Tonight at big band, we had a surfeit of saxophones; you could even say we were lousy with them. In all, we had three altos, three tenors and two baris. But we started out the rehearsal with only one trumpet player, so I found myself in the trumpet section--not playing a trumpet, mind you, but playing one of their parts on alto. I transpose from B-flat all the time when working with my tenor students, so this was the same thing in a higher octave.
It was a pretty cool experience. I felt like I was in a different ZIP code from my fellow saxes, and the director seemed a mile away. (I also see how the trumpets get away with so much talking in rehearsal; the sound doesn't carry up to the front very much). I had to get used to not responding when the saxes were asked to play. The inner trumpet parts that I was playing (you didn't really think I was playing lead, did ya?) gave me an interesting perspective into the arrangements, and everything just sounded so different from back there.
Oh, and I completely understand why the trumpet players keep those chairs behind them. They come in very handy after a tune or two (says the guy who's used to sitting all the time).
Betcha never saw this coming: In light of the SCOTUS decision yesterday, Dingus comes out in favor of Ten Commandments displays.
Today's technology at work for you: A guy decides to be clever and pretends to swallow his friend's truck key; gravity takes over and it actually happens. The doctor takes an X-ray of the key in the guy's stomach, and a locksmith makes a copy of the key from the X-ray. The key actually works. (Also notice the next article on the linked page; it's about a Denny's cashier who found an innovative way to stop a robbery.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I still think you should have played lead. ;-P
it's probably a lot quieter back there when there aren't 5 trombone and 5 trumpet bells pointed in your general direction.
You got that right, J-Guar; my ears were ringing less that night than usual.
Post a Comment