Castle Set, Audition Blues
May. 22nd, 2024 09:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
taz_39Monday I was sad to get up at 6am, but it's a busy week.
Managed to get two hours of work in before driving the 40 minutes to my friend Pat's house for trombone repairs. It's not really "repairs" I guess, but the slide on this Minick trombone is garbage, and it's my only option right now to protect my Williams trombone from damage from the elements at Disney.
Pat is a trombonist himself, so of course he wanted to play the Minick (it's a rare horn.) He sounded fantastic (sorry I couldn't record, he doesn't care to be shared around online.) I'm always jealous to hear him play, but it's always a treat to hear him play!
Back home lunch and a big long audition practice session. I feel maybe a little more comfortable but am overall not pleased with my weakness at jazz, especially after hearing Pat play today. Trying to remind myself that everyone is different and has different skills, and it doesn't make me a better or worse trombonist per se that I'm weak in this area, and even though I'm not a strong jazz musician I've had such incredible gigs. AND I've never won a job by audition in my entire life, so certainly if I lose this one it should be nothing new and make no difference.
Then it was more data entry and packing a bag and lunch for Disney tomorrow.
Dinner from our favorite Greek place and as usual it did not disappoint.
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Tuesday, up at 6am to do an hour of work before heading to Disney. I felt frazzled and anxious because I couldn't stop thinking about the audition but I was SUPPOSED to be thinking about the here-and-now, and playing my first castle set today!!
As soon as I walked in, Keith (the trombonist I'll be subbing for) surprised me with a gift.
It's an enamel pin of Mickey as a trombonist!!
I love it of course and stuck it to my bag immediately :)
Matt (trumpet buddy) also had brought me a new badge holder, a fancy one that holds two ID cards and has tabs so you can easily slide them out to clock in/out. I felt like it was my birthday or something haha.
The best part of the day was that I wasn't alone; of the four female MSP sub musicians, three were rehearsing in the park today! Kristen (trumpet) and Robin (tuba) and I, and there was also a male sub on drums. I'm sure it's tough on the regulars to have so many newbs to babysit, but all of us are hard workers and were ready to do our absolute best.
Off we marched to do our first set. Keith kindly offered to record it for us!
Here is a 10-minute version, edited a little for transitions. The songs are Mickey's Fanfare, Be Our Guest, Under the Sea, Hot Dog Dance, and Wanna Be Like You. (CLICK HERE to watch)
Here's a 2-minute version with ONLY trombone highlights, my little solo hot dog dance, and the band finale :)
(CLICK HERE to watch)
Trombone section screenshot:
Afterward I felt "ok" about it...mostly I had trouble with moving while playing. Didn't know quite when it was gonna happen so was always late and made some mistakes in the music because of the movement. But frankly, if someone had pulled me aside and verbally told me the blocking, I wouldn't have remembered it in the nervousness of this first set. Sometimes the best way to do a thing, is to Do The Thing, even if you're not 100% ready. Everyone in the band was pleased with how we did and said we'd only get better with time. Since these guys have been here for years, I must believe them!
We subs performed two castle sets and the parade. Kristen's partner was on hand and graciously took pictures specifically for all of the subs. Here are the ones she took for me!
This last one is my favorite. I'm right in the center of the band as we march down Main Street USA, the castle in the background. It's just...can you imagine how this feels, to be a part of something like this? When I'm old and grey, this will be one of the photos kept around the house so I can look back on one of the peak moments of my musical career.
We were supposed to do the flag retreat too but once again it was rained out. Perhaps I'm a flag retreat jinx!
It was SO HOT, and I felt disgusting and sweaty after each set. But at 90°F today, we are still 10-20 degrees cooler than full summer in Florida. So I'd better suck it up and get used to it and drink LOTS of water.
Before the end of the day one of our stage managers came out to get a picture of the women musicians.
Because today, for the (very likely) first time in the history of the Main Street Philharmonic, 1/4 of the band was made up of women.
Decades. We're talking decades of (likely) never having more than one woman in the band at a time, for it's entire existence. And on top of that, there still has NEVER been a female full-time Main Street Philharmonic band member.
Ya know...I like to think it's because women aren't crazy enough to go marching around in 100-degree weather in Florida all summer :p Joking aside, I felt humbled and happy to be performing alongside these women. And grateful and happy to have these wonderful, professional men showing us the ropes and welcoming us into their space. I think this band is made better, with men and women working in it TOGETHER.
Because we were actually involved in everything the day went quickly. I got home and told Jameson all about my day, and spent the night editing and uploading Keith's videos and responding to kind comments on the socials.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, up at 6am again because I need to start recording my audition and that will cut into my work time.
Pretty much worked up until lunch time, then tried to do audition stuff.
It went...ok. I managed to record two of the four pieces, and though they're not as good as I'd like this will let me spend more time on the other two pieces, which are very jazz/improv and difficult for me. On one hand I felt disappointed with myself and inadequate as a musician--isn't that funny? I just spent a day performing as a paid musician at Disney, a gig that thousands of musicians would kill to have...yet a random last-minute audition, that literally only one other person will ever hear, can instantly crush my self-worth. Ha! Human hang-ups are so funny. All I can do is laugh at myself.
By the time I was done I had a blazing headache. Probably a full day of scorching sun at Disney + marching for approx 7 miles in said sun + getting five hours of sleep + trying to complete a very stressful audition, all in a row, was not a great game plan. I had planned to work for another three hours but had to take a Motrin and lie down. The headache was gone within an hour, but then it was dinnertime.
After dinner I did work on my Disney memorization, but had to give my brain a break after that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow I'll finish my audition material and send it off, and then I'll be able to tell you what the audition was for.
On Saturday we're planning to pop over to Orlando Fringe to see some of Jameson's friends perform in a show.
I actually have a week off from Disney next week, so I hope for a quiet week of memorization, data entry, and housework.
Managed to get two hours of work in before driving the 40 minutes to my friend Pat's house for trombone repairs. It's not really "repairs" I guess, but the slide on this Minick trombone is garbage, and it's my only option right now to protect my Williams trombone from damage from the elements at Disney.
Pat is a trombonist himself, so of course he wanted to play the Minick (it's a rare horn.) He sounded fantastic (sorry I couldn't record, he doesn't care to be shared around online.) I'm always jealous to hear him play, but it's always a treat to hear him play!
Back home lunch and a big long audition practice session. I feel maybe a little more comfortable but am overall not pleased with my weakness at jazz, especially after hearing Pat play today. Trying to remind myself that everyone is different and has different skills, and it doesn't make me a better or worse trombonist per se that I'm weak in this area, and even though I'm not a strong jazz musician I've had such incredible gigs. AND I've never won a job by audition in my entire life, so certainly if I lose this one it should be nothing new and make no difference.
Then it was more data entry and packing a bag and lunch for Disney tomorrow.
Dinner from our favorite Greek place and as usual it did not disappoint.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, up at 6am to do an hour of work before heading to Disney. I felt frazzled and anxious because I couldn't stop thinking about the audition but I was SUPPOSED to be thinking about the here-and-now, and playing my first castle set today!!
As soon as I walked in, Keith (the trombonist I'll be subbing for) surprised me with a gift.
It's an enamel pin of Mickey as a trombonist!!
I love it of course and stuck it to my bag immediately :)
Matt (trumpet buddy) also had brought me a new badge holder, a fancy one that holds two ID cards and has tabs so you can easily slide them out to clock in/out. I felt like it was my birthday or something haha.
The best part of the day was that I wasn't alone; of the four female MSP sub musicians, three were rehearsing in the park today! Kristen (trumpet) and Robin (tuba) and I, and there was also a male sub on drums. I'm sure it's tough on the regulars to have so many newbs to babysit, but all of us are hard workers and were ready to do our absolute best.
Off we marched to do our first set. Keith kindly offered to record it for us!
Here is a 10-minute version, edited a little for transitions. The songs are Mickey's Fanfare, Be Our Guest, Under the Sea, Hot Dog Dance, and Wanna Be Like You. (CLICK HERE to watch)
Here's a 2-minute version with ONLY trombone highlights, my little solo hot dog dance, and the band finale :)
(CLICK HERE to watch)
Trombone section screenshot:
Afterward I felt "ok" about it...mostly I had trouble with moving while playing. Didn't know quite when it was gonna happen so was always late and made some mistakes in the music because of the movement. But frankly, if someone had pulled me aside and verbally told me the blocking, I wouldn't have remembered it in the nervousness of this first set. Sometimes the best way to do a thing, is to Do The Thing, even if you're not 100% ready. Everyone in the band was pleased with how we did and said we'd only get better with time. Since these guys have been here for years, I must believe them!
We subs performed two castle sets and the parade. Kristen's partner was on hand and graciously took pictures specifically for all of the subs. Here are the ones she took for me!
This last one is my favorite. I'm right in the center of the band as we march down Main Street USA, the castle in the background. It's just...can you imagine how this feels, to be a part of something like this? When I'm old and grey, this will be one of the photos kept around the house so I can look back on one of the peak moments of my musical career.
We were supposed to do the flag retreat too but once again it was rained out. Perhaps I'm a flag retreat jinx!
It was SO HOT, and I felt disgusting and sweaty after each set. But at 90°F today, we are still 10-20 degrees cooler than full summer in Florida. So I'd better suck it up and get used to it and drink LOTS of water.
Before the end of the day one of our stage managers came out to get a picture of the women musicians.
Because today, for the (very likely) first time in the history of the Main Street Philharmonic, 1/4 of the band was made up of women.
Decades. We're talking decades of (likely) never having more than one woman in the band at a time, for it's entire existence. And on top of that, there still has NEVER been a female full-time Main Street Philharmonic band member.
Ya know...I like to think it's because women aren't crazy enough to go marching around in 100-degree weather in Florida all summer :p Joking aside, I felt humbled and happy to be performing alongside these women. And grateful and happy to have these wonderful, professional men showing us the ropes and welcoming us into their space. I think this band is made better, with men and women working in it TOGETHER.
Because we were actually involved in everything the day went quickly. I got home and told Jameson all about my day, and spent the night editing and uploading Keith's videos and responding to kind comments on the socials.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, up at 6am again because I need to start recording my audition and that will cut into my work time.
Pretty much worked up until lunch time, then tried to do audition stuff.
It went...ok. I managed to record two of the four pieces, and though they're not as good as I'd like this will let me spend more time on the other two pieces, which are very jazz/improv and difficult for me. On one hand I felt disappointed with myself and inadequate as a musician--isn't that funny? I just spent a day performing as a paid musician at Disney, a gig that thousands of musicians would kill to have...yet a random last-minute audition, that literally only one other person will ever hear, can instantly crush my self-worth. Ha! Human hang-ups are so funny. All I can do is laugh at myself.
By the time I was done I had a blazing headache. Probably a full day of scorching sun at Disney + marching for approx 7 miles in said sun + getting five hours of sleep + trying to complete a very stressful audition, all in a row, was not a great game plan. I had planned to work for another three hours but had to take a Motrin and lie down. The headache was gone within an hour, but then it was dinnertime.
After dinner I did work on my Disney memorization, but had to give my brain a break after that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow I'll finish my audition material and send it off, and then I'll be able to tell you what the audition was for.
On Saturday we're planning to pop over to Orlando Fringe to see some of Jameson's friends perform in a show.
I actually have a week off from Disney next week, so I hope for a quiet week of memorization, data entry, and housework.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-23 11:37 am (UTC)It's so nice that they have been so welcoming