2016-12-13

【Aiden in English】

        Music for the past few years has really been growing on me. Since the start of piano lessons, there was always a part sectioned off for music. But unfortunately, it became more of a liability as time passed, and the time to practice got slimmer and slimmer.

        Then I entered the band in the fourth grade. It wasn’t all “oh my goodness, I am now going to be a dedicated musician for life”. This event simply said, “Hey, you still have more music in you to be played”.

        Now I sit, in the Wind Ensemble concert, waiting for the all-too symbolic raise of the conductor’s arms. The Winter Concert was the one we as a band prepared for around 3 months, in which we desperately planned which and what songs to use. In the end, the band decided on a few, holiday songs, and a special movie track sounding piece.

        The very special movie like song deserves a lot of attention, and I must say, there really aren’t many things that get your blood moving like a musical war. The piece titled “Arrows” by Samuel R. Hazo was a fierce, raging musical one that captured a lot of the sounds of battle, from the blazing main melody to the pounding of the bass drums. The saxophone section mainly focused on the strong melody, countered by the trombones, providing leverage from behind. Most of the strong are quite rampaging and messy, but somewhere in between, a soothing scene develops seemingly out of nowhere.

        At this point during the rehearsal, the song seemed to be … less of a set tone and more of a random bunch of beautiful melodies. Just one simple change was made to the song. We cut out around fifteen measures of music. Why you may ask? Well, it sounds a lot like “elevator music”. Obviously, it is quite rude to put it this way, but there is simply no other way of saying it. Therefore, the cut was made, and the audience was saved from the painstaking elevator tune that could be heard in … an elevator. Luckily, the cut was not awkward, nor was it noticeable. But as a band, we knew what was going on.

〖Bloopers〗

        During rehearsal, the risers behind the saxophones were set up, so the instruments like the trombones and trumpets could point their bells at the audience. Well, the seat kept sliding back, and back, and back, until one kid’s chair’s back legs fell into the crevasse between the risers. He was okay, but it gave everyone a laugh.

        Upon finishing another round of “Arrows”, I leaned back and rested my arm on the riser behind me. My shoulder was cramping, and the rehearsal was basically finished. Laying my hand on the riser, I heard a faint splat as it landed in a pile of spit from the trombonist behind me.

【红霞译文】

        过去几年里音乐确实伴我成长，可以说自打上手弹奏钢琴开始，它便成为自己生活的一部分，只可惜随着年月推移，音乐反倒更像一种责任，真正付诸行动的时间越来越少。

        进入小学四年级之后，音乐不再是“天哪，现在我准备当一名专业音乐家”，而被单纯地视为：“嘿，你搞音乐还有点悟性。”

        此时此刻，我坐在冬季音乐会演奏席上，正等待指挥挥舞手臂示意演出开始，这场冬季音乐会我们历经选曲练曲周折，前后大约准备了三个月之久，最后才决定表演几首节日歌曲，外加电影仿声乐。

        像特殊电影插曲的音乐作品值得引起高度重视，说实在的，眼下没有太多东西像战争片那样令人热血沸腾。由塞缪尔·罗伯特·哈索创作的《箭》是一首情绪激昂斗志旺盛的乐曲，通过铿锵有力的主旋律和浑厚悲壮的低音鼓来表现混战场面，萨克斯管重点突出强撼旋律，与温柔委婉的长号伴奏形成鲜明对比；多数强音用来刻画凌乱不堪的战斗，不过中间有些地方突然舒缓起来。

        排练期间就在这个部位，乐曲显得……固定音色比较少，悦耳动听的旋律倒是比比皆是，对此我们稍加改动，干脆从谱子上拿掉十五个小节，你或许要问为什么？原曲听起来很像“电梯音乐”，显然这么处理感觉非常生硬，而其它办法又不奏效。删减之后，观众大可从电梯所发出的痛苦声中解脱出来，幸亏剪辑做得并不唐突，没人察觉有何不同，但作为乐队演员，大家都知道怎么回事。

〖出丑后记〗

        排练期间，萨克斯管后排安装了抬高座位的升降板，以便让长号和小号之类的乐器能够摆正喇叭直对观众，不料上面的座椅一点一点地往后滑，致使一位小演员凳子后腿掉进两排升降板空隙当中，他倒完好无恙，可真逗乐了大伙。

        吹奏完另一轮《箭》，我背靠升降板好让胳膊担在上面休息一下，结果膀子抽了筋痉挛不止，直到全部排练基本结束。这回我正把手伸向升降板，隐约听见啪唧一声，手掌一下子捂在身后长号手吐的一大滩唾液上。

相关博文：

2015 Winter Concert of Seventh Grade(2015年初二冬季音乐会)