If it comes to being odd then it is probably me that is the odd one, being the chairman of a keyboard club with a "growing audience", I know of a couple of other odd ones out there that share my view point but have reasons for not being able to express their point of view.
I am well aware that players spend many hours programming their instruments to get the most realistic sound possible, and here lies a problem, no spontaneity, you may as well listen to a CD, why pay anything to go out and listen to live music?
Richard Bower and Ian Griffin do not have time to create any of the registrations they need when they do their request spots, it is all off the cuff, and this is not one person doing their thing this is two players responding to each other.
There a other players who can and do play off the cuff, and they also play pieces they have spent hours setting up. And that is as it should be, a mix of pre programmed and LIVE music.
This brings me onto another subject, personality, some players get so tied down with creating a "just so" sound they forget to allow their own personality into the music, two players spring to mind who have perfected this, Brett Wales and Tony Stace, very different players, both let their personality show through, there are others but not enough.
Yes Basildon does do themed evenings and our Vienna night is now firmly established in the calendar, it is a lot of work for the player and anyone who spends months setting individual registrations for every piece they are going to play has more time than sense. The Vienna State Orchestra does not change violins after each piece so why do it for an organ concert?
Pub singers do not spend hours rehearsing with the band, ours do, we expect very high standards when we book someone for a special evening, we put in a lot of work to make the evening work and we expect no less off those appearing on stage.
Every player should have their "Party Piece" that makes them stand out, but they should always have fresh music under their belt.
Each year my wife and I will probably attend four festivals, three of those lasting a week, we also have 12 Basildon concerts and will attend concerts at local clubs. We get to hear the same piece played many times and it is always the new stuff that sticks in the mind, if we want to hear the old stuff we probably have it on CD, another reason for constantly updating your program, don’t complain about CD sales if you don’t play new music, no one is going to buy a CD they already have.
Over to you.
OrganFax Community » General Discussions
where do we go from here
(52 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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"I am well aware that players spend many hours programming their instruments to get the most realistic sound possible, and here lies a problem, no spontaneity, you may as well listen to a CD, why pay anything to go out and listen to live music?" says John Jackaman
I agree, John, and I am one of the guilty ones who has spent hours trying to get a decent theatre organ sound out of a Technics GA1 (I have been complimented by many an organ society member on the registrations I have achieved), but the spontaneity is difficult to achieve with many a modern organ because of the "menu" system, don't you think?
How wonderful to sit at an older instrument or theatre pipe organ where you can add/subract individual stops as the mood takes you without being given the third degree by the organ as to WHICH trumpet you want.
John (Nunns) and I still have that facility on the GA1 because of the flute tabs, but also because we were shown the "thinking ahead method" of selecting a sound in advance from each sound group before setting the pistons. It works to an extent but not in the same way as on older generation of instruments.
In a way, your comment about setting registrations for each piece is so true, but for someone like myself who plays only a few concerts (about 10) every year and those invitations being by word of mouth rather than advertising, plus the fact that teaching daily is the "bread and butter", I usually find myself following in the wake of one of the "greats" of the circuit, and I feel as if I must make an effort in that field.
Nothing gives me greater playing pleasure than to be able "spontane" when it comes to registrations.
Oh for an Allen GW4.........sigh!Stephen
Posted 2 years ago #
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