zbd1960

Same here. My last company car was a BMW and I think I confused a lot of other road users.... To avoid confusing other road users, I drive a Skoda since I retired

Quite an old video of his... he can't keep a straight face after a short way in and calls 432Hz out for the nonsense it is. As he says later, pitch standards are essentially arbitrary and A=440Hz was sort of settled on in mid-C20th. As I said in my other post, when I play my viol with other period instruments, we tune to A=415 which is a lot less strain on gut strings.

Historically, tuning was 'local'. Tuning for singers would be whatever the church organ was. Whatever the local music teacher's tuning fork said etc. Pitch standardisation became more of a necessity once musicians are travelling and people from different areas have to play together.

Most songs in the classical repertoire, when you order the music you usually have a choice of high/medium/low voice. This means there are three editions in three keys to accommodate different voice types. So sopranos and tenors would opt for 'high' and altos and basses for 'low'. Some have the 'medium' option which can be useful if you're a baritone/second tenor/mezzo

Last night's gig in Carlisle included the Carol Symphony by Hely-Hutchinson which gets a fair amount of airtime usually on Classic FM at this time of year. The cello part is pretty tricky in some places with very complex rhythms. You can get an idea from this rolling score version on YT The last movement is a challenge to not get lost!

Tuning and temperaments are a very substantial set of rabbit holes you can fall into.... The history of tuning is complex... Ignoring a pile of history and complexity, essentially A=440Hz was 'settled' as a standard in the early to mid-C20th. If you look at the history of it, it has varied significantly - even from one town to another - from A=380 to A=460 and no doubt more besides. The idea that A=432Hz has some sort of universal harmonic resonance that harmonises with your crystals and chakras... is a heap of steaming ordure. The 'historically informed performance' movement has 'settled' on A=415Hz which is about a semi-tone down from concert A. This helps a lot with gut strings as the tension is a bit lower. It also makes singing the high notes a bit easier since as a bass those top F#s in Handel and Bach are down to being Fs. Whenever I've sung baroque repertoire with a period instrument orchestra it's always at A=415. I play the viol (viola da gamba) and that has gut strings. If I'm playing with say recorders which are A440 then I ahve to tune the viol up to that and it's always a worry about the possibility of strings snapping - which does happen. It's a serious issue with the higher stirngs as they tend to be plain gut, the lower strings are usually twisted gut which are stronger and the lowest strings may be wire wound as well (viols have a common ancestry with guitars and mostly have 6 strings)

Orchestra gig tonight in Carlisle with the cello. A première of a new work, Holst's Perfect Fool ballet suite then the Lieutenant Kijé suite by Prokofiev and the Carol Symphony by Hely-Hutchinson. Decent audience around 200. Survived despite the H-H being very tricky....

You all need to learn to play the theorbo.... no frets on the diapason strings.... lots on the others....

I agree - it's going to be similar to cello bows. Go to a string dealer/shop/luthier and try some out - including secondhand ones. Avoid Amazon, E-bay etc. Get a wooden one, do not get fibreglass type ones as they're awful. Also avoid the dirt cheap carbon fibre ones as they're also usually rubbish. Decent carbon fibre are the same price as equivalent wooden bows. My spare cello bow was £80 from the local luthier and is secondhand. Perfectly serviceable. Only used when main bow which cost £450 is in for a re-hair.

Hi, welcome.

Thanks. That failed as well, which indicates that the Apple ecosphere has got itself misaligned... I used the 'reset password' option and that seems to have resolved it...

For a while I have been unable to access BC through iPhone 13 as it says credentials not recognised. I have checked with what I'm using to login on the MacBook - bear in mind the Apple eco-system shares stuff - and it doesn't work.

I live on a new estate and it won't be fully complete until next year, although my part is now fully occupied. The house numbering is very 'creative'. The community FB group has endless 'anyone know where this is' for a parcel delivered who knows where. We did have an issue with Evri with one delivery person, but others, including the current ones, have been OK. I think that's down to them living locally, they're on the FB group, and are contactable. I've had no issues with RM. I get random issues with the big ones like DPD, DHL etc - most of the time they're OK but they'll suddenly go off piste. I have a parcel box by the door which helps I think.

Sorry to hear this but unfortunately it happens, including in amateur choirs and orchestras, in fact in any club/society/group, which is where my experience mostly sits. I could regale you with tales going back decades… but even in the last few months I’ve walked away from a group due to stupid behaviour. At 64 I’ve zero tolerance of stupid behaviour and I won’t waste my time on such stuff. The word ‘empathy’ is over-used, but it is what is lacking here. To mix metaphors, some people are just tone deaf. Ultimately, it’s selfishness (people are too quick to use the word ‘narcissist’ these days, which is more extreme) they’ve seen what they think is an ‘opportunity’ and jumped to make it happen without thinking through the issues and consequences. Unfortunately, this kind of stuff happens, which can shake you as it causes you to lose trust in people. I’ve had two very bad experiences over the years as well as all the small things that happen. The two big ones were very upsetting as I’d given years of my time to both groups. All we can do is try to learn from it and move on. As someone who has only discovered in the last three years that they are mildly autistic, it does explain some of my difficulties in understanding the behaviour of others. Doesn’t justify it though. Hopefully other things will come along. On the plus side, the world of any specialist activity is small and word gets around… Good luck.

Ok, what music am I up to at the moment? Quite a lot really. The cello gets a weekly outing to orchestra rehearsals and this term's concert includes works by Prokofiev and Holst. I've joined the local choral society singing baritone and they're working on parts 1,2,3, and 6 of the Bach Christmas Oratorio. I've joined a brand new community choir that meets in a nearby village. It's doing rock/pop/musical theatre stuff... not my cup of tea, but we'll see how it goes... The baritone sax is getting a monthly outing to a local jazz improv group. This is well outside of my comfort zone.... I haven't found anywhere yet to get the bass out 🙁. I've started having organ lessons and I have a weekly rehearsal slot in a local church which has a three manual instrument. I'm having an instrument built for use at home which will use Hauptwerk - software that runs what is known as VPO - virtual pipe organ - I will be buying some Neumann monitors to provide the sound... My instrument is unlikely to be ready until next spring.

This term I'm in a jazz improv group, choir, a community choir, and an orchestra... Main choir rehearsal was last night going through the tricky bits (it's Bach - it's all tricky!). Orchestra was Tuesday evening and it was string sectional working on Prokofiev and Holst. Concerts for both of those coming up in December.

Same....

String players and pianists number fingers differently.... Piano fingering has thumb as 1, whereas string players index finger is 1

As a cellist who plays in orchestras... we've all been there. I played in a concert some years ago where someone had orchestrated 90s dance music and the arranger thought it was hilarious to have the string parts oscillate between keys of 5 or 6 flats and 5 or 6 sharps. Currently rehearsing something with a new composition in it - the cello part has 36 bars of tied semibreves at one point... then one bar with two minims... and then an eternity of tied semibreves... I've played Sibelius 5 - you just have to accept sometimes that the cello part in works like that is an 'effect' and playing what is actually written is almost impossible for non-pro players

I've lived on my own since I was 25... I doubt I'd survive dealing with someone else and their stuff... And they'd probably struggle with me and my stuff....

As a single guy, I'm hardly qualified to comment in some respects, but my observations of others over the years is that the successful relationships seem to be the ones where people carry on with the hobbies and interests, perhaps shared to some extent.

I planned my photo trip to Liverpool earlier in the week around the monthly organ recital at St. George's Hall in Liverpool. This stunning neo-classical building has a huge Willis organ in it. The 'big' trumpet stop called 'Tuba Mirabilis' has been out of action for several years pending refurbishment. It seems a benefactor funded the work and my visit coincided with its first performance. That one stop is LOUD. The famous Minton tiled floor was covered though - it's only uncovered for a few weeks a year and for special occasions.

No, I'm not, which I agree is a valid point. Last term for example one of the works in the concert was Tchaikovsky symphony no.3, which lasts about 45 minutes. We had a handful of rehearsals, then performed it in the concert. It'll be years before it gets programmed again.

Some people - I'm one of them - do not find memorising music very easy. Admittedly I mostly play in orchestras or bands, and I sing in choirs, where you play/sing from music. I can sight read reasonably well.