Music
University Daily Kansan / Thursday, September 7, 1989
11
Comparing notes
Charles Sharpe, Wichita senior, receives some personal instruction on Timpani technique from Jorge Perez. Gomez.
Elizabeth Kellv. Wichita freshman, practices the bassoon.
Story by Jennifer Reynolds
Together they compose the booms,
the rumbles and the oompads.
The bassoon, tuba and bass violin in the University Symphony Orchestra are the instruments that everyone hears but few notice.
"They are the lower-range instruments of each section," said Jorge Perez-Gomez, conductor of the orchestra. "They play a supporting role, like the bass guitar in a rock group."
Paige Orr. Topeka sophomore, holds down the bass line in bare feet.
But, supporting roles in an orchestra don't lend themselves to solo or spotlight opportunities, and often the players must wait whole rehearsals while the players of melodic instruments learn their parts, he said. "Sometimes we overemphasize the flutes and the violins," Perez-Gomez said. "Solo pieces are melodic and flutes and violins are melodic instruments. These instruments (in the lower range) are accompaniment."
But, how do the accompaniment players feel about their roles and their instruments? And what kind of person does it take to play always the supporting role?
Clown of the orchestra
"All the instruments are equally important," said Phillip Shirley, Lawrence graduate student and bass player. "The supporting role may be a little bit easier."
He said the bassoon gets several opportunities for solos but many times the solos are for funny reasons.
"The bassoon is often called the
crown of the clowns.
His instrument may play the role of the clown but Shirley himself is more reserved when speaking.
With a quiet voice he described,
slowly and thoughtfully, why he
began to play the bassoon and why he
continues to play.
"My junior high band had no bassoon players," Shirley said. "The director asked if I would play it and I asked OK. Now, I'm just in music for the fun of it." He is a math education major in the graduate certification
Photos by Kent Gilbert
program.
In rehearsal, Shirley played his instrument with intensity.
Holding his bassoon at attention like a riff, he waited for his cue by counting the rhythm with nods of his head. Sitting straight up, he pressed his lips together and began to play the sounding notes of his instrument.
During breaks in the music for instruction, Shirley read and re-read his part, occasionally looking up to listen to Perez-Gomez. Although music is not his major, he explains his musical commitment simply.
"I don't know what I would do without the orchestra," Shirley said with a smile.
No more marching
Kelly O'Bryant, Republic, Mo., sophomore, started to play the tuba in junior high marching band.
"I've been in marching band for seven years now and I can't stand marching band," the tuba performance major said. "I never want to set foot on a football field again."
O'Bryant described the tuba as a linebacker.
"They are taken for granted but missed when they are not there," he said.
O'Bryant had his own opinion of what it took to be a good teu player.
"You have to have the flair and outgoingness of a maniac," he said. "You have to live through all the jokes about the size of your instrument. But, tuba players are kind of warped anyway to want to spend six to seven hours a day with this huge instrument."
O'Bryant explained with his hands, as well as his voice, his part in an upcoming performance.
"The tuba part is like a chant," he said. "It's a snake coming from the darkness."
O'Bryant said his featured tuba part in an Oct. 15 orchestral performance was rare.
O'Bryant sits at the very back of the orchestra but the presence of his instrument is seen and heard throughout the room.
detected by the rise and fall of the tuba. O'Bryant slowly rocked side to side with the tuba in his lap, counting the rhythm and waiting patiently for his next note.
He almost hugged the tuba as he balanced the instrument and leaned to one side while playing. When the pace of practice slowed, he leaned against the back wall and listened to
"Occasionally I'll have a solo in the brass section," he said. "To be totally exposed at the beginning of a concert, however, is very unusual."
His head was hidden behind the massive horn, but each breath was
Perez-Gomez explain the timing of the piece.
"The hardest part of tuba playing in an orchestra is the waiting," he said. "You play a note, count to 100 when jump in. You can't space out."
O'Bryant doesn't space out but he does take breaks. During the longer intervals, the tuba sat sideways on his lap and popped up just in time for the next note.
O'Bryant said young musicians interested in playing the tuba should start practicing now.
"The market for tuba players is really good right now," he said. "The tuba has been going through a revolution the past ten years."
4th grade beginnings
Paige Orr, Topeka sophomore,
started to play the bass violin in 4th grade. The bass violin is bigger and has a deeper tone than the cello.
"I decided I was going to play the instrument because it was different and it was something outrageous to do," she said.
Orr, a theater major, became more committed to her instrument three years ago when she started taking private lessons.
"It was one of those things I stuck with but never took seriously," she said.
During rehearsal, a barefoot Orr sat down on a stool and let the bass lean against her shoulder like an old friend. She plucked the strings while
bracelets moved up and down her arm in time to the music.
Orr, who was excited to talk about her instrument, said waiting for the bass part to come up is difficult.
"The waiting can be hard but it depends on the piece and the mood you're in," Orr said. "You can't practice unless you go to orchestra (practice) because you can't sit around by yourself and count to 38."
Occasionally while waiting, Orr would check her nails or tap on the bass with her fingers, exchanging beats with the musician next to her.
Orr said that playing a supporting instrument could be difficult as well as easy
"It works both ways," she said.
"You don't have the pressure of playing the melody but you have to keep up."
Orr described her love of playing in just one sentence. "I couldn't see giv-
Perez-Gomez explained why the members of his orchestra who play the lower-range instruments don't mind their supporting roles.
"There's obvious enjoyment they recieve in playing the low notes," he said. They also understand that their role in the orchestra is different than that of a melodic instrument.
Scott Watson, assistant professor of tuba, offered a different explanation.
"There's something about playing low notes that makes it seem more important," he said. "In western music the bass line is so important. Besides the melody it is the one line you cannot do without."
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