Comet Man's Opus

Comet Man w/
2016 Motorcycle Adventure
Shirt

Comet Man as The Maestro may have produced his finest piece to date. I watched as he placed each note, bar, and cleft upon his score sheet – a first draft, a second, and a third. A tweak here and a tweak there as he orchestrated each rest, full stop, and divergent run.

All the while the conductor sought players for his opus. First there was a quartet including himself as he always loves most to perform the piece he has composed. It has something to do with working a finely tuned instrument in concert with others as he leads.

The working group for the piece became a sextet but that didn’t seem quite right for one member couldn’t quite get tuned up, his timing was off and could not fully commit. For a piece such as this not less than one hundred percent commitment would do. Though it saddened him, he knew it was best to withdraw.

Finally the day arrived and the opus was complete; the dry run through the piece was done and all of the instruments had been tuned and fitted for the performance of their lifetimes were complete. First one arrived at the stage, ironically the one that had dropped from the group for while he knew he wasn’t right for the full piece, he had to taste the first few lines and see it well launched.

The maestro and his wife arrived next awash with eager anticipation; he with his English Horn, she with her Hautbois Baryton for this is a piece written for woodwinds with brassy bit-players as counterpoint. The next pair arrived; the man with his Heckelphone, of all things, and his wife with her Oboe d’amore. They are a fine sounding duo and when added to first pair they spin quite a rambunctious quartet.

The five of us took off on a preamble, the four woodwinds and a slide trombone. We picked up the fifth member with her Shehnai with the other bit player and his odd-man-out instrument, an interesting percussive piece, the idiophone. The main quintet and their two accompanists headed out for the first movement of Comet Man’s Opus after a brief interlude to re-tune and position all the players. From the preamble (Interstate 5) we did a lilting jaunt (Hwy 58) to pick up the main strains of the movement (Hwy 101). The setting was ideal, weather and humidity perfect to start a long composition.

Our composer/conductor dabbled with some woodwind-mariachi (lunch in Soledad at La Fuente’s) and then diverted us for a bit to explore a gathering of thousands of other players (Hollister Bike Rally). All the instruments were represented there, all the genres in play; Jazz, rock, rap, full orchestras, country in fine fiddle, even some folk players. Groupings buzzed around like swarms of bees looking for a new hive. It was cacophonous. Once we’d had a taste of the gathering we marched on toward the first full-rest of the opus (The Residence Inn @ San Jose) with only one minor hiccup in the performance, if you will.

Not to worry, they are a well led quintet with a well written piece and instruments aptly suited to the players. The impromptu changes to the piece are what will give it lasting personality, something to aspire to but won’t be duplicated. Every piece is different, all of them are worth playing.

Ride well my friends, keep the iron side up, and stay in harmony. Peace

jerry

Post Script: I had fun putting this post together. While I didn’t name any of the players I did provide a photo of one and many of the readers will know who is riding on this grand adventure. I’ll leave it to you all to put the riders with their instruments. With that in mind I offer a little bit about the instruments I used. You can use your imagination to match them up.

English Horn – aka cor anglais. This is a double reed instrument in the oboe family and is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe at a perfect fifth lower in pitch than the oboe.

Hautbois baryton – aka baritone oboe. An octave lower than the regular oboe as a soprano. If you’ve heard the bike I reference to then you know why she plays a Houtbois baryton. And, ‘it has a deep, full tone somewhat akin to that of its higher-pitched cousin, the English horn.’ (Wikipedia)

Heckelphone – initiated by Wagner, invented by Wilhelm Heckel. It is similar to the oboe but has a wider bore creating a heavier and more penetrating tone than the oboe. It was the name that attracted me to this instrument for the quintet but the double reed construction is applicable for our woodwind group.

Oboe d’amore or Italian for ‘oboe of love’ – what better piece to put with the Heckelphone? This instrument is slightly larger than the oboe and is less assertive having a more tranquil and serene tone.

Shehnai or mangal vadya – this instrument is similar to the oboe and common in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It is made of wood and double-reeded with a flared bell at the end sometimes of metal construction for the flare. The sound is thought to create a sense of auspiciousness and sanctity.

Slide Trombone – in the brass family and creates sound by vibrating the player’s lips, the slide changes the pitch. It is the perfect instrument to play ‘wha wha whaaaaa’ and that’s all I need to say about that.

Idiophone – our percussion instrument for the first movement creates sound primarily by the whole instrument vibrating without the use of strings or membranes. Struck idiophones include wood blocks, singing bowls, marimbas, and steel tongue drums.