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A Free Collection of resources related to Orchestration [online]

4/8/2020

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The best way to understand orchestration is through experience and interaction with the material. Consider score-studying the parts of specific instruments, or a concerto written for the instrument. While manuals are comprehensive, they do not provide the logical flow of empirical learning that one would get from actually learning the instrument. Knowledge is different than practice.

With that said, here is a space where I will compile free sources on the webs for those who are interested in learning orchestration and instrumentation.

Sources will be from certain public domain libraries, articles, etc.

Anatomy of the Orchestra by Norman Del Mar (Google Books)
Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov (Gbooks)

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Some thoughts on branding for classical musicians

3/22/2015

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A Study of Arts Management in the Classical Music Genre

Performers of any form of art deal with the same issue of constrained availability, which has a problem exquisitely explained by this adage—“You are only as good as your last performance”. Performers face this unchangeable but amenable problem called constrained availability, where the physical presence of the performer from the audience’s point of view is constrained by particular geographic or seasonal/time boundaries. For example, if one wants to hear a performer live at an event, that admirer of the performer must 1) within physical proximity with the live event, or has the ability to physically get there 2) be available at that time for the live event. The live event might be in the next year, in which case, the admirer must prepare vigilantly to this live event a year in advance in order to ensure attendance for that event. 




Assuming that the performer’s goal is to maintain constant contact with his/her fan-base, there is one additional problem—that is the inevitable uncertainty of outcome. The arts is wonderful for many reasons, one of which is various artistic possibilities, measured in level of uncertainty, in any live performances. A performer is not a machine—any product of a human being remains variable based on the situation. Some variables that may affect a performance include the time of performance, the location of the performance, the instrument used in the performance, the attitude of the audience, the acoustics of the hall…etc. 




These innumerable differences are what makes each live event special; however, these differences can also instill doubt of consistent performance. The audience should not expect a performer to give a perfectly exact live performance all the time. Even the utmost admirer of the performer celebrity understand that live performances are spontaneous and can be inconsistent at times. This uncertain outcome is crucial when a potential ticket-purchaser is making his/her purchasing decisions.




Social media presence mitigate both of these problems at least in part. This essay comments on the marketing strategies of celebrity performers in the classical music genre. In addition to analyzing why classical musicians need social media presence, this essay will contemplate both the unintended and intended implications of arts marketing. The intent for classical musicians to have social media/ web presence is to maintain persistent availability as well as to alleviate any doubts of uncertainty in the quality of that performer’s future live performances. On the other hand, the unintended consequences of anticipating public opinions by offering public constant access to performances, through the use of uploaded albums and youtube videos, is in a way institutionalizing the standard of popular public taste and preferences. The media is an institution; media has influence over public opinion. I will discuss how by having a successful online presence, celebrities of classical music must first qualify for any generational gap in tastes, and confirm or custom-fit their performance interpretations to general uniformity and understanding. As a result, the community mutually defend these understandings, which results in cultural persistence.




Brand Community




Each classical music performer celebrity is his/her own brand. Arts marketers consider these musical personalities as a “difficult brand”, which has these two characteristics: constrained availability and uncertain outcome (Preece and Johnson 2011). Arts marketers understand that consumers have a very limited face-time/ contact with the performer celebrity. These consumers are oftentimes admirers of the performer celebrity, but also may include the critics of the celebrity. The best way for a brand to thrive is to establish an active brand community. Brand communities are defined as “specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations between an admirer and a brand” (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). The three traditional markers of a brand community are “shared consciousness, rituals and traditions, and a sense of moral responsibility (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001). 

Classical music has a highly specialized audience base, but since music is wordless and can transcend any geo-political borders, building the performer celebrity as a successful brand name can easily translate into a world-wide phenomenon. Of the three characteristics, the one I want to focus on is the first, shared consciousness. Musical performance is a shared experience—viewing musical performance videos made available on social media can facilitate shared consciousness as the community members maintain dialogue with each other. Social media such as fan-pages on Facebook and twitter, personal websites, as well as sound cloud audio uploads and youtube video uploads create a sense of shared consciousness—each present functions for community members to comment on the performance.




Cultural Persistence




While social media is currently a popular method for marketing companies to maintain persistent communication and constant contact with the consumer base, I hypothesize that social capital presented online is previously unseen method of marketing for classical music, and that creates problems with cultural persistence and the resistance to change. A core concept of marketing is to bring a product closer to the user. In a way, the term “arts marketing” suggests that the production of music, i.e. the performer celebrity, is not merely conscious of the consumer base, but rather producing renditions of the music that cater to the consumers. Arts marketing has always been very careful with not overstepping the artistic director’s bounds—to maintain the integrity of the music despite what the market indicates. However, so much of this is unmeasurable. 

With the advent of social media and the easily measurable “friend/fan/follower count”, measuring the popularity of a performer celebrity is a simple process that any given consumer can use in crucial decision making evaluations, such as whether or not to purchase tickets, or purchase albums, or spend time to watch an online full concert etc. Since one would assume the more fans a celebrity has, the better he/she is at th, then the bigger that number is, then less risk is involved. 

In Lynne Zucker’s article from 1977, she writes of the sociological affect of the role of institutionalization in cultural persistence. She found that “the greater the degree of institutionalization, the greater the generational uniformity, maintenance, and resistance to change of cultural understandings” (Zucker 1977). Since the media is a type of institutionalization, especially with the method of validating the celebrity with a “checkmark” in Twitterverse, one could argue that this type of social media marketing correlates with uniformity and resistance to change, and may be an unintentional affect of how arts marketing is shaping the classical music community’s tastes and preferences.











































Works Cited

Albert M. Muniz, Jr. and Thomas C. O’Guinn, “Brand Community,” Journal of Consumer Research 27, No.4 (2001):412-432.

Lee, H. K., “When Arts Met Marketing: Arts Marketing Theory Embedded in Romanticism,” International Journal of Cultural Policy 11, no.3(2005):289-305.

Lynne G. Zucker, “The Role of Institutionalization in Cultural Persistence,”American Sociological Review 42, no.5 (1977): 726-743.

Omar Lizardo, “How Cultural Tastes Shape Personal Networks,” American Sociological Review 71, no.5 (2006): 778-807.

Stephen B. Preece and Jennifer Wiggins Johnson, “Web Strategies and the Performing Arts: A Solution to Difficult Brands,” International Journal of Arts Management 14, no.1 (2011):19-31.

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Some thoughts

12/30/2014

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Lava

9/26/2014

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Movies to watch

9/26/2014

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I really want to watch these future movies:
The riot club
Love, Rosie
Two Night Stand
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new project: creating customized pedagogy

9/10/2014

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I've decided that teaching is better when customized. That is why I plan on writing short little ditties for my students, as well as create lesson plans catered to each individual. Here are my first two short works. They are easy, and the technique goes along with what they have been working towards currently. 
Picture
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Aspen Afterthought

8/19/2014

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While I am writing this at the bottom of the Ajax Mountain, at the only Starbucks in town to be exact, I feel that I have already left Aspen. The reason is, of course, my friends were Aspen. All of my friends have now graced their presence elsewhere, back to their hometown or college, and so I am left here with time to kill alone. 

After wandering in the new Aspen Museum by my own-self for about an hour, I realized that this museum is a culmination of all my learnings here at the Festival. Creativity should be valued above all else. Imagination is not for the faint-hearted. You must feel it so intensely, and not fear it at all---and love it and follow it. That is how you become an artist. The traditional ways are not going to survive without a bit of hybrid genetics. While nature is to be marveled at, modern architecture is also a view of its own. In the same way, if classical art is nature, then modern art is  not only the future, but the present. I do not want to be caught behind anymore. It's time to forge my own. Seal the deal with my own thoughts, words, kiss, and embrace. 

Craziness aside, Aspen was the single most exciting thing that's happened to me. I am so Thankful to God and my Family for this opportunity.

The many dogs here are amazing. I love 
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Lateral Motion of the hands: angles of the hand from the body

8/6/2014

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手中的橫向運動:角的手從身體

When do you use Lateral Motion?

The lateral motion is used when playing across lines that rise in sequence in intervals, such as the alberti bass, or any deviation of it such as broken chords, arpeggios...

Should fingers be curved?

Though it does depend on the piece, lateral motion of the hand would most likely move faster and have more stability when the fingers are out rather than inward. If the tips of the fingers are aimed at a relaxed angle, the distance between the tips of the fingers, for example from 2nd to 3rd finger tip, lessens. This means the notes are more likely to be the ones you aim to play, and it is more likely to feel sturdy and secure. 
What is the Angle of the Hand from the Body mean? And Why Should We Pay Attention To Where We Place it?

Repeated chords at syncopation can be a real difficult task. Rather than having a secure and solid sound, the notes might be in danger of being light and shallow. Even when the notes are played correctly, the sound quality of these chords can be 'surfacey', rather than with a solid core. Therefore, the angle of the hand and the use of the flatter flesh of the finger tips is important. 


當你使用橫向運動?

跨過上升序列中的間隔,如阿爾貝蒂低音,或它的諸如分解和弦,琶音任何偏差線播放時的橫向運動用於... 

 如果手指是彎曲的? 

雖然它依賴於片,手的橫向運動將最有可能移動得更快,並具有更大的穩定性,當手指出來,而不是向內。如果指尖的目的是一個輕鬆的角度,手指的尖端之間的距離,例如從第二到第三指尖,減輕。這意味著該說明是更可能是那些你打算玩了,它是更容易感受到堅固和安全的。



什麼是手的角度,從身體是什麼意思?
為什麼要我們注意的地方,我們把它? 


在切分音重複的和弦可以是一個真正艱鉅的任務。而不是一個安全,堅實的聲音,音符可能會在被淺淺的危險。即使當票據被正確地播放,這些和弦的聲音質量可以是漂浮的,而不是與固體核心。因此,手的角度和利用指尖的平坦的肉是很重要的。

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The Alberti bass and weight distribution

8/6/2014

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阿尔贝蒂低音: 權重分配

What is the Alberti Bass?

The Alberti Bass is a commonly used idiom in classical music, starting from the classical era with Haydn and Mozart. In solfege, you would sing it as Do-Sol-Mi-Sol. Another way to describe the Alberti Bass is that it goes one-five-three-five. 

What is the function of Alberti Bass?

It's very simple. The bass line fills each beat with a note, and the combination of these three notes create a triad. In other words, the line creates constant movement, yet harmonic stability.
什麼是阿爾貝蒂低音?

阿爾貝蒂低音是古典音樂常用的成語,從古典時代與海頓和莫扎特開始。在視唱練習,你會唱這首歌因為這樣做,溶膠 - 米溶膠。另一種方式來描述阿爾貝蒂低音是它更進了個三五年。 

什麼是阿爾貝蒂低音的功能? 


這是非常簡單的。低音線條填充每一個節拍一個音符,而這三個音符的組合創建一個黑社會。換言之,該行創建恆定的運動,但諧波穩定性。


What Makes Playing the Bass Line Difficult on the Piano?

The bass line seems simple enough--the pattern itself is not difficult to memorize. The hand position is very natural to the curvature of the hand. The difficulty in playing this figure is in the evenness of the line. The faster you play the bass line, the harder it is to keep it even due to the difference in finger lengths, especially at the thumb.
How Do I Play the Alberti Bass Evenly and Effortlessly?

A good way to play the Alberti Bass, be it in Mozart or Schubert, is to use more of your weight from the arms to play the notes, rather than using your individual fingers to create the sound. Each touch of the keys should begin from your arm, rather than from your fingers. Use weight to play the first note. When one finger is played, immediately aim for the weight to be redistributed to the next finger. The key is to not take the weight off your hand at any given time. 


是什麼讓播放的低音線難的鋼琴? 


低音線似乎很簡單 - 該模式本身並不難記。手的位置是很自然的手的曲率。在播放該圖中的困難是在該線的均勻性。你玩的低音線的速度越快,就越難以保持,甚至由於手指長度的差異,特別是在大拇指。



我如何玩阿爾貝蒂低音均勻,毫不費力?


 玩阿爾貝蒂低音,無論是在莫扎特,舒伯特的一個好辦法,就是用更多的體重從懷裡彈奏的音符,而不是用你的個人的手指創造的聲音。每次觸摸按鍵應該開始從你的手臂,而不是從你的手指。使用重玩的第一個音符。當一個手指打,立刻瞄準的重量重新分配到下一個手指。關鍵是不要把體重過你的手在任何給定的時間。

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Piano Brainstorming part 2

8/6/2014

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Other topics worth blogging about:

  • Breathing
  • Ending of Phrases
  • Hands having connection with each other
  • Importance of Half steps
  • Lateral Motion of hand, Angles of the Hand from Body
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