The Villagers Are Getting Restless

It seems that I never get around to practicing the Eb clarinet until the evening time. I always save it for last since I tend to tire out very easily while playing it. I can ruin a day's practice by blowing my lips right off by spending a couple of morning hours playing the little devil.

What's wrong with playing the Eb in the evening? (That could almost sound romantic if you didn't know what a demon-summoning tool the Eb clarinet is.) Well, if I'd like to be able to continue renting my apartment, it would moronic of me to practice it in the house. I'm pretty sure that my neighbors are just barely tolerating my practice time (hours and hours of the same stuff) as it is, but jack that practice material up an octave and twice the volume...No contest...I'm pretty sure that pitchforks would magically appear.

So, since I'd prefer to be able to live...and live in this apartment for a while longer, I take my after 9pm Eb practicing downtown and blow my brains out in a practice room. (This evening, I'm pretty sure I annoyed a saxophonist into leaving the room next to mine. My apologies.) I'm trying to make this Shostakovich part sound like a musician is playing it. I'm quite used to hearing Eb players sound like drunken leprechauns, so I'd like to avoid that in this Russian behemoth of a piece.

Remember, I've already warned you once to bring Kevlar to this concert. I'm not kidding. Maybe a flask would help too. I keep seeing "FF" for dynamic levels under many ledger lines. Good luck.