Air Alight – Final rehearsal in NY

Day 112/126

Yesterday was our last rehearsal in NY.  But wait, the convention is two weeks away!

Holy cow, our performance is TWO WEEKS from TODAY!

I digress….yesterday was the last day we could meet before everyone scatters on another round of summer travels.  Several people are travelling and winding up at the convention.  Plus two of our members are busy being new grandmothers and mother-of-the-grooms!  And another two of our members are dealing with medical issues concerning aging parents.  Being a musician means juggling a lot, just like any other profession.  And yes, I know a lot more about my fellow NWF-members’ personal lives as we plan our events.  But this furthers our bond and gives us a greater shared history on which to move forward.

We probably played the most at this rehearsal of any all summer, because we’re finally beginning to synthesize the sections, we’ve mastered the techniques Robert is asking for, and our comfort with the structure is strong.  We were able to establish the “clouds” and “grooves” he is asking for, now we just need his solo on top of everything!

I will be interested to hear Robert’s comments on dynamics, because at times yesterday we heard that the “cloud” sounds were completely drowning out the trio of solos.

Another thing that is hard to practice is the cueing of people into new sections of the piece.  When we’re in DC, Robert will do it, but how do you simulate that now?  We decided to go down the page in chronological order, and we also tried passing the baton – so one person starts, they nod someone else in, then that person picks the next, and so on.  We know it won’t happen like this in performance, but we were trying to get the staggered entrances Robert asked for to see the overall effect.

We also voted on what to wear during the performance: all black with a colorful necklace.  This has become our signature outfit of late, and we thought it would serve a couple of purposes here: first, let Robert shine by being not dressed like us, and second, one of our members is also performing with another group on the same program.  We figured this was least likely to clash with whatever they decided on wearing.

Posted in NFA | Leave a comment

Air Alight – rehearsal rooms

Day 110/126

More housekeeping stuff: we have scheduled two rehearsals with Robert when we are all at the convention.  One on Thursday, August 13th, one more Friday the 14th, and then our concert is Saturday.  Robert suggested we meet in his hotel room.  But we were worried about having seven of us, plus stands, in a small space.  So I reached out to Joanna Bassett at NFA and she was able to book rehearsal space for us.  This way we’re assured the space we need and no one has to tidy up.  Joanna reminded me we will need our own stands for the rehearsal, the NFA can only guarantee stands for the concert venues.  I wonder how many they rent to make the convention possible?

I also found out that the NFA isn’t allowed to book rehearsals from 4-5pm each day during the convention; they have an agreement with the Exhibitors.  I understand where the Exhibitors are coming from: they pay thousands of dollars for a space to show their wares, and this way they are guaranteed a time where there are no conflicts and people won’t feel guilty about skipping something to visit them!

Posted in NFA | Leave a comment

Air Alight – second time’s the charm!

Day 107/126
I had my Skype session with Robert this morning; I got Skype to work on my iPad and redeemed my meager technology credibility.  Phew!  Robert answered all the questions I had come up with, his information was really helpful and he couldn’t have been nicer.

At the beginning of the piece the choir plays a lot of harmonics while singing.  Robert had a clever method to practice this: play the harmonic pitches one at a time, then add the voice to each one.  Once this is comfortable then they can be strung together in a series.

I wanted his advice on articulations for the sections with residual tone.  He said the way to get the best residual tone was to blow “fffffffff” into the embouchure, and roll the flute out the longer you play them so you don’t get a pitch.  Sometimes he has it marked as a sfz, that should be tongued to get the explosion of sound.  Other residuals marked piano should just be articulated with a “hooo” sound.

In the last section of the piece we all play a lot of multiphonics.  I double-checked mymultiphonic notated fingerings with Robert, because I couldn’t get one of them to sound correctly.  it turns out that I wasn’t reading his notation (see right) correctly: the “c” means that you depress the key but leave the hole uncovered.  Previously everyone in our group had thought this meant to half hole the key.  It worked like a charm, and now I can play Ab and Bb at the same time!

And I took Cecilia’s advice to heart and asked him about the whistle tones.  He repeated that it takes daily practice to get these right, and he also confessed that he was out of shape for them!  He suggested trying them using a high B-natural fingering, previously I’ve been using a low D.  He said the type of air needed for them should feel warm if you blew it on the back of your hand.  And he zoomed into his webcam so I could see his embouchure close up.  I’ll have to give these a try, so glad I asked!

Posted in NFA | Leave a comment

Air Alight – Skype fail!

Day 103/126
I am mortified!  Robert and I had set up a Skype session for this morning.  He called me from Germany at the appointed time.  I could see him, but didn’t have audio, and he couldn’t see or hear me at all!  We agreed to reschedule for next week.  I subsequently found out that my laptop webcam is broken, I never would have been able to make it work!  Elyse in my group recommended using Skype on my iPad, I will investigate this weekend.  I’m so embarrassed, way to make a first impression!

Posted in NFA | Leave a comment

Air Alight – preparing for my Skype

Day 102/126

How do you prepare for a Skype lesson?

If I was studying with someone regularly, this would be a no-brainer.  Do my homework, be prepared for new assignment.  But because I just get one of these with Robert, I want to make sure it’s productive.  My friend (and fellow NWF member) Cecilia’s response when I told her about my thoughts: “Make this count.  Make sure you get everything out of it that YOU want to.”  This really helped me clarify things.

I’ve been playing the piece daily now for some time, and I do have some more questions for Robert about transitions and directions.  I wrote everything down, in order of how the piece progresses, in case I get star struck and forget what I want to say.

I want to ask about articulations with residuals.  Are they always “hooo”?  Or different depending on dynamics?

I believe I have a mistake in my multiphonic fingerings, definitely want to ask about that.

And now for Cecilia’s comment.  Yes, the whistle tones have now been cut from this piece.  After working feverishly earlier this summer I was able to get a very small, quiet one.  I know I will run across this technique again in the future, so why not ask for help from the man who put whistle tones on the map?  I think I’ll go for it.

Posted in NFA | Leave a comment