AMC--Chapter Twenty-Six

[dawn_felagund]

I am rating this chapter for adults only for reasons of discussing topics about sexuality. There is no graphic sex--it is merely Macalaurë musing about love and marriage and children and his thoughts on all of these things--but I want to play it safe. If you're not sure if you want to read this chapter, please don't hesitate to contact me, as

Comments

[frenchpony]

You do have something of a pee fixation. I find that highly amusing, although it may just be the slap-happiness that afflicts all students at the beginning of December.

I loved Macalaurë's thoughts on how to turn Fëanor into music, especially considering the seminar discussion I just had on the nature of "auditory culture" and how that might differ from or include "music." You're thinking of the chaos of an orchestra tuning on stage before the performance, right? It's a more appropriate metaphor for Fëanor than you might thing, because it's not complete chaos -- it just sounds that way. They're all striving to reach a tonal center (440 mHz in the U.S.), but the go about it in such a rich starburst of ways that the tension is almost unbearable. There are people in the world from other cultures who, when they hear a Western orchestra concert, assume that the tuning is the first piece on the program and like it better than anything else they hear.

I'm also intrigued by Macalaurë's initial thoughts on sexuality and parenthood, and especially everyone telling him that it's just a matter of time before he, too, becomes "normal." Having heard that talk and variations thereof for many years, especially the "oh, you'll want your children once you have them" variation that assumes that I would in fact go through the process of begetting and bearing a child that I wasn't absolutely sure I wanted in the first place, I could really feel for Macalaurë's horror and embarrassment at the process. And then his added mortification when the prediction turned out to be true in his case must have been quite something.

[dawn_felagund]

You do have something of a pee fixation.

I guess I do. :^P

This time of year is interesting because it's my first experience having a flist at finals/end-of-term time. Through the year, hearing about all everyone gets to do at school, I wish for studenthood again, but now I'm feeling glad that I'm in the working world instead. (Where, incidentally, the crap being piled onto me is beginning to subside. Woohoo.)

You're thinking of the chaos of an orchestra tuning on stage before the performance, right? It's a more appropriate metaphor for Fëanor than you might thing, because it's not complete chaos -- it just sounds that way.

Yes, that's exactly it. And wow, what an interesting insight! I had no idea but was simply going off what I used to hear while warming up for band back in high school. To the uninitiated, I guess our rehearsal room was unbearable for the first five minutes of every class.

Having heard that talk and variations thereof for many years, especially the "oh, you'll want your children once you have them" variation that assumes that I would in fact go through the process of begetting and bearing a child that I wasn't absolutely sure I wanted in the first place, I could really feel for Macalaurë's horror and embarrassment at the process.

Me too. I guess there is more personal experience in it than I realized at the time. I was always convinced that I didn't want marriage...and I'm still convinced that I don't want children. At least, unlike an Elf, it willl eventually be too late for me and people will leave me alone, unlike a similarly unwilling Elf who would be bothered about it forever.

[frenchpony]

What band instrument did you play? Did you learn it outside of school, or just in the band? What sort of repertoire did your band play? Did you study music at all outside of band?

Sorry about all the questions, but I was having the most fascinating conversation with a friend yesterday. He's working on a master's thesis in Music Education, and one of the topics that he wants to examine is high school band culture.

[dawn_felagund]

Don't worry about the questions. I don't mind at all!

I played trumpet. I learned as a part of my elementary school music education. Baltimore County schools encourage students to take up an instrument in the fifth grade to the degree that, out of my entire fifth grade class (which, granted, was only about 70 kids; it was a small school) only one kid did not play an instrument.

I played trumpet until the tenth grade. I was quite good in my early days--compared to the other kids, anyway--and sat first chair for a while. Then my mother, in a stroke of genius, decided to further her ugly daughter's self-esteem by making me get braces, and there went any notes above a C and any hopes of ever playing above 3rd trumpet. (Where I think I was stuck ever after.) I loved playing and only quit because my high school had the ridiculous requirement that concert band students also had to play in the marching band. Because Parkville was not my home school--I was a magnet student who commuted a half-hour one way--it was a bit much, on top of my courseload, to also drive out to school for weekly practices and one or two parades/performances each weekend. So, beaten to defeat by the harassment of band instructors who failed to grasp this notion, I quit junior year.

Around then, I took up guitar. On this, I was largely self-taught. I took a guitar class junior year in high school, but by then, I'd already been playing for more than a year, and the whole curriculum I'd completed by day one. So it was more a chance for independent study and a lot of foolishness. Through guitar, I did a bit of study of music theory on my own so that I could write songs. I had a band for a while with my sister and my husband-to-be called Gravel Factory, but we won't talk about that! :^P

Our band repertoire was varied. We played the usual litany of Christmas carols. In marching band, we played movie theme songs a lot, like the Indiana Jones theme and music from Far and Away. I was never at a band level advanced enough for any bona fide classical music; it was all written by composers I'd never heard of, specifically for lower-level band kids. (Where I was stuck, thanks to the braces putting me behind in middle school.)

Band culture at my school was...weird. And I hear that there are schools far more intense than Parkville. I had a friend who went to school in a neighboring county where marching band was called "The Cult" because of the obsessive devotion expected. I remember my band instructor getting angry summer of my freshman year because band camp coincided with my family vacation and I wouldn't forgo the vacation. They were also unwilling to understand how a student in a school where 6 of the 8 classes we took were of the "gifted and talented" level (the highest in Baltimore County) would have academic obligations that trumped band obligations. I was told to "do my homework on the bus with a flashlight." Ummm...no.

tarion_anarore was much more a band nerd than me. I'd be happy to make the introductions if you (or your friend) want to ask her about it. And any questions that you have for me--you know where to find me!

[frenchpony]

That's fascinating. My high school never was that intense about band, though we did have a marching band led by a director who could actually read music. As opposed to the choir, whose director I suspect to this day still can't really read music. Guess Who was the piano accompanist to the choir senior year and ended up being an unpaid TA whenever the director couldn't deal with high school choristers any more?

But I digress. This is great to know, in part because I can see where some of your musical references in the Macalaurë sections are coming from. I think my friend will be working on his thesis more from the teacher's point of view (he taught middle school band for about six years prior to going for his MA, which in my view is the epitome of heroic stupidity), but if he needs an outside perspective, I will be sure to point him in your general direction.