Fishing

[tacotortoise]

I don't like directly asking for help, but my indirect requests have met with little response so far. I really need feedback on my efforts at being a professional musician, both online and in the flesh:

If you have been to my website, what do you think of it? Is it easy to navigate? Is there some functionality or content that you feel the site

Comments

Re: Horn player gripe

[tacotortoise]

I was going to counter that whenever I have a parameter which is subject to change in a non-obvious manner, I overnotate. For example, even though accidentals apply throughout at measure unless explicitly cancelled, I tend to put accidentals on every note (or every non-natural note, anyway) when the melody and/or harmony are sufficiently complex. So, in the case of horn stopping, I would (at least with my present notational norms) want to put a marking over every note in a passage where the stopping was frequently changing. But then I thought about what the performer actually does, and realized that conceptually, horn stopping is actually more like a toggle switch. So yeah, indicating only the places where it changes are sufficient.

Interestingly, if my memory is correct, the convention for trumpets/trombones with plunger or harmon mute is different -- notate the +/o for each note while you're using a plunger. But the most recent data I have for that is from jazz charts played in high school, and jazz charts have some conventions that differ from classical (for example, clefs and key signatures do not need to be rewritten at the beginning of each line).

Actually, I just checked my orchestration handbook for score examples, and the one example with harmon mutes suggests the following conventions: Only note the +/o once for each change, BUT if you're already stopped and want the next note to start closed and transition to open, write '+-o' over that note even though you're already '+' (and vice-versa going open to closed). Would you be satisfied with such a convention on the horn? (This situation does not arise in Concertstuck, but I will check the other studies as well)

And finally, I will note that the one example given for horn stopping -- taken from Rimsky-Korsakov, either Scheherezade or Capriccio Espanole (I'm a little light-headed, so I don't feel like going back to my room again), puts 'o' over six or seven notes in a row, and then '+' over six or seven notes in a row. I don't know whether this is the fault of Rimsky-Korsakov, or some editor.

Re: Horn player gripe

[ratatosk]

I've never actually played anything where the notes transitioned, so I have no experience to base an opinion on. And adjacent notes are not really a problem. It's just anything that leads me on a wild goose chase to make sure I understand it that I don't like.

And, like I said, I'm confident you will never descend to the level of incomprehensibility of Sondheim's horn parts. :)