Sunday, February 8, 2009

give me the beat

last night i went to the phoenix symphony with my friend annie. i got the tickets really really last minute, so i didn't have time to brush up on my symphony etiquette/procedure. i was racking my brain trying to remember all of the things i learned back in elementary school. despite the fact that i felt lost, it was a really great experience. that was the first time i had been in downtown phoenix (pretty pathetic) and i got to see all the cool things there were to be seen around there, like the decorations for the all star game next weekend, and the stadium where the diamondbacks play.
(annie and i in the parking garage, with some lights from downtown in the back.)

the symphony itself was probably my favorite part of the night though. i had an unbelievably busy weekend, so it was nice to have some time to sit down and relax. and think. i found myself wondering about the politics of an orchestra. who decided that the first violin was the coolest one? i mean, he seems like the assistant regional manager of the orchestra - the conductor and the guest musician kept shaking his hand. i think if i was in charge, i would want to make friends with the guy in the back who plays the big drums. if he was disgruntled in anyway, all he would have to do is hit his drum at the wrong moment and he could ruin the whole performance. he has the most power in the entire orchestra, and seems under appreciated. (matt, correct me if i'm wrong here. also, is it as tempting as i think it would be to just pound your heart out on one of those things? i feel like i would want to do that at least once, but i'm also pretty immature.)

i wore the wrong shoes though. by the time the night was over, my feet were angry at me. i walked back to the car barefoot, in the rain. cold, but awesome.




3 comments:

Dan said...

Plus, one thing always missing in orchestra music is the awesome drum solo. And I think the gong is heavily underused. Every movement should end with a 2 minute drum solo followed by a dramatic GONG improv. If the drum guy was in charge, he could make this happen.

Unknown said...

Yes, you're right about the ability to ruin. In the orchestra where I play now, we only rehearse once a week... so I never know the songs super well... and I'm always afraid that I'm going to come in early with a huge boom, and the conductor will scowl at me.

I think you're on to something, Dan. I'm thinking a gong concerto is in order... or a drum set concerto... yes... I'll see what I can do.

Jenna Kae said...

anakin, you are right. we should petition every orchestra there is until we get that changed...

matt, you should just pound the biggest drum every 30 seconds or so, until you get a chance to showcase your skills in a drum concerto. just let me know when you are going to do it so i can be there!