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The even randomer thread


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In the late 80s / early 90s, there was an Atlantic Gas commercial that had lyrics sung to the Notre Dame fight song.  For whatever reason, my brain memorized those lyrics.  I can't hear the Notre Dame fight song without thinking "buy this gas and get your glass at a nearby Atlantic now!"  I just can't.  From time to time, I search for it. I never had any luck. This morning, I found it.  I knew every damned word.

 

 

 

I think I need help.

Edited by Eleven
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I didn't read that because I don't care about the airplane thing, but Mike Rowe might be the least insightful person out of all the people I've ever heard who are famous and love to give their take on everything in the world that happens. I didn't like his tv shows either.

But dudes got some sweet pipes

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In the late 80s / early 90s, there was an Atlantic Gas commercial that had lyrics sung to the Notre Dame fight song.  For whatever reason, my brain memorized those lyrics.  I can't hear the Notre Dame fight song without thinking "buy this gas and get your glass at a nearby Atlantic now!"  I just can't.  From time to time, I search for it. I never had any luck. This morning, I found it.  I knew every damned word.

 

 

 

I think I need help.

I remember that. They also did an NFL glass later. My one remaining Bills glass just broke about a year ago.

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One of ESPN's remaining shows that dared to allow criticism of players and leagues, The Sports Reporters, had their last show today. I rarely watch ESPN anymore as it's become more of a promotional than objective reporter of sports.

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Dammit :lol:

 

The people with the stick. Maestro?

Conductor. And yes, they are necessary. Sure, the band/orchestra can probably play on their own just fine, but the conductor can adjust and make little changes to the music on the fly. This helps make performances unique.

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One of ESPN's remaining shows that dared to allow criticism of players and leagues, The Sports Reporters, had their last show today. I rarely watch ESPN anymore as it's become more of a promotional than objective reporter of sports.

Sadly, after Schaap passed, even that show was a shell of itself. That show was nearly "must see TV" when he was that panel's John McLaughlin.

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They run rehearsal, so yeah they do a lot. As far as their actual movements... not really. They do set the tempo, and can let you know if something is going wrong.

 

Good conductors set the emotional tone. It's hard not to be into it when your conductor is. But in a well rehearsed band, all the musicians already know what to do and how intense to be, so the conductor is just kind of revelling in it.

The more I look at your avatar, the more brilliant it becomes. Honestly, how many takes?

As long as it took to get a non-blurry one. I think our Cinnabon may have gotten rid of the cut-out :(
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They run rehearsal, so yeah they do a lot. As far as their actual movements... not really. They do set the tempo, and can let you know if something is going wrong.

 

Good conductors set the emotional tone. It's hard not to be into it when your conductor is. But in a well rehearsed band, all the musicians already know what to do and how intense to be, so the conductor is just kind of revelling in it.

I'll also add that you'll notice a huge difference if the conductor sucks. Brace yourselves, I was a major band nerd/music kid. 

 

As part of a competition, we had to sight read a piece we'd never seen before and a judge would lead us through, rather than our usual band instructor. This guy was one of those people you run into in the music world who have their own never-ending supply of conductor sticks up their ass, and clearly believed he belonged in a much more important place than judging a competition for high schoolers. My goodness, he was a stereotype. 

We ran through it once and then they have appx 20 minutes to suss out the major failures/get it into shape for the second run through, and then a final with your own conductor. He spent those 20 minutes telling us about himself and how great he was. Yes, he cracked the "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" joke.

 

It sucked so bad on that second run through. He was inconsistent, no sense of timing, making the most rage inducing stupid faces with his eyes closed like he was in the vinegar strokes and wobbling his body around "feeling the music" like a wacky waving inflatable tube man outside a car dealership... and if someone missed a cue, he'd wrinkle up his nose like someone had shoved a bin of rancid cat poo onto the lectern. Afterwards told us how disappointed he was. We'd just played Boston Symphony Hall. We were on a high. Like, f off, dude. 

 

Third run through with our own instructor was magical, dbag judge's comments apparently didn't hurt us, and we won first in the nation. Who knows, maybe HE was the real test. The music world is weird. 

 

The conductor is a conduit. They signal the brass to come to a crescendo, the soloist to begin the aria, the woodwinds to hold that fermata a tic or two longer than the music says you should. They keep the ensemble breathing and together. And the audience can visually see the music through a good one! Or just laugh their off at a terrible one. 

 

Wellp, that was a book. Sorry. 

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In the late 80s / early 90s, there was an Atlantic Gas commercial that had lyrics sung to the Notre Dame fight song.  For whatever reason, my brain memorized those lyrics.  I can't hear the Notre Dame fight song without thinking "buy this gas and get your glass at a nearby Atlantic now!"  I just can't.  From time to time, I search for it. I never had any luck. This morning, I found it.  I knew every damned word.

 

 

 

I think I need help.

 

There's a bunch or research showing that brains go through phases as the age and things are easily learned during that phase. Language skills are generally from 2-6 years old where learning a second (or third) is relatively easy. 12-14 years old is another one with random stuff; I still remember repetitive things from back then even though they have no basis in my current life. Not surprisingly, this mostly manifests as lyrics to chorus songs and if I still had a trombone, I'm sure I could bust out Louie Louie with reckless abandon.

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I missed this yesterday. Conductors do a lot. You might know when to play quietly or when to play loudly, but a conductor hears the entire group and if (s)he's not hearing the dynamics they want, they can get you to play quieter or louder than you thought possible.

 

Also, there is no way I'm counting 64 measures of rest. I'm just going to listen for when I know we're getting close then wait for the conductor to cue us in.:lol:

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Josie, were you guys rushing or dragging?

We were mostly staring at the weeble wobble nightmare on the conductor's stand in disbelief and missing cues... He wouldn't cue. He just kinda swayed around and made faces while we tried to figure out what was happening. Remember, we'd never seen the piece before that session. 

 

Sometimes I miss playing. Then I remember I'd be even more financially screwed than I am now as an artist...

 

 

Also, there is no way I'm counting 64 measures of rest. I'm just going to listen for when I know we're getting close then wait for the conductor to cue us in. :lol:

Yuuup. One piece I remember my tuba playing friend had something like 143 measures of rest and a coda. In rehearsal he'd bring in a gameboy to pass the time. 

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