Jazzed to have you here, musical soul!
MPO series:
-> Part 0 – Picture Diary
-> Part 1 – The School of Gorgeous People
-> Part 2 – Colourful People of MPO (p.s. you’re reading it right now!)
-> Part 3 – Musical Meditation
In the final part of my MPO Rehearsal Diary series, I’d like to share my learnings and reflections from meditating on the experience.
Halfway through the rehearsal, Mr Gerard told us that he forgot to let us know that we were allowed to take pictures during the rehearsal, but we weren’t allowed to take videos.
He said that taking videos during the rehearsal would be like recording someone taking a bath, leaving us, the audience, terribly confused. After a few seconds, Mr. Gerard chuckled, prompting nervous laughter from the audience.
Moving on, I will be telling you what impressed me during the rehearsal. It is what I’ve observed from Mr. Gerard, the conductor.
1. <> crescendo and diminuendo. Mr. Gerard signaled these dynamics by extending his hands in peace signs horizontally, facing inward. Mr. Gerard was getting the drum dude to do this <> in his drumming and the drum dude adeptly fulfilled Mr. Gerard’s request.
2. The violins had a part that went very soft suddenly; that must have been really hard to pull off!
Speaking of violins, I learned that the violists all raise their hands with their bows at the end of a song. I think the viola players do it too, but I’m not sure about cello and double bass players – I was too mesmerized with violists XD.
Fun facts of the dewan filharmonik:
-> It has a total of 920 seats.
-> The seats are sound-absorbing ensuring consistent sound quality regardless of the audience’s presence.
Thank you for reading, love you!
