New musical life goal

[WhistlingBadger]

Sheet music ordered. Stay tuned...this is going to take a while.

 

[gimme30]

We will of course expect a video performance par excellence once you've learned the piece. Even better if you do it in a bunny suit.

 

[GaryE]

Hand that instrument over to me and I can finish composing my Elk Heat Symphony.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

We will of course expect a video performance par excellence once you've learned the piece. Even better if you do it in a bunny suit.

Well, not in a bunny suit, but I'm working on it. See you in a year or two...

Hand that instrument over to me and I can finish composing my Elk Heat Symphony.

You can do a decent elk bugle with a clarinet or saxophone mouthpiece, but not on a euphonium...They're too heavy to carry around the mountains anyway.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The euphonium and tuba are both low brass instruments, but the tuba is the larger, bass voice (octave lower), anchoring the harmony, while the euphonium is smaller, plays in the tenor range (melodies), uses a smaller mouthpiece, and is often easier for beginners, with the tuba providing the essential foundation for an ensemble. Think of the tuba as the deep bass (like a big truck) and the euphonium as the rich tenor (like a baritone singer)

 

[GaryE]

I had a job interview once where when I walked in, a cd of tuba solos was playing. The hiring guy/boss was a piece of work - the Peter Principle personified. No one has ever considered himself as cool and alternative as that guy.
We did the questions and went through it all, then the guy asked me if the music bothered me. I said no, and that it was curious even if not something I would have chosen myself. He told me it was the test to see if I would show annoyance, and I hadn't. He said my CV had gotten me the job, but the tuba solos had been a test of character under stress.
I worked for that guy for 9 years, and he was never as interesting as his interviews. He was, however, always as stupid as them.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I love your stories, Gary. We really have to get together for a pot of tea (or something a bit stronger if you're into that sort of thing) sometime. But I could think of MUCH more effective musical stress tests than tuba solos. Annoying people with music is my profession, after all. Employers, for a small professional fee I'd be happy to share suggestions.

Here's one for free: How about a little electric hurdy gurdy in the background at your job interview?

 

[gimme30]

I LOVED that!
I'm showing my musical ignorance here...I've heard the term hurdy gurdy before but thought it was some sort of slang.
That was amazing!

 

[f_luxus]

When i was younger i was working on medieval markets. That lovely sound of bagpipes in the morning could make your day... a disaster.
Sometimes i dreamed of filling all those bags with spray foam just to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet.

 

[GaryE]

The Irish writer Brendan Behan said the best thing about bagpipes was they didn't smell too.

I like drone instruments. They remind me of hearing myself talk.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I love highland bagpipe music. There's something about a well-played pipe tune that is free and wild and sad and triumphant and courageous, all at the same time. I get the same kind of feeling from really good pow-wow singing or Cape Breton fiddling.

I was out working in the bow shop last night, listening to some pipe music, and a play list came up on Spotify for my consideration: "Bagpipes for Sleeping." Now, that's an intriguing concept. ha ha ha

 

[TwoTankAmin]

 

[BanjoFish]

@WhistlingBadger this is me.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I'm reminded of a story.

During the late 70s, at the height of the troubles, a grim looking stranger walks into a bar in Belfast, wearing a long, black trenchcoat with suspicious lumps under it, carrying a heavy satchel. As he stalks up to the bar and slams his satchel down, conversation dies, the musicians fade out, and a silence falls. The bartender puts a hand on the shotgun he has hidden behind the bar and, with a trembling voice, asks, "What's that you've got in the bag, lad?"

"I have seven pounds of C4 explosive in this bag," the man growls.

A wave of laughter sweeps through the bar, the music starts back up, and the bar tender says, "Oh, thank heaven. We thought it was a set of pipes."

 

[BanjoFish]