A Tempo XVIII

How do you describe tonight's events? Exhilarating. Stressful. And yet... satisfying.

Yesterday, A Tempo 09/03/07, we played fairly well. Apart from a few minor squeaks (ok maybe thats not minor) and a tuning problem at the ending chorale, I though we did our best. Tonight proved me wrong. It seems that once you do something once, doing it again is no big deal. Talk about recurring nightmares. Except tonight wasn't a nightmare.

5:00 - Our rehearsal wasn't good. And its all the 2nd clar's fault. Well, at least I think it was mainly Xu Ke's fault, and not so much mine or Andy's. His tuning is completely flat most of the time, and sometimes its sharp. And my ears can't distinguish too clearly whether something is sharp or flat... it just sounds off to me. So, Mr Oura was NOT pleased with our time-wasting tuning session. But how do you ask Xu Ke (Chinese scholar from China) to listen, when he says he can't even distinguish something in or out of tune?!?! Must find a way to solve this before SYF!!!

5:45 - Slack time in the RJC canteen. Every one was talking, playing cards, or blowing random notes. I guess this is their way of releasing stress.

7:00 - Mrs Tan shushes us all up. RJC starts their concert. Tension mounts among Sec 2s (though I think some of them fake it) about their 2nd ever public performance.

8:20 - David hustles us into position at the RJC hall door. We're still talking; I'm stuck with Jeff's (or now called Rui Tao???) alto clarinet, two files, and my own clarinet. We can hear the percussion ensemble through the door.

8:30 - We start moving through the backstage. Brass quintet finishes, and the emcees announces RI. Here goes nothing.

Chorale I - The clarinet/flute/piccolo starting was quite alright. Then, when the first melody entered, the third note - (concert) Ab - was (arrgh! Was it Xu Ke???) off like 20 cents. The first chorale passed uneventfully.

Storm - Ok, 2nd clarinets entered too soft. But at least it was on tune (for once) and soon blended into the crescendo into bar 47. Then at bar 51, Xu Ke and I were off tempo once again; he was lagging and I was rushing. It was super-obvious; even David glanced at us. We straightened that out by bar 54. The first double-octave running notes were quite good and on time. Clarinets rushed at the starting of the next triplet running notes (was it bar 87?), but we were covered by some sax (alto?) and then the next double-octave running notes were a bit messy, but Brilliante was good. The whole storm was a bit fast though. Try tapping your middle and index fingers one after another as fast as you can on the table; that was the speed Mr Oura went at.

Chorale II - This part was good. Really. It was expressive, was legato, was "I love you" (private quote). Except for the clarinet joining phrase. The 2nd clarinets were OFF TUNE (Xu Ke!!!) at the start and rushing at the end. But otherwise, it was... well. Go read another RIMB member's blog to get more description. The last chords/melodies were better than rehersal, probably the last gasp from all of us.

All in all, a good performance. But what was most interesting was what came after. After filing out of the hall, I saw David run up the slope and jump (for joy) towards the canteen. Everyone was excited and pumped with energy (adrenaline perhaps?) and all the sections were clumped together sharing opinions. Back at the band room, we performed the custom RIMB concert finisher; BAND CHEER!!! It was complete tau pok of the Sec 2s and anyone else who got in the center. That moment was kind of blurry; I can't quite remember shouting the full band cheer, only the "We should! We can! We must! We will!" bit. Still, everyone had fun and hopefully everyone got some insight on the passion for band. Its satisfying and worth it after the months of practice and effort. At least, I hope it WILL BE for SYF in April. (only 3+ weeks!!!)

Note to self:
Stop having the automatic assumption that Xu Ke causes all the tuning problems. Not saying he doesn't, but just warning against it.
In case I haven't mentioned it, David (Lee) is our Band Major.

Next up: BAND CAMP!!! 12th - 13th of March!!!