Mid-40s area man marches in parade, survives to tell tale

[SteveRiley]

Seafair is Seattle's biggest annual festival, filling most of July. The Torchlight Parade draws thousands and runs along Fourth Avenue from Seattle Center to Pioneer Square. This year, I had the privilege of joining, with several other brass musicians, the Pacific Alliance Drum Corps.



(red line points to yours truly)

The theme of this year's event was the 1960s, as 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the 1962 World's Fair held in Seattle. We played a jazzy arrangement of the Flinstone's theme, which (I am told) is a 1960s cartoon.

Because the French horn is neither jazzy nor amenable to marching, I opted to try something new: an E-flat soprano cornet.



The parade began at 7:30 PM. Our unit, #34 of 112, stepped onto Fourth Avenue at 8:00 PM. We arrived in SODO, intact and giddy, at 9:15 PM. Ah, what an evening!

[Snowhog]

Nice. Interesting horn there. Don't think I've ever heard (no pun intended) of or seen one before.

[GreyGeek]

From the various things you've posted about Seattle it sounds like a fun town to live in. I'm almost tempted to move there.

How is it doing drought-wise? It still should be getting a pretty high annual rainfall.

[SteveRiley]

Nice. Interesting horn there. Don't think I've ever heard (no pun intended) of or seen one before.

Every British brass band will have one soprano cornet. Very clear and powerful upper register, can also be extremely delicate, riding atop the entire band. Because it's pitched in E-flat rather than B-flat, everything comes out a fourth higher. But they aren't all peaches and rainbows: soprano cornets can be difficult to play in tune at times. All in all, though, they're great to carry in parades, because they're smaller than their B-flat cousins and thus weigh less.

From the various things you've posted about Seattle it sounds like a fun town to live in. I'm almost tempted to move there.

How is it doing drought-wise? It still should be getting a pretty high annual rainfall.

Well, if you can stand hanging around all us lib-er-als, then you'd like it! Seattle is truly quirky, in which my family and I feel quite at home. It has all the resources of any big city, but doesn't feel burdened by the big-city rush. Mostly, Seattle is a collection of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own charm. And I've yet to meet any truly mean people, even after living here almost 11 years.

Drought is never a problem here. Summers are dry, and lawns will go brown. But once the rain resumes around October, the lawn mowers come back out and run all during autumn, winter, and spring. The rest of Washington, though, can get really dry. The climate differences between Seattle and Spokane (near Idaho) are stark.

[GreyGeek]

... I understood exactly nothing about your horn talk ... Wish I knew how to play an instrument. Any instrument.

Well, if you can stand hanging around all us lib-er-als, then you'd like it!

Good! I'm liberal on social policy, conservative on fiscal policy.

Seattle is truly quirky, in which my family and I feel quite at home. It has all the resources of any big city, but doesn't feel burdened by the big-city rush. Mostly, Seattle is a collection of distinct neighborhoods, each with its own charm. And I've yet to meet any truly mean people, even after living here almost 11 years.

Lincoln is identical to that because it is a university town. The University of Nebraska has about 35 to 50 thousand students per year from all around the country and the globe. We are also a "settlement city" for immigrants. You can walk just about anywhere without fear of attack. There are the occasional shootings or stabbings, but its usually among family or friends, and generally late at night or early morning.

Drought is never a problem here. Summers are dry, and lawns will go brown. But once the rain resumes around October, the lawn mowers come back out and run all during autumn, winter, and spring. The rest of Washington, though, can get really dry. The climate differences between Seattle and Spokane (near Idaho) are stark.

Just the opposite here, strangely, considering that Seattle is North of Nebraska. We have the possibility of snow from early October to early April, and our total rainfall is around 23 inches per year. I can count on mowing the lawn from April to October. The Corn crop on non-irrigated land has burned up and is being cut down for silage. That under irrigation is a month ahead of schedule and the crop looks good. My wife, my 11 year old grandson and I went driving around Branched Oak, North East of Lincoln. Ten years ago it was 15' low and the boat docks at the marina were setting on dry land. Considering our heat wave with a month of 100+ temps I was stunned to see the lake at the top mark and the marina was packed with boats. In fact, the outlet was feeding a steady flow into the stream leading from the dam. Nebraska sets on top of the east side of the huge Ogallala aquifer.

[SteveRiley]

... I understood exactly nothing about your horn talk ... Wish I knew how to play an instrument. Any instrument.

The Western music scale has seven natural notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Each note can be raised (sharp) or lowered (flat) a half-step (semi-tone), for a total of 12 steps in a scale.

"Concert pitch" means that a written note is the same as a sounded note, and concert pitch is centered around C. Although the note names start with A, C is generally considered to be the "beginning" because a C-major scale is composed of only natural tones, with no sharps or flats.

Instruments in concert pitch (or "pitched in C") include all strings, most flutes, oboes, and bassoons. These would be considered non-transposing instruments, because the written G on, say, an oboe, also sounds a G. Other instruments are pitched in a variety of keys. Typically, cornets (and trumpets) are pitched in B-flat: a written C on a trumpet part sounds a concert B-flat. (The Wikipedia article briefly explains why transposing instruments exist.) The soprano cornet's total overall length is shorter, thus is plays higher and is designed as an E-flat instrument: a written C sounds a concert E-flat. In the B-flat major scale, E-flat is the fourth tone; thus, the soprano cornet is a fourth higher than a "regular" cornet.

Most wind instrument players don't have to give much thought to the pitches of their instruments. But we French horn players (who normally read parts in F) have to learn to transpose on sight, because over the centuries, composers have written parts for horn in every key imaginable. And if we're reading something that requires sight transposition and also indicates stopped playing -- hand fully stuffed in bell -- then it requires double-transposing, because the simple act of stopping changes the pitch, too.

Ah, that's probably more than what you wanted to know! Larger point: nothing's stopping you from learning. Go to an instrument dealer and find a decent quality used flute. Ask around and find a local teacher and take some lessons. The flute is easy to learn and play, and since it's in concert pitch, you can easily pick up any music book and play some tunes. Making music does everyone good.

Just the opposite here, strangely, considering that Seattle is North of Nebraska.

Seattle's geographic position makes for some strange climate. Winter to summer ranges, on average, from 35 to 75. Regular rain is October through June. Snow is rare, as are scorchers. In many ways -- geographic, climatic, social, political -- Seattle is something of a bubble. That's a large part of its quirky charm.

[SteveRiley]

Philip Sparke is one of the more prolific writers of music for brass band, and his stuff is uniformly all very, very good. Here's a recording of Flowerdale, for solo soprano cornet and band.

At 2:35, you'll hear just what this instrument is capable of, when in talentend hands (the set of which does not yet include mine).

[GreyGeek]

Wow. Beautiful piece. Brought tears to my eyes. It's one thing to be appreciated by the audience, entirely another to be appreciated by his peers, those who understand what real talent is.

The precision of his notes as he transitions from one to another really stands out. I also noticed that his cheeks don't puff out, like I see in some wind instrument players.

Ah, that's probably more than what you wanted to know! Larger point: nothing's stopping you from learning.

uh, what were we talking about?

If I could only keep my grandkids names straight I probably could learn to play a flute.

[SteveRiley]

I also noticed that his cheeks don't puff out, like I see in some wind instrument players.

Cheek-puffing is an incorrect and very bad technique. Tuba players are the lone exception to this.

If I could only keep my grandkids names straight I probably could learn to play a flute.

Playing an instrument is one way to keep the mind sharp. The community bands I play in have many folks in their 60s, 70s, even 80s. They tell some of the best stories! And it's obvious they're having a wonderful time.