#scwo

Welcome back!

For today's topic, I'd like to write to you about our uniform at different performances. Basically, uniforms symbolize the togetherness and the uniformity of the orchestra. Over the years the uniform has changed a lot. The uniform was completely different than now. There was a uniform with red vest and white shirt about 20 years ago. I can't give an opinion about it due to the fact that not only I haven't played music, but I haven't even lived at that point in time. 

A few years later the orchestra changed the red vest for the more modern red T-Shirt. 

The uniform was changing again for a burgundy coloured T-Shirt when I was entered into an orchestra. I really liked to wear this because it was modern and I love burgundy anyway.

I had so many musical experiences while I was wearing it. For example, my first concert or different kinds of performances such as a march. Although, the march is quite spectacular from the outside but difficult to carry out inside because it requires a lot of concentration to be able to step and play the tracks well at the same time.

Of course, our conductor directs this action perfectly, while he is lifting the stick we are moving with a left foot simultaneously and always marching to the beat of the music. Fortunately, we have an aid to play the tracks perfectly. The sheet music is fixed to the instruments with a special tool, so we don’t have to play all the songs by memory.

A new idea came this year to change the colour of T-Shirts. We thought a lot about what would be best. The mans considered the grey colour the best while the women the dark blue, so we got an idea to have two colours, grey for men, dark blue for women. Someone had an idea that we could have a Hungarian flag on the T-shirts because we use to take part in international competition and the flag indicates that we are from Hungary. All member considered the flag as a great idea. And look at our current uniform. I think it’s amazing and really ours.

We have another uniform for more formal events, performances and competitions. On these occasions, we usually wear black since black is the colour of elegance and formality. The men usually wear black shirts and trousers; women wear black pretty dresses with high-heeled.

Hello again, 

I'd like to write to you in this post how I became a musician and about my instrument. First of all, I was starting to play an instrument when I was about 8 years old. My class master at my primary school started to make a flute study group, and I joined that. This provided a good foundation for my later musical studies. Two years later, I started to learn at a conservatoire.  I was faced with an instrument choice decision to bring an easier decision, my mom took me to an orchestral concert. During the course of the concert, conducted by my music teacher and my later conductor, I fell in love with this orchestral feeling and chose my instrument that became a clarinet. At that point in time, I started learning to play this instrument. Fortunately, the conductor was the clarinet teacher at the music school. I've really enjoyed working together with him, and he taught me everything about music and life. Three years later, I entered the orchestra, which I had been waiting for a long time.

My instrument is a clarinet that belongs to a family of woodwind instruments. Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet. The clarinet uses a single reed type of grass. Reeds may also be manufactured from synthetic materials. The ligature fastens the reed to the mouthpiece. When air is blown through the opening between the reed and the mouthpiece facing, the reed vibrates and produces the clarinet's sound. The clarinet consists of 6 parts such as mouthpiece, ligature, barrel, upper joint, lower joint and bell. Interestingly, the barrel part of the instrument may be extended to fine-tune the clarinet. The pitch of the clarinet is fairly temperaturesensitive, some clarinets have changeable barrels whose lengths vary slightly. For pitch variation and tuning can be made by pulling out the barrel and thus increasing the instrument's length, particularly it is common in group playing in which clarinets are tuned to other instruments such as in an orchestra.

Hey, everyone!

I’ve already written to you about the orchestra and the community, but not about the most important thing yet which are the instruments and members. The instruments are like "pets" for musicians because we always tend and clean them. It takes a lot of time and energy to maintain them because, after each rehearsal or concert, we ought to wipe them out and inside too. As I mentioned, I play in a concert wind orchestra because of it I play with a wind instrument. Wind instruments are typically grouped into three families. 

The first group is the brass instruments like horns, trumpets, trombones euphoniums, tubas. These kinds of instruments give sounds with lips vibrating themselves, causing the air within the instrument to vibrate. Another name of bass instruments is lip reed instruments. 

The second family is woodwind instruments like flutes, oboes, clarinets and saxophones.  Although brass instruments were originally made of brass and woodwind instruments have traditionally been made of wood, the names suggest to the method by which an instrument produces sound rather than the material of the instrument, which may fluctuate. For example, the saxophone is typically made of brass but is classified as a woodwind instrument because it produces sound with a vibrating reed like clarinets. The flutes are air reed instruments they give sounds with blowing across the edge of an open hole.

The third and last family is percussion instruments. The percussion section as a general rule contains instruments like the timpani, bass drum, cymbals and triangle. However, the section can also contain non-percussive instruments, such as whistles. On the other hand, keyboard percussion instruments like glockenspiel and xylophone are part of the percussion section. 

There are more kinds of members at an orchestra like professional and non-professional musicians. We have in the orchestra professional musicians they are members who are playing an instrument or several instruments proficiently. Their primary source of income is performances. They enjoy their art and earn an income while following your passion and doing what they love. They have contracts with orchestras and they get their income after the concerts. We usually call them as an "auxiliary", due to the fact that they help out the unprofessional members for a more beautiful sound.  

Non-professional musicians like me are members who play an instrument as a hobby. We need to practice all the time in the repertoire in order to be able to play perfectly instead of blattening such as the professionals. 

Hey there! 

As I mentioned playing in an orchestra is hard work with lots of practice. We use to have weekly rehearsals on Fridays from seven pm to eleven in the evening with the orchestra. We have our own hall which is used only by the orchestra members, only us for practising, and holding a party and storing instruments because there are always bigger instruments like percussion, xylophones, euphoniums, which aren’t carried to home because of their size.

The picture shows the hall I wrote about previously. So that’s the place where we usually spend our Friday evening. We use to play together with the current repertoire, which is six or seven music tracks. Although these music tracks are often classical musics nevertheless, I am a big fan of them and I enjoy and adore playing them. Our conductor was my music teacher when I learned in a conservatoire. It is nice to me due to the fact that he taught me to play an instrument and thankfully we still work together to this day, but today in a different medium. I really love him and he is my ideal person because he became a successful man and worked for everything in his life and was persistent throughout. He leads the orchestra perfectly as a person and an expert. During the rehearsals he improves our mistakes and makes the whole resonance perfect. There’s no better feeling than hearing the whole orchestra playing from the inside. Every rehearsal charges me up spiritually, I return home on every Friday calmly. It is like a kind of peace for me.

Welcome back

First of all, I’d like to speak about that I’m a non-professional musician and a member of a concert wind orchestra called Sasd concert wind orchestra. I’ve been playing there for 6 years. Playing an instrument is a kind of relaxation and peace for me after a long day full of work, for example. With the orchestra, we use to take part in competitions each year, but unfortunately this time, it was cancelled because of the covid. Preparation for a competition is hard work with lots of practice every week. All of the hard practising hour is worth it because there isn’t better feeling than winning. 

This picture seen above was taken in Prague at a competition for two years, where we won first place. 

We have a fantastic community like a family. We use to say “we are a family just others our parents”. We have become true friends and most importantly, partners as well. We help and support each other in beautiful and less beautiful moments, because of these It became a habit or slowly already a tradition over the years if someone, for example, gets married we used to play the music at the wedding. This orchestra gives me a safe point, and I have a great feeling that I belong to a community. 

The orchestra is celebrating its 45th birthday this year. Some members have been present in the life of the orchestra for 45 years from the beginning that is almost unbelievable and impressive at the same time. Every fifth year, members receive a certificate of appreciation for their work. I received that last year that I am very proud of. The 45th birthday was celebrated this summer with the musicians and their families. We organized a great performance and just enjoyed making music.