Friday, January 31, 2014

FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2014

QUOTE:
"The problem of freedom in America is that of maintaining a competition
  of ideas, and you do not achieve that by silencing one brand of idea."
AUTHOR: Max Lerner
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"An artist must be open to all ideas and styles
 of music to achieve career success in a country
 where people have the freedom to choose any
 music they like."







COMPOSER
VIVALDI
http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Antonio%20Vivaldi_25862
 VIOLIN CONCERTO
in A MINOR OPUS 3 NO. 6 RV 356
Henryk Szeryng, Violin
English Chamber Orchestra
Berthe Morisot: Studying the Violin

http://teachsuzukiviolin.com/concerto-minor-1st-movement-vivaldi-part-1/
http://teachsuzukiviolin.com/category/the-music/


GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1.  SCALE (major 1 8va)
a.  SHIFTING 1ST FINGER
1.  Shift up and down
2.  Shift in intervals up
2.  ROCKY TOP
a.  Practiced without accompaniment
1.  Built piece up from the bass line parts

INTRO. TO INSTRUMENTS
GRANADA
1.  RECORDERS
a.  Introduction/Rules
HILLVIEW
1.  PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS
a.  Demonstration
b.  Worksheets

GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1.  SLURRING 
(half the bow for each note: down-down/up-up)
a.  G, D, and A Major Scales (1 8va)
2.  MAY SONG
a.  Worked on 1st passage to keep fingers down while crossing strings

HILLVIEW ORCHESTRA
1. Las Mananitas I

Thursday, January 30, 2014

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2014

QUOTE FROM THE BOARD:
"Nothing is more odious than music
  without hidden meaning."
AUTHOR: Frederick Chopin
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"Chopin believes that music is not just entertainment,
  it must have some inner message to convey."
  









COMPOSER
VIVALDI
CONCERTO for TWO VIOLINS,
STRINGS, and CONTINUO
D MINOR RV. 514
Performed by violinists Stern and Oistrakh
http://www.artbylarisa.com/Products/Two-Violins__PP11.aspx
GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1.  VIVA LA VIDA

INTRO. TO INSTRUMENT
GRANADA
1.  ALLEY CAT
a.  Orchestration
HILLVIEW
1.  RECORDERS
a.  Echo Warm-Up
1.  Putting fingers down T1, T12, T123
b.  SONGS
1.  UN BERGERE (T1 w/quarter notes)
2.  KOOKABURRA (T1 w/quarter and eighth notes)
3.  ALLEY ALLEY O (T1/T12 w/quarter and eighth notes)
4.  LUCERNE TO WEGGIS (T1/T12 w/quarter and eighth notes)

GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1.  MAJOR SCALES (1 8va): G, D, A
a.  Cherry Pie Rhythm 2x for each note
2.  CHARIOTS OF FIRE
a.  Discussion of counting

HILLVIEW ORCHESTRA
1. IMAGINE
2.  ROCKY TOP

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2014

QUOTE:
"People compose for many reasons: to become immortal;
  because the pianoforte happens to be open; because they
  want to become a millionaire; because of the praise of
  friends; because they have looked into a pair of beautiful
  eyes; for no reason whatsoever."
AUTHOR: Robert Schumann
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"People create art for varied reasons.
  For everyone the reason is different."


DOUBLE TRUMPET CONCERTO
C MAJOR RV. 537 OPUS 46 NO. 1
Performed by Maurice Andre and Neville Marriner


Baroque Trumpet

Baroque Trumpet and Crooks
http://www.fraize-marques.com/en/instruments-anciens.php
Natural Trumpet (top) Vs. Modern Valved Trumpet
http://music.yale.edu/2011/04/01/student-viewpoint-master-class-in-natural-trumpet/
ABOUT THE TRUMPET:

Bach to Basics

By Elizabeth Jin
September 1, 2002

Natural trumpets. Trumpets made out of dirt and weeds?
Wrong. They're made out of brass like any other trumpet.

"A natural trumpet is essentially a trumpet without valves,
" Bryan Proksch, a graduate student in musicology, or the
study of the history of music, explains. He sits up straight
and reaches for his trumpet case. The instrument that comes
out of the case looks nothing like a modern trumpet—it is
almost twice as long and has no valves.

On a modern trumpet, the three valves are connected to thin
pieces of tubing. These little tubes connect to the larger tube
that makes up the horn. However, the little tubes remain
closed until the player presses a valve, which opens the
passageway to a tube, elongating the path that the air travels.
The longer the air path, the lower the sound that comes out of
the horn. Proksch compares the phenomenon to blowing
across a Coke bottle. The less liquid you have in the bottle,
the longer the "air path," and the lower the resulting sound,
because more air passes through it.

By using a combination of valves, a modern trumpeter can
produce every note on a musical scale. The natural trumpet
has no valves; instead, through subtle adjustments in lip
tension, a natural trumpeter produces the notes of a harmonic
scale, a set of selected tones that are "fixed by nature."

Proksch jumps up and grabs the telephone on his desk. He
shakes the phone cord, creating a series of waves. "Imagine
that one wave is equal to the note created using the smallest
amount of lip tension. On a C scale—a series of eight notes
beginning and ending with C—that note is C," he explains. He
then shakes the cord harder and the waves double in frequency.
The next note on the harmonic scale is "double" a C, or the C
an octave higher. Shaking the cord even harder—the equivalent
of adding more lip tension—creates a wave that is a fifth of the
frequency of the original wave.

The natural trumpet evolved from the signaling trumpet, a single,
straight tube about 47 inches long with a flared end. Aptly
named, the signaling trumpet's splendid sound could be heard
at great distances and was useful in military battles and royal
fanfares. The natural trumpet performed similar functions as the
signaling trumpet; however, instrument makers folded its 88
inches of tubing to make it more convenient to carry on military
campaigns and to court functions.

The trumpet's function would have remained military if not for an
important event in the trumpet's history: its acceptance into art
music in the 17th century. The natural trumpet flourished during
this time, with eminent composers such as J. S. Bach and
Johann Schelle writing pieces in which trumpets led the melody.
Valentine Snow was one such natural trumpeter for whom Handel
wrote most of his music; Snow was also a composer, and Proksch
recently edited a set of his natural trumpet duets, which was
published by Brass Press.

Yet by 1770, composers such as Beethoven and Mozart had
ushered in a more complex musical sound with several key
changes in one piece. A natural trumpeter must change the
instrument's mouthpiece in order to change keys. The
impracticality of this requirement reduced the trumpet's role
to opening flourishes and climaxes until the valve trumpet was
invented around 1815. Unlike the natural trumpet, it can change
keys without changing the mouthpiece and is easier to play in
tune because it requires less lip tension.

Despite the pleasing, clear tone of the modern valve trumpet,
Proksch insists that it is not what Bach and his contemporaries
intended their robust and somewhat unrefined trumpet parts to
sound like. Proksch's desire to play these pieces properly
prompted him to learn how to play the natural trumpet. Better yet,
he decided to make one. Even better, he decided to recruit other
natural trumpeters in the hopes of creating a natural trumpet
ensemble. Last spring, along with two undergraduate music
majors, Derek Bittner and Edward Jakuboski, Proksch obtained
a grant from the university to build six natural trumpets. Professor
Leslie Leupp from the School of Visual Arts, the Department of
Metal Arts, and Engineering Services assisted in the project by
donating their facilities and materials.

"Making a natural trumpet is a lot simpler than you might think,"
Proksch says. Humming a Bach concerto, he riffles through
some sheet music on the piano and finds scrap paper to draw
on. "First," he says, "you cut a big sheet of brass." This piece
will become the bell of the trumpet. He sketches a pattern of a
trumpet bell that is about a yard long and looks as if it has been
run over by a truck. He continues, "Next, cut out the pattern and
make teeth marks along the two long sides." The two sides will
eventually be connected; the interwoven teeth create a stronger
fit than if two straight sides were simply welded together. Now,
fold the pattern in half lengthwise and open it slightly at one end
to fit on a mandrel, a big piece of curved steel. Finally, hammer
out the bell into its proper curved shape.

Smaller brass tubes make up the rest of the natural trumpet. The
joints are pressure-fitted by tapering the end of one tube slightly
and expanding the end of the other. A discovery in tube bending
shortly before the 1400s allows the brass to be curved. Brass has
a melting point of 1083 degrees C, while lead melts at 327 degrees
C. Consequently, lead melts and cools more quickly than brass.
Filling a straight piece of brass tubing with liquid lead allows the
brass to bend but not melt. After bending the tubing, the cooled
lead is melted again and removed. Today, because lead is
poisonous, trumpet makers use an alloy made of bismuth, which
melts even before water boils.

By making the trumpets and forming an ensemble to play pieces
from the 17th century, Proksch hopes to restore the natural trumpet
to its rightful role. "The reason we are interested in the natural
trumpet is more than purely historical," Proksch insists. "It actually
sounds better than the modern trumpet. If you want to hear music
the way Bach heard it, you at least have to have the right instrument."

Bryan Proksch is a master's degree student in musicology in the
School of Music within the College of Arts and Architecture, 233
Music Bldg. I, University Park, PA 16802; 814-863-4421;
bjp176@psu.edu. Derek Bittner and Edward Jakuboski are
undergraduate students, both majoring in music. The natural
trumpet project is funded by an undergraduate research grant
from the College of Arts and Architecture.

LINKS
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/70/3139/3143/3144/5421.vsl
http://news.psu.edu/story/140705/2002/09/01/research/bach-basics
http://home.adelphi.edu/~tb16936/page5.html
http://www.earlybrass.com/NATTRUMPpage.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-baroque-trumpet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_trumpet
http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/trumpethistory.htm
http://www.virtualtrumpetstudio.com/HistoryofTrumpet.htm
http://jaz.wikia.com/wiki/Trumpet_History
http://www.thein-brass.de/Thailand.html
http://www.philharmonia.org/learn-and-listen/baroque-instruments/trumpet/
http://www.trumpetguild.org/_72820_archive/2002journal/0203natural.pdf



GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1.  IMAGINE
2.  ELEANORE RIGBY

INTRO. TO INSTRUMENT
GRANADA
1.  ALLEY CAT
a.  Orchestration
HILLVIEW
1.  RECORDERS
a.  FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR
b.  FIRST SOUNDS (without fingers)
1.  Echo Warm-Up
a.  Good versus Bad Sounds
1)  Breathing
2) Articulation

GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1.  MAJOR SCALES (1 8va): G, D, A
a.  Slurring 2 notes
2.  BILE EM' CABBAGES
a.  Bow Proportions
3.  TWINKLE
a.  Bow Proportions

HILLVIEW ORCHESTRA
1. NUMB

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

FILM NOTES: MUSICAL ENCOUNTER PERCUSSION

01. Student plays vibraphones on a famous jazz style song called "How High the Moon."

02. Percussion: Instruments that have to be struck in order to make a sound.

03. When one object strikes another object and creates a noise, sound, or tone it is termed a 
percussive sound.

04. Clapping is a percussive sound too and therefore everyone is a percussionist.
05. Percussion is not just drums but includes many other instruments that are played by striking or tapping.

06. Student plays Bach's "Violin Concerto in A Minor" on the marimbas accompanied by the piano.

07. Vibraphones and marimbas are both mallet percussion instruments but the vibraphone is 
made of metal and the marimba is made of wood.




08. Resonator tubes, found in the front and the back of both instruments, are placed there to make 
the sounds from the notes ring by echoing or magnifying the sound.




09. Percussion instruments are classified by those that have indefinite and definite pitches.
      a. Indefinite Pitches: Sounds or noise that do not give a definite pitch but gives an effect 
          or a sound.
      b. Definite PitchesTones you can actually hear in relation to one another as being distinct 
          with a certaisound wave length that will give an actual tone.

10. Indefinite instruments, such as drums, tend to be easier to play because emphasis is only put 
on the striking action and not on both the striking action and the pitch as in the definite pitch instruments.

11. Regular practice, approximately 1 hour daily and 2 hours per day on the weekend, really helps this
student perfect his skill.

12. Pedals on the vibraphone are used for sustaining a vibration on a note. Sounds decay or die 
quickly so in order to sustain a sound (keep the sound going) on a marimba the sound must be rolled. There is a  pedal on the vibraphone that, when pressed, will sustain the note without having to roll it.




13. Marimbas and vibraphones are definite pitch instruments.


14. Battery Percussion piece by Rick Tagawa called, "Inspirations Diabolique" is played on   
indefinite percussion instruments.

15. Need to get into the music and really learn about it in order to perform it well.

16. Different size drum sticks make different sounds; thinner drum sticks are "pingy" and more 
sharp sounding; thicker sticks have a heavier and fuller sound.




17. There is a large variety of percussion instruments to play.

18. Generally bigger instruments are lower sounding having bigger heads and taking up more room 
with the drum sizes arranged by pitch from low to high.

19. Bongos: Types of drums (often played by Latin or rock groups) which are higher pitched and played
with the hands.




20. Snare Drum



Has different sounds depending on whether you flip a switch or not. At the bottom of the drum there  
are little rasps (stretched strings called snares which cause a rattling against the drum head



that when not touching the instrument will make the drum sound like all the other ones but when 
you flip the switch on the instrument as a different sound like the one familiar with a drum roll sound.

21. Can use more than one stick on each hand at the same time making the sound fuller.

22. In indefinite percussive instrument note reading, each drum has its own line on the staff.

23. Indefinite percussion does not really need to be tuned but definite percussion drums 
(like the timpani) do. 



There is a pedal that, when pushed down or up, will contract or expand the drum head tension which will change the pitch.

24. Keys on indefinite pitch drum heads can be used to tighten and loosen the drum head tension. 
These keys are called "lugs." 



There is usually between 8 or 10 of them and the tightened lugs raise the pitch while the loosened ones   
lowers them. These pitches are not definite however.

25. Thickness of drum heads will change the tone color and texture of the sound of the drum.

26. Other percussion effect instruments mentioned:
       a.  Vibrasnap (also referred to as a vibraslap)



         b.   Flexatone 



         c.  Cabasa (Latin percussion instrument)



       d.  Slapstick (has a whip sound and can be heard in "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson




       e. Triangle



       f.  Tambourine [many ways to play it: shake, thumb roll (by stroking an often slightly wet 
thumb, or sometimes a finger, across the head of a tambourine, a sustained roll may be produced) 
or can also be played using the knee and hand]



      g.  Suspended Cymbals (cymbals that hang usually on a stand and are hit with a stick)



      h.  Crash Cymbals (cymbals held and played with both hands)





TERMS FROM THE FILM:
01. BATTERY PERCUSSION
02. BONGOS
03. CABASA
04. CLAPPING
05. CYMBAL
06. CRASH CYMBAL
07. DECAY
08. DEFINITE PITCH
09. DRUM
10. DRUM ROLL
11. DRUM STICKS
12. FLEXATONE
13. INDEFINITE PITCH
14. JAZZ
15. LATIN PERCUSSION
16. LUGS
17. MALLET PERCUSSION
18. MARIMBA
19. PEDAL
20. PERCUSSION
21. PIANO
22. PITCH
23. RASP
24. RESONATOR TUBES
25. ROLL
26. SLAPSTICK
27. SNARE DRUM
28. SNARES
29 SOUND WAVE
30. SUSPENDED CYMBAL
31. SUSTAIN
32. SUSTAINED ROLL
33. TAMBOURINE
34. TEXTURE

35. THUMB ROLL
36. TIMPANI
37. TONE
38. TONE COLOR
39. TRIANGLE
40. TUNED
41. VIBRAPHONE
42. VIBRASLAP
43. VIBRASNAP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrmCbsM6eyk