[Harp-L] Theater orchestra work just completed, report on experience

[michael rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx>]

About 3  1/2 weeks ago I was hired to play the harmonica part in Floyd
Collins.  I was hired because 10 years ago I met a bass player and
although we have never once played together, our wive's are friends
and whenever we met around town we talked for 5 minutes.  He has been
the bass player for this musical director many times and suggested me.
 My point?  You never know how networking is going to pay off.

I had heard Floyd Collins was an especially difficult harmonica part.
I was told the show would be this last weekend for 3 performances
only, 4 rehearsals times TBA for $350.  Basically $50 per scheduling.
I asked if the musical director and I could meet right away to hand
over the music.  He advised he could not drive.  I said no problem,
where do you live?  This was a Friday.  He was busy, let's do it the
next day.  I texted him at 10am the next day, and did not hear from
him until Monday when he advised me he would mail me the music.  On
Wednesday, he texted me that it had been mailed.  On Thursday it
arrived.  A week's worth of practice time lost.  Blah.

The actual notes asked to play were easy enough, although some of the
timing was complex with a lot of eighth notes.  For the tough parts, I
slowed my metronome to its very slowest pace and treated every click
as an eighth note.  When  I had it, I sped it up little by little
until I could play it in time, although there was no indication of how
fast it actually would be during the show.  I put them all at 100
beats per minute.

The show called for Bass harp, chromatic and diatonic.  The bass harp
parts were easy.  The chromatic had lots of melodies and harmonies,
but one piece called for an E chromatic.  It was written in concert C
in the key of E.  4 sharps, lots of button in and out on a C chrome.
No button work on an E chrome.  However, I do not own an E chrome and
did not want to spend $150 for one gig.  I worked hard to do it on a C
harp and could do it but it was inconsistent.  I remembered I bought a
B chromatic because I thought some tricky songs could be made easier
if place one half step off, kind of like a guitarist tuning down one
half step.  It paid off!  Now the song was as if in the key of F on a
key harp, only one flat.  It saved me.

The diatonic harp parts were listed as C crossharp, for example.  It
did not indicate whether that meant play a C harp in the key of G or
an F harp in the key of C.  You would think I could just look at the
key signature and find it out, but the key signature for G is one
sharp.  Often, that situation would have 3 sharps in the key
signature.  It did not line up.  Luckily, they gave me a CD of the
original cast recording and I figured out it was a C harp in the key
of G.  Also, the notes laid out much better on a C harp.  There was
also a song that said F crossharp third position.  I liked that a lot.

Sometimes, I had to make executive decisions.  The double stops (two
notes played at the same time)  would not be available on the harp
suggested.  I would either find a harp that could do it or just play
one note.

The CD did not have all of the songs.  Most of the songs they did have
had different arrangement than the music.  The CD therefore was of
little help.

The real trouble was not the notes I was to play, but the counting of
the huge rests between my lines.  Much of this play changed time
signatures every bar.  Going time 3/4 to 4/4 is not really hard, but
4/4 to 7/8 is tough.  Also, a lot of it was written in cut time but
actually played in 4/4.

When there would be 8 bars of a rest in one time signature, there
would be a bar with the number 8 in the center.  This means rest for 8
bars of four counts each.  However, a fermatta is a notation that
tells the band to hold on a note until the conductor signals to move
on.  If there is a hidden fermatta during that 8 bar phrase, I would
have no way of knowing except great experience watching conductors.

I sent a list of questions to the musical director.  He advised he
would answer each one later, but not to worry too much because they
were not looking for perfection, more the vibe of the harmonica.  This
was a great relief and although I strived to play the show exactly as
written, I made many mistakes and everybody was cool.

However, my list of questions were never answered.

I hired a friend who had gone to the Berklee school of music to help.
He was confounded and said it was ridiculously complex.

Finally the rehearsals began last Saturday. No time with just the
musicians, we went right into backing up the performers, which meant
that time between songs to discuss issues was limited and repeating
songs was based on the needs of the singers.  However, it became clear
that the director was right, everyone was friendly no one was looking
for perfection.

There was a violinist, cello, pianist (the conductor), stand up bass,
drum kit and guitarist and myself.  Most of them had worked together
many times before.  If I played an instrument more commonly used in
theater, I would have probably just gotten hooked up with a lot of
work.

Throughout the rehearsals, the violinist who sat next to me, who was a
member of the Austin Symphony, kept asking me where we were.  I am
basically saying that an advanced musician had lots of trouble
following this show.

Three more rehearsals and we we much better.  Three shows later and I
felt we did a great job.  If we had two more weekends of shows we
would have been nailing it.

Anyway, I had fun and challenged myself.  I know I am a better reader
now than when I started.  I also feel like I am part of harmonica
theater history.

At the end of the show, I was advised the check is going to be in the
mail in about a week, hopefully there will not be any collection
problems.  My bills are due tomorrow.  Such is the life of a musician.
Michael Rubin
Michaelrubinharmonica.com