TromboneChat

Let's say I just fumbled a multibar rest, and I know I'm going to miss my entrance. How can I communicate this to the conductor, other than pantomiming panic? There should be a universal signal.

Asking for a friend.

Bonus points if the audience can't see it.

In that situation, you seek help from the musicians around you. Simple words like…… “count?” or “measure number?”will tell them you need help.

Context clues

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:09 pm In that situation, you seek help from the musicians around you. Simple words like…… “count?” or “measure number?”will tell them you need help.

Yeah, that's what my friend thought, too.

Look at your neighbors and pray they weren't depending on you for their entrance.
(Odds: 50/50)

Ask the second trombone player. That's why we have second trombone players. It's their job to count rests. That's the only reason they were hired.

tbdana wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2024 10:04 am Ask the second trombone player. That's why we have second trombone players. It's their job to count rests. That's the only reason they were hired.

Then why the hell does everyone always ask ME the bass trombone player for the count??

Burgerbob wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:24 pm Context clues

I rarely loose count but when I do I usually use context clues and not whisper "What's the count?" to the nearest standmate.

I will pencil in cues of solo or big section lines preceding my entrance, especially if I have never performed the piece before or if it's tricky. I've written in cues as many as 5 or 6 times in a single movement if needed but it's rare.

Also, I use the finger tap method to keep a running measure count total.

Matt Varho

Yeh I wouldn't get the conductor involved in this.

The instance in question was during Schulhoff #5. Not only were the rehearsal marks every 10 bars (so, not on phrases) and parts often had staggered entrances from your neighbor, but most people in the brass section rewrote or cut up & reassembled the parts to facilitate page turns. It must've been hard to count, because my neighbors were staring hard at their parts, and I couldn't get their attention to ask for help.

And maybe it's just me, but the part of my brain that can construct a verbal answer to the "where are we" question is the same part of the brain that keeps counting. So unless I can point at my part and speak the number I'm currently on, it can be a challenge to articulate (or calculate) an answer. I think my neighbors would have run into this problem even if they understood my need.

I think one of my neighbors refused to answer because, while he knew his place, he wasn't sure enough of it to share it with me.

The very interesting thing (which maybe should be in its own topic) was that during the concert, my brain was functioning very differently. I felt very in-the-moment, and almost light-headed, like I was about to faint. Quite different from any of the rehearsals. Which may have something to do with making new, fresh errors rather than the ones I'd been working on over the last 8 (or whatever) rehearsals. It happens in a lot of concerts, and isn't an air (or diet) problem. Something to do with the additional pressure or extreme concentration, I think.

WGWTR180 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2024 11:42 am Yeh I wouldn't get the conductor involved in this.

This. Your job is to make the conductor's job easier, not harder. In fact, your broader job as a musician is to make everyone else's job easier, and to create an environment where you're an asset, not a problem. If you have to look to the conductor to bail you out, you're not only not doing your job, you're making his harder. And that's no bueno.

Also, remember that there are some lovely people out there who will actively sabotage you if you ask for bar numbers (we usually call those people "trumpet players" ). Make sure you know who drives what car so the person who screws you over will inexplicably have four flat tires after the rehearsal.

If you can't figure out your count from context clues, whisper to your section mates.

Speaking as a conductor, if the entire section is lost then I want them all to put their eyes on me. I will usually notice and give the section a big cue. Even if I don't notice there's a fair chance that I'm planning on giving a cue at that entrance anyway.

Watch the conductor, his or her job is to help you out.

Dave

Wilktone wrote: ↑Thu Jul 25, 2024 7:13 am
Watch the conductor, his or her job is to help you out.

Dave

Watch, yes. But I've always felt that my job was to make it so that if the conductor has 50 things to worry about, I am never one of them.

And yeah, good conductors will cue you whether you're lost or not.

AtomicClock wrote: ↑Thu Jul 18, 2024 12:08 pm Not only were the rehearsal marks every 10 bars (so, not on phrases)

Ugh, that is just about one of the worst ways to notate rehearsal marks in parts. It's just asking for mistakes and should be a big no-no from any competent modern music editor.

As a composer, if I were lucky enough to get the assist from a publisher/editor and saw this, I would veto it. I want my music to be performed with as little hassle as possible.