When commenting on this video recording, please list ways that you and your section only can improve. Comments should be at least 4 sentences long and should be constructive to you and your section.
While watching, please notice how often people in the orchestra look up at the conductor. You should be looking up once every 2 measures. Is that happening? Please make a general comment and do not single out one particular person.
39 comments:
I have to say that our section (1st) did a poor job in looking up at the conductor. I only saw like richards eyes like once. I also have to say that we need to have better dynamics becasue it is just as loud in the begining as the end. I we really need to work on tone- some of use are flat and sharp when we sho1uldn't- and it really stands out
I think that the cellos need to work on a lot. Mostly, we need to work on the dynamics of the piece. When everyone except the first stand played a part today it was loud when it was supposed to be quiet and a lot of people's G's were out of tune. I think that once we get the dynamics right it won't nearly sound as odd.
Everyone in the viola section did pretty well, but we should look up more at the conductor. It would keep everyone more together as a group. If we all watch the conductor, we probably wouldn't rush as much. This would make it sound a lot better as our section would be more together with the second violins.
In general, the orchestra played okay, but there is definitely room for improvement. The orchestra as a whole did not look up at the conductor as frequently as they should have (except in the final measure where most people looked up). However, the first violins in particular seem to ignore the dynamic markings within the piece. Some of the notes played were out of tune, while others were played during different times. I need to work on getting the notes in tune, the bowing correct, and looking up at the conductor more frequently.
I think that our section (violin 2) did a horrible job at looking up, i only saw maybe 8 pairs of eyes in total for the entire orchestra look up! in our section probably only 1 or 2 of those 8 pairs looked up. Also i think that the tempo go really fast a minute into the song, and the violas, cellos, and bases had to struggle to keep up. I think that our notes were a little off, and about 1/2 way through after the 4 beats of rest some people came in early and or late... we need to watch for the conductor to give us the signal to begin again! Also as Allison said, the dynamics weren't heard and i think that, that goes to pretty much the entire orchestra, some people were quiet when they should have been, but some people were loud and drowned out the other musicians. I know that if we pay more attention to the dynamics, and we look up ever 2 or 3 measures (which most of us can do because of the measures of rest and all of those half notes we don't need to stare at the same not for 2 beats.) then we can make this sound amazing we are almost there but we need to focus in class more. Lets make a goal for those reading this... that tomorrow we will improve 1%, then the next day until we have created real music... no more of what we just watched, we are THE DHS Orchestra and we can do better... will we? We all need to make the effort.
I think the cellos diffinatley could of done better. We didn't have any dynamics and the first stand was just as bad as the last, we all need to pay attention to the mezzo-pianos and mezzo-fortisimos just as much as the pianios and fortisimos. Also, we all need to look up at the conductor more, only two people looked up the entire time, and it was only once. We really need to bump up the intensity of the piece because it is sounding like we don't really care and are bored.
OL
I feel like my section, the 2nd violins, need to slow down and put a LOT more effort into the dynamics. We really ought to watch the conductor and keep the same tempo. If we're together and we can totally make this piece seem more advanced than it really is.
I think this video was different in many ways. We improved in certain ways, but got worse in other ways. The 2nd violins have a lot to improve on. About half the section began to rush which caused the whole section to rush and then the orchestra had to struggle to keep up. The bowing is still off. Also the dynamics still aren't improving. We need to show the creshendos and decreshendos more often. Also the posture of the orchestra needs to improve a lot. Everyone is slouching. And for the eyes, you'll be lucky if every person looked up once! This would solve a lot of our problems.
Oops I just noticed I spelled crescendo and decrescendo wrong! Oops :)
I think that the first violions can improve on many things. For one we were not together throughout the whole song. Some people were going faster than others , and that is because we did not look up at all. I think that some of our notes were off and need to be worked on. I think that our intonation needs to be improved on because its a simple song and we need to make it sound beautiful.
Caurice Wynter
i think the basses did a decent job at looking up, but it could be a bit better considering we basically have the whole song memorized. we did do a good job at the end and coming in after 8 measures of rest. also, it may just be the camera but besides that, we should play a bit louder so our part can be heard better. lastly, the eighth notes we play at the top of the scale have to be with the tempo. we have to resist the urge to speed up there.
The second violin section could improve on their bows. There are quite a few sections where bows are going in different directions. Our section is also slightly, in my opinion, over powering the first violins, so if everyone played softer, especially when we're not important it would allow that main melody to be heard better. Also we are often not together with the first violins whom we are supplementing. All in all, people did not look up.
Weeeeeeeeelll, firsts, i'm quite disappointed in ourselves. We didn't really look up, which everyone else is saying, but that's really the ultimate problem. If we looked up, our dynamics would sound better, we'd play together throughout the piece, and we'd learn the music better because we'd truly have to know our notes to look up often. (Because that sentence was completely running on and on, i count it as at least 2.)
The violas really need to stop rushing!! We have to carefully watch Miss Minnis for the downbeat (and the rest of the beats) so we all come in on time. Right now, we sound extremely separate rather than together.
Everyone in the orchestra needs to look up - this will prevent rushing.
So! I think our section needs to work a bit on intonation; the A on the E string tends to vary sharp or flat throughout the first violins. As the piece really isn't difficult (I pretty much have it memorized and I'm not what you would call an expert violinist), we all really should be looking up at the conductor more frequently. With regards to dynamics, I do think that we should have reached a softer pianissimo at the end, but I also feel that the other sections tended to play a bit loud. If the entire orchestra played correct dynamics, it would make the melody stand out more clearly, rather than have the song sound like a smooshed cricket instead of a sleeping one.
Well, it wasn't really that bad, but there's a lot of little things that, I guess, add up to being a decent-sized problem. I agree with Haley in that the 2nd violins have to figure out when we're doing down-bows and when we're doing up-bows because the visual effect of bows going in different directions is kind of disturbing. Also, as everyone's basically already said, no one really looked at the conductor a lot (certainly not every 2 measures!) and that would really help with tempo and rhythm. Lastly, the dynamics are still kind of non-existent except for the end, where the fading out is noticeably present.
Our section needs to make the higher notes sound more in tune. We could use a fourth finger instead of an open string. We never got quiet when the piece said piano we were always loud. We never looked up at the conductor. This prevented us from being in sync with the violas.
The viola section did not look up at the conductor as much as they should have. As mentioned on the blog, we should be looking up at the conductor every 2 measures.Something that the violas should work on is plucking together. Not only would this make our section as a whole sound more confident, but will help bring attention to any notes that we need to fix.
Overall, i think that we improved on some things while we got worse on other things. One thing in the video that really stood out was dynamics, we didn't really seem to change from mp to mf at all or from p to mf. And towards the end the second violin section decided to rush a bit and we got really sidetracked from the rest of the orchestra. I also noticed that less than half the orchestra looked up at the conductor during the entire piece
The 2nd violins need to work on dynamics; we need to play softer when our part isn't that important. Our bowing is off, so we need to pay attention to bowing markings in the piece. Also, the
2nds didn’t look up at the conductor very often. We rushed in certain measures with the eighth notes and to prevent this from happening we need to look at the conductor.
I noticed that the almost no members of the First Violin section didn't look at the conductor throughout the piece. Our section should work on not speeding up during some eighth notes of the song, as it sounds really weird and "not together." we should use more bow as well, as some people only seem to be using a tiny portion of their bow.
In the viola section, I think it is important that we are always watching the conductor. Because we have the same part as the violin 2 part we need to make sure we are with them, otherwise we sound disorganized. This will go well if both sections watch the conductor and do their best not to speed up. All in all, I think it was much better than last time.
I think it's pretty clear that practically no one looked up at the conductor, which is why our particular section (1st violin) was off tempo. We really need to listen to each other so that we can play in unison because at points I noticed others in the section were impatient and started too early when there were rests in the piece. Also I think when we hit the higher notes they were flat and maybe instead of using our E strings we could use fourth finger on A because otherwise it sounds too sharp. Another thing we could improve would be dynamics, because it seems everyone played the piece in mezzo forte or forte and there wasn't a huge transition of volume which made it unexciting.
The bass section could do with a little less domination, possibly bring the epic knob down from 11 to 9.5 or something. But seriously, the basses need to keep the time through the whole song. Since we barely play anything, we should really pay attention to the conductor and lock in with the tempo. We should also lock in with each other so that we're all on the same page where tempo is concerned, laying back or pushing the tempo when necessary.
My section, the 1st violins, need to work on our problem of rushing, especially during the eighth notes. Looking up to watch Miss Minnis conducting will definitely help. Also, some people are playing open E and others are playing 4th finger on the A string, giving the note a different tone since some people are out of tune. Lastly, we have to work on dynamics. In order to work on them, we should make it noticeable between the mezzo-piano and mezzo-forte.
With regard to looking up at the conductor, I did not see many first violins looking up during the duration of the piece. It is clear there were times when this definitely affected our performance as there seemed to be times during the piece when the first violins fall out of sync do to some people playing to quickly or not fast enough, thus causing a muddled echo effect within our section. Dynamics definitely need to be worked on as the dynamic markings are clearly labeled in the piece, but are not really heeded in the first violin section. Finally, the first violins should come in a little more strongly (but not necessarily louder) when the second violins stop playing. There is a measure where the 1st violins begin the phrase without support from the second violins. This phrase currently sounds a little shaky. I'm sure with more practice this little issues will be resolved and the piece will improve greatly.
I thought that the second section did not even give any hints of looking at at the conductor. Plus the dynamics were nonexistant. We didnt grow louder nor softer when the time came. I dont know if this is right but the second to last note that the second section played was slightly off tune. Somehow it souded wrong to me. Maybe it was because there were different tempos towards the end of the piece. I thought that the seconds sped up when we came in after the first violins with a lower octave. I definitely feel that it would sound altogether better if the violins looked up at the conductor while playing.
The entire Orchestra did a poor job looking up at the conductor considering the level of the piece, which is somewhat sad. Again, I'm hearing the "unsure" practice sound that one plays at home when they lack a mute - do not play piano as a forte, but use clear sound as well as clean bowing. Truly let the spirit of the peace flow through you. It's an easy song, ironically though the biggest problem I see is confidence in our plsying.
The 1st Violins did not look up throughout the entire middle section of the piece, and I agree I did not look up as much as I should have. However, most people did not even look up at the end where the tempo changes and slows down, making it sound a little messy throughout the section. Dynamics were still lacking and this created a sound that was not even throughout the section, which when combined with the fact that we were not always playing together within the section and in teh orchestra, made the piece weak. Also, we tend to rush the eight notes!
The first violin section needs to work on dynamics because it stayed at the same level of volume the entire time. I also noticed that almost no one looked up at the conductor. But it sounded as though the first violins were together during the entire piece. Also, the high notes to me sound a little off.
First, there really should be more dynamics. In a song that doesn't reach forte, dynamics are extremely important, especially on the quieter parts.
Second, there seemed to be several cases of the sections not being together. Although this may seem like it doesn't truly fit in with the assignment, it is really the job of all the sections to stay together when they should.
Overall, I think that the orchestra played decently, however rushed a lot. This is due to not looking at the conductor. We also have to work on the intonation and dynamics because if we played a f# when it's suppose to be a g as forte, that wrong note will stand out making the music sound horrible.
I don't think I saw anyone look up at the conductor the entire time until the last note. We all need to look up at the conductor more, especially the violas because our part is harder to hear because of the pizzicato. Since we are playing pizzicato, we need to let the notes ring more so our part can be heard.
Yeah, not that many people did well looking at the conductor through out the piece (mainly just at the end). The sound sounded nice, but when certain sections rest then come in, we need to do a better job at timing the entrance more precisely. There are some errors in bow articulation for some people. But I also think that we need a little more virbrato to be heard so the sound of each instrument can make a 'japanese' style ring. also, certain sections need to emphasize there part a bit more because they might have the melody, but it's not being heard that well.
I don't think anyone looked up at the conductor enough and it would really help the entire orchestra so we could stay together and not rush. Also, the orchestra needs to work on dynamics more, because i hardly heard any variation in dynamic throughout the whole piece. If we pay more attention to the dynamics in the piece it will make it sound more exciting.
Sorry, the comment above was me.
-Lexi
At the beginning and end the melodies between sections were off slightly, making the overall song sound scrambled. On the looking at the conductor part, pretty much nobody looked except for one or two people. Also, an important part of the Japanese Cricket is its dynamics, which were rarely audible and were not present where they were supposed to be obvious. The song, though easy, can be improved upon in those aspects, and the unity of the music and the dynamics would probably be followed better by looking at the conductor more often
The basses could definetly look up more to make sure that they are keeping time with the conductor since that is all we have to really focus on in this piece
2nd violin did an okay job. I never really saw anyone look up at the conductor... maybe once or twice. Also, it might have been because of the video audio, but it sounded like sometimes people were hitting the notes slightly flat or slightly sharp, then sliding up into the correct note, giving it a weird sound. Also, the dynamics could be better, even though we were working on emphasizing them.
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