[Sylvia]

One of them better have LONG arms….like a gorilla. That pic is so funny.
Maybe they just didn’t have enough harps to go around, but that’s really a stretch, in more ways than one.

[Sylvia]

Just want to bring this up again because I hope no one else will have to wonder how to listen to a recording from a digital recorder without going thru the hassle of loading it into a computer.
It was obvious once I knew. You just plug the speaker into the Zoom line out, turn on the speaker (make sure it’s low when you turn it on or it will shriek)…and adjust the volume on the speaker…no need to do anything to the Zoom volume.

[Sylvia]

I sometimes get piano parts in band. I just improvise off the chords. I write the chord symbol above the measure and as many pedal changes for accidentals as I can gracefully manage…. and just wing it.

I also play with a church choir sometimes and improvise off the same music the choir is singing from….same way, write in chord symbols and pedal changes.
…and I can add glisses, which the piano can’t. (I mean theirs are not real like ours)

I do the same thing if a a singer is thrown at me for a wedding or whatever. As long as you play something on the right beat and have the right chord, you should be OK.

Another tactic is to be sure to hit the first beat of the measure and not worry much about the rest of the measure if it goes fast. I actually learned that from a singer many years ago.

But of course, I play my own rep that way…the melody and improvise the LH….I call it a free left hand (sounds nicer than fake). Only my Ave and Jesu, Joy get the real deal on the LH….everything else is imp LH.

Don’t get me wrong…I admire you people who can actually play what’s there.

[Sylvia]

My Etude once had wheels on the base. I took it to band, not taking the dolly and figuring on rolling her in (yes…because I had the dolly with my other harp at a different place at the time…) When I got to the parking lot, I rolled her to the door of the band building, and the cement finished off whatever was left of the wheels. Evidently, they were designed for living room floors. Maybe the Salvi wheels work well on cement.

As I’ve always said, harpists are all very different from each other. We have different ideas of what the harp should be, both in appearance and in playing, so that provides a lot of variety and some interesting comments.

[Sylvia]

I got some computer speakers at Walmart for $20.
Cyber Acoustics Powered Speaker System CA-2014.
The volume control is on one of the speakers. (the two speakers are held together by a cable.)
I got powered speakers because I didn’t think the unpowered ones would do anything.

Anyway, the speakers work just fine! Now I can sit in my easy chair and play back a recording from the Zoom without having to be in a different room and load it into the computer!

Thanks for giving me the idea to get speakers.

[Sylvia]

6’2 and ca. 95 lbs (I’m adding the cover) and only a 22 soundboard?
I wonder if anyone ever played those…or was there just one?

I think they needed to decorate it some more…maybe some gold angels sprinkled here and there (sarcastic Syl here…I don’t like decorated harps)

As for weight, I’m so glad I could never afford a bigger harp than a 15!
In case you young folks don’t know, harps get heavier as they age. 🙂

[Sylvia]

This was on http://www.naxos.com
Notice the third paragraph about instrumentation. I don’t know if that means he did NOT write for brass band.

Sousa’s Greatest Marches

John Philip Sousa personified turn-of-the-century America, the comparative innocence and brash energy of a still new nation. His ever touring band represented America across the globe and brought music to hundreds of American towns. John Philip Sousa, born 6th November, 1854, reached this exalted position with startling quickness. In 1880, at the age of 26, he became conductor of the U.S. Marine Band. In twelve years the vastly improved ensemble won high renown and Sousa’s compositions earned him the title of “The March King”. Sousa went one better with the formation of his own band in 1892, bringing world acclaim.

In its first seven years the band gave 3500 concerts; in an era of train and ship travel it logged over a million miles in nearly four decades. There were European tours in 1900, 1901, 1903, and 1905, and a world tour in 1910–11, the zenith of the band era.

The unprecedented popularity of the Sousa Band came at a time when few American orchestras existed. From the Civil War to about 1920, band concerts were the most important aspect of U.S. musical life. No finer band than Sousa’s was ever heard. Sousa modified the brass band by decreasing the brass and percussion instruments, increasing its woodwinds, and adding a harp. His conducting genius attracted the finest musicians, enabling him to build an ensemble capable of executing programs almost as varied as those of a symphony orchestra. The Sousa Band became the standard by which American bands were measured, causing a dramatic upgrading in quality nationally.

[Sylvia]

That was informative. The person who told me about the marches is Catholic and plays the organ at her church.

I always thought that the marches were external, like bookends, and that appropriate music had to be just within the mass…
so the prelude could include pop stuff like From this Moment On. I go by whatever the bride wants because I figure she should know.

In the 80s, I usually played the Ave Maria for Communion. Then in the 90s, I worked with a Catholic choir for five years and was told that the Ave is a Marian hymn and shouldn’t be used for Communion.

[Sylvia]

This is S. TX where most people are Hispanic and Catholic, so I wondered if it was a regional thing. I don’t know what the diocese says because I’m not Catholic.

I checked on the Internet, and it does seem to be a long-standing rule. It never seemed to bother anyone until about last year when the girls started asking for a different entrance and exit.

Another thing that popped up 10-15 years ago is the Flowers to the Virgin. Usually at the end of the mass, the bride takes a bouquet (not the one she walks in and out with) to the statue and deposits it there…meanwhile, that is where the Ave Maria is played (or sung). There is not usually a singer, so I just play it (the Schubert). I’ve heard that it is a tradition in Mexico.

[Sylvia]

Well, I don’t have any buds or earphones, (I suppose I could get some!), but I’d rather not be tied up to the thing while I listen.
Thank you for pointing out the obvious, tho.

[Sylvia]

So does that mean you can plug in your Zoom directly to the speakers?
I found these instructions online, but I wonder if it’s attached to a computer:

Turning on the system
Touch the top of the control pod to turn the speaker system on. The power indicator illuminates

Touch the top of the control pod again to turn the system off. The power indicator will go out

Controlling the volume
Rotate the volume control on the control pod clockwise to increase the volume; counterclockwise to decrease volume

The reason I prefer the small tape recorder (which is getting impossible to find…my little handheld died) is that I can put the tape into a larger recorder where I sit and listen to it…not having to sit by the computer.

I like to record when I’m out playing to check up on what I’m doing…I tend to play faster than I think I am and rush the ends of phrases,

[Sylvia]

So sorry you had to endure all that. They were truly in the Xmas spirit! (sarcastic Syl)

[Sylvia]

I don’t write out stuff, so here’s my verbal account of S&S.
My part says “Edited in Sousa performance style by Keith Brion,” so I don’t know if that’s what you have.

For the first few years, I didn’t play the intro because it starts so fast, but then I got the hang of it to watch for the start and still focus. (slow learner)
Here’s Syl’s cheat sheet.

M3 omit G♮ and A♮
M5-12 LH top notes only and connected
M12-13, LH top notes only
M15-16 19-20 use LH octaves
M15-16 2nd beat (we’re in cut time) RH B and A♮ together (omit LH on that beat)
M21-36 LH top notes only RH chord scrunches (if it’s spread out, play closest
chord members
M54-85 as is…85 just a chord
M86-87 forget it
M88- RH only
M89 1st beat
M90-91 forget it
M92 2nd beat RH
M93-94 as is
M95 1st beat only
M96 forget
M97 beat 2 only
M98 as is
M99 1st beat only
M100-101 forget
M102-105 as is
M106-109 forget it
Sections are repeated, so I use only the 1st page and the page starting with rehearsal #54. (no page turns)

[Sylvia]

Nope, only Al’s name is on it on the right side of the page….and Harp over on the left side.
The title is exactly as I have written it above.

Published in MCMLXXIII by Piedmont Music Company, Inc.
I think that translates to 1973.

[Sylvia]

What I’m wondering is….like is it the same construction… # of measures, etc., only with reduced instrumentation?

I’m guessing it doesn’t get a lot of plays.
I’m hoping it sounds better than my part, which has lots of accidentals and a couple of nasty little sections (like with one note in each hand….looking very piano-ish either with different rhythms or contrary motion).

I’m disappointed because I was expecting something very pretty, like what the song is. Guess I’ll find out in Jan. when rehearsals start.

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