It's always a very comforting thing as a musician to receive compliments about their playing. It's something that isn't done enough, I think. In the music world, more constructive criticism is given, focusing more on the negatives of our playing rather than the positives. Of course, that's what we need as musicians in order to improve and grow. However, a compliment is always appropriate, and they just don't happen enough. A compliment is a good way to know if you're doing your job right, y'know?
So why am I talking about compliments? No, it's not because I'm seeking more compliments from people. Actually, I've been receiving quite a number of compliments lately. Since I'm now involved with the Salvation Army Church in Oak Creek, WI and it's wonderful people, I've found my way into being a bell-ringer in front of stores collecting donations. However, since I'm involved with the church band, the church's pastor encouraged me instead to play my horn next to the kettle instead of ringing the bell. That has me the whole experience infinitely better. So I stand next to the kettle for my whole shift and play melodic etudes and Christmas songs. Not only does playing music fill the kettle up even more than just ringing the bell, and it also yields lots of compliments to me for my playing. You know what? I'll never get tired of them. No, I don't bask in the glory of my compliments and get big headed. I just accept them with a smile and remind myself to keep it up. I'm doing my job correctly as a musician by making the audience happy, and that's all I can ask for. Tying that to composition, I just want to point out that my whole philosophy on composition is to make music that audiences like to hear. I'm not saying that I can predict what people like, but as an audience member myself, I know that I don't really enjoy listening to music that doesn't sound interesting. So many composers of new music are trying to find some kind of new sound, which a lot of times isn't very pleasing to my ears. I don't enjoy listening to music that is considered "avant-garde" or serial music because it just doesn't sound good. It was probably quite a lot of fun to write, and is fun to play, and I know some musicians who do like listening to that kind of music. But think about what the normal not-so-musically-trained audiences think of that music. It doesn't sound good, so they aren't gonna like it. That's why so many student composers I know of struggle to get their pieces appreciated or even played. They write for themselves rather than their audience, hoping that the audience will think the same as them. Well, that will work it sounds interesting. I'm not saying to composers out there to stop experimenting, not at all. Definitely experiment, but just remember what you want your audience to hear, and whether or not you want them to like it. They want to hear stuff that is similar to stuff they've heard before, but at the same time is like nothing they've ever heard. A perfect example of this id Sibelius's 5th symphony or Morten Lauridsen's "O Magnum Myste The reason I've been successful with composition is because I try to appeal to them. I try to create music that I would like to hear as an audience member, since I am one. I'm among the millions of people that like to hear music that sounds good, yet is different enough not to sound like anything else they've heard. Serial music has it's place, which is not in front of the public audience, I believe.
18 Comments
There has been a lot going on with me at UWM, which explains why I haven't been able to tend to this website too much. I've been performing almost every weekend, and this weekend is no exception. The Honors Band Festival is underfoot, where a number of middle school and high school band kids from around the area audition and are selected to come to UWM to play alongside each other in one of several bands. The selections have been made, and chair placements are to be determined today. The auditions for those take place today, and are judged by faculty, grad students and a few undergrads in the music department. I get the pleasure of listening to 15 middle school horn players and making judgement, with the help of UWM undergraduate horn student Josee Palamar. I also get to lead a masterclass tomorrow morning, with the assistance of another undergrad horn player, Kurt Heins. So, it's gonna be a great time for me, and I get to share it with some of my colleagues here. The UWM Wind Ensemble also performs on Sunday afternoon, marking the end of the festival. We're playing Ryan George's "Firefly", Gordon Jacob's "An Original Suite", and Smetana's "Dance of the Comedians".
On a different note, being an attendee of a Salvation Army Church and a bass trombonist (on a tenor trombone) with their brass band, I found my way into kettling. Y'know, those guys that stand in front of stores and ring the bell next to a red kettle that people drop money into. Instead of ringing the bell, since most everyone finds in quite annoying, I bring my horn (instead of trombone) and play for people. So far, since it's a little early for Christmas tunes, I have just been playing Rochut and other technically manageable and melodic etudes, and it fills the kettle right up. People love to hear live music, and the fact that the space I've been playing in at this particular grocery store is quite resonate makes makes my sound even better (and helps cover up chipped notes), and I get lots of complements. Work is underway on Christmas tune arrangements for brass quintet. I hope to make a book out of them, which will soon be posted on this site. Grab a copy if you've got a g |
Sean A. BrownAn up-to-date overview of my music career Archives
February 2024
Categories |