The last week has been absolutely crazy, mainly due to several very long work days. These left me tired in the evenings and severely reduced the amount of spare time which I need for my extramural activities.
I needed this time badly as I had been asked to be one of the performers in the 'orchestra' for this year's harvest festival. In preliminary discussions from the conductor/arranger, I was asked whether I read music (notes) and whether I have an electric guitar - yes and yes. I asked what the ratio between lead guitar and chordal work was: he answered 30% and 70%, but it was more like the other way around. I (and the other musicians) were sent well organised files of sheet music (as pdf) and sound files (as mp3); I printed my parts and started working with them and the music.
The arrangements were at a higher musical level than I was used to, and as a result, they required no small amount of personal rehearsal time - which is why I needed the spare time this week. I managed to get through two or three songs on Sunday and the same on Monday - but there were ten songs to be learnt! On Friday morning I had sessions with the occupational therapist and my doctoral advisor; as soon as these were over, I had another hour to go over the songs.
We had our first group rehearsal at 2 pm on Friday afternoon, which went about as well as expected under the conditions. Everyone had their problems: mine were that there is one song which is simply too fast for me to play (it consists of 32 bars in which the lead guitar has to play an even 16 semiquavers in each bar - think Greek music) and that I was over-playing in the chordal sections. These problems had simple answers: I didn't play on that fast piece (the conductor played my part on the oud) and in the chordal songs, I played on the off beats. This gives rise to the bum-CHING bum-CHING pattern which I don't like, but I was told that the piano was playing the on beats, and so everything would work out.
After a few hours of this of Friday, I didn't feel like rehearsing any more at home. On Saturday I got up at 5:30 am in order to take the dog for a long walk, then managed two hours of practice before the next group rehearsal at 10 am. This time was well spent as I worked on some parts (mainly leads) which were weak. I also discovered that I was to play an unscripted eight bar solo on one song, so I worked on this a little.
The 10 am rehearsal was out in the big grassy space where the festival always takes place. Our sound equipment has become very professional in the past few years; as a result, my guitar was plugged directly into the PA (no need to mike up my little amplifier) and I had my own monitor with its own mix. Everybody had their own monitor with their own mix, which shows sophistication on part of the mixing desk. I could hear myself play through the monitor via my left ear and everyone else via my right ear, but I had no idea of the balance, i.e. whether I was playing too loud or too quiet.
After the orchestra went through the songs, the singers turned up for their rehearsal. I discovered that they were singing over some places which I was playing lead guitar, which left me with mixed feelings: on the one hand, I was pleased that they were taking the focus whereas on the other hand, I would be standing out less. In one song, the guitar part was necessary as it was restating the tune after a modulation and intended to help the singers. We also had to chop two songs in half, as they were taking too long.
The rehearsal finished just after 1 pm; I discovered that I could hardly get up in order to walk home. The concentrated sitting and playing was very tiring. We were sitting in what might be called a side-less tent: there was a roof over our heads to keep out the sun. Unfortunately, there wasn't quite enough room for me to sit in this area so I was out in the open for a few hours. One of the sound engineers spotted this problem, and they rigged up a side extension which left me covered. Fortunately the weather was on our side: it was cloudy and not too hot. It has been much worse in the past.
At home, I immediately had a cold shower then something to eat. I tried to relax as much as possible and also drink as much as possible. We had to return at 4:30 pm for a dress rehearsal with all (or at least, as many as possible) of the participants; this went very well and we finished early at about 5:45 pm - the show was due to start at 6:45 pm. Instead of going home once again, I laid down on one of the sheets covering the grass and rested.
The show itself went very well, although I have no idea what it sounded like to the audience. Afterwards I was buzzing with endorphins. The above picture gives a good idea of what we looked like, although I am waiting for better pictures from the 'official' photographer. Whereas I can be seen clearly, the trombonist has disappeared! His trombone can be seen between the clarinetist (third on the front row) and me, but he himself is hidden.
Compare and contrast with previous reports about the harvest festival, here (2018), here and here (both 2006).
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