GabrieliProject Play or download the file

One of the joys of being a brass player was being able to play in a brass choir – a small group  covering the range of brass instruments from trumpet to tuba.   My favorite composer of music for brass choir was always Giovanni Gabrieli.  But alas it’s difficult to find opportunities to play this type of music if you’re not a full-time musician or  associated with a college music program.  I decided to try an experiment and use the EVI to record a couple of phrases from a favorite Gabrieli piece.

In this case, the music was written for a double choir.
Choir 1:  2 Trumpets, French Horn, Trombone
Choir 2:  2 Trumpets, Trombone, Tuba

I wanted to keep the feel as “live” as I could so I set a goal to record all eight parts within an hour.  This was a little ambitious, but I did manage to get all parts recorded within 90 minutes.  I spent another 30 minutes mixing the tracks and decided to add a cathedral-style reverb.  The recording isn’t perfect (like a live performance) but I’m encouraged and plan to go back and record the entire piece.

I hope you like it.  Comments welcome.

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Let me start by repeating that I loved the show.  Spending the last 8 months immersing myself in the sound and music aspects of community theatre has now changed forever the way I view performances.  So this post is about my personal take-aways and how I will try to use them in my future work.  It’s all about the details…

The sound work was generally  good. There were no credits in the program for either sound design or sound ops.  Surprising.  I’m guessing that the sound work was done by Wheaton College students.

All the lead actors were mic’d with wireless rigs and they were well balanced.  But the mic’s were not not dressed particularly well and in a couple of cases, took away from the overall aesthetics of the excellent costumes.  A little more time and a little more tape would have made a big difference.  There were 4 stage mic’s across the from of the stage.  These worked well capturing the ensemble’s sound.  There were 2 overhead mic’s hung at center stage but I couldn’t tell if they were for recording or reinforcement.

The few sound effects (basically gunshots) were miscued and so didn’t really provide the extra tension in a couple of scenes.  Having been in this situation myself a couple of times, it’s worth fighting for a little more tech time to getting the timing of critical sound effects nailed.  The other aspect that I found surprisingly distracting was that the gun shots were coming from the main speakers above the stage.  Having worked on a couple of shows that made use of additional, localized stage speakers I really appreciate the extra bit of realism they provide.  It’s something I will push for when I get a chance to do some sound design (hopefully this spring).

The music.  As I mentioned in my previous post, there was an excellent 11-pc orchestra.  They were un-mic’d (at least as far as I could see).  The Musical Director (David Renoni – music teacher at Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton) created a nice local balance of the band in most cases.  There were only a few situations where I felt like the band over-powered the singers

My take-aways from the band are:

Mic the French Horn – I love this sound and it tends to get lost without a little help.

A band should always have a bass.  This one didn’t for some reason.  Bass is definitely in the original show orchestration and the bottom end was definitely missed in the overall mix.

Trumpet players play too loudly.  As an ex-trumpet player, this is hard for me to admit.  But it ’s really true.  I actually heard a couple of different folks from the audience mention this as we were leaving the theatre.  And I don’t think this means amplifying the rest of the band to match the trumpets – the MD needs to work on getting them to listen harder and play softer.

That’s it for this show.  A fantastic show, talented performers, an excellent band and a few tidbits for me to remember/use in the future.

Brilliant!  Jon Stewart’s introduction of Bruce Springsteen at the Kennedy Center Honors ceremony:

“I am not a music critic, nor historian nor archivist.  I cannot tell you where Bruce Springsteen falls in the pantheon of the American Songbook.  I cannot illuminate the context of his work or its roots in the folk and oral history traditions of this great nation.  But I am from New Jersey.  And so I can tell you what I believe.  And what I believe is this.  I believe that Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby.  Yes.  And they abandoned this child, as you can imagine at the time, interracial, same-sex relationships being what they were.  They abandoned this child on the side of the road; between the exit interchanges of 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike.  That child is Bruce Springsteen.”

The West Wing has been on my DVR for a long time.  Most of the episodes are a pleasure to watch and re-watch (but it is nice to be able to skip over the commercials).  Some of the episodes are just plain extraordinary! One of these is “Two Cathedrals” involving the funeral of President Bartlet’s long-time assistant Dolores Landingham.  There is a section toward the end where Bartlet is walking to a press conference, there’s a once-in-a-century tropical storm ripping through Washington and the soundtrack for the scene is “Brothers in Arms” by Dire Straits.  There’s something about this combination… and particularly Mark Knopfler’s music that literally brings me to tears every time I watch/hear this segment.

Friday night (Jan 2nd) Paula and I went to Chan’s in Woonsocket to hear Ricky “King” Russell with the Cadillac Horns. Good food, great music… what could be better?

Ricky "King" Russell, Jeff Giacomelli, Doc Chanonhouse

I wish I could have taken some more pictures of the band but I was hesistant… not knowing their policy.

The band:

• Ricky “King” Russell – Guitar, vocals
• Danny Banks – Drums, vocals – Danny is 15 years old! and plays some mean drums
• Bobby Worthington – Bass
• Jeff “Bebop” Giacomelli – Sax
• Doc Chanonhouse – Trumpet

I can’t do justice to the range of blues these guys handled. Online, Ricky’s described as having an “encyclopedic knowledge of the blues” and it was obvious from the spectrum of material they played – lots of original material plus Texas blues (SRV, etc.), Big Joe Turner and tunes like Mojo, Knock on Wood and Walkin’ the Dog that were sung by Danny (the kid’s amazing). The Cadillac Horns (sax and trumpet) were a great addition. The horn players were exceptional. I did a bit of online research when I got home – Doc Chanonhouse is the director of instrumental music at the Nobles and Greenough School in Dedham, MA. Jeff Giacomelli (tenor sax) is a busy guy in the Boston music scene, including a gig with Bellevue Cadillac – who will be at Chan’s on Saturday March 21st… I’d like to get there for this one!

Chan’s has been serving up chow and music for the last 30 years. I’m sorta embarrassed that it took so long to finally visit. It’s only half an hour away – we’ll definitely be visiting more regularly. It was a very comfortable environment – a unusual mix of chinese and jazz decor that Paula referred to as a “Chinese pub”. Their music calendar has lots of action – bands every Friday and Saturday. More live music for 2009!

Artwork from Chan's stage

We were sitting a table toward the back of the room – right in front of Joe the sound guy. We had an enjoyable conversation with his girlfriend Linda who explained the workings at Chan’s. What a nice couple.

Joe the house sound guy