Tomorrow = New Music Madness

So, today will mostly be spent practicing, rehearsing, and working out technical gremlins for tomorrow night's performance of Howard Sandroff's Tephillah for clarinet and all kinds of electronic processing. We've managed to get the necessary equipment provided by the performers down to a clarinet and a laptop. That's pretty slim. Of course, the house will be providing the mic (only 1! I guess we're minimalists?), the mixer, and the 5.1 surround-sound system. My playing will be picked up by the rather close mic (oh, 6 inches or so from my hands) and processed as Izzi sees fit. The audience will be able to hear me AND my sounds processed (cut up, transposed, reverbed, etc.) simultaneously. Occasionally, the technology works so as to repeat many times any mistake I might make. Guess I'll have to not make those mistakes, no?

Had a concert on Monday where the entire orchestra was amplified. I may have previously written on my feelings about amplification and this instance was no different. It's sad that the orchestra wasn't given the opportunity to learn to play properly in a hall with few acoustic niceties.

Oh yeah, about the church gig last week: It was fantastic. Our orchestral contribution was modest, but someone at that church really knows how to put on an effective show. There was literally dancing in the aisles (from performers and audience members) and a huge variety in entertainment to be had. I was quite impressed with the overall effect. That's a show I'd love to play again. To revisit the Obama subject, you don't understand what a big deal he is until you see his picture pop up on the big screen in a predominantly African-American church. Enthusiasm doesn't begin to describe the response.