"Get me another, Wench, or you'll be digesting this!"

Ever gotten between a mother bear and her cubs? Poked a dog while it's eating? Taken a picture of a sax player just when he's run out of beer? Little do the gentle soul on the right and the whitey on the left realize that they've just become fodder. Poor bastards.

At this table, we had three violinists, a sax player, a clarinetist, and the Queen of Boston Stagecrews. What did we talk about this time? Concert life, music, and great art? Not really...Mostly we just gorged hungrily, coming up for air to comment on various fruity drink recipes. Damn that duck was good. A toddler went missing in the the room during our stay. I think that it just wandered too close to the table and was swept up in the pre-human grab-and-bite.

I spent a couple of hours sightreading Richard Strauss this afternoon. It was some late work for winds and brass with a real pantload of accidentals. Frankly, I threw in a couple of accidents, myself. I need to spend a little time with Jettel again, but I'm fairly pleased with the quality of reading.

A habit I'm noticing with some wind players in the States: Projecting one's sound can be achieved several different ways. Yes, you can play sharp, which seems to be the most common solution. Then, your sound sticks out because it's out of tune. You can play with a sound that is pinched so the lack of warmth causes your sound to be "Which one of these is not like the other" that we so love. Everyone loves a pinched sound.

Or... You can play with enough resistance in your setup that your sound carries to the back wall without being forced. You can run with a setup that won't rattle even if you blow your hardest, if that's your fancy. Of course that means that you're somewhat limited in tonal palette. I fancy a little more flexibility, so go for something less than brain-clotting.

For FSM's sake, though stop with the pinching AND the playing sharp. That's just gauche.