NYCO Concert Details

Here's the low-down on the North York Concert Orchestra concert.

Saturday, February 18, 2006

Willowdale United Church
349 Kenneth Avenue
North York

Copland - Outdoor Overture
Champagne - Danse Villageoise
Glazunov - The Seasons: Winter
Dvorak - Symphony #8

Here's a quick link to the gig courtesy of Google Maps

Weaknesses Exposed

On Wednesday night, two of the double bassists that I play with in the NYCO were unable to make it to rehearsal. Well, in that kind of situation, your weaknesses are completely exposed. Essentially, I held my own. I still have much to work on and a lot to learn. Although, I learned very quickly how much I lean on the others in my section; mostly on when to come in after long rests. Counting is easy, but when the phrasing of orchestra is focusing on off-beats, it can throw you for a loop. Anyway, you have to be very focused when you're under-staffed, especially when your principal player is away.

Tiger Unleashed

Last night I finally received Apple's new OS Tiger for my ibook. It took a while to install but, I'm excited about what it can do. If you have a review on this, let me know.

Honda Civic commercial

Now, those who know me, know that I enjoy most things a capella. The "coolness" factor of being able to perform music without instruments is a feat. This commercial definitely qualifies as cool. Check it out. www.honda.co.uk/civic/ Oh, and make sure to WATCH the ad.

Bass Mute

One of the songs that we are performing for this coming concert with the North York Concert Orchestra requires a mute. I didn't realize that a mute could be used on a double bass in a performance setting, but I guess you learn something new every day. I decided to go cheap and painless with the common plastic mute that goes just around the strings inbetween the bridge and the tailpiece. My analysis, the word "mute" is loosely termed and should not be taken literally. All it does is dampen/take away the upper partials/harmonics. That's another story I should talk about later.

iLife '06

Last night, I received iLife '06 in the mail and I have yet to get my hands wet on all the apps. Being an convert since late 2004, I have been a strong advocate for apple. One of the apps that I can't wait to play with is Garage Band 3. Now, I never purchased iLife '05 and I wasn't very interested with the original Garage Band, but I was turned around by the easy use of pitch correction from this new version. Anyway, I'm curious to see what you think of iLife '06.

Here's a couple of
iLife '06 reviews

Speed Practice Notes

I was going over a couple of the more challenging passages of one of the pieces that I am going to perform as a member of the North York Concert Orchestra. I was told that the best way to get through fast/difficult passages is to slow everything down. Now, I've known about this for the longest time and have used this always. Go through it slow and once you are comfortable, pick up the speed. What I was not aware of until as of late, is that you must practice slowly but as if you were playing in real time. That is to say in a double bass setting, keep your bow strokes short and quick and keep both your hands moving quickly. I have always made the mistake of practicing slowly but with a technique that would not help me when the tempo picked up. I was always getting my hands used to playing long and heavy when practicing for speed. What I should have done was to practice "speed training". I'll get into this a little later. Anyway, you can always learn something new regardless of where you are in your playing.

NYCO Practice

Wednesday night was the first North York Concert Orchestra practice for the new year. It was great to see the group back together playing again. More importantly, seeing and hearing four double basses playing together in that setting was great. It is always nice to get back into things to rekindle your passion for playing and practicing.

Imogen Heap

I normally don't listen to electronic-styled music. But, because of the "Hide and Seek" arrangement by Transit, I began to look up stuff on Imogen Heap. I never heard much about her, but I'm becoming more intreagued with her stuff. Not my favourite stuff but her song writing is quite interesting. Anyway, it just turns out she's at the El Mocombo in Toronto. It's funny how one song can peak your interest.

Happy New Year

It's a new year and I'm finally back to Bloggin'. Just to start things off, a friend of mine brought this to my attention.
visit: www.transit-music.com
From what I know, they are an a capella group from North Carolina. They have an mp3 called "Hide and Seek" that is a must hear.

Take care and keep practicing.