I too much prefer the block. I've played in sections up front and in back and think it makes hearing a lot easier both ways compared to playing in line. Having said that, I think the problem is that in line sections are usually too closely packed and muffle itself. Adding more space between each other and making sure that bells aren't being muffled by yourself or your colleague to the right improve hearing and ultimately improve the sound of the section. Easily solved by playing off the leg:)
Chris --- Richard Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I like sitting in a block rather than a straight line. I think the > section hears each other better. As the principal, I can say I > definitely hear the section better. > > If I have correctly read your post, it seems you have a conductor who > thinks the horn bells need to point to the audience. This seems to be a > trend, especially in bands. I think they are just trying to make the > horns easier to hear in the very thick band sonority. In my opinion, > pointing the bell at the audience takes some of the character of the > horn sound away. If the conductor is trying to get the horns from the > center of the band, I would rather see them moved stage left > > Richard Smith > www.rgsmithmusic.com > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Bill Gross > Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2006 6:24 AM > To: 'The Horn List' > Subject: [Hornlist] Horn Section Seating > > I have joined a local community band after many years of not playing. > We have, what is to me, an unusual seating arrangement. > > Horns are at the conductors left in two rows, first and second row one, > third and fourth row two. Since we are a community organization we > usually > have two sometimes more players on a part. > > If the formatting holds, it looks like this. > > Conductor > Flutes > Horns:2b2a1b1a > Horns:4b4a3b3a > > "a" indicates the senior musician with 1a the principal horn. 1a and 3a > are > on the edge of the group with their bells pointed at the audience. > > So the question, anyone else seen this type of arrangement? It makes it > hard for me playing either in the 3b or 4a position to hear the other > horns > and blend with them. > > > _______________________________________________ > post: horn@music.memphis.edu > unsubscribe or set options at > http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/music%40rgsmithmusic.com > > -- > Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.7.1/348 - Release Date: 5/25/2006 > > > -- > Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.394 / Virus Database: 268.7.1/348 - Release Date: 5/25/2006 > > > _______________________________________________ > post: horn@music.memphis.edu > unsubscribe or set options at > http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/tedesccj%40yahoo.com > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
