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Friday, June 06, 2008

5:40 AM

Yo!!

Nice post, stella! hahaha i pity yr skirt): hahaha! ronald is an ugly clown.

anw, on to our playing!
the main problem is,...
our technical problems.
and to sum up the main problem of our technical problems,
INTONATION.

i'm not that concerned with phrasing or whatever, because seriously all you have to do, is to listen to the violin1s!

now, listening isn't all that hard, isit?

HAHAHA WRONG.
warning: the paragraphs below are again part of Melissa's incessant ramblings, they ARE important, mind you, but for those big busy businesswomen out there, i've highlighted the really important point that i really need you to take note of. Thank you(:

Listening is an important ensemble skill. just like watching our ~~handsome~~ conductor is. Just kidding. (Mr. Sze, please don't read this blog) Listening doesn't just involve listening, in the sense you don't allow what you hear to just pass through one ear and exit the next. Listening involves three steps: you listen, observe, and apply.

The normal "layman" audience we find, those kind that doesn't have any idea of what music is, will just listen. And after listening, their comments will be like "oh wow, si beh nice LehHhxZ! you all play very pro leh! like cd liddat! wahhhh! i very xian mu w0rHhxXz~". *cough* listeners who are more musically inclined will be able to listen and observe. Their comments may be like "That was a rather fresh interpretation, I especially liked how the cellists were able to deliver that solo passage with such meltingly beautiful tone and flawless techniques!" But what really differs us from the audience is that we do not just listen and observe, we listen, observe, and apply. Hey, we're PERFORMING the piece! SO, listen, observe, apply. For example, if we know that the v1s are having a melody that we also have in the later part of the piece (e.g. letter I of Borodin 4th), listen, take note of how they play it. Their articulation, the length of bow they use, the type of bow strokes they used, where they do their dynamic changes... and copy it. That's only if they're having that melody before we do. If we have it before they do, (e.g. Beginning of Borodin 1st), then by right they should try to copy us. But, we'll leave that to them. (:

Another thing,
WATCHING THE CONDUCTOR.

A string ensemble can't just function with, let's say, one entire violin section, or one entire viola section. We need the whole range of tones, pitch and colour from the whole of the string family to be called a string ensemble! But being a string ensemble is meaningless, we need to be a string ensemble that plays well! RIGHT? *glares* right. (oh gosh why am i talking to myself-.- must be Carnegie stress, sigh.) so, anyway! What is the most important thing an ensemble must have?

COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE ENSEMBLE.

Let's drift away from string ensembles for a while, shall we. We shall go breifly into communication within members of an orchestra. Have you all watched the Berlin Philharmonic before? Through dvds, youtube, whatever..? Well if you haven't, please do so, NOW. NOWNOWNOWNOWNOW. GOOOOO open a new internet window, type "http://youtube.com", hit enter, wait.... then type "Berlin Philharmonic" in the search thing. Now click search and wait.. AIYA WHATEVER, I'M TALKING NONSENSE. Sorry. Anywayy, yup notice that the orchestra is NEVER together with the conductor? This is what we're talking about. Unity, such that the orchestra/ensemble can totally function on its own without the conductor. Then, what's the conductor for? Well, that you'll have to find out for yrself. HOWEVER, the conductor is still the anchor of the whole ensemble. At our level, we're not ready to go without the conductor yet. And since we're all human, we have a tendency to rush/slow down, we need to watch the conductor aka Mr Sze at all times.

AIYA, i've crapped so much that i DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO SAY.
alright, let me summarize:
1. Listen to all other sections within the ensemble. Listen, observe, apply. And provide support. remember Flounder?(:

2. Try to communicate with the other sections. Or at least watch your pretty section leader who will try harder to lead you all in on important places.(:

3. Watch Mr. Sze at all times! Everyone should have memorized their scores by now. If you haven't, start feeling guilty and do something about it right away!

Well folks, that's all for our weekly dose of "Melissa's Incessant Ramblings Which Make Sense!" Be sure to check back for next week's episode before our Majestic Departure to the World Renowned Carnegie Hall!(: