Phew!

My gig is over and I'm sad because me and my friend are the back ups for the actual flutists in the band who couldn't play this set of concerts, but at least we are on call if they ever can't make it, haha!
But um, yeah, it was great. I'd kind of like to get the video up on youtube or something and show y'all. I had a great time. Playing outdoor concerts isn't my favorite, because wind, you know, but I had a great time because the people in the audience were relaxed, happy, and eating the overpriced but delicious food.
The stars and stripes solo went really well, though they gave us a microphone and that was weird, haha! Two piccolos don't really scream "GIVE US A MIC!"
We sounded really good though, I'm happy with how we did. ^_^
On the other hand, I suck at piano and the teacher is really mad at me. I have to miss class on Wednesday because I have an exam, so I'm not feeling super great about that. :(
Anyway, have a good start to your week.

A Day in the Life: Taking it Slow

I have so much I have to learn haha. So much I have to do and it's really stressful, but I'm sure I'll be able to do it. You might be thinking to yourself, if I have so much to do then why an I wasting my time blogging and obviously not practicing?
Well, first off, it's Saturday and I deserve a little break even if I do have a gig tomorrow, and secondly, if you spend all your time practicing with no place to relax, then how on earth are you going to keep your sanity? Grinding yourself only works for some people. Some people can practice every day for six hours on end. Me? I know I need to practice more, I know that I probably shouldn't have played Kingdom Hearts 2 today, but you know what? I spend hours practicing during the days of the week. If I can't have a Saturday playing video games with my brother and sister and spending time with my boyfriend then what kind of emotions can I even put into my music? Frustrated ones? Self-righteous feelings because I can practice all day every day and that makes me better than everyone else?
Naw. I'd rather have some fun today and get back to my practicing re-energized and ready to tackle this week's frustrations. Because there will be some, haha. But I want to be ready.
So that's that! If you're a musician and you spend your Saturdays doing nothing, don't sweat it! You have the whole week to practice you owe it to yourself to have some fun!

There. Done validating my choices for the day, haha!
Have a great weekend guys!

Count Your Lucky Stars!

It's happened, haha. I've been hired to do a gig at a Navy Language Institute in my area and we're playing all sorts of marches and traditional band music. This is my very first time playing in a band setting, I've only ever done orchestra, so this will be really exciting and new. I'm looking forward to it. Especially the Stars and Stripes Forever march! Piccolo players are pretty divided on this one... a lot of players are annoyed that people only know that particular piccolo solo and not other ones, like Ma Mere L'Oye or Lieutenant Kije. Others love it to death just because it's fun. I'm in the middle, I really like that march because it's so fun and cheesy, but I wouldn't mind if people said "Oooh, Piccolo! Just like in Stars and Stripes Forever Turkish Fragments!"
But you know, since that's a little obscure for most people I'm happy to be the Stars and Strips Forever person haha.
So yeah, I'm happy to get my picc out again and have some fun with it. It's been a long time since I've done anything on piccolo, I think it was back in February during the Scheherazade semester... good times, I really enjoyed that it was so amazing.
Anyway, this performance is really exciting! There are two of us on flute so we're going to play the solo together! I'm excited because neither of us have ever done the whole 'tune two piccolos to each other' epicness so it'll be a great experience, provided we are able to do it (nervous laugh).
I'm pretty confident that it can be done though, so I'm happy. I can't wait, we're even going to stand up my goodness. Just to make it super scary, haha. It's a little scary for me because she'll have been playing piccolo the who concert so she'll be warmed up and I'll be playing flute the whole thing except for the end. ^_^"

One of my favorite songs

Or pieces, whatever you want to call it. Anyway, there are a few pieces of music that I am just head over heels for. Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy, Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky, Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, Liebermann's Flute and Piccolo Concertos, the list goes on and on. I just love music so much! It's impossible for me to pick a single piece that I love the most.
But there is this one piece of music that I always feel like I'm in the mood to listen to. If I'm happy, sad, anxious, whatever, it's always something that I can listen to and fully enjoy.
Drumroll, please.
Romeo and Juliet Before Parting by Sergei Prokofiev.
Seems so random, huh? Haha, well, yeah. This little bit from Prokofiev's ballet score is one of the most magical moments of music I've ever heard. Prokofiev is often remembered for his more goofy sounds, his quirky instrumentation and mastery of rhythm and dissonance. However, those skills he used to create comedically grotesque musical scenes were also used to create some of the most tender music ever written. His instrumentation here is chamber like, with just a few instruments or groups playing at a time, until the soaring 'adagio' section towards the middle of the piece, where the whole orchestra flies under a noble brass melody. But before it gets so loud, it actually starts so incredibly intimate.
The strings play a very soft 'pitter-patter' that reminds me of how rain sounds when you hear it hitting a closed window. Then the flute starts playing a winding, rather uncertain melody that is nevertheless filled with sweetness. To me it sounds like waking up in bed just before the sun comes up, and you are waking up to a rainfall.
Later in the piece, a new theme is introduced. If you've heard or seen the whole ballet you'll recognize it as having first appeared in the balcony scene. This new theme is more 'cinematic' and romantic sounding, first being handled delicately by a viola solo, then to clarinets and other woodwinds, then to a glowing and winsome tenor sax, and finally to the strings who give the most dramatic rendition yet. Then comes the sweeping and breathless 'adagio' I mentioned before. Despite being marked adagio this part actually feels very fast, because of what the other members of the orchestra besides brass are doing. It sounds like a massive wave of sound, it's incredible.
I'm not sure why I decided to write this blog post now of all times, but I'm kinda down and I wanted to share one of my favorite pieces in case you guys are feeling down and need a sec to catch your breath with some lovely music. What's a piece that helps you out when you get really sad or anxious?
Stay frosty, friends.




Here's my favorite recording with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philarmonic. <3

I'm going to have a recital!

Yay! The choir accompanist who I've previously mentioned (the one who saved the day, remember way back in April?) and I are putting on a recital in December. ^_^
I'm going to play Mozart's G major concerto as well as the Fantaisie by Gaubert, the 2nd Movement of Lowell Liebermann's Flute Concerto, and possibly the Chaminade Concertino. I'm not very good at that one and if I don't have it sounding as good as we want it we might cut it to make more time for practicing the pieces that are sounding great. My sister and boyfriend are also going to play, it's going to be lovely. I think I should even bake something so at the end people can have a snack, and if you put "Food Afterwards" on the flyer then more people will come. It's a scientific fact. It's called The Cookie Principle.
I'm excited, but I'm also nervous because I want to put on a good performance and I've never done anything like this before. Hopefully it goes well. :)

I can play the oboe now

So as of today my instruments I can play are...
Flute (Proficiency Level: Yayyyy!!)
Piccolo (Proficiency Level: Hasn't been taken out in a while but I can probably still play it just fine, though I used to be the piccolo queen)
Piano (Proficiency Level: Not great but I can do my music theory keyboard homework and that's what matters)
Alto Saxophone (Proficiency Level: What? I have to play lead now? I guess I'd better learn me some vibrato skills)
Oboe (Proficiency Level: REEDS ARE EVERYTHING. IF YOU THINK YOU SUCK AT OBOE SERIOUSLY GET A GOOD REED.)

Ahem. So yeah, I'm not adding any more instruments to this list, haha. I think that five instruments is more than enough for any music major, and I only really practice two of them consistently. Need to change that, haha. But yeah. Now I need to try out clarinet again because I wanna be woodwind queen. And then bassoon. AND THEN THE WORLD. Just kidding, I though I said no more instruments. XD

Princess Tutu (2002) Review Time! (Part 1)

So my sister and I just finished the first half of the anime unfortunately titled Princess Tutu, and it's just great. This is a show that uses classical music as the soundtrack and draws a lot of the plot and thematic material from ballet. The premise is as follows...
There's a writer called Drosselmeyer (lulz) who died in the middle of a novel. His characters got bored waiting around, so they broke out of the story. Those characters are a prince and an evil raven. To stop the raven from destroying the town, the prince 'shatters his heart', which seals away the raven because fairy tale reasons. But because he did that, he's pretty much just a mannequin who can talk and move around, so the story has ground to a halt. The author is still alive as a ghost, living in a bizarre clockwork realm, and he still wants to continue the story, so after many years he finally finds a way. A little duckling who has a crush on the prince wishes she could become a girl and hold hands with him and other cute things. So the author gives he a magic pendant that not only turns her into a girl, it also turns her into a character from the story, the only one who can return pieces of the prince's heart.
Phew. Premises should not take that long to explain, but there you go. The show is a little confusing at first, but it's fairly easy to get into. The first two episodes are pretty weak, and they look even weaker when you consider how strong the episodes at the end of the season are.
The cast is strong and dynamic, which is one of my favorite things about the series. Especially in regards to once character, their arcs go in very unexpected directions. The main character, literally named Duck is a very sweet character once she gets out of the first two episodes, where she is a little manic and over energized. Once the show as a whole settles down she does too, and we get to know her personality more. Duck is hyper and cheery, but she is equally insecure and constantly questioning herself and her motives. The other two interesting characters I can't really say much of anything without spoilers, but suffice to say that they are really interesting to watch. The only weak link in the cast is the prince himself, who has his moments but is mostly bland. Unfortunately he is the one that Duck is in love with, but we can't really find anything about him that's worth it.
However. The interesting thing is that the show itself mentions this. There's a scene where Duck questions why she loves the prince (called Mythos, apparently pronounced Myu-toe), and the dialogue goes in a really interesting direction before they are interrupted by killer crows. There's a lot of those in this series.
Anyways, let's get to the music! Each episode has a piece of classical music that sums up the thematic material of the episode, or just fits really well with the action. Or acts as sneaky bits of foreshadowing. The episode music includes these pieces, as well as many more that are just used as incidental music, or character themes.
Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, The Blue Danube, Pictures at an Exhibition, Scheherazade (!!!), Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet (the ones by both Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev!), and Danse Macabre! So far all the music has been really well used, and the Scheherazade episode was probably the best of the season.
We're looking forward to the second season. The show is very sweet, even if it has random weird things that kill the mood sometimes. Like the fact that the ballet teacher is a human sized anthropomorphic cat. Ahem. But anyways, school starts tomorrow and I wanted to do a fun post before I start complaining about school. Which might happen. Anyhoo, see you guys later. :)