonstrated the musical energy of absolutely perfect rhythm. It was also an amazing eye-opener regarding articulation in the bass and contrabass registers and put into abundantly clear perspective that focused articulation was a strategic part of clear rhythm and that articulation was in fact the fine-tuning of rhythm.
Normally rubato is a slight relaxation of strict rhythm and the stressing of certain notes, usually coordinated with dynamics and/or harmonic progression; its use and how much rhythmic liberties one takes is very personal. Frequently today, we see both conductors and instrumentalists, drastically distorting the rhythm while desperately trying to impose some personal musical signature into standard repertoire. Imagine a young conductor trying to convert Beethoven’s Symphony #5 into something that is uniquely his or an instrumentalist playing a standard concerto in some new and untried way, maybe it’s wonderful, frequently it’s distorted and maudlin. However, even when the piece is hardly recognizable there are merits; it exemplifies for us the limits and prevents us from making the same kind of dubious decisions. It should also be mentioned that, like vibrato being used to cover up an unstable tone, Rubato is sometimes used to mask unstable rhythm.
Quickly, it should be said that there is no right or wrong here, it is personal and as time passes we all change in our musical tastes, I only point out that perhaps striving to be unique is not as important as holding to some degree to the integrity of the composer. If the music is good our use of the personal aspects of musicianship i.e. dynamic, vibrato and rubato, in other words our musicality, will lead us in the right way and it will be absolutely unique. Perhaps when we simply let it happen rather than impose an aggressive individuality, we will achieve a more beautiful result.
June 10, 2009, Le Domaine Forget, Quebec Canada
What are the qualities that make music personal? Probably everybody would agree that it is our individual mix of tone quality, dynamics, manner of articulation, vibrato and our personal treatment of rhythm. Initially, these are skills that are learned when we begin to study a particular instrument; they begin as any new skill, awkward and uncontrolled but in time, after study, they become dependable and stable musical skills. The individual mixture of these qualities is as unique to our to our musical voice as our fingerprint or DNA.
As these basic musical skills formulate we’re faced with an infinite number of decisions that will make our playing musical and personal, among these is the modification, manipulation and personal touches we apply to rhythm; this is called rubato, when, where and how much of it to use differs in all musicians, that is the magic of music.
Many believe that rubato along with dynamics are the key to musical expression, I among them, but an experience 50 years ago in the late 1960s slightly modified that view. An exciting new recording came out called “Switched on Bach”; it was the music of Bach programmed on Synthesizer. As well as being an impressive eye-opener to an exciting new instrument, it demonstrated the musical energy of absolutely perfect rhythm. It was also an amazing eye-opener regarding articulation in the bass and contrabass registers and put into abundantly clear perspective that focused articulation was a strategic part of clear rhythm and that articulation was in fact the fine-tuning of rhythm.
Normally rubato is a slight relaxation of strict rhythm and the stressing of certain notes, usually coordinated with dynamics and/or harmonic progression; its use and how much rhythmic liberties one takes is very personal. Frequently today, we see both conductors and instrumentalists, drastically distorting the rhythm while desperately trying to impose some personal musical signature into standard repertoire. Imagine a young conductor trying to convert Beethoven’s Symphony #5 into something that is uniquely his or an instrumentalist playing a standard concerto in some new and untried way, maybe it’s wonderful, frequently it’s distorted and maudlin. However, even when the piece is hardly recognizable there are merits; it exemplifies for us the limits and prevents us from making the same kind of dubious decisions. It should also be mentioned that, like vibrato being used to cover up an unstable tone, Rubato is sometimes used to mask unstable rhythm.
Quickly, it should be said that there is no right or wrong here, it is personal and as time passes we all change in our musical tastes, I only point out that perhaps striving to be unique is not as important as holding to some degree to the integrity of the composer. If the music is good our use of the personal aspects of musicianship i.e. dynamic, vibrato and rubato, in other words our musicality, will lead us in the right way and it will be absolutely unique. Perhaps when we simply let it happen rather than impose an aggressive individuality, we will achieve a more beautiful result.
June 10, 2009, Le Domaine Forget, Quebec Canada
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Enlightenment in BBb
I was fifteen; it would have been 1953, when I made the change from BBb to CC tuba. It seemed like I had been liberated, the response was quicker, the tone was clearer, the low register was actually better and, of course, the high register was much easier; it was simply more fun to play and I never looked back. Around the same time my good friend Tommy Johnson made the same change. We would talk to each other about our fantastic discovery and how we felt sorry for those players that were still struggling with the encumberments of BBbs. During the next years we watched as most tubists made similar changes and little by little CC tubas became the contrabasstubas of choice by most tubists in the United States.
It was in the 60s and 70s that several America tubists with CC tubas started winning positions in European orchestras and many more were pursuing positions in Europe. Very quickly the tuba communities in Austria and Germany began requiring tubists to play BBb tubas for all auditions. Of course, deductive reasoning led one to the conclusion that the German school tubists were using this requirement to assure that only German school tubists would win the jobs. Certainly to some degree that was true but there was more to it than just that.
I have been in many situations through the last five decades when I’ve had the opportunity to listen and compare the sounds of the CC and BBb tubas and in every occasion I have favored the CC but in light of an experience I had recently in Detmold, Germany, while giving a masterclass at the Conservatory, I have to face that I may have maintained that same kind of prejudice and dogma on behalf of CC tubas that I have accused the Germans of having for BBbs.
In an ensemble masterclass my colleague professors and I heard a five trombone and tuba ensemble playing an arrangement of a Bruckner piece. The Meinl Weston 195 Fafner 4/4 BBb tuba that was used was strikingly rich, clear, gloriously beautiful and exactly the right instrument for that music; it was instantly obvious that there was a valid use for a BBb tuba that I had not seen before, further it was clear if I still had a few years of symphony orchestra work ahead of me I would feel a strong need to have such a tuba. My colleague Anne Jelle Visser, a CC tuba oriented player with the Zurich Opera and who shared this enlightening experience with me has subsequently ordered two of these tubas, one for the Zurich Conservatory and one for the Zurich Opera Orchestra. If I played in a symphony orchestra I would probably not use it more that 5% of the time but those times when I needed it I would have to have it.
There is another issue of hard realism here: If we tubists want to be like our trumpet playing colleagues and own several instruments in all keys and sizes for all occasions, we would either have to be rich or have generous benefactors, such as orchestras or conservatories to possess all these instruments. Economics is a factor in all our lives but as artists it should not let that limit our thinking and our vision.
However, I try to imagine the reaction of a symphony tour manager while being informed that for the next tour we will need to carry four of five instruments or filling my personal vehicle with all the instruments I might need for a studio job! Sometimes it’s tough to be a tubist.
Tokyo, May 6, 2009
It was in the 60s and 70s that several America tubists with CC tubas started winning positions in European orchestras and many more were pursuing positions in Europe. Very quickly the tuba communities in Austria and Germany began requiring tubists to play BBb tubas for all auditions. Of course, deductive reasoning led one to the conclusion that the German school tubists were using this requirement to assure that only German school tubists would win the jobs. Certainly to some degree that was true but there was more to it than just that.
I have been in many situations through the last five decades when I’ve had the opportunity to listen and compare the sounds of the CC and BBb tubas and in every occasion I have favored the CC but in light of an experience I had recently in Detmold, Germany, while giving a masterclass at the Conservatory, I have to face that I may have maintained that same kind of prejudice and dogma on behalf of CC tubas that I have accused the Germans of having for BBbs.
In an ensemble masterclass my colleague professors and I heard a five trombone and tuba ensemble playing an arrangement of a Bruckner piece. The Meinl Weston 195 Fafner 4/4 BBb tuba that was used was strikingly rich, clear, gloriously beautiful and exactly the right instrument for that music; it was instantly obvious that there was a valid use for a BBb tuba that I had not seen before, further it was clear if I still had a few years of symphony orchestra work ahead of me I would feel a strong need to have such a tuba. My colleague Anne Jelle Visser, a CC tuba oriented player with the Zurich Opera and who shared this enlightening experience with me has subsequently ordered two of these tubas, one for the Zurich Conservatory and one for the Zurich Opera Orchestra. If I played in a symphony orchestra I would probably not use it more that 5% of the time but those times when I needed it I would have to have it.
There is another issue of hard realism here: If we tubists want to be like our trumpet playing colleagues and own several instruments in all keys and sizes for all occasions, we would either have to be rich or have generous benefactors, such as orchestras or conservatories to possess all these instruments. Economics is a factor in all our lives but as artists it should not let that limit our thinking and our vision.
However, I try to imagine the reaction of a symphony tour manager while being informed that for the next tour we will need to carry four of five instruments or filling my personal vehicle with all the instruments I might need for a studio job! Sometimes it’s tough to be a tubist.
Tokyo, May 6, 2009
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