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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 4, 2013 22:10:58 GMT 12
General interest query here, are there any experienced and competent or at least half-decent musicians on the forum? If yes, what instrument/s do you play?
Are you in a band? If yes, what's it called, where do you play, where is the band based, and what sort of style music do you gig? Have you any Youtube clips to share of the band?
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Post by Officer Crabtree on Jan 4, 2013 22:40:43 GMT 12
Probably not quite what you're looking for Dave, but I play second tenor horn in the Nelson City Youth Brass Band. Our claim to fame is winning the national title in our division at the Brass Band Nationals last year in Timaru, which was great fun and a great way to find out what a nice place Timaru is. We are a large band in Brass terms with about 40 members. We play all sorts of music, not so much of the classical stuff but a few folk songs and some pop ('Thriller' sounds excellent when played by a brass band) as well as stuff written specifically for youth bands. Our conductor is a youngish English guy called Nick Sharpe, rather appropriately. He came to Nelson in 2006 and since then the brass scene here has absolutely blossomed. He's a one of a kind conductor and the whole band really likes him.
There is stuff on youtube of us, but it's not our best playing- even the videos of us in our award winning nationals performance. If you want to watch it you could probably just search on youtube and it'd come up.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 4, 2013 22:55:08 GMT 12
Well done Jasper! I did a search but cannot find any clips.
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Post by Officer Crabtree on Jan 4, 2013 23:28:38 GMT 12
Thanks Dave, here's the link to our 'sacred item', which is a lovely piece called 'Highland Cathedral'.
The uploader has more videos of us doing Stars and Stripes Forever, our big main piece called 7 wonders, and a video or two of us playing and marching to 500 Miles down the streets of Timaru. Note, we weren't competing in the march, but we were there to entertain the crowd.
On a side note, this year we are going up north to either Palmerston North or New Plymouth, can't remember which, to defend our title. I encourage anyone living wherever the brass nationals are being held to go along and listen to some music. New Zealand has some great brass players and it's wonderful to have them all gathered in one place to listen to.
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Post by Bruce on Jan 5, 2013 7:27:28 GMT 12
Nice work! Highland cathedral is such an awesome piece of music, very well done.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 5, 2013 9:32:30 GMT 12
Indeed, very good. I have always loved that tune, especially when played on the bagpipes.
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Post by expatkiwi on Jan 5, 2013 10:07:23 GMT 12
I play the bugle, and I use it at military funerals, parades, etc.
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Post by Officer Crabtree on Jan 5, 2013 10:38:34 GMT 12
How long have you been playing, expatkiwi?
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Post by corsair5517 on Jan 5, 2013 12:11:55 GMT 12
Not presently in a band, or even playing solo gigs, but I was a semi-professional for about 30 years.... Mainly in Otago, but in Christchurch and in Australia for a while over the years...
Guitars mostly - six, 12, bass and lap steel - but keys on occasion and sang. The only vids I have were done in Stewart Island in about 1994 and are pretty awful quality, and the only stuff I ever recorded professionally in a studio is a CD of covers that was done as a taster for prospective clients! There was plenty of tapes made from the mixing desk, but none survive....
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 5, 2013 12:59:17 GMT 12
Here's a photograph of me when I was 13-years-old.... I still play occasionally, although not as often as I used to.
This is one of my favourite instruments (I first played it when I was 13), although in a few months it will be out of action for up to three years while the venue it is in is given a major structural upgrade so it can handle the big-one if it ever hits Wellington.... 
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 5, 2013 13:21:09 GMT 12
Where is that one Bruce? Is that in a Cathedral? Or a cinema?
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 5, 2013 13:40:56 GMT 12
Wellington Town Hall. Built in 1905 by Norman & Beard of London & Norwich in their Norwich factory and shipped out to NZ, then installed into Wellington Town Hall in time for the grand inaguration on 6th March 1906. Unlike many of the grand English concert hall organs of her era, the Wellington Town Hall Organ survived in its original state while most of her contempories were completely altered as music tastes changed. In 1985, Wellington City Council spent a large amount of money restoring their organ back to pristine as-new condition, without altering anything. Today, the grand organ in Wellington Town Hall is one of only a tiny handful of instruments from her era that are completely original. It has a massive full-organ ensemble that can literally make your ears ring instantly, but it can also be played so quietly that you have to listen very carefully to hear it. The organ contains 3,354 speaking pipes, ranging in size from ¾-inch length right up to the big thirty-two footers which sound at 16 Hz. One of those 32-footers (actual true height is 36 feet) is in the front case of the instrument visible in the photograph. The current replacement value of the organ (what it would cost to replace it with an exact copy) is up around $5million.
Other large instruments from the same builder were installed into Auckland Town Hall (in 1911) and Dunedin Town Hall (in 1929). The Auckland organ was considerably altered in 1969 (and basically wrecked in the process), then rebuilt recently back into the original tonal style, but considerably enlarged at the same time. The Dunedin instrument was given an extensive restoration in the late-1990s, but was also fitted with the then-latest solid-state registration control, virtually computerising operation of the organ's stops, but apart from that it is largely original.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 5, 2013 14:59:37 GMT 12
I recall hearing that one of the churches in Christchurch was having a big old organ restored by a specialist team (I think from Timaru? or maybe Oamaru?) when the big quake hit and several of the specialists were killed in the church collapse. This was talked about on National Radio on day when I was listening, but I have never heard anything more about the incident and the deaths of world class specialists. I'm sure you'll know more about this?
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Post by philip on Jan 5, 2013 15:02:23 GMT 12
I've been in bands for 26 years. Firstly singing and playing guitar in a Waikato duo for 700 gigs from '86 to '96, then from 2002 in a 5 piece Auckland rock covers band in which i shared lead vocals with a female singer and play rythmn guitar and keyboards about 50/50 on the songs. I "retired" 2 years ago but still join them for larger gigs. I also play/sing solo for friends parties.
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Post by suthg on Jan 5, 2013 15:05:12 GMT 12
A lovely photo there Bruce!! A proud moment! What school uniform is that? I remember singing in there in a High School choir (Rathkeale College) in about 1968 in a High School Choir competition but we had an orchestra playing instead of the organ I think - I can't honestly remember - that's nearly 45 years ago!! It's a wonderful Town Hall as you can hear even faint sounds back in the audience although the Beatles complained about the natural reverb in there!! I play a bass guitar with the piano in our small church - does that count?  I can still read music so it helps when we do impromptu songs... I really am hopeless at it though... terrible at coordination and it shows when you are creating the rhythm... (no drums). We both slip up but we do carry each other through... |
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Post by phil82 on Jan 5, 2013 15:46:50 GMT 12
I've been in Wellington Town Hall when that organ was playing, and you're right, talk about "Good Vibrations"!
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Post by beagle on Jan 5, 2013 17:32:43 GMT 12
I remember dad teaching me to play "chopsticks" on the piano about 35 years ago but haven't touched one since.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 5, 2013 20:40:31 GMT 12
A lovely photo there Bruce!! A proud moment! What school uniform is that?
On the strength of that, I was cheeky enough to knock on the door of the Wellington Town Clerk during the August school holidays of that year while I was in Wellington and ask him if I could play the Town Hall Organ. I was able to produce three letters of introduction, one from my piano teacher, one from my organ teacher, and one from the Dean of Napier Cathedral. The Town Clerk was rather taken aback....I don't think he'd ever had a 13-year-old front up before and ask to play the town hall organ. He phoned Maxwell Fernie, who was the organ tutor at Victoria University, and also the Director of Music at St Mary of the Angels and asked him to check me out. I duely met up with Max a couple of hours later at St Mary of the Angels and he sat me down at the console of the organ in there (a really magnificent instrument) and said, "start playing", which I did for about an hour. Max then took me back to the Town Hall and informed the Town Clerk that I was more than capable of playing the organ in the town hall, so that opened a lot of doors to gaining access to both it and other large instruments in various places.I recall hearing that one of the churches in Christchurch was having a big old organ restored by a specialist team (I think from Timaru? or maybe Oamaru?) when the big quake hit and several of the specialists were killed in the church collapse. This was talked about on National Radio on day when I was listening, but I have never heard anything more about the incident and the deaths of world class specialists. I'm sure you'll know more about this?
In addition to their usual work, the South Island Organ Company have been greadually recoving as many historic instruments as they can from the badly damaged and wrecked churches, halls, schools and private homes around Canterbury. A mammoth task that has some real dangers, as witnessed in the loss of three people.
Their biggest project at the moment is the huge new pipe organ (and it is massive in size) they are currently installing into Napier Cathedral (somebody in Hawke's Bay has really deep pockets to pay for that). It will be all finished by mid-March, then the Titulaire Organist of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Oliver Latry is arriving in NZ to inaugurate the new organ. He visited NZ last June to attend the Annual Congress of NZ Organists at Wellington, and performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Wellington Town Hall, as well as giving a dazzling recital in Wellington Cathedral during the weekend he was here. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 5, 2013 21:56:59 GMT 12
Thanks for the details on those who were killed Bruce. Very sad indeed. To think they died simply because they were trying to save something damaged by the last big quake. Pretty awful.
Anyway, let's get back to the forumites who are musicians, on a brighter note.
Personally I cannot play anything, I'm rubbish.
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Post by ngatimozart on Jan 6, 2013 14:00:18 GMT 12
Me, the only thing I can play is the fool.
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I can still read music so it helps when we do impromptu songs... I really am hopeless at it though... terrible at coordination and it shows when you are creating the rhythm... (no drums). We both slip up but we do carry each other through...
