2015-03-25

【Aiden in English】

        Being a saxophone player in a band is something that will be engraved into my mind. The way music is made by organizing different instruments is a fascinating experience. When the concert time arrives, I want those people who hate music to hear how beautiful it can be. 

        The Pennbrook Middle School auditorium is a very, very large room, and there you have it, the first problem of the night unexpectedly. When we practice, it takes place in the band room but the band room was small. When in a small room, the sound tends to reflect back at you, making it sound louder than it really was. The day before at the dress rehearsal, the band struggled to fill the auditorium with sound. This had good and bad effects. For soft notes or piano, controlling the air would be easier because the notes will sound smaller. Wrong notes would also be muffled, unless you had a solo. On the flip side, the percussion had difficulty playing loudly, and to really hit the drums with force was out of their comfort level. The bass instruments like the tuba, tenor sax, trombones, euphoniums, they were hard to hear since there instruments weren’t very loud from the start. When the concert time came along, none of the bad took effect on me, and yet all the good sides happened to boost my past in the band.

        The concert time came, and it came with a lot of lights, a North Penn camera, and the action of the Montgomery-Bridle Path-General Nash-Walton Farm Wind Ensemble poised for blasting the audience out of their seats. Thing was that most of the kids on stage had no intention on blasting anyone (except for their parents for making them do this), and the only reason to perform was the reception after. You know in these days, if you promise cookies, preferable chocolate chip and some brownies, practically every kid would do anything, except for the people who are allergic. 

        So to start off the night, we played The Stars Spangled Banner, and Mr. Thompson, one of our two band teachers/directors, invited the audience to stand and sing the American anthem. After a beautiful run, we launched into the next piece called Fanfare and Fireworks. There wasn’t really anything that stood out other then the tempo, vivace or quick and fast paced. But shortly after came a really unique song called The Fires of Bandi. Other than the fact that we saxophones had a solo, the way I pictured this song in my head was a war. Each instrument was a separate army. In the beginning, the trumpets were dominant, while everyone else including us fell into the background. As the climax arrived, we set a perfect ambush, robbing the trumpets of their power, turning the tide. Then, every part in the band received a time to shine. Finally, a peace treaty was signed, and the white flag waved high as the song ended in one note. 

        Another particular song was Haunted Clocks. Before the song, Mr. Thompson gave a speech that this piece was meant to be messed up. So I really didn’t know what the audience was thinking at the moment. “What? The concert’s already bad enough, why makes it even worse?! I could be on my Xbox right now.” This song began with, as the title stated, the clock sound, but they were all jumbled up to give a chilling, “haunted” effect. The flutes came in after some off-timed woodblocks, ticking and tocking their faces off. Maracas came in, settled into the background as the flutes mimicked cuckoo birds at random times. Soon the whole percussion was awake, doing things off time, going against their nature. Mr. Thompson was waving his arms around, trying to control something that needed to sound uncontrollable. In the back, a tubular bell chimed its all too famous theme. The whole band then erupted, playing all spooky tunes. Eventually, the song ended the way it started, all messed up. The crowd off applauded as soon as the last cuckoo bird stopped. 

        To end the night, the band played the song called “Happy” by Pharell Willams. “It might seem crazy what I’m about to say”, but we did pretty amazing (like what I did there?). The band kept up with the fast pace, and as the saxophones, we got many solo. The composer gave us “clap along if you know what happiness is to you” as a solo, and we played with extra enthusiasm, forcing all our remaining strength into those four measures. And as quick as we started, it was over. 

        The crowd erupted in the auditorium. Although I might exaggerate on that, we deserved the applause and the reception. As I ate my chocolate-chip cookie and brownie, for once I earned some food by myself, for myself.

【紅霞譯文】

        作為管樂團薩克斯風樂手，我由衷地感到幸福，親身鑑賞通過各種樂器不同的音色來表現音樂風格及作品內容，給人帶來的精神享受難以言喻，我希望即將進行的專場音樂能讓那些並非愛好音樂的朋友都有機會領悟美妙動聽的藝術旋律。

        北賓州學區賓溪初中禮堂面積很大，首先給管樂團演出帶來意想不到的麻煩，平常我們排練的場地有限，由於房間小，聲音貼得近，聽上去非常響亮。可昨天進入該禮堂彩排時，我們費了半天勁卻聽不到什麼聲音，看來房間小有房間小的好處，房間大有房間大的壞處，總之各有優缺點。在禮堂吹奏弱音，控制力度相對容易，反正音量不大，除非獨奏，否則即使吹錯了也會因為聲音低沉而難以辨別出來；對於打擊樂手來說難度較大，他們要比平常更賣力；而像大號、中音薩克斯管、長號、悠風寧號等低音樂器音質幾乎沒法表現出來，因為通常它們起始音量偏弱，幸虧在音樂會上，我憑藉以往基本功訓練，足以排除眾多不利因素的干擾。

        表演時彩燈齊放，北賓州學區攝像機也同步進行現場錄製，由蒙哥馬利、馬徑、納什將軍、沃爾頓農場等四所小學組成的管樂團閃亮登場，台下觀眾禁不住從座位上站起來報以熱烈掌聲，台上演員神情專注（除非個別父母招呼自己的孩子以外），我們無不期待演出結束後的茶點招待會。要知道如今這年頭，什麼活動若以糖衣炮彈作誘餌，特別是巧克力桃酥和布朗尼，在排除食物過敏之後，大家上刀山下火海，巾幗不讓鬚眉。

        演出開始，我們首先奏起“星條旗永不落”，兩位管樂隊老師兼指揮之一的湯普森先生邀請全體觀眾起立一併合唱美國國歌。待氣氛活躍起來，我們又獻上“盛大焰火”，樂曲本身除了節奏明快並沒有其它什麼特別的地方，但接下來 “磐梯山的火焰”確實與眾不同。這首曲子需要薩克斯管擔任獨奏，我的腦海同時浮現出戰爭場面，每一個樂器如同一支獨立的部隊，小號打頭率先拉開序幕，包括我們在內的樂手則退居其次，在音樂進入高潮之際，薩克斯管巧設埋伏，悄悄替代小號的位置，並將樂曲旋律推向新的高潮。隨後，管樂團中各個樂器先後亮相，終於導致簽署和平協議，停戰白旗高高飄揚，音樂隨末了一個音符落下而結束。

        另一首頗具特色的曲子叫“鬧鬼的時鐘”。表演前，湯普森先生有言在先，提醒觀眾當心喧鬧的元素。我不知道觀眾是否在想：“什麼？難道嫌音樂會不夠鬧騰，幹嗎還要火上澆油？！不如趁早玩微軟遊戲機該有多好。”正如標題所示，這首樂曲開始出現時鐘的聲音，而這種聲音叫人不寒而慄，起到鬧鬼的效果。木魚敲打在弱拍上，長笛先吹出一連串滴答滴答的響聲，然後再轉去模仿布穀鳥叫，此時沙槌也出來烘托氣氛，不久整個打擊樂器粉墨登場，這回它不是用來強化樂曲氣勢，而是為了渲染神秘色彩。湯普森先生來回揮舞着胳膊，試圖指揮喧聲四起的各個音區，後排管鐘敲響著名的主題旋律，樂團全體成員一起吹吹打打，陰森可怖的氣息瀰漫整個禮堂，樂曲結束時又再度展現出開頭嘈雜的場面，隨着布穀鳥聲的消失，觀眾席上爆發出雷鳴般的掌聲。

        今晚壓軸戲是美國歌星法瑞爾•威廉姆斯唱紅的“快樂”，“以下我要說的話可能有點神經質”，但我們的演出確實如期所望（跟我一樣？）。管樂團保持快速節奏，薩克斯管幾度大出風頭，作曲家送給我們的“如果感覺快樂，那就拍拍手吧”就是其中之一，我們吹得格外帶勁，以致於下面所有音節都必須像這四個小節保持飽滿的激情。此曲終了，整個晚會也到此結束。

        禮堂里掌聲如潮，也許言過其實，但我們管樂團的確不負眾望，值得開慶功會好好犒勞自己一番。我吃了巧克力桃酥和布朗尼，直到現在我才有資格受用己有、己享的點心。