New Ocarina Ordered

I recently won a Pockle alto F ocarina off of eBay. I've never heard of Pockle, but apparently they were around in the 1970s. The design of it, as well as its finish, gives me a suspicion that Pockle may have been the old name for what is now Night Ocarina.

It'll be very useful for multitrack recordings; the only low ocarinas I have now are ones I made myself; and they don't sound all that great. I assume this one will sound better.

Still making progress on the album. I'm weighing my options for who my accompanist should be; I know of several in my area. I found a good company for printing, burning, and packaging, so the final presentation will look pretty professional. The cost isn't too bad either. I'm really getting excited about this project, as it really looks like it's going to work out. I just hope I can get more people interested in it, as it seems like only a couple people have taken notice of it...

Dichterliebe on Ocarina? Yes!

I wrote earlier about an ocarina CD which would feature Schumann's Dichterliebe and other lieder. Well, it looks like it's all going to work out! I now have a place to record and my music teacher has offered to be my accompanist. I have begun practicing Dichterliebe, and it's not as difficult as I thought it was (although there are a few spots that require some tricky fingerings).

I'm considering throwing a little Brahms into the CD as well for variety's sake. Also, I'm not sure I could scrounge up another half-hour of individual Schumann lieder...

A funny thing happened at the opera...

Yesterday, I went to see a production of Cimarosa's opera Il Matrimonio Segreto (The Secret Marriage). This was the first time I've actually seen a live production of an opera! But, there was a bit of a twist. Halfway through the second act, the lights went out. At first, I assumed it was part of the production, but a few seconds later, both the orchestra and the singers stopped. The stage director then informed the audience that the power was out, due to a storm.

Now, we all know the saying, 'the show must go on,' but what do you do when the orchestra can't see their music and the audience can't see the stage? Well, the entire cast and crew handled the situation very smoothly. The pianist played a Rachmaninov prelude while everyone else gathered flashlights. It turns out that the last scene involved everyone carrying flashlights anyways, so the director explained what would have happened during the next two scenes, and then skipped to the last scene. The pianist played all the orchestral parts, and the singers performed the finale of the opera while holding flashlights under their faces. Not really what you expect attending an opera for the first time!

By the way, I got my saxophone on Thursday, and I've really been enjoying it so far! It wasn't very difficult to pick up, considering the clarinet experience. I'm already looking into ways of implementing it in a recording.

I'm getting a saxophone!

Yup. A couple days ago I opted to buy an alto sax instead of an oboe. I figured it would be easier to learn than an oboe, since I already play clarinet. I hope it arrives this week.

It's a Conn, probably a student model. Supposedly it has no dents in it (some scratches, but those don't affect sound) and comes ready to play out of the case. It even comes with a mouthpiece and a box of reeds. It cost me about $240; not bad for an instrument in great condition! Still not as great as the $50 cornet, but, well, you can't win 'em all...

Also, I recorded myself playing a clarinet duet today, using the power of multitracking. Listen to it here!

New Album Idea

So, it looks like it's the Fourth of July. What better way to celebrate the holiday than with a blog post that's completely unrelated!

I mentioned last year that I was thinking about creating an album to sell. And now I have a good idea. I'm thinking about performing Robert Schumann's Dichterliebe on ocarina. It's long enough to make an almost complete album. I'd have to add in a few more songs (preferably, more songs by Schumann), or else it would be a pretty short album, though.

I recorded the first song from the cycle on ocarina back in February; you can listen to it here.

Quick Update

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been doing some other things lately, including writing for a site called Helium. One of the articles I've written is a beginner clarinet tutorial; read it here!

Also, I'm looking into buying another instrument at the moment. I think I'm going to give the oboe a try. I'll also be getting a trombone soon if everything goes according to plan.

I also just realized that it's been a really long time since I last recorded any music, so I'm going to be getting back into that, too. I am now much better equipped to make awesome music videos.