Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Just for fun and with no heavy underlying meaning:

Where are you in the orchestra?

(Take it any way you want)

I'm in the percussion section just because I love percussion.

I play the clarinet, saxophone and a little bit of the flute. I also played the violin when I was younger. 

Percussion.  I admit I wasn't particularly good.   My only claim to fame was the ability to tune the timpani - even the one with a damaged head.  I tried to learn how to play the bugle (yeah, silly me) but it was always underpowered and 3-5 notes off pitch anyways...kind of like my singing!  ;D

I play claranette and piano...

Since keyboards aren't on there, obvoiuslly woodwind

Well...I used to be a band director...but that reminds me of an old musician's joke:
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What's the difference between a Bull and an Orchestra?
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Well...the Bull has the horns in front and the a** in back, while the Orchestra has the the horns in the back and the a** in front.  ;)
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Hrmm...on second thought...I won't be the director again....I'll go back to playing the horn.  Haven't played it for years, but spent much of my youth on the instrument in one band or another. 

I'll be in the box office, its the only place that makes real money.

Quote from: insanitylives on November 17, 2009, 05:03:52 PM
I play claranette and piano...

Since keyboards aren't on there, obvoiuslly woodwind

Piano is on there - it's a percussion instrument (which is my choice too)

I picked woodwinds. Why? Well, I never payed an instrument but always thought the sound of a simple instrument like clarinet or pan pipes or ....that one(I'[l remember it later) was most enjoyable. You did say I didn't have to have any kind of good reason.

This orchestra's going to have a lot of percussion.  Actually, I never played in an orchestra, except for a couple of months on the coronet in 4th or 5th grade, whenever they started.  I wanted percussion, but someone beat me to it.  I couldn't get anywhere with that horn.  I remember one day when I couldn't hit a high note, the band teacher put me in the school kitchen to work on it.  I struggled mightily for several minutes, and as I finally hit it, the acordian doors in the servicing counter flew open!  That got plenty of laughs, which I was not looking for, and I hung up the horn shortly thereafter.  Later on I bought a drum set, and played in the bars for a few years, until some idiot invented DJs..

SusanKG

I clicked "strings" cos I played viola (in addition to being a chorister) from fourth grade up through high school.  In the metaphoric sense, I'm more of a soloist, especially since I've been lusting after the Ruby Gamba (http://www.ruby-gamba.com/) -- which is basically an upright electric viola with extra strings (they're both on the Alto Clef and take the same fingering; if you can play one, you can play the other relatively easily).

meta or Gamba... meta or gamba...  this is my big decision, since after converting from Euro, they both cost about the same.

I went for strings 'cos I use to play (?) the violin. I finally got asked to leave the school orchestra after trying to tune a viola instead of a violin. Well it's only a small difference, and I always reckoned there were so may people no one would hear me anyway. Particularly as I spent most of the time 'air' playing the violin :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Cindy (AKA Stephan Grappelli)

Brass, I played trombone all through school.concerts, football games, parades, Played some through college and now jam with reagge bands in the VI

Woodwind section!

Nothing deeper here, I play the bassoon. I've also played clarinet on occasion. (I would note saxophone but it's not an orchestral instrument. Although I guess I just did anyway!)

But I am formerly a member of the brass section. I played the trumpet, and it's funny because I think I still have a stronger connection with a few of my brass friends than I do others. Plenty of exceptions, of course.

Perhaps a deeper meaning could be found if I was allowed to pick all sections, because it would represent how I've really been all over the place and just can't possibly pick one thing. I'm a confused mess in other words - Once I get what I want, I want something else. At least I've been able to decide on the bassoon as my main instrument.

struggling to learn trumpet so it's brass for me. Also they don't have steel or bass guitars in orchestras.LoL

What's the difference between an oboe and an onion?

Nobody cries when you cut up an oboe!

Percussion, I play the piano.

I picked percussion because it's closest to bass. My teacher always said that bass was like "drums on a stick". xD

Hey, what does the band throw their bass player when he's drowning?  His amp.

I played brass in high school.

Want to learn the piano in the coming years :)

I like this question :)  I fit mainly into the percussion section, but I can play brass and strings as well.

A small nitpick:  the piano is actually a string instrument, not percussion. 

Strings since I play violin and that kinda music just calls to me.

BTW: piano can be considered both a string and a percussion instrument as to achieve its sound the string is hit, not strummed or bowed.

Quote from: Osiris on January 11, 2010, 06:32:38 PM
Strings since I play violin and that kinda music just calls to me.

BTW: piano can be considered both a string and a percussion instrument as to achieve its sound the string is hit, not strummed or bowed.

When you put it that way, I can see how it's also a percussion instrument.  Usually I hear people say because the keys are hit it's percussion lol. 

lol if you're hitting the keys that hard then you're putting a little more vigor in your playing than is necessary. :P

A small nitpick:  the piano is actually a string instrument, not percussion.

Though it can be used as both, it hard to argue that when Jerry Lee Lewis was pumping it it was a rhythm/percussion instrument, in most Latin music it tends to be more percussive then melodic.

But in the context we are using it here, it's not either, it's a keyboard.  In a late romantic/modern orchestra, the piano is in fact part of the 'keyboards' section along with a celesta, while it would not be any part of a classical or early romantic orchestra. It is placed behind the violins, between the harp and the timpani (on the house/conductors left, or stage right if you think in those terms) in a standard set up.  Thus making it somewhat of a bridge between the stings and the percussion.  But while it can be played as both, it has a keyboard, and as such is a keyboard, not a sting or percussion instrument in your stage plot.  For something like a piano concerto you have to drag it out front.  And trying to move something like a concert grand w/o putting it out of tune is all but impossible, so it would be set in the front and the concerto tends to be done first, so it can be moved off later.  You'd think something that huge and that heavy would be all but impossible to mess up the tuning on, but you'd be wrong, if you even as much as look at them cross-eyed they will betray you.  Piano's have been hatin' on stagehands since the 1750's.*

They be hatin' on piano tuners also, I've seen tuners called back to re-tune them suckers three and four times until they are all but reduced to tears trying to get it - not close, but absolutely perfect in an environment that is constantly changing.  I can pretty much put a piano out of tune - particularly if it's a black one - just by turning on the stage lights and leaving them on for half-an-hour.  Any more I have a white sheet that I toss over the piano if we have to focus the lights after the piano has been tuned.

Taking up the piano will however keep you out of the marching band.  Reason enough for several people I know to have taken it up as opposed to some other instrument.



* - I work for the symphony (both SF and SR) because you don't live by rock alone, and because I did it through college (and mostly because I own a tux) where we referred to our two stage pianos (one a concert grand Steinway the other a concert grand Baldwin) as the 747 and the DC-10 respectively.

played Clarinet all through school: "For sale, good condition Bundy clarinet..." I merged to harmonica, in my senior year and have been with it since (40 years), and for the life of me can't even get a single note out of the ole Bundy now, at least if I ever do want to sell it I can get all my money back ;)

Conductor (or arranger if that was an option).  I love to be creative and see my creations come to life.

Soloist!

That way, I get all the great costume changes!  :D

I picked string section, because everytime I hear a string intrument being played (Being played well), it sends shivers up my spine and I usually have a hard time concentrating on anything else.  ;D
Also, I always have wanted to play the cello.
I probably should've picked brass because I play a trumpet. *shrug*

Thankfully, the school system I grew up had a fantastic strings program. I learned the Viola and Violin in Kindergarten.

Well, I gave up violin as too wimpy.  I tried learning to be a guy so I played trombone and tuba but mostly baritone horn.  But my love was the bassoon.  The band director needed a bassoon and I have long fingers.  It's a wonderful instrument.  I wish I still knew how to play it.

So I guess I'm really a woodwind at heart. :)

- Kate

Keyboards  :) I've played piano since I was 8 years old. I used to hate being forced to practice as a child, but now I'm really glad for it as it has become a very zen thing for me as an adult.

down the street in the concert venue playing guitar in a metal band :)

I played trombone in school... But I'll also be down the road playing guitar in a rock band  :laugh:

Would singing be considered a wind instrument?

Classical percussionist as a kid and up until I was 21 and went to college (I taught it to kids for the last 3 years). Also a kit drummer in my teens, in a desperate attempt to get some street cred at school (partly successful!). But in the end, I fell in love with hand drums, so I play congas and djembe and doumbek and suchlike - but not in their traditional styles, I'm a maverick :).

I feel like the poll should have had a place in it for singers, too - maybe I should start one myself :).

yoxi you need to get yourself one of these

Amazing Hang Drum in Amsterdam (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLl2eBGZlF0#)

I've met those hangs a few times, and though they sound lovely, the one I would want (that has all the chromatic scale) would cost a fortune. Plus (and this is just a personal impression) all the people whom I've met playing them seemed to be really wrapped up in themselves! Odd but true - listening to them play was strangely similar to listening to someone describe their dreams at great length.

My ideal drumming context is drumming for dancers. Not drum circles (which I find really dull) but a direct communication between drummers and dancers, where they affect what each other is doing. I get really high doing that :).

Not drum circles (which I find really dull)

Well we will always and forever agree on at least one thing.

Don't get me wrong, drum circles are a great way for people to learn, and to trance together (if that's what they want) - but for playing, in the sense of engaging in play, there's nothing to beat drumming for dancers.

Don't get me wrong, having a drum circle in a public place is on the same level as stripping off all your clothes and scratching yourself madly all over because you have crabs down below and weevils in your dreads. I mean I understand you have to do it, but do you have to do it in front of children and all?

If you want to all drum together, try doing it like this:
2011 HBCU Drumline Showdown - Howard University Showtime Marching Drumline (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isRKqQRT2Js#ws)


We love drummers where I work.

How do you tell if the stage is level?
--- The drummer is drooling from both sides of his mouth.

What do you call a drummer with half a brain?
--- Gifted.

What does a drummer use for contraception?
--- His personality.

What's the best way to confuse a drummer?
--- Put a sheet of music in front of him.

Why do guitarists put drumsticks on the dash of their car?
--- So they can park in the handicapped spot.

And, our all time favorite...

What do you call someone who hangs around with musicians?
--- A drummer.

Meh, playing with sticks is so mainstream 8).

Soloist
T_T One time tho

I play the Trumpet, Trombone, Tuba , and  SousaPhone. yay!

Violinist, pianist or... organist perhaps.

They're all instruments that are considered good on their own, or sometimes take center stage.

Drums are cool too.

I play French Horn. Played it a lot in high school band. Never got to play in an actual orchestra though which saddens me as I love the sound of orchestra.

String section here.....

Stringz

none I was in the audience enjoying the music.