Nicholas Freestone – young musician

Yes, it’s that time of year again, when the whole of Ipswich School basks in the midsummer sunlight (or more likely rain) and listens to a variety of musical items. This year there was a change in location, the catalyst being new bag rags blocking off the Fison building from the school field, though I know that certain members of the music staff never liked the old location. So we hired out a marquee and professional sound/light engineers (who are allegedly doing Glastonbury next week), and held the Soiree at the other end of the field, by the pavilion.

The Rehearsals

I arrived ridiculously early at 2:10pm ready to get our Babershop Item together. The yearly rehearsal in the cupboard went well, so we then went out to the field in order to help set up. The sound engineers looked very intimidating, and I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to speak to them. I first rehearsed with the Intermediate Orchestra, who were murdering playing two Bach gavottes. Then it was a switch to Symphony Orchestra, where we tided up some final details in both pieces we played. However, due to the incessant stage managing, we were now 45 minutes late. This meant some very rushed group rehearsals. It was very clear to me that the sound men’s most knowledgeable field was more popular music, for if there was a classical item, they would just say “It’ll be alright, mate”, which was certainly the case in the babershop. They knew precisely how to mike Mo’s beatboxing, but when asked to help the bases and tenors balance out, they were all at sea (“Which baritones need another mike?”). At least the piece was going well, and musically the rehearsals were very successful. I had nothing to do with the Chamber Orchestra, or some of the other Chamber Groups, but by the time it came to School Choir I was feeling rather tired.

Now it’s time for a little rant. The pieces we performed were a joke, and everybody knew that. I could have notated Bohemian Rhapsody perfectly accurately (and no doubt the arranger could have too – he was just aiming for the mass market), so why couldn’t we sing it with the correct rhythms?  The worst bit was the triplet section, when Mr Saunders could have so easily played the proper rhythm, not the version printed that sounded like a jig. The next piece we sang, a medley from the Lion King was even worse. I have a theory that it was too much money to pay Tim Rice for copyright alongside Elton John, why else would all of the words have been made up? Some of the key changes were sumptuous (mainly the ones that Elton John himself composed), but some made the audience wince. And the cuts meant that we went from D major, to E minor, to C major, to E major within 16 bars. The fact that anyone “who wasn’t doing anything” was encouraged to come and sing shows you just how desperate this item was. One of the low points of the soiree I’m afraid. </rant>

We then had to listen to a rock band sound check for 45 minutes, because the Sound Engineers really wanted a proper sound, and to be fair knew their stuff. “Can we hear just bass drum for 16 bars?”, “Just snare drum?” was a little boring though… Next, a sound check for the Big Band, which was when I had to talk to a sound engineer for the first time, asking him to help me move the keyboard and plug it in etc. “Look mate, we don’t really have time to move everything around for everyone,” he scolded me, instantly confirming my suspicions about them, “we don’t even have enough power plugs.” I found him a power plug, and we were able to move the keyboard.

Now, onto the weather. The soiree had originally been scheduled for Saturday 14th June, but was changed to the Sunday because of a cricket match. I instantly predicted that it would be nice on Saturday night, but rainy on Sunday. You can guess what happened. It was looking nice while we were rehearsing, but just as we were preparing for the first item, it started to pour down. People gathered under umbrellas and huddled together with cold, as we started to play.

The Soiree

The Intermediate Orchestra, which I was roped into playing with, played the Bach Gavottes well, and it was time for the Symphony Orchestra.  After last year, in which the rain was terrible and the Chamber Orchestra played excerpts from Handel’s Water Music, it was vowed that never again we would play any piece with water in the title.  Sadly nobody told Ben Eagle, who had composed The Lake, which was being created on the field as we played it!  The composition was absolutely fantastic, and contained the best horn solo I have been given since starting the school.  It was magical how the rain began to dissipate as soon as we started playing, and the piece went really well as it deserved to.  Ben really will be missed next year.  Next, Ed conducted a Dvorak Waltz, which I think is a terrible piece, but we played it well with plenty of “two bar phrases”!

Then I was off, shivering with cold, as the Chamber Orchestra played The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba.  This seemed to go very well, and it was followed by a number of smaller ensembles.  Soon it was time for the School Choir.  We treated it with good humour, and we had people performing who had never sang anything before in their lives, so it was rather amusing.  There were several high-profile mistakes, but nobody cared, because it just emphasised how rubbish the music was.  Next was the Saxophone Quartet, and then the Barbershop Group “Daft Pun”.  We sang an amalgamation of Daft Punk’s Faster, Better, Harder, Stronger and Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River.  This brought the audience to their feet, and the item was a success.  Thanks Ed for all the work you put into it – it was really great fun, and you will be another loss to the school.

Then it was the Rock Band, who seemed to play several samey songs (and the mics were on super-reverb!), before the Big Band entered the stage.  The sound crew (who were doing a good job) did turn me up on the keyboard, which meant I could actually be heard, and we played a set which everyone enjoyed.  I managed to save a microphone from falling onto the Drum Kit in the middle of Tom’s Drum solo, which was enterprising, and the whole performance went really well.

In general, it was a soiree to be remembered, and I much preferred the new setting.  Thanks to everyone who took part, and to the Sound and Lighting Engineers (and good luck at Glastonbury).