I'll skip past all the profuse apologies of not blogging in over a month...and just say that I'll try to update at least once a week on Mondays, how's that sound? Because see, I follow this youtube channel called Blimey Cow, and they have "Messy Mondays" every week when they make a new video. (they're hilarious. Seriously. Check them out.) So, maybe every week when I watch they're video, I'll remember to update the blog. Get it? Got it. Good. :-)
So, winter quarter, back in February (still, I know, it's shameful. But hey, at least I have plenty to get us through the summer hiatus, yes? XD), we were working on this gorgeous piece by David Gillingham called "Lamb of God." It's basically a musical exposition of the last hours of Jesus.
In the middle of the piece, we hear the nails pounded into His hands, and in-between each set of three metal against metal hammer hits, the french horn section lets out this chord cluster of pure agony.
Except, as most musicians know, there's a way to do things like minor seconds and chord clusters so that they're painful in a good way, and that's not exactly what was happening.
Doc lamented: "Horns, whatever note you land on, stick it. Don't fish for it. That's an F, not it's an E, whatever it is, sucks for you. Stay there."
I'm pretty sure that needs no explanation.
The piece continued, and this time, the chord clusters went to the trombone section, all 3 of them. But only one was playing, so there was really no chord cluster at all. Which obviously, wasn't going to work.
"Trombones, we've gotta have those chord clusters. I'm talking lips flashing out the end of the bell!"
Tried as I might, I never could find a .gif image of the visual that phrase will give you, so you'll have to just enjoy this pretty picture of a trombone bell. We're talking some Good Vibrations! *sings to the bad pun*
That was how rehearsal on Tuesday went, lots of chord clusters, or rather, not the chord clusters. haha.
On Thursday's rehearsal, we tried the piece again. Played it straight through...basically. (Doc always says he'll run something straight through, but inevitably we can't get past the beginning without repeating something. "Last time, for real!" "Okay, seriously, last time." "One more time, promise." "Just fix this and we'll move on, guys." etc, etc. lol)
And once we got to the end, Doc left us with this quote: "That piece is really the stick in the spokes of our repertoire right now."
Nobody could argue with the man.
Hobey ho!
