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.

【红霞译文】

        作为管乐团萨克斯风乐手，我由衷地感到幸福，亲身鉴赏通过各种乐器不同的音色来表现音乐风格及作品内容，给人带来的精神享受难以言喻，我希望即将进行的专场音乐能让那些并非爱好音乐的朋友都有机会领悟美妙动听的艺术旋律。

        北宾州学区宾溪初中礼堂面积很大，首先给管乐团演出带来意想不到的麻烦，平常我们排练的场地有限，由于房间小，声音贴得近，听上去非常响亮。可昨天进入该礼堂彩排时，我们费了半天劲却听不到什么声音，看来房间小有房间小的好处，房间大有房间大的坏处，总之各有优缺点。在礼堂吹奏弱音，控制力度相对容易，反正音量不大，除非独奏，否则即使吹错了也会因为声音低沉而难以辨别出来；对于打击乐手来说难度较大，他们要比平常更卖力；而像大号、中音萨克斯管、长号、悠风宁号等低音乐器音质几乎没法表现出来，因为通常它们起始音量偏弱，幸亏在音乐会上，我凭借以往基本功训练，足以排除众多不利因素的干扰。

        表演时彩灯齐放，北宾州学区摄像机也同步进行现场录制，由蒙哥马利、马径、纳什将军、沃尔顿农场等四所小学组成的管乐团闪亮登场，台下观众禁不住从座位上站起来报以热烈掌声，台上演员神情专注（除非个别父母招呼自己的孩子以外），我们无不期待演出结束后的茶点招待会。要知道如今这年头，什么活动若以糖衣炮弹作诱饵，特别是巧克力桃酥和布朗尼，在排除食物过敏之后，大家上刀山下火海，巾帼不让须眉。

        演出开始，我们首先奏起“星条旗永不落”，两位管乐队老师兼指挥之一的汤普森先生邀请全体观众起立一并合唱美国国歌。待气氛活跃起来，我们又献上“盛大焰火”，乐曲本身除了节奏明快并没有其它什么特别的地方，但接下来 “磐梯山的火焰”确实与众不同。这首曲子需要萨克斯管担任独奏，我的脑海同时浮现出战争场面，每一个乐器如同一支独立的部队，小号打头率先拉开序幕，包括我们在内的乐手则退居其次，在音乐进入高潮之际，萨克斯管巧设埋伏，悄悄替代小号的位置，并将乐曲旋律推向新的高潮。随后，管乐团中各个乐器先后亮相，终于导致签署和平协议，停战白旗高高飘扬，音乐随末了一个音符落下而结束。

        另一首颇具特色的曲子叫“闹鬼的时钟”。表演前，汤普森先生有言在先，提醒观众当心喧闹的元素。我不知道观众是否在想：“什么？难道嫌音乐会不够闹腾，干吗还要火上浇油？！不如趁早玩微软游戏机该有多好。”正如标题所示，这首乐曲开始出现时钟的声音，而这种声音叫人不寒而栗，起到闹鬼的效果。木鱼敲打在弱拍上，长笛先吹出一连串滴答滴答的响声，然后再转去模仿布谷鸟叫，此时沙槌也出来烘托气氛，不久整个打击乐器粉墨登场，这回它不是用来强化乐曲气势，而是为了渲染神秘色彩。汤普森先生来回挥舞着胳膊，试图指挥喧声四起的各个音区，后排管钟敲响著名的主题旋律，乐团全体成员一起吹吹打打，阴森可怖的气息弥漫整个礼堂，乐曲结束时又再度展现出开头嘈杂的场面，随着布谷鸟声的消失，观众席上爆发出雷鸣般的掌声。

        今晚压轴戏是美国歌星法瑞尔•威廉姆斯唱红的“快乐”，“以下我要说的话可能有点神经质”，但我们的演出确实如期所望（跟我一样？）。管乐团保持快速节奏，萨克斯管几度大出风头，作曲家送给我们的“如果感觉快乐，那就拍拍手吧”就是其中之一，我们吹得格外带劲，以致于下面所有音节都必须像这四个小节保持饱满的激情。此曲终了，整个晚会也到此结束。

        礼堂里掌声如潮，也许言过其实，但我们管乐团的确不负众望，值得开庆功会好好犒劳自己一番。我吃了巧克力桃酥和布朗尼，直到现在我才有资格受用己有、己享的点心。