To Eat or Not To Eat - Before A Concert

The other day I had an idle thought which I put to my Twitter followers.
Basically I was interested in the eating habits of the musicians amongst them.
The tweet said,

"To the musicians out there. Do you like to eat before a performance or do you prefer to wait until afterwards?"

I was very pleased when I received replies from soprano/pianist Barbara Rathbone, classical musician Jamie Pullman and oboe/English horn player, Patty Mitchell.

I have written before about musicians requirements in preparation of a concert.
Here's an example, 'Sex, Drugs and Classical Music', and another, 'Nigel Kennedy - Running on Pure Adrenaline'.

But this related more to the use of Beta Blockers, not the daily requirement of food.

However I have also discussed Robin's needs pre concert here, with, 'Bananas on the High Seas and Bottom E', and 'From, Fish - Brain Food for Musicians, to Oscar Peterson, to Elgar.'

Robin always eats before a performance, whether it is classical, or with a band. But there is a difference. When playing with a band he just feels better if he has eaten, but if performing a classical concert, he needs to.
I believe this is something to do with not only the increased pressure he feels when playing classical concerts, but also, the level of concentration that is required of him.
He's not alone in this.
The renowned guitarist, Julian Bream, has said that he always has a plentiful supply of sandwiches backstage to eat before his concert.

But you do have to watch these musicians.
There's an amusing anecdote around Handel and his dietary requirements.
He was frequently known, when entertaining guests, to suddenly announce he had a musical idea, and to leave the room.
The 'idea' was simply that he kept his high quality wine in his music room, whilst serving a cheaper version to his guests, and had simply 'nipped' out for a quick drink...
Whether or not the great man ate before a concert is not known but I would be extremely surprised if he didn't!

Getting back to the results of this highly unscientific research, well, the results were mixed.

Barbara, a singer, always eats after a performance as she finds eating before affects here voice. When I asked about the energy required to perform, she acknowledged it was adrenaline that got her through.

This is completely understandable. A singers needs are very different to other instruments.

The orchestral player Jamie Pullman had a different approach. If performing with the orchestra he ate before, but if with his quartet, then afterwards.
The increased exposure, and therefore pressure, of the quartet performance appears to alter his needs. Although he did add that he found it easier to concentrate on the music if he was 'uncomfortable' due to being hungry.

Patty Mitchell, another orchestral player, always eats before a performance, although only a small amount. I assume this is provide just the required amount of energy without causing discomfort.

It seems, as you would expect, that every musician has their own way of dealing with the question of whether to eat before or after a performance.
It also appears that nerves/stress, the need to focus on the job in hand, and the ability to concentrate all play a part.

From observing Robin perform over many years I know the amount of energy he expends when on stage. Yes, when you watch a programme about classical musicians and see them sweating away under the bright lights, it's all true, not just sprayed on for effect.

But there was one aspect to all this that struck me.
Only 'classical' musicians amongst my twitter followers responded to the question.
Initially I had addressed it to all musicians.
There could be many reasons for this.
They may not have been 'watching' at the time the tweet was posted, they could have been busy doing other things rather than replying to a random tweet from me, or they simply may not have felt the issue was important to them for their particular style of playing.
This in itself raises more questions so I would love to hear from musicians from all walks of life to hear their views.

John Paul Gaultier and the Life of a Musician?

Robin is on the QM2 and has already completed his first concert.
It all went very well and he is now preparing for the next one.

But I haven't been idle as I've had other things to think about, and therefore have something a little different for you today.

I have been asked many times by various companies to 'discuss' their product on this blog.
Sometimes it's an easy decision to make.
If the product is relevant, and I believe in it, then there's a chance I will write about it.
Sometimes I just like the approach they have taken and think it might be nice to add something a little different.

However, it can also be a balancing act.
You don't want to alienate your regular readers with blog posts that won't interest them.

A few days ago I was approached to show a 'teaser video' for John Paul Gaultier.

Basically, "MA DAME is celebrating her first birthday and has invited an artist to the party whose favourite art is one of surprise".

I watched the video and thought it was very good.
Then spent some time trying to think of a way that I could possibly connect this to the 'Life of a Musician'.

Other than the fact that I am a fan of Gaultier perfume I couldn't really come up with anything.

But, the campaign does highlight the need to approach marketing from a new perspective.
The pressure to come up with fresh ideas, ways of connecting with ones audience, and making use of technological advances are all essential marketing tools.

So in the end, I decided that if John Paul Gaultier was happy to invest in me, then I should return the favour and show you the video.

But there are other reasons.

Those who regularly read the blog and twitter, will know that I follow, listen and try to learn from those at the cutting edge of promoting their music.
One of my roles is to try and convince the world of 'classical music' that this is the way forward.
As we try to encourage younger people to learn to love all types of music, we have to meet them in the arena in which they are most familiar, so the use of the Internet is vital.
Already there are changes, for example, many orchestras now use Twitter as another way to promote themselves and engage their audience.

So that's why I decided to show you the video.
It's a great example of creating a buzz around your product, and, in this case, beautifully done.

So, for a few days, enjoy 'What's happening at Jean Paul Gaultier Maison de Courture' by clicking on the image in the sidebar.

A Frog, A Jaguar, A Concert and Rodrigo

Time to update you on some of Robin's activities over the past few weeks.
At the beginning of January he set off for Miami where he joined Crystal Serenity.
It was over a week before his first concert so there was plenty of time to adjust, and to enjoy the sunshine in Grand Cayman, before any serious practise started.
But daily practise is required whether it's a concert day or not.
As I've said before, Robin sometimes feels a little inhibited rehearsing in his room for fear of disturbing his neighbours with endless scales and arpeggios.
So if possible he finds a quiet place somewhere and takes himself off.

On one such occasion he was joined in the lift by an American couple.
As is often the case in lifts, either everyone stares straight ahead into a void of silence, or, someone starts a conversation.
The couple chose the later and asked Robin if there was a guitar in the case or was it a machine gun?
His reply, "It's a guitar but played like a machine gun, however today I'm just supplying elevator music."
He spends a lot of time with comedians...

I did receive some very enthusiastic emails from Cartagena, Colombia, as Robin had purchased a beautiful frog:



He was delighted with it and put his new friend on display in his room.
It was with some dismay that a few days later he found a small piece of wood on the floor.
Not a frogs leg but definitely its foot.
Luckily, as I have said before, no guitarist travels without superglue for those emergency nail repairs, so within minutes he had repaired the footless frog.
The next day a very sheepish and anxious housekeeper appeared uttering the words, "I'm very sorry Mr. Robin but I broke your frog."
Not a sentence he ever thought he would hear.
She was greatly relieved to see that no long lasting damage had been done.

After bird spotting through the Panama canal, and a day on the Pacific before arriving in Costa Rica, still no concert had been performed.
But, it was scheduled for that evening.
So there was only time for a quick trip into Caldera, in which Robin returned with a tray:




I must say that I was relieved that the concert had finally arrived.
The tension mounts gradually when away for so many days just waiting for concert day.
It went very well and the American couple discovered, that when required, Robin can in fact play the guitar like a machine gun....

After a couple of days at sea, a quick visit to Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, and some dolphin and sea turtle spotting off the coast of Acapulco, Serenity arrived in Cabo San Lucas.
Robin likes it there. You may remember this post involving an iguana and a sombrero.
This time there was no sign of the iguana but there was a rather splendid wooden jaguar head:



Or maybe you prefer this view:



Shopping aside there was work to be done.
After the success of the first concert Robin was asked to perform a second one.
As you know he is currently rehearsing Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez' for a performance later this year.
He had also been spending time with Naki Ataman, a pianist Robin has met a number of times.
You can read about a previous meeting with Naki in this post, 'Dangerous Time in Los Angeles...'

A musical collaboration emerged when Robin asked Naki to join him onstage to perform an arrangement of Rodrigo's Adagio for piano and guitar.
The introduction:

"Normally I perform this piece with an orchestra but tonight I have replace them with the incredible Naki Ataman. Up until today we have only ever played tennis together."
It went beautifully and both audience and musicians were very pleased.

Eventually Serenity arrived in LA and Robin was required to dispose of some clothes in order to pack a jaguar head, frog, tray etc.
I am now left wondering where exactly we are going to put them....

Arrival on iTunes and Eternal Dance - Robin Hill

We were very excited to find that 'Virtuoso' has now arrived on iTunes, and spent the evening looking at the stores around the world, which gave us quite a buzz!

One of the pieces we were listening to was 'Eternal Dance', by Robin, so I decided to jump to track 8 today, and tell you more about it.
'Eternal Dance' is the first movement from a suite of pieces for guitar and orchestra called, 'Eternal Dances'
I must say that it is one of my favourites as the piece captures the imagination immediately with its unusual, but highly rhythmic, time signature of 5/8 with occasional bars of 7/8.

The piece also features a scordatura tuning, with bottom E down to C, and, A down to G. The key is C minor.

Throughout the movement there is much use of percussion with the initial theme stated on solo guitar, then taken up by the orchestra.

Rasgueados are then featured, which reinforce the driving rhythms, and impel the movement forward to greet the appearance of the French horn. The horn then states a secondary theme, whilst the strings continue the rhythm, accompanying with an agitated nervous energy.

A beautiful, soaring solo violin passage then appears with guitar accompaniment and the unrelenting pulse continues.

As the piece returns to solo guitar with the main theme, it is punctuated by the orchestra, before the flourish of a cadenza from the guitar.

The orchestra then restates the theme before fading into the distance, with the final statement, once again, on solo guitar.

The whole movement lasts for 5 minutes and 59 seconds and someone once told me that they always had an image of Roman Legions on the march whenever they listened to it! It is certainly a powerful and visceral piece of music.
Go and hear for yourself , or, if you don't have Apple iTunes software installed, here, and make your own decision.

Creativity and the Wife of a Musician

Today has been taken over by composing - again.
It is the only thing I know that will keep Robin away from his guitar for more than a few hours.
It's all Pat Metheny's fault.
If we hadn't listened to 'Last Train Home' the other day Robin wouldn't have got out both his electric sitar and traditional sitar.
From that a riff was created and recorded.
Tabla added, yes we have those too, and Robin is something of a frustrated percussionist.
Before you know it we have a piece of music reverberating around the house.

Son number one was enlisted to add some vocals and I thought that was the end of it.
But no.
A new, extended version is now being created, with choir and orchestra.
The score becomes more elaborate by the minute.
When I ask what is to become of this new piece I'm told, "That's your department, I'm composing it and playing it, you do the rest."
Err, OK.

We had set aside today to complete many outstanding jobs.
Suffice to say that none have been dealt with as yet.
This is the problem for the wife of a musician.
You can't plan ahead.
Just when you think you have his attention for a couple of hours to get things done, he goes and has a musical idea, and you know you might as well go with the flow as nothing will distract him.

I'm sure most people wash the car, mow the lawn, that type of thing, on a Sunday.
Ohh well, I can't get in the way of creativity.
I learnt long ago to just let him get on with it and enjoy the music.
I guess I'll have to go and rehang that door myself...