Lysander
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Hearing yourself in an ensemble
On Saturday me and a couple of other oud players went to my oud teacher's house. There was a riq player as well. Even though we didn't know the pieces
we played all that well I felt that it was quite successful. When it gelled it really gelled.
Today just the three of us oud players met up to play and it didn't feel so successful, quite a lot of errors occurred. I've been thinking about why
this happened and I think it all boils down to three things:
- there was no-one "leading" the ensemble
- the room was smaller, so we were closer together
- we were less relaxed [certainly initially]
I suppose with someone leading the ensemble it takes the pressure off the other players in a way? Also being closer together meant I couldn't work out
who was responsible when something went wrong, sometimes it was me, sometimes it wasn't, but it was hard to tell!
How can you hear yourself better in an ensemble then? Is it more of a question of listening to others than yourself? What could have improved the
second meeting?
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Brian Prunka
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There are a few things I've noticed.
- a very strong player can help everyone along. Especially with regards to intonation, if everyone is following one person then it is more stable.
If you have a tuning disagreement and no one is the "leader", then it is problematic. Traditionally in orchestral music parts are either one or three
players (or more) but rarely two—to avoid the issue of tuning disagreements. If you have three players there is always a majority rule 
- the ability to hear oneself in an ensemble is a skill that is developed with a certain kind of practice, and it is related to other kinds of
ear-training. It is (normally) not about the volume level, but the ability to focus your hearing on various elements deliberately. This is one of
the things that most often obviously distinguishes "amateur" from "professional" groups. In the typical "amateur" group, everyone is constantly trying
to play louder than everyone else (or if not confident, the opposite problem can occur—sometimes from the same players at a different point in the
piece!), while in a "professional" group, everyone is listening to themselves in the context of the total sound. When hearing multiple simultaneous
sounds, our ears somewhat naturally tend to primarily prioritize like this:
- loudest
- highest
- lowest
If all else is equal, parts that change more than others also stand out.
If your instrument isn't the highest or lowest pitch, then you need to train your ears to pick it out when it's not the loudest (which should usually
be most of the time). This is a bit of a challenge for three players in unison, because you all have the same timbre and are playing the same parts.
Arranging parts so everyone doesn't play the same thing might help.
(Re: "amateur" vs. "professional": I mean in typical sound. Of course whether one is an amateur or professional is not in itself the criterion—many
professionals don't have great musicianship and I've met too many terrific amateurs to have any prejudice on that score. That's why I use the scare
quotes, as an acknowledgement that it is a broad generalization.)
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Masel
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I totally agree with Brian, i just want to add that an ensemble/band that plays together regularly will develop it's own dynamics because you get used
to playing with the same people over a period of time. Everything Brian said is true to you listening to yourself, but also true to everyone listening
to the rest and adjusting. it is a form of communication that can takes time to develop.
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Lysander
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Thank you very much for your help, Brian. It seems that it's necessary to develop a form of listening whereby one can still hear oneself, but with an
awareness of how it relates to the other performers, like an interlocking perspective. Of course I think practise and time will help improve things
for us, like with many things in music.
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adamgood
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Thank you for presenting a question like this. It's inner game of music stuff and here are some thoughts that come to me. Brian I love your ideas by
the way.
First, egos and judgement must always be checked at the door. Everyone must hang them up on a coat hook first, then put your own coat over that. As
much as you can, honor only the sound you are creating and contributing to in the room, not the sound of the voice in your head or the voice you may
think your musical comrade may be hearing his or her own. If you're playing together and your judgement tells you "this is not as good as last time",
let go of it and return to the music.
Second, make sure that the sound of your instrument comes first and foremost from the sound you hear inside your own head. Project that sound you hear
in your head through your instrument. Push it out there, make it strong and big just like you hear it. Now make adjustments accordingly to settle in
to a nice groove with your musical partners.
All easier said that done. Time to go practice what I preach.
adam
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John Erlich
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All of the advice given previously is excellent. The one thing I'd add is just to remember that the instruments of the traditional "takht" ensemble
don't all have the same volume level; in fact, this may be true as well within each type of instrument. Try to be sensitive to the "natural" volume
of the instrument you and your collaborators are playing. When playing with another oudist with an unusually quiet instrument, you may well need to
play softer than you normally do not to drown out the other. I actually keep different types of risha (softer, harder, less breakable, etc.) handy to
help me deal with different volume situations.
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Masel
Oud Junkie
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Registered: 6-18-2006
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plus of course playing with good technique is important for getting a sound more clean and defined, which allows you to not hit the oud too hard.
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