New Season, New You

Not to sound like an Oprah soundbite, but I do really love the saying, "New Season, New You!"

There is something very rejuvenating about taking advantage of the seasonal opportunities to approach your work, your life, with a new outlook and a fresh perspective.  After a crazy and exciting summer fundraising for the Chinook Winds to film for PBS and present at the International Horn Symposium, it feels like fall and the new school year are just as exciting as ever.

This fall I added the title (and duties) of University Professor to my schedule.  As the new adjunct Professor of Bassoon for the University of Montana School of Music, I travel over the mountains every Wednesday to teach my students and rehearse with my faculty colleagues.  This development was completely unexpected and wildly exciting for me.  Though I have worked very hard to define my career as a performer, I know, as well as anyone, that being an educator as a musician is integral.  The past few years I have experienced phenomenal growth as an educator - especially as a homeschooler!

As I begin a new season (new you) I am thinking and spending a lot of time on my materials as an educator.  Getting my reed making manual into a document, sharing my favorites resources through a syllabus, and MAKING REEDS!

I will be sharing these materials on here as I continue to develop them for my students.

Cheers for a new season!

The Tragedy of Store Bought Reeds

For every reed player, there exists the potential for truly tragic moments during their professional careers.  I'm not talking about botched solos or malfunctioning keys - of course those are always risks.  What I'm referring to is the potential to forget an essential, nay, THE ESSENTIAL, genesis piece of what they do:

The Reed Box.

 

Every traveling musician has pulled over countless times within the first 5 miles from home to do the panicked re-check.  Seat strap?  Music? Concert Black?  etc etc etc

 

More often than not all is well and you continue on.  Every once in a while you discover you have left something behind and you return home, retrieve the item and, with a sigh of relief, congratulate yourself for remembering in time.

 

Then there are the truly tragic moments that happen ONCE and once only during a musician's career.  In my case, I drove over 200 miles from home for my monthly residency with the Billings Symphony.  Having taken this trip many times with nary forgetting a thing, I was confident that all was well and everything I needed would be in its place upon my arrival for rehearsal that evening.

 

I should have immediately questioned my own confidence.  Upon settling into my hotel room I thought I would pull out the bassoon and play for a few minutes.  I unzipped my case to retrieve my reed case and it wasn't there.  I immediately urged myself to *wake up* and look again.  Surely, I was dreaming a bad dream.  But second, third and fourth looks proved that I had truly left my reed case at home.  I called my husband who confirmed that it was sitting on my desk in my studio. 

 

It was 5:17 pm. 

 

I called the local music store which remained open until 6:00 pm.

 

I arrived by 5:27, grabbed one of every type of bassoon reed they had, a reed case, and then pleaded my case to the incredibly sympathetic sales associate (it's a small state for pro musicians).  With a bill of $100+ for the reeds and case, she gave me a huge discount and then encouraged me to record my thoughts on the manufactured reeds since I have not played on any since...1994?

 

 I returned to the hotel room by 6:10 pm giving me a solid 50 minutes before I needed to head to rehearsal.  Plenty of time to fix/finish a reed. 

I purchased the following reeds and found them in the listed condition:

Eastman Medium Soft -
large crack from tube traveling into the blade
overly thinned corners mangled by the case
35 cents flat
nutty conservatory sound (dark and mostly desirable tone)

Jones Medium Hard -
20 cents flat
very reedy/robust tone
bad bocal fit
very "poppy" response but no finesse
"The Jones Bassoon reed is one of the finest commercial bassoon reeds available. Each piece of cane is selected for exact diameter and wall thickness. Following a number of mechanized steps, the reeds are assembled by hand and the string is coated with the strongest lacquer available. The reeds are then tested and adjusted, as necessary, before packaging."

Emerald Medium -
narrower tube and shorter than the other Emerald reed
30 cents flat

Emerald Medium Soft -
30 cents flat

Lesher Medium -
40 cents flat
immediately responsive
completely floppy
horrible bocal fit
"Marlin Lesher reeds hold up to the most discriminating of tastes. Beautifully cut and wound, they produce a great sound."

Fortunately, I had my tools and was able to set straight to work trying to make even 1 of these reeds sufficient for a Christmas Pops concert but also capable of playing a read-though of Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Sprech for rehearsal that evening.  Honestly, I was appalled by all of them!  It was a positive confirmation of why I NEVER permit my students to play on manufactured reeds.  Yes, they are all responsive which works great for the amateur/student embouchure.  However, every other aspect of these reeds was horrendous.  I know these companies claim they "play test" these reeds.   At 3,500+ feet in elevation, to have a reed play flat is pretty impressive.  We all know reeds go sharper with elevation.  So, if these reeds are made at 500 feet elevation or less, and the bulk of the bassoonists purchasing them are at those elevations, I can't even begin to imagine how low the pitch must be for them. 

Every bassoon teacher fights the young bassoonist biting with a tight and tense jaw/embouchure.  Of course they would have to in order to have any hope of raising the pitch on these reeds.  Which is EXACTLY the opposite of what we want to teach our students.  Even after working with them to raise the pitch on all of them, they were all still flat.  They were unplayable in any meaningful way.

 

 

This was the order of merit as I headed into rehearsal:  Eastman, Emerald, Lesher, Jones.  It was pretty depressing since I know these are basically reputable reed/cane suppliers.  In fact, I have been buying cane from Jones since 2009 and have recommended Jones to students and colleagues because of the consistency of their cane. 

 

Unfortunately, I really felt duped and pretty frustrated that these reeds had 1) cost so much and 2) were not truly useful.  I charge my students $10 for my handmade reeds and finish them to suit each student's particular setup.  Clearly I am undercharging and should go into business as a high elevation reed maker!

 

I walked into that rehearsal panicked because I knew that NONE of the reeds had come within 20 cents of the A-440 I was going to need to tune at. 

 

Here's where the story turns from TRAGIC to MIRACULOUS.

 

I sat down in my chair feeling defeated and greeted my wonderful 2nd bassoonist, Paul.  He turned and exclaimed, "Oh, Elizabeth, look what I got in the mail today!"  He reached down into his case and pulled out a BRAND NEW Légère synthetic reed!

 

 

 

This is why I am a woman of faith who believes in miracles, people...MODERN DAY MIRACLES!

 

I played that Légère the whole weekend and didn't touch those awful, expensive reeds. 

*****************************************************************************

 

Was I total moron to forget my reed case?  Obviously!

Was I naïve to believe I could purchase a functional reed from a local music store?  Apparently.

Are Légère reeds amazing, consistent, dependable, and career-saving?  Clearly. 

 

 

 



Be a Purposeful Artist

I'm sure we all make a point to check out the excellent bog posts over at Inside the Arts - which means, if you haven't...ever...you need to now.  Just in case you have been too busy playing Pops Concerts and the 1812 Overture, let me direct you to one I found to be quite excellent: Impressions and Appreciations on Holly Mulcahy's blog.  This post wraps up her series in which she reflects and shares wisdom that young musicians need to know and experienced musicians wish they had ingrained sooner. 

In her post, Mulcahy poses the question of why we have chosen our careers in the arts - specifically music.  I want to take a few minutes to actually answer those questions:

Why does my involvement in music mean anything?

My involvement in music means that I am part of the continuation of a valued and integral aspect of my society's, and generation's, cultural fabric.  I am both preserving and creating within an art form that informs and responds to the dynamic nature of the human experience.

 What am I contributing to society as an artist/musician?

I am contributing my personal passion for music.  This is includes, but is not limited to: the positive affects live music has on a person's development, education, entertainment and cultural awareness.

 Am I sincere with my goals as a musician?

YES!

 Is it worth the personal struggle and sacrifice?

YES!

 Am I perpetuating the art?

At this point in my career, I feel strongly that, most specifically, my work with the Chinook Winds is expanding the positive perception and scope of wind chamber music and classical music in general. 

 Am I helping sustain it in the minds of society?

More than sustaining, I feel like we are most often introducing the joy of live classical music.  Sadly, we seem unable to sustain the value of music in society because of a generation that now seems to lack a meaningful and positive introduction to it.  Baby steps, we will get to sustaining once we have done our due diligence with proper introductions.

Why am I answering the questions Mulcahy posed?  Because, as she intimates in her post, we need to be purposeful musicians!  I love that she addresses the importance of first impressions and it reminds me of the points I made with my own post about being an effective communicator.  The fact is, we all know how much we enjoy what we do but to expand and progress as artist and professionals, we must address why.

I think it is so easy to get lost in the static of work - get in the practice time, make it to rehearsals, take care of the sustenance of private teaching, buy more concert black - that we miss the big picture of what we are doing, why we are doing it, and who that affects. 

Be a purposeful artist!

I laughed when Mulcahy mentioned vanity plates since I finally have my dream vanity plates.  WHY did I spend money on vanity plates?  Because I want every person who drives up behind me to look at that plate and think about a bassoon, the Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras, and their local symphony.  Why?  So that when they see an advertisement for a symphony concert or chamber music performance, they will think about that plate, maybe chuckle, and then think, "Hmmm, maybe I should check that out.  Maybe I will meet the person who owns those plates.  I bet they are neat people."

Yes, it's that purposeful! 

Be a purposeful artist!

Present yourself and your art in a way that reflects all the training, practice, education, and passion you have invested in it.  Take time to write down your own thoughts about why you are engaged in this work.  It will probably change over the years and that's great, that is part of your progression.  But among the many activities pulling you in too many different directions, always be purposeful and don't get so caught up in the work that you forget the why. 

Always the Teacher, Now the Parent

This post is a close follow-on to the thoughts I shared about Recognizing Your Worth as an Artist. 

Private teaching the past two years has been a frustrating aspect of my work in Montana.  I have pondered many different aspects of being a teacher as I have progressed to understand better how teaching in GTF is going to work for me.  In the midst of this, my son - better late than never - decided he wanted to play cello!  This meant entering a new world: paying for private lessons.

I have been a private instructor for 20 years! 

I began teaching beginner piano lessons when I was 14 years old in order to pay for my lessons and transportation to the Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, New York.  As a 14 year old piano teacher, I wrote and paid for my own advertising, established a studio policy, created my first artist biography, managed a teaching schedule, set lesson fees, designed curriculum, communicated with parents, assessed progress, and finished each year with a studio recital.  Looking back, I think I was better organized then, than I am today!

However, being a parent to a music student is a whole new world! 

I am sad to say, that in only 1 year, I have done every single irritating thing that students have done to me:

1. Missed payment for lessons
2. Missed lessons without cancelling
3. Last minute rescheduling
4. Last minute cancelling

I can only imagine that my son's teacher has had the same thoughts that I have had as I sit in my studio waiting for a student who is 5 minutes late, 10 minutes late, 15 minutes late, a no-show. 

Being a parent has definitely made me more empathetic to my students and parents. 

The reality is that life is busy!  In a perfect world, our weekly schedules are all exactly the same.  But in my life, my schedule is always different.  This means that I am constantly canceling or rescheduling for my son and my students.  In all of that, it's no wonder that lessons get missed or forgotten.

On the upside, there are a few things I do very well as a parent that I wish more parents would do for their students:

1. Know what your student needs to practice and ENSURE they get their practice time in.
2. Sit in the lesson and be aware.

I can overlook missed lessons and missed payments.  What is frustrating as a teacher is feeling like a babysitting service because the parent shows little interest and doesn't follow up week-to-week.  Getting your students to lessons is obviously important, ensuring that your student is actually learning and practicing is far more important.  Too often, parents drop their kid off once a week at a lesson and wait for the studio recital at the end of the semester/year. 

Parents, you are missing out an amazing learning experience with your child!  Studying privately isn't like having a math tutor because your kid is failing math.  Studying privately is the opportunity to watch your child interact with an expert in a discipline that your child has expressed passion for. 

I LOVE attending my son's cello lesson each week.  For a few months, I was even able to play his cello as well as he did.  I love watching my son learn from an expert!  I love watching him learn and then master a new concept or technique.  I love observing another teacher and learning myself how I can help my son and all of my students.

Ensuring that my son practices is sometimes difficult but I have learned to step back and let him work on his own - that's why he has a teacher.  I'm not expected to teach him cello, but I am expected to provide him with the time, space, and tools needed to teach himself in between lessons.  It's wonderful to listen to your child practice and improve day by day.  I don't hear scratchy sounds, I see a child working to learn and improve. 

I obviously believe in the value of private instruction both as a parent and as a musician.  I want to further encourage parents to take a more active role in supporting their child in learning music.  Don't just drop them off while you run errands - go inside!  Even if you can't always be present for every lesson, make a point to attend even occasionally.  If you can sit through a 2-hour athletic practice or game, you can sit through a once-weekly music lesson.  Encourage your student to practice DAILY and provide that by giving them time and space.  Volunteer to take a chore off their hands so they have  an extra 15 minutes to practice.  Have them end their practice session by playing a few lines for the family in the living room.  Learn to become familiar with their progress so you can give positive feedback as you hear them improve. 

I have seen first hand this past year how my son's cello study has brought fun and music into our home and family in a whole new way!  I'm not really concerned with what Morgan does with cello in 20 years but I'm truly grateful for the memories we are making as a family right now surrounding his cello study. 

Recognizing Your Worth as an Artist

I have been traveling out of town for work a lot recently.  It's something that I really love about my work here in Montana.  Symphonies in Montana have organized themselves into a collective called the Montana Association of Symphony Orchestras.  There are 8 ensembles included in the association.  There are aspects of this association that seem to function rather well such as sharing music amongst members - which I know saves $$$ for each organization.  Also, I'm rather fond of the MASO license plate which I have availed myself of this year:

Part of working in Montana includes "importing" to these member organizations as they have need for a bassoonist.  I contract with these orchestras individually and to date have performed with 4 of them.  Outside of my salaried work, though I enjoy playing with MASO member orchestras, I don't make a lot of money playing for these orchestras.  Typically, half of my pay is made in per diem and mileage.  While it's always fun to have a reason to travel to one of Montana's larger cities (which are all quite small) and play good rep with different conductors and musicians, I'm usually lucky to clear a modest honorarium after all expenses are factored in.

When I was asked to import to Glacier Symphony recently, I looked at my calendar and though that it would be lovely to head over to the other side of the mountains for a long weekend but that it would create complications to leave my son at home.  The more I travel in the region, the more I wish I had my son and husband with me.  While my husband has to work, leaving my son home while I go play a few rehearsals and concerts is increasingly impractical.  So I did something I have never done before: I valued myself enough as a musician to ask for accommodations for myself and my son...and I was obliged!  This was really exciting because suddenly, a gig that would have been fun and cleared me a few dollars but would have taken me from my home for 4 days, turned into an adventure that added greater value to the whole trip. 

It was a beautiful long weekend for a trip to northwestern Montana.  My son got to listen to two concerts that he REALLY enjoyed!  We hiked, picnicked, explored, and learned together while I also managed to do some work.  It also set a precedent for me and this orchestra that, should they invite me again, it will be easier to ask for compensation that is valuable TO ME - not just per service pay, per diem, and mileage but a way to include my son and not have to leave him home.

 I have been thinking a lot more about my worth as a musician this year.  THIS article made me resolve to do a better job at valuing my worth as a musician not only for myself but to set a precedent for others musicians.  The area in which I have struggled the most to value myself as a musician is in my private teaching.  Teaching bassoon privately has never been great for me.  I taught beginner piano lessons for many years and found it rather easy to set a price, find as many students as I wanted, and ensure that I was paid.  This has never been the case for bassoon students.

There are many reasons/excuses why teaching bassoon has/is/will always be more complicated:

1. There simply aren't as many bassoon students
2. Students are profoundly limited by the instruments made available to them
3. Purchasing a bassoon is cost prohibitive
4. Purchasing a DECENT bassoon is cost prohibitive
5. Students who chose bassoon can't always afford lessons (often, it seems, they can't)
6. Band directors need a lot of help teaching bassoonists
7. It's a bizarre instrument

For all these reasons, I have often found myself approaching my teaching more as a public service to the local music community than as a for-profit business model.  While I am well aware of the success of tuition-based and other private studio pay schedules, I have found that they aren't very practical for engaging student bassoonists. 

Let's look at the numbers where I live currently. 

15 elementary schools, 2 elementary bassoon instruments (new this year) = 2 elementary bassoonists
2 middles schools, maybe 5 instruments available combined = typically 4 middle school bassoonists
2 high schools, maybe 8 instruments available = typically 6-8  high school bassoonists

I have 12-14 potential students...but I am not the only teacher in the city. 

Of those potential students, how many can afford to take lessons?

Of those potential students, how many WANT to take lessons?

Of those potential students, how many are hooked up with the other teacher?

Thus I find myself within the predicament that IF a students approaches, I really don't want to turn them down.  My first year in GTF, I offered my services for free to try and drum up students.  This garnered one student.  I offered that student a sliding scale lesson fee.  I describe this in my studio policy as follows:

Parents should establish an amount that is valuable to the student but not a burden to the family.

In my second year teaching privately in GTF, I was given $300 in scholarship money which I offered to two students.  I asked that they simply show up ready to work and well prepared in exchange for the scholarship. 

My hope in allowing so much flexibility with regard to payment was that I would develop students who had a great appreciation for my expertise, the service they were receiving for free or greatly discounted, and in turn, I would have highly motivated students who would inspire me to teach.

The reality is that months of teaching went by and each week I crossed my fingers that students would cancel.

Teaching for free and discounted, in reality, made me dread my teaching days because I felt used.

The fact is, when there is a crisp $20 bill involved, I'm a better teacher.  I feel motivated to work for that student and give them a great hour of inspired bassoon teaching. 

The fact is, when there is a crisp $20 bill involved, the student seems to realize that what they are doing is valuable - to them, their parents, and me - and they should be prepared and ready to work.

I always knew this to be true when I taught piano and I never once gave a single piano lesson away for free.  But because the numbers for bassoon are so small, I thought I needed to devalue myself to ensure access.  What I have learned is that the best thing I can do as a teacher is ALWAYS value myself, my knowledge, my experience and invite students to find a way to share in that. 

Whether we are seeking valuable compensation as a performer or setting up payment structures for our private studios, we must always first establish our own Worth as an Artist.  If we expect others to value our talent and time, we must first value it ourselves.  Sometimes that means establishing a set dollar amount for lessons, sometimes that means asking for accommodations for a family member.   The point is to communicate that your talents, knowledge and experience carries value which is non-negotiable and certainly not free. 

Légère Synthetic Bassoon Reed

Légère bassoon reeds

On May 22, 2014 I began trialing a Legere synthetic bassoon reed - a reed I have long been interested in. 

I was originally piqued when I discovered youtube videos of the bassoonist with WindSync wind quintet using a Legere reed.  Like many, I assumed the Legere reed would be like the plastic Fox bassoon reeds we all have likely experienced at one time or another - hard, inflexible, unresponsive, and totally without color or finesse. 

I was further piqued when Paul Hanson traveled through Montana to give a few performances (which I was unable to attend) and was informed by colleagues that he was using Legere reeds exclusively. 

http://youtu.be/7s2eF_yaNpM

Checking out his youtube videos, I was impressed with the obvious facility of the reeds.  To that end, myself and five of my Montana bassoon colleagues decided to jump in and give them a try.  Justin Miller was gracious enough to give us a discount since we bought them as a group. 

We had to wait several weeks for the reeds because Legere was making adjustments to the machining.  Justin Miller traveled to Legere to observe the result of those changes and I believe we received some of the first batch with the improvements.  It was very exciting to receive the reed and though it came with instructions for adjustment and maintenance, I popped it on my bocal and played after merely perusing the included reading material.

I was immediately impressed with the tone color and response.  Very dark, lovely sound with easy response throughout all registers.  Most impressive was the strength and stability of the top octave which clearly benefits from the structural strength of the reed.  I played for several minutes in awe of how much better it was than I expected.

What I began to realize though was that the aperture was much more closed than I am accustomed to playing on.  The more I played, the more I realized that with the smaller tip opening, I couldn't play as loud as I wanted to or dig into my bottom octave.  The pitch was on the high side and I was unable to bring it down. 

Though I was immediately impressed, I realized that there were some severe limitations.  I returned to the reading material that was included and attempted to make adjustments to the tip as the directions instructed.  However, the adjustments I made simply did not last.  In addition, the caution against damaging the reed by breaking the sealed sides made me very nervous and conservative with my attempted adjustments. 

With each practice session, I tried the reed and was always initially impressed with various aspects.  The ability to play softly with ease of response.  Not quite as soft (ppp) as my cane reeds but soft enough to enjoy the comparatively little effort it took to illicit soft response.  I also found the whole range of the instrument to be very consistent on the Legere.  Though the pitch was sharp, the pitch was consistent throughout.  The tone was also consistent.  Open F, loud C-#, low F#/A-flat, tenor D - all notes that tend to be unstable on my instrument especially on less than totally perfect reeds - were stable and responded in all dynamic ranges and attacks.  Additionally, though the reed tip was sharp at first, I was able to double tongue easily once I adjusted to the feel of the tip.

I found myself wanting to play the reed because it was very stable and didn't require me to fiddle around - I could just start playing.  The ultimate test for me was running through Bach Cello Suites 1 - 5 and the response, down slurs, and tone were really quite wonderful. 

A few weeks in, one of my colleagues emailed to see how I felt about the reed.  I shared that the aperture was too closed preventing the reed from being free-blowing and made it sharp in pitch.  I told him I wasn't able to make meaningful adjustments to the tip.  He enlightened me to better adjustments:

Regarding a more open aperture, the web site mentions to heat the water to 194 degrees, place the reed in the water for 30 seconds, remove with tweezers, gently insert a plaque and place in cold water for one minute.

I immediately gave it a try but for some reason I misread plaque and instead inserted a forming mandrel into the tube and THEN placed it in the hot water followed by ice water.  The whole reed opened up and was much more vibrant.  It lowered the pitch and was even on the flat side.  It was an improvement in some aspects but it had made the reed "thuddy".  It forced me to "muscle" the reed and caused my jaw to tire very quickly.  However, I could see even greater potential knowing that the reed could withstand adjustments that would last.

A few days later when the reed started to close down a bit more, I attempted the adjustment again.  This time placing a plaque in the tip, into the hot water and then into the ice water. 

THIS WAS THE PERFECT ADJUSTMENT!

Immediately, the read was fully vibrant, right on pitch, capable of full dynamic range - exactly what I wanted.

Though I had already traveled with the reed to Baltimore (sea-level) and Salt Lake City (4,500 feet) I had not had the tip adjusted correctly.  In traveling, I was able to ascertain that the reed is, from what I could discern, completely unaffected by changes in temperature, humidity, and elevation.  This was exciting because in the past season I have performed from sea-level to 4,500 feet and have had to change/ruin a lot of reeds based on my locale at the moment. 

After the highly successful tip-plaque adjustment, I was contracted to perform rehearsals and concerts in Kalispell (2,500 feet) with temperatures between 55'-65' degrees and lots of humidity and rain compared to 3,500 feet and mostly dry here in Great Falls.  I was a little uncertain upon arriving at my first rehearsal but I figured that since it was a Pops Concert and I wasn't in my home orchestra, it was worth the risk.  The first rehearsal went well.  Before the concert the next evening I made the tip-plaque adjustment one more time and was impressed that it improved the reed even more, making it more free-blowing and vibrant. 

An outdoor Pops Concert was the ultimate use for it.  The weather was cold and though our conductor kept talking at length between pieces, I didn't have to worry about the reed drying out, becoming too hard, or going flat with the temperature.  Furthermore, I wasn't ruining a great cane reed on a fluff concert.

The next morning, my hosts asked me to play bassoon for them. I put my bassoon together, pulled out the Legere and without any warm-up or reed soaking I played the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with total ease musically, dynamically, and technically.  I was stunned!  I played the Legere that evening for another outdoor concert and was furthermore impressed as the reed seemed to be even slightly better.  During intermission, I soaked and tried my cane reeds which I discovered were mushy and weak.  At that moment I was SO RELIEVED to have the Legere reed as I realized I would have been miserable playing on my cane reeds in those conditions. 

When I returned home the next day to 3,500 feet, 70' degree weather I pulled the Legere out for a practice session and was completely pleased.  I jumped right into practicing without fiddling with reeds to return them to adjustments befitting my home elevation and climate. 

I am very excited about the Legere reed!  I purchased a medium strength reed.  Though I still have not achieved a complete ppp dynamic worthy of a second bassoon audition (see previous blog posts), I feel very pleased with the dynamic range it offers.  The tone color in all octaves is desirable: focused, projecting, consistent.  I am now able to punch out my bottom octave in a ff dynamic.  I love the projection of the top and mid-range.  It's very easy to push the reed without it becoming harsh or too reed-y.  It has sizzle but not an offensive buzz.  I am still experiencing some muscle fatigue in my jaw after about 2 hours of consistent playing but I think I might be able to eradicate that simply over time as I become conditioned with it or perhaps trying the soft hardness that Legere also makes the reeds in. 

I will keep using it through the summer and I'm looking forward to taking it into both a symphony and Chinook Winds rehearsal in September.  I anticipate a very positive response from my colleagues.

*******************************************************************************

For a bassoonist who has played professionally in the Intermountain West since 2009, I have come to know the frustration of constantly changing elevations and climate with the accompanying inconvenience of constantly changing reeds.  Especially since the greatest single obstacle I have had to face and overcome with auditions is that EVERY audition I have taken has required me to anticipate huge changes in my reeds.  It has been my dream to change elevation by thousands of feet and not worry about making reeds from scratch in 24 hours. 

Though I have always felt very confident in my reed making skills, it is very frustrating to walk into auditions worrying about sagging E's and C-sharps that were perfect the day before at a higher elevation.  If I can continue to find success with the Legere, it will become my highest recommendation for traveling bassoonists who don't want to make reeds at every elevation.

Furthermore, how exciting to imagine a practice session wherein 20-50% of my time is NOT spent on reeds.  How exciting to imagine NOT having to frantically soak cane and form tubes in between out of town trips.  Finally, how exciting to imagine simply NOT spending money on cane that may or may not turn into the reed you need when you need it.

This year, I started the incredible journey of homeschooling my son.  On top of rehearsals, practice, private teaching, concerts, touring, and life, homeschooling has made my schedule so tight that I am constantly in a battle to triage each activity based on what ABOSLUTELY has to get done vs. what can wait.  The potential of eliminating reed making would be an obvious boon to my schedule.  So, am I *hoping* these reeds will work?  YES!  Is that causing me to paint an overly optimistic picture of the capabilities of these reeds?  NO! 

Try for yourself!

******************************************************************************

I was hoping to post videos for this review but in between work trips and a month long vacation, laundry, packing, grocery shopping, teaching and practicing all in ONE DAY took precedence over recording excerpts for yotube.  However, I WILL add some in the future as I continue to track my experience with Leger reeds.

Audition Thoughts Part 18

A few weeks ago I took another 2nd bassoon audition.

It was a good experience, as they all are.  This being my second audition since winning a salaried gig, I am reminded that it is vastly easier to take and prepare auditions mentally when you know that you have a secure gig to return to.

Winning your first gig is such an incredible hurdle to clear.  For so many different reasons, being in a job puts you in a very different place than those in school, newly graduated, working odd jobs, even some free lancers.  However, HAVING a job and then trying to advance into a "better" job is very tricky.

One of the challenges I keep facing are scheduling conflicts.  I promised myself I would take one audition per season to help keep me "fighting fit" and maintain my awareness of what bassoonists sound like out there.  (Because I DO listen to everyone around me in auditions.)  In reality, because I had so many scheduling conflicts, there was only one audition this season that I could even attend.  Fortunately, I was invited to attend.  Keep in mind, you won't always receive an invitation.  Sometimes they will ask you to provide a recording and sometimes they will simply state that, based on your resume, you lack the necessary experience.  It's always fun to see how they word those letters...

Of course it's also easier to get invited to an audition when your resume shows you in a full-time position.  It's also easier to prepare the audition because playing full-time (minus the distraction of school work, part-time jobs, etc) your playing improves in subtle but consistent ways.  I wasn't quite aware how much I had improved until I took the audition at the end of last season.  This audition was another reminder of how I have further improved with a second season in the books. 

What has improved:

-technic
-dynamic range
-musical phrasing
-confidence, confidence, confidence!

This was definitely one of the longer lists I have encountered for a 2nd bassoon audition.  It was a pretty standard list with a few excerpts I have not seen on a 2nd bassoon audition.  This is great because it allowed me to really focus on cleaning up some of the standards and put a few news ones on the radar.  I took about 3 weeks to prepare.  That's about all I had time for and, true to life, there were still some last minute distractions that took time away practice time in the final week.  However, because we have family in the area of the audition, I arrived a few days early and was able to get some good work done in my final practice sessions.

It seems that in with every audition I have a major breakthrough with at least one excerpt.  For this particular audition it was all the Symphony Fantastique excerpts.  I have performed Symphony Fantastique with Graziella Contratto conducting when she was the assistant conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, with the Tuscaloosa Symphony in Alabama, and last season here in Great Falls.  I can play the excerpts just fine...but that's the problem.  They have always been just fine.  This audition, with the help of my husband, I finally got all the trills worked out in the fifth movement and found a better anchor note for the run in the fourth movement which FINALLY made the run sound perfect instead of just fine.  That was really awesome and made the whole audition worth it.  I have to play it again this season with the Billings Symphony which will be fun now that I'm not sweating little details like that anymore. 

My preparations felt quite good for this audition.  Even Mozart 35 came together at the last second with the horrid octave jumps in the 2nd bassoon part.  I felt good.  I had switched bocals a few weeks prior and was a little nervous about that because it made me sound BIG.  Really meant for principal playing.   I thought about switching to a more subdued bocal but I have to admit, I just didn't want to because I have loved this new bocal so much.

That was an error.

For a 2nd bassoon audition, I underestimated how unbelievably soft they want you to play.  I went in feeling confident in a principal bassoon way which meant bumping up my dynamics to show off my confidence.  I played the first excerpt, 4th mvt Symphony Fantastique and was immediately asked to replay but SOFTER.  The good news is that they asked me to replay which typically means they are interested.  The bad news, they asked me to replay which means you didn't give them what they wanted.  I played four more excerpts and then was released. 

I felt too loud.  I started tensing up on the Brahms and my pitch went up and that was the last one they heard from me.  I played the way I like my 2nd bassoon to play with me.  I felt good about the audition and if I had heard myself, I would have been very interested.  I was true to myself. 

I knew it was not going to be my day though and that is totally OK.

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A few years ago Gabriel Beavers told me not to take 2nd bassoon auditions because I don't have the correct sound for it.  Two years later with a lot of time playing principal under my belt, bocals and reeds set up for principal, and a lot more confidence, I'm sure I'm even FURTHER from the appropriate 2nd bassoon sound.  However, I still envision myself sitting very happily in an orchestra somewhere playing 2nd bassoon.  When I'm honest with myself, I think I probably want to play second so I can avoid the pressure of principal. 

What is key in this whole experience is understanding that 1) principal bassoon and 2nd bassoon are very different jobs and require different skill sets.  It's in the details and in high level playing, they are very different bassoonists.  2) there is a way to play music in the orchestra and then there is the way you play excerpts in an audition.  It's not the same.  Especially for 2nd bassoon auditions. 

I'm committed to taking one audition per season but I need to commit to NOT taking 2nd bassoon auditions...

...which is easier said than done.




 

The Artist as an Effective Communicator

How many different ways do we communicate as a professional musician?

1.  With our music.  This is pretty obvious.  Our music speaks for itself.  It tells the story intended by the composer.  Sometimes it's an image, Mussorgky's "Pictures at an Exhibition."  Sometimes it's a feeling, Wagner's "Liebestod."  Often it is an actual story, any of Schubert's Lieder.  In all of these examples there is a specific message which is conveyed through the compositional skill of the composer.  Some performances convey that message better than others but for many pieces in standard rep, the story is often able to transcend the actual performance.  Thanks to program notes and the advent of Wikipedia, it's easy to know what you are listening to even if the performance isn't necessarily telling you.

But there is a second aspect to performance that also communicates to the audience.  It is sometimes more obvious and sometimes subtle depending on who is listening and how well they are paying attention.  The message communicated in performance is about you, the performer, and it tells the story of how well you prepared for this performance.  In my experience, when musicians listen to a performance they are often listening to hear this second story.  They are more interested in gleaning information on how much you practiced and how well you have mastered your art.  But be aware, even for the audience member who doesn't have a highly trained ear, we all have ways of communicating a lack of preparation or even a lack of interest in what we are doing.  Our faces can give away mistakes, frustration, and even worry when something goes wrong.  No matter what happens, keep smiling!  Live audiences are very capable of forgiveness especially when they feel drawn into your passion.

2.  With our words.  Now more than ever our audiences are looking to interact with the performer.  Anyone can sit home and simply listen/watch a performance on multiple forms of digital media.  What brings them out to live performance is not necessarily the performance but the intimacy in feeling connected with what they are hearing and seeing.  Many audience members will avail themselves of the program notes but in my experience, many more want to hear your thoughts as the performer.  They want to hear your words.  Audiences are looking for that fascinating bit of information they can't find in a google search. 

This expectation requires us to communicate in a medium we perhaps aren't "trained" for.  How often have we encountered a musician who stumbles over their words and finally says, "Just let me play it."  But playing isn't always enough anymore.  We have to be able to talk about.  We have to be able to effectively communicate what we are doing: to an audience, to our students, to patrons, board members, family members, etc.  You can't walk into a masterclass and "just play" for 2 hours and assume those students have learned the principals you intended for them to hear.  You also can't "just play" for your audience and assume that they know exactly what you have done to create a moment for them. 

You have to use your words!  That's something that I have said a lot as a mom.  More and more, it's something I think (and occasionally say) in my work as a performer.  We have to use our words effectively to convey messages, to build relationships, to create connections, and to give a complete performance.  I have found audiences interested in learning about how a selection was chosen, what happened in rehearsals, how we felt individually connected to the piece.  Answering questions like these doesn't happen during the concert.  It happens after the concert, when you mingle with the people who made the choice to share that performance with you.  It is effective communication that will bring an audience back - because you are no longer a performer to be watched, you are a person they can talk with.

3.  With our bodies.   I'm going to say it!  You can't look crazy.  How you dress, how you move on-stage, how you interact with your ensemble shouldn't look crazy.  It's like watching a young bassoonist flap their wings!  (Where does that come from?)  There is movement which is necessary and natural and then there is acting.  Have you ever performed under a conductor who engaged in a choreographed dance rather than conducted?  It's a nightmare.  You realize they have spent more time calculating how much fun the audience will have looking at their backside instead of spending time engaging with the score and the musicians.

Effective communication with our bodies is engaging to watch for an audience.  They can see cues, they can see the excitement (the wind quintet that moves to the edge of their chairs in the technical passages) but no one wants to see acting or clowning. 

I will go one step forward to say that we communicate with our bodies in how we dress them as well.  I will never forget attending a chamber music concert in Seattle where a quartet was featured for one piece.  Three women came out on stage wearing gorgeous couture gowns...and the palest faces draped in the stringy-est hair.  It was distracting!  It was as if they were half-dressed.  It looked like they had rolled out of bed, pulled on a $5,000 dress, picked up their $100,000 instrument and forgot to look in a mirror.  Did it ruin their performance?  I have no idea because all I could think was , "Good Heavens! Pull a brush through your hair!"  I'm I superficial?  Maybe!  But if I was thinking it, you know there were many more in the audience thinking it. 

Communicate effectively with your body by making sure you aren't distracting the audience with your body.  Dress and movement are ABSOLUTELY part of your performance!  Of all the time you spend in preparing for a performance, don't allow these details to go unattended.  Spending a few minutes to talk about what everyone is going to wear and what the general look should be is valuable.  Pointing out and correcting strange or unneeded movement is also time well spent.  For some who sit with their eyes closed, this won't be an issue.  But we all know that in today's visual society, more people are listening with their eyes. 

4.  With our press and media.  For many aspiring groups, they depend on communicating with potential audiences through their press and media long before that audience experiences them in performance.  This is an aspect of communication that requires a lot of time and creativity (sometimes money, sometimes not if you are creative) but can also pay a lot in dividends IF it is executed correctly.  I'm always learning more about how valuable and powerful an artist's press and media is. 

We can look to pop culture to see many examples of effective communication in press.  Even Miley Cyrus!  You hate her twerking?  Guess what, you knew EXACTLY what I was talking about when you read it.  THAT is effective media! 

We can look to classical music to see lots of bad press.  What has gotten the most media attention in the past few years: Detroit, NYC Opera, Minnesota Orchestra = all bad news.  We hear a lot more about things going wrong in classical music than things going right!  Much has been blogged about our need to get the good news out there.  Detroit is back playing and exceeding fundraising goals.  Minnesota has signed a new agreement.  That's the good news and now they need to keep the good news rolling.

A whole blog post could be written about this (and much has been) but I think the most important points to remember when managing your press and media is: creativity, positivity, clarity, and consistency.  Whether your audience is on a website, facebook page, looking at a poster, or listening to a radio ad; be creative, be positive, be clear, and be consistent.

Welcome to My View as a Bassoonist: Bassoonist With a View

Greetings all who have chosen to read these words! 

Welcome to my blog - my "professional" blog - and my thoughts as a professional musician.  I know that blogging has gotten very popular and everyone and their reed has a blog these days.  I have spent many hours reading the blogs of fellow musicians and bassoonists.  Sometime they are great!  Sometimes you spend 10 minutes reading about the taper of a bassoon shaper and experimental hand profiling and you think to yourself, "Oh my gosh!  Why am I reading this?" 

Likely those same thoughts may cross your mind while reading this blog. 

But I hope not!

First, allow me to draw your attention to all my labels featured on the right-hand-side column.  I wrote, in real time, a 17-part series about my quest to win an audition.  If you are currently on the audition circuit, I invite you to experience my auditions as I did.  All the dark and horrid thoughts that accompany too many losses.  If you think you are the only one eating a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in a cheap hotel room whilst watching a Lifetime movie and obsessing about the note you cracked in your Brahms excerpt...well...YOU'RE NOT! 

I've been there, I've done that.  Read it and weep.  More importantly, read my audition posts and learn some valuable lessons about taking and managing the ups and downs a many auditions.  Read them and gain hope!  This industry is not about who is most talented, it's about who works the hardest and sticks around the longest. 

I also posted my notes from the fantastic panelists I listened to while attending the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival in 2012.  These seasoned professionals gave invaluable advice about navigating the highly competitive world of classical music.  You can find them under the label IWCMF.

Finally, I will be posting new content regarding my work here in Montana, being a bassoonist, and the field of classical music in general. 

My hope for this blog is to be part of a positive campaign for classical music and classical musicians.  I feel like we, as a field, have generated a lot of negativity in the past few seasons with bad press and horrible labor disputes.  At the core of what is wrong with our industry is the horrible realization that the average American doesn't know what we do for a living and certainly doesn't value it. 

I want my story, found in this blog, to share the facts of being a professional musician and the joy of being part of a truly unique profession.  I believe the best thing we can do as musicians is educate, educate, educate!  Whether training young students, creating the next generation of concert goers, or just taking the time to explain to your dental hygienist what a bassoon is; we have a responsibility to create VALUE in what we are doing and in so doing, keep our profession alive.

To that end I present to you my blog, full of my views, Bassoon With a View!

Happy reading and best wishes,
Elizabeth

Publisher's Panel IWCMF

IWCMF 2012: Publisher's Panel

Publishers Panel

Hosted by Mohammad Fairouz, I think this was intended for the composers, but we attended and learned a lot!

Fairouz prefaced the panel by sharing how his teacher, Gyorgy Ligeti, took Fairouz to Hamburg to experience Schott and introduce him to the world of publishing.

• publishers need to see a compelling body of work with the potential for a long term future to consider taking on a composer
• publishers are there for business ($$$) not to give out handouts
• piracy has required publishers to be very selective and demanding because they are loosing revenue caused by piracy
• re: composer/publisher relationship
• composers still need to create their own "buzz"
• do your own legwork
• continue to self-promote
• publishers are necessary
• self-publishing will become impractical with composer success
• DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION
• digital music stand/E-Stand is not good yet, still impractical
• CSO played off e-stands "and it did not go well"
• Alfred and Hal Leonard have "lots of money for research and development"
• still forging ahead with the idea though many questions of when and how e-stands will come to fruition
• digital only distribution is risky; still need print distro
• What will still work in 100 years?  Paper!
• publishing is not limber, they can't anticipate the size of the screen needed/desired in the future for long-term digital use
• A good editor/publisher = easy rehearsal
• page turns
• accidentals
• markings
• readability
• a good publisher goes unnoticed because everything runs smoothly; a bad publisher gets a lot of complaints from musicians
• Distributors
• get music into store
• Hal Leonard = exclusive print distributor for Associated
• Presser = associated with Carl Fischer allowing hand off of certain services
• Quality output of an edition has a real, measurable affect on the success and acceptance of a piece!
• "No one lives on royalties!"
• Composer revenue:
• day job (university faculty)
• commissions
• small royalties
• misc other earnings
• Music with preexisting text must have copyright approval for use
• don't create the work and assume the copyright will "be fine"
• High quality archival recording
• don't just possess it, be sure to reserve the rights to use it
• you can skirt the issues of use with a "limited use" clause to distinguish between use for distribution and use for performers, submissions, etc.
• Pedagogical texts/materials
• get famous!
• Jeanne Baxtressor submitted her excerpts with 30 years of markings and annotations from playing in the NYPhil, now her excerpt book is her "greatest income earner"
• create demand
• recognize demand/necessity