Concert Report #1
The concert SMC Wind Ensemble was on May 15 2016, in the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Arts Center. The conductors were Kevin McKeown and Peter Senchuk. I sat in the front row and the sound there was not great. People were quiet while musicians were playing the music. Musicians sat well and stared at the conductor while they were not playing.
The first two music were played by Elemental Band. The performance made me remember the old time when I was a baritone horn player in Chongqing University Wind Band. The instruments were not well toned. Young musicians could not make nice and united sound. Chongqing University Wind Band was far worse than the Elemental Band. At the end of The Big Mambo, young musicians shouted out Mambo together. All the audiences started to applause.
Then, Santa Monica College Wind Ensemble started their first piece, Music from A Bug’s Life. The sound was much better. The instruments were well toned. It was much easier to distinguish overlapped melodies created by different instruments. There were to many trumpets but not enough clarinets. The whole music was typical music for kid. The rhythm was simple. Most notes were right at the beats. The music was basically built on major and minor triads. Portamentos created by trombone made the music feel jazzy. At the beginning of the music. The main theme was slow, and consonant. It described the theme that when sun rises, creatures started their busy day. In the first theme of development, the steady bass made by baritone horns, trombones, and tubas descripted that bugs are still sleepy. And the trumpet solo is like a single bug walking on the ground stubbly. More and more small pieces of melody added to the music. Suddenly, the music got quiet again. The melody was beautiful. It seems like a bug is watching the sky. At the end of the music, the main theme reoccurred in a lower key to describe the end of the day.
The third piece of music I Quattro Passeggeri was quite different from the previous two. It was built on minor scale and dissonant. It uses lots of low minor third and minor second to create the creepy feeling. The high pitch sound made by flute made people think of danger, serial killer, and psychopath. The mix of syncopated rhythm and not syncopated rhythm made by tuba created the feeling of uncertainty.
The famous “The Force Awakens” was conducted by Katina Vallens. The tempo of the music should have been slower. The musicians were not well prepared for this music or the conductor and the musicians were not familiar with each other. The sound of the band was a mess. Some musicians were ahead of time and some were behind. It was quite obvious during the call and response between Euphonium and oboe. Oboe was ahead of time while the Euphonium was behind. During the part when Euphonium and oboe played together, they tried to fit with each other, which just led to more mistakes. The conductor is extremely important in the band and decided how the music sounds.
I am never a fan of The Beatles. I thought the music The Beatles: love would be a Mozart style, tonic subdominant dominant tonic, boring music. In fact, the harmony of the music was more complicated than I thought. The percussion set make people feel energetic. The whole music was syncopated, which made the music more interesting. The beginning of the music is nothing like The Beatles. The intervals made the music sound jazzy. At the end, finally, it comes the familiar melody. The music also added the counterpart melodies which made the music more interesting.
The program gave people a chance to understand why musicians are passionate about music. However, just listening to music can’t make people understand how it feels to be a part of the music. People should all try to create music. Then they will have better understanding of music.
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