Hello! I have a gouger with a 25mm bed. Should I be getting 24-25mm cane, or 25-26mm cane?
I'm thinking 24-25 because even some of the tighter radius stock will still gouge, just a leaving thinner sides whereas on a 26mm piece the centre will be raised up to the blade and gouged too thinly. But seeking some confirmation (or correction!) on my thinking.
Hi folks,
I've been asked to play with an acoustic guitar and solo vocalists. They are unmic'd and very quiet! When I try to play quietly enough to not take over my tone suffers greatly and I drop a lot of notes. I've asked them if they can mic up. But is there anything else I can do? (It's an odd situation since usually I'm the one that can't be heard over the band or orchestra!)
Hi folks - I'm completely exasperated and need some help. I've been playing bassoon for several years now and still sound wildly out of tune. It's especially bad when I record myself playing 4 part pieces. There's no way this intonation could be ok in an orchestral environment.
I play long tones almost daily with a drone. I play my scales with a drone.
Other people have played my instrument and tell me it's great.
I've made all the reed adjustments I can to stabilize the intonation.
In lessons my teacher comments I'm not out of tune when I play with him. But I feel he's adjusting his intonation to match even if he doesn't notice. Or maybe I'm adjusting to him, but if that's the case, wouldn't I do this to my own recordings?
What in the world can I do to solve this? There's no way I can play with a group when this is going on.
Referring to those days when your reeds are acting unresponsive *and* the intonation is wild, and so you can't play the way you believe you're capable of playing.
How do you keep your spirits up, and how do you actually remain productive in the face of the overwhelmingly strong urge to spend the session scraping away at your reeds?
Hi folks,
My community concert band with a 20+ year legacy is in a pickle. It's started to unravel with several of the stronger players quitting. We're down to 10 regulars, with maybe 20 total members. Here are the challenges:
The main issue is frustration. Better players refuse to play with poorer players (intonation, rhythm, phrasing, everything!). I don't blame them; it's not much fun to listen to trumpets and clarinets honking out an out of tune mess for 3/4 of a rehearsal. There's a much stronger concert band nearby that most of the stronger players moved to.
There's no actual social - people show up, play, then go home.
Has anyone here seen a concert band come back from this?