5 musical annoyances

I've made some observations recently about various musical truths/things that irritate me...

1. If a band's saxophone section has members who play the type of sax as assigned by their section leader, often the section leader will play Bari. If the rest of the saxophone section is weak, the altos take the brunt of the criticism and the Bari player tries to help, but ultimately the altos are set up for failure.

2. Horns are beautiful. Euphoniums/Baritones are beautiful, but are better placed in a brass band where they aren't stealing from the Horns, pretending to be Trombones, or being covered up in a sea of boringness from a part written by a composer who doesn't know what he is doing because of number 3. Euphoniums are best placed in a Brass Band where they can be properly appreciated and given a part deserving of the instrument without encroaching on the Horn's space.

3. Medley composers usually are using the medley as a trial run in their composing career. SO often do I see a medley that is just so poorly written! I get a distinct impression that the composer writes out the whole song for a few instruments first. They might hear a trumpet part here and a sax solo there, but for the most part, the whole thing is written around 3 or 4 instruments at most. Then the composer looks at the other parts and is like "umm... what should I put there? Oh! How about lots of really high whole notes with no rest! That would be awesome, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind a boring part that will wear them out with one runthrough!"

4. Good Horn players are so hard to find because most are either a) technically good or b) musically good. Rarely is a Horn player great in both categories, and if a Horn player is, he could potentially go a long ways in a Horn career.

5. If your musicians are worn out, telling them to play louder and still sound good doesn't work. At that point, it is one or the other... mezzo forte and great, or loud and middle school.

Narnian Ramblings

I have always been interested in history, but in the last few years, my interest has expanded into various aspects such as etymology (history of words) and the truth behind mythology and legend. One example of etymology that interested me was when I formed a hypothesis about the word "won't" as to how it came to be, considering that "wo" and "not" did not form to be that one word like "can" and "not" became "can't." I realized that the words "will" and "not," when said very quickly, sounds like "willn't." After saying that word faster and faster, I started to hear an "oh" sound, and voila, just like that, "will not" sounded like "won't."

What got me thinking about this subject, however, is not the etymology; it is the legend. Though to be fair, in this case it is more of the history of a legend within a fantasy. I was watching Prince Caspian and thinking about how the book did a much better job at depicting the severity of the Telmarines' fear of both water and the forest. During the scene where the trees awaken and the river god (I can't remember if he actually has another name or not...) returns to save the day, the explanation of their fear jumped out at me. Just as much mythology and legend has its base in reality (even if a small base), so the Telmarine superstition did within the fantasy world of Narnia. In their history, when they invaded Narnia, they probably lost a great many troops while battling not just the normal Narnians, but the trees and water as well. If I were a survivor of such a mind-rattling event, I and my fellow soldiers would tell my children of the horrors of the forest and the river, and I'm sure that if the stories were retold and retold, that 1300 years later there might very well be a superstition regarding trees and water. After I realized this, I then mentally kicked myself for not making the connection for so long; it is so obvious and an integral part to the story's background, but C.S. Lewis never went and outright stated that connection, and I just never stopped to think about it.

And speaking of Narnia, my favorite in the series is currently in production! I had heard that Disney and Walden Media dropped the Narnia franchise after Prince Caspian was released, but I found out today that my fears were only half-true. Disney did drop Narnia, but Walden Media went to Fox (whom they have done every other non-Narnia project with), and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader is set to be released in November or December 2010. As stated in the blog article that I read, the magic that is notably absent in Prince Caspian (considered the hardest of the books to adapt into a decent movie for this reason) is back in full force, so I can't wait!

Rain, Rain, Rain

It is monsoon season here in Korea. This time of year, it rains about every four days or so; if you have had two or three days of sun in a row, you had better pack and umbrella in your bag if going out. I am used to it though, having gone through this season a couple of times before. I take my old black boots out because they are waterproof and great for the deep puddles I have to go through. Last year was mild, so this year, as expected, is already more severe than normal as if in compensation. There have already been some elevated flood warnings, and today on the way to church I had to walk through a "stream" flowing across a sidewalk (it was about 1-2 inches deep, despite irrigation beneath the sidewalk). Besides my boots, I am thankful for the invention of the umbrella, the hat, and that the Army allows the black trenchcoat to be worn in civilian attire. That, and the rain washes out the smog and yellow dust!