stage deportment

[bearphonium]

Good vocabulary lesson, interesting thoughts on beards, tuning, and playing for money...

A tux has solved a lot of my problems, since I look so goofy in a dress.

Ally"who wishes she'd thought of that in college when she suffered with 'concert atire' that was really awful"House

[Karl H.]

One of my pet peeves is playing licks on stage. One of the most revered horn players in the US drove his colleagues mad by playing the licks in the dressing room, on the stage and after the performance.

I can see (hear?) your point Alex, but one of my treasured memories was going to see the Dallas Symphony play the Rite. Ev and Don were going to play it, and do the fairly common splitting of the f/f# leap (may be a senior moment on these pitches?), but one of the first guys on stage that night was Ev who, just for fun, sat down and nailed the leap over and over, cleanly, at performance volume.

Karl "who has been guilty of playing licks on stage, as recently as last night's tour concert" H.

[Karl H.]

Tuba players need to epoxy Velcro to the bottom bow caps of their tubas, and have black trousers made out of the other part of the Velcro.

I see tuba players on stage with rags (??) that seem to be for trying to keep their instruments from slipping...yet the continue to fiddle and struggle with the positions of their instruments.

Guilty as charged, but for a different reason: the bottom bow shield (must be a better name for this?) constantly snags my trousers, and was literally tearing holes in them: not good for my military bearing. I had always used a black face cloth with my un-lacquered Alexes to prevent the dreaded green-hand and keep body acids from eating through the brass, and I continued the practice with other horns. Might have been a bad habit, but came in handy wiping moisture off sweaty palms before big licks, and the black is unobtrusive against my uniform.

I've even taken to calling the cloth "Pavarotti" and used it as a prop in a dramatic stage entrance whilst performing 'Largo al Factotum'.

Karl "who puts the 'H' in ADHD" H.

[Karl H.]

Mostly, I was referring to "guest artists" who (not sitting in the back of a band and wailing, but) sit next to a pianist playing a solo work and bring all sorts of oddities and quirks on stage - as if they actually prefer that, afterward, people ask them about the props and quirks, rather than the performance itself.

You are absolutely correct, Bloke! I seem to be stuck in nostalgia mode today, but your OP and the quote above reminded me of a conference I attended as a high school senior. Richard Frazier was the host, and although I was blown away by his playing, I most clearly remember how he went through an elaborate spinning-horn-slide-pulling-water-draining routine. He was playing the Wilder Sonata No.1, and during a particularly strenuous twirl-and-splash evolution between movements Richard looked up at the audience and said "Effie Takes a Dump!"

It was just a regional conference, and he WAS just playing for a room of tuba players, and I'm inclined to praise him for his humor rather then denigrate his stage deportment. But it was certainly the most memorable part of the performance, since I still remember it after 30+ years! And I'm sure Richard would not say something like that in another venue...

I got to spend a little time with Richard years later. We spent the whole time talking about Alex F's! He's a quality tuba player and a very nice gentleman.

Karl "wishes he could be the 'H' in humor more often" H.