When several fingerings are available for a note, how do you choose the “right” one for a situation? Below are some criteria you might use in that decision, but be aware that it is virtually always impossible to meet all the criteria, so you have to choose the one that best balances the pros and cons.
Which one would involve moving the fewest fingers? (Look at the previous note and the following note.) In general, moving fewer fingers is safer because it reduces the risk that the fingers will fail to move at exactly the same time.
Which one lets you make tidy, positive motions like lowering a finger onto a key or lifting it up from a key? Sliding fingers from key to key is harder to do accurately.
Which one lets you keep most or all of your fingers moving in the same direction? It is easier to keep your fingers synchronized if they are all either pressing down together or rising up together.
Which one keeps the movement in one hand? It is easier to keep your fingers synchronized if all the moving fingers are on the right hand, or all on the left hand.
Do the fingerings have different pitch tendencies? Does one sound more in tune in this situation? (It may be necessary to consider “just” intonation.)
Do the fingerings sound different tone-wise? Which one best matches the tone of the surrounding notes?
Do the fingerings have different response characteristics?
That might seem like a lot of mental effort just for one note, but if you practice conscientiously over the long term, it will become more and more automatic. In the meantime, use a pencil to mark in reminders for which fingerings to use on things you are practicing.
My university students are often, at least at first, quite timid about playing loudly. (This is probably a side effect of learning the instrument in a school band program. They learn to play quietly because their section is too loud. Or, they get the hand from a band director who doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to correct tone production issues.)
When I push them in lessons to play with soloist-level dynamic range, they often give me a weak mezzo forte instead of the fortissimo I’m looking for. The more I ask for volume, the more they dig in at an unimpressive medium-ish.
At this point I usually ask what they think would go wrong if they played louder. The consensus seems to be that it would sound “bad,” in ways that they generally can’t quite pin down.
So I give them permission to play so loud that something goes wrong. Then they usually find some volume they have been holding in reserve, but still fall short of what they are capable of. I usually have to insist more and more firmly that they play louder and louder to show me what will go wrong.
And, virtually all the time, nothing goes wrong. They find some more available volume, and probably a fuller tone to go with it. If I’m lucky, they learn the lesson and feel less timid about volume in the future.
The issue does often come back when we encounter something new, unfamiliar, or stressful, like a complicated ornament or a note outside their comfortable range. In those cases, I have to remind them to go ahead and put air into the instrument, and to allow whatever bad thing they are dreading to go ahead and happen. If it does (and it usually doesn’t), we can hear it and troubleshoot it. But sabotaging themselves by choking off the air just guarantees failure.
Use your air confidently and powerfully. You might discover that what you have been worrying about isn’t a problem at all.
I always enjoy Patty Mitchell’s “BQOD” (Blog Quotes Of the Day) over at oboeinsight. I’m in the thick of dissertation writing these days (technically, it’s “doctoral document” writing, since I’m working on a DMA, not a PhD), and this morning I ran across a couple of items that won’t make it into the finished product but are too fun to keep to myself. And so I present my Dissertation/Document Research Quotes Of the Day: Read More “DRQOD: Ghandarvas and powdered wigs”
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In a recent recital I performed my own arrangement of Ravel’s Boléro for multiple woodwinds soloist using electronics, with piano and snare drum. I used electronics to try to approximate some of Ravel’s harmonies (and timbres), and used what in my mind are three different techniques, which I’ll try to outline here.
In performance, I used the BOSS GT-1000CORE guitar multi-effects unit to do most of the heavy lifting. I did find that it had difficulty tracking my flute playing (though, surprisingly, it did better with piccolo), so I used an Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork + to assist with that instrument in particular. I also used a BOSS SY-200 to try to create some non-woodwind tone colors. There are plenty of other equipment options that can achieve similar effects, but you’re on your own to read the manuals.
All of this was done with a microphone rather than pickups, which was less complicated for quick instrument switches, but did make it difficult to get relatively isolated woodwind sounds into the electronics, which ultimately caused problems with the audibility of some of the electronic sounds.
At rehearsal mark 8 in the score, horn and celeste play the A theme in octaves, with two piccolos playing in parallel a perfect fifth and a major tenth above the celeste’s highest octave, perhaps in imitation of a pipe organ’s mixture stop.
To achieve this harmony with electronics, I played the upper piccolo part “live,” and routed the piccolo’s sound into the GT-1000CORE where I split it into two separate signal paths. One got transposed down using a digital pitch shifter to create the second piccolo part. The other got transposed down to the melody pitch and split into octaves, then routed through the SY-200 to turn the sound into something vaguely celeste-like.
Since the intervals are strictly parallel, this is a pretty straightforward use of pitch shifting: whatever note I play on the piccolo gets transposed to the specified intervals.
Technique 2: smart harmonization
At rehearsal mark 16, a thickly-orchestrated ensemble of woodwinds, brass, and strings plays the A theme in harmony. I opted to play this portion on soprano saxophone, thickened and harmonized with a synthesized string section.
Since the harmony in this section is largely diatonic, I used the GT-1000CORE’s smart harmonizer. I added voices a diatonic fourth and diatonic sixth below in the key of G (like a first-inversion triad), which tracks with the notes in the first part of the theme. But there’s a moment in the first part that uses F-natural instead of F-sharp, and the second part of the melody uses F-naturals exclusively, so I used the unit’s footswitches to change to the key of C major as needed. I routed all of this through the SY-200 to change the three soprano saxophones into a string section sound, with the “live” soprano remaining audible in the room.
For the key switching, I set one footswitch as a “momentary” switch, so it changes the key just while I’m pressing it, and another as a “toggle” switch, so I can press and release it and the key remains changed. This gives me some helpful options for live performance.
Technique 3: smart harmonization with custom scales
The smart harmonizer works well out of the box as long as you want to use notes of a major scale (or mode thereof), but at rehearsal mark 15 Ravel’s harmonization is more complicated than that. Luckily, the GT-1000CORE supports smart harmonization with custom “scales.” What this really means is that I can tell the unit that any time I play a certain pitch, it should add one or more pitches that I can specify arbitrarily. I can add whatever pitches I like to each note of the chromatic scale.
I chose to play this section on clarinet, using the electronics to turn it into a 3-part clarinet section. During the first phrase, the melody pitches are harmonized in a consistent way: every time there’s a melody concert B-flat it’s harmonized with a G and an E, every time there’s a melody C it’s harmonized with an A and an F, every time there’s a melody E it’s harmonized with a C and a G, and so forth. I can just tell the effects unit which harmony notes to add to each melody note.
But things change in the first half of the second phrase: melody B-flat is now harmonized with G and D, and C is now harmonized with A and E. To accommodate this I have to create a second custom “scale,” and use a footswitch to activate it at the right time. To finish the second phrase requires a third scale, engaged with another footswitch.
Because of the flexibility of the custom scale system, I can recreate harmonies that use a variety of intervals. With a little analysis I can figure out where the scale changes need to be (basically anywhere a given melody pitch is harmonized in a new way).
Additional thoughts
There are some limitations to using pitch shifters and harmonizers, depending on your equipment. Each virtual pitch shifter and harmonizer in the GT-1000CORE can only add two voices, though by (virtually) splitting the audio signal into multiple paths and passing each through its own shifter/harmonizer I can build thicker chords.
When trying to reproduce specific harmonies written by a composer, there may be some decisions to make to balance accuracy with practicality. Serendipitously, most of Ravel’s harmony translated fairly easily to the effects unit’s capabilities. But there were a few spots where I decided that certain chord voicings were close enough, and that I didn’t need to complicate things with one more custom scale plus the corresponding onstage footwork.
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m more interested in electronic effects that give my woodwinds new capabilities, like polyphony, than in just adding some distortion or echo (though those are also fun). Enjoy!
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I recently posted a video of Jeff Kashiwa demonstrating the Akai EWI4000s wind controller. As part of his demonstration, he plays a movement from one of the Telemann Canonic Sonatas (well, sort of an arrangement of one).
Jeff Kashiwa plays the Allegro movement from the first Canonic Sonata all by himself, playing the first part on the EWI and using a delay effect to create the second (echo) part. Here’s the video again—it should start playing about a minute and a half in, and the Telemann goes until about 2:40.
More results from the Great Woodwind Doubler Census of 2011. Enjoy!
Education and training
Q: Which of these have been part of your education on woodwind instruments?
Out of 187 total respondents, every one answered this question. The complete wording of the possible responses was as follows:
school band/orchestra program (high school or younger)
private lessons outside of school
summer camps, workshops, or other formal programs outside of school
university band/orchestra program
university/conservatory bachelors degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
university/conservatory bachelors degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
university/conservatory masters degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
university/conservatory masters degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
university/conservatory doctoral degree with concentration(s) in multiple woodwinds
university/conservatory doctoral degree with single-instrument or other music concentration
other university/conservatory music degree or certification
self-taught on one or more instruments
The biggest surprise to me was the number claiming bachelors degrees in multiple woodwinds. I assume that many of these must be double majors or other oddities, since there are very few true bachelors degree programs in multiple woodwinds available.
I continue to be amazed by all the interest in and support for my Woodwind Doubling in Musicals list. I hear frequently from musicians who have information to contribute or who just want to say hello or thanks. It’s pretty great.
Over ten years ago(!) when I started putting the list together, I spent a good deal of time and effort compiling data. I don’t do that very much anymore, partly because I have already picked over the most obvious sources, partly because I want to focus more time on teaching and playing music, and partly because I get better information when I get emails from woodwind players down in the orchestra pits with the reed books in front of them.
So these days my role in the list’s upkeep is basically that of editor, data-entry monkey, and mostly-benevolent dictator, and I count on you cool people to send me what you know. In the interest of encouraging and facilitating that, I’m going to dump here (in alphabetical order) some potential resources for gathering information. Maybe some of you know of other sources that you would like to share in the comments section. (I’ll selectively edit them into this post.) Enjoy!
Show publishers, rental companies, etc.
Sometimes these websites list woodwind doublings. You might find that information under something like “orchestration,” or under something like “rental materials.” The information is often vague and has errors, but it’s a start. (Also, keep in mind that I do want submissions for shows that have no reed books, since a verified lack of reed parts can be useful to doublers.)
Sometimes in sources like this you can find the orchestra personnel, sometimes with their instruments listed. Or you may be able to use this information to, say, Google the orchestra members and possibly get in touch through a personal website or social media account. Please be super considerate and respectful of people’s time and privacy.
Playbill Broadway Yearbook – Actual print books. I used to have access to these in a university library. If you have a sharp eye, sometimes you can find orchestra pictures and see what instruments people are holding.
Miscellaneous
Google and social media sites. Sometimes people post information from productions, photos of program pages, etc. Sometimes musicians put a brag list on their personal websites of what shows they have played. Or, sometimes you can find out something like a musical director’s name, get in touch, and ask for information (maybe the doubling information itself, or maybe a connection to the woodwind players). Again, be incredibly sensitive about hitting up strangers on the internet.
Musical Theatre Reed Book Orchestrations [update: link dead] – I believe this one actually precedes my list, though I didn’t discover it until mine was already online. I don’t think it has been updated in a number of years.
One must be aware that all fingering charts always give the primary fingering first. Subsequent fingerings are ALTERNATE or TRILL fingerings. One must never simply choose what is “easiest.” The primary fingering (when one is playing with the best possible tone/embouchure) will always have the best sound and relative intonation (with the possible exception of alternate F# on bassoon.)
I think this depends on the fingering chart and the instrument. On clarinet, for example, many of the “pinky” fingerings are alternates of each other, with no hierarchical relationship and no change in tone or pitch (assuming a properly-adjusted instrument).
One must be aware that all fingering charts always give the primary fingering first. Subsequent fingerings are ALTERNATE or TRILL fingerings. One must never simply choose what is “easiest.” The primary fingering (when one is playing with the best possible tone/embouchure) will always have the best sound and relative intonation (with the possible exception of alternate F# on bassoon.)
I think this depends on the fingering chart and the instrument. On clarinet, for example, many of the “pinky” fingerings are alternates of each other, with no hierarchical relationship and no change in tone or pitch (assuming a properly-adjusted instrument).