New Music Tech and Glamming Up!
I recently had to lead an orchestra to accompany a choir... and one of the pieces was a familiar Handel piece, right down my alley of specialisation! But the other was an Arvo Part piece that was also programmed was quite a different matter... lots of different meters and constantly changing. So, I recommended that everyone read off a score so that they wouldn't get crazily lost...
Of course, I always prefer the old dead tree variant of reading music... I love having paper, even though I rarely write anything down on it. But for this, when reading off a score... and especially the faster movements, it would be impossible to turn the pages fast enough whilst playing violin and leading the ensemble. Sure, I would normally have a desk partner to handle all the page turns... but when reading off the score, we all had our own parts... the music was small enough!
So, a week or so of training myself to be able to read the music, play the violin, direct an ensemble... and most difficult... use the iRig foot pedal to turn the pages on the A4 sized Boox e-reader! Honestly, that was the most difficult thing... I've used this set up for some pop gigs, but generally the page turns weren't that difficult, and the music wasn't crazily brain taxing either...
... in this case, the music was fast and in complex time signatures... so, it all had to be pretty well-oiled. So, lots of playing in real time with a decent recording to make sure that I knew it back to front musically... and foot-pedal-wise! And come the rehearsal... I had it all down... well oiled machine...
... and with that project completed, I'm more than ready to return back to the dead trees.... and the music of 300 years ago.
Now... I know that many violinists aren't fond of wearing ties when they play... especially the Early Music ones that don't use shoulder rests. But I like having ties... possibly due living in Europe where I would rather wear a tie to keep warm and just deal with the slight technical difference in where the violin was placed and balanced. Or... it just didn't bother me really that much, and I think that most musicians need something to complain about!
Anyway, I have a large collection of ties... but some of the nicer ones were starting fray or just get a bit threadbare... and so, during a recent factory outlet trip I saw that a menswear shop were selling off last season's ties for a hefty discount... letting me stock up on a batch of interesting colourful silk ties for the coming future years! Never can have too many of these!
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I think youngest would like to know how people play without shoulder rests, he tried once and struggled XD
People never used shoulder rests until the late 20th century! Maybe a roll or a pad, but nothing like the contraptions that they have now! You do have to develop the technique for it, as it is quite different... but you are more in contact with the instrument, and the bow also is part of the stabilisation and hold... meaning that you have a very different contact with the strings (I would say better...).
In some ways, it is like wondering how people ride bikes without training wheels! But I would never say that to my modern colleagues... wait, yes... yes, I do!
LoL all my kids learned how to ride bikes without training wheels so there's that I guess XD
You are an amazing talent, @bengy. I was afraid you were going to say that your tie got in the way during the complex piece and the page-turning! But it sounds like you got your system down and all went well.
Haha... no, I get in my own way of the page turning! I am so spectacularly unco-ordinated with it compared to the younger players! They do have a good laugh at me though... until I remind them that I do assess some of them!
Ha ha. Yes, wield the power! Put them in their places, the young upstarts! 😆
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I have that exact same pedal! It really saved my life back when I played in a jazz band. Very handy
How do you find it? It was just the first one that I saw... I don't mind it, but I find the pedal buttons a touch mushy... I might get something with a more responsive touch.
Yea I agree... I got used to it and could make it work well enough to get the job done but it definitely could be more responsive
I use a tablet to store a lot of the music I play in my band projects. With those I try to keep each tune to a single page. The usually just repeat, so that is viable. I looked at these footswitches a while back, but couldn't justify the cost then. I can see it would be useful for more complex pieces and I've seen orchestras use them.
I don't think I will ever convert away from dead tree... I am a tech nerd in everything except for that! Still, I do load up scores and stuff so that I can practice things when I'm travelling without lugging around lots of weight... but generally, I only need to look at isolated bars, and not run through things.