| LearnJazzPiano.com archives: the movie "Bird" | |
| james3 -- 08/10/2005, 03:23:22 -- #17457 | |
| Hey all, Just saw the movie Bird. What do you guys think of this movie? James | |
| sid -- 08/10/2005, 04:10:42 -- #17458 | |
| Pretty good. Very clever audio trickery to get Parker playing with H Hancock. But one thing is wrong - Bird didn't squirm and twitch while he played. He just stood there like Buddah, and even his fingers hardly seemed to move. It's part of the legend. sid | |
| 7 -- 08/10/2005, 11:46:26 -- #17474 | |
| even his fingers hardly seemed to move One of the tricks to playing sax really fast is to always have your fingertips touching the pearls. This way there is the least amount of movement possible and the most efficient economy of motion. The finger will move only about 2 millimeters between open and closed position. While my sax teacher tried to get me to do this, I found it extremely difficult. Partially because of my piano and guitar training, but also because I found the sensation of touching the pearls somewhat distracting. Nonetheless, the principle of keeping your fingers as close as possible to the playing surface makes good sense on any instrument (except maybe a theremin). If, on release, the finger moves too far away from the playing surface, you have two issues - speed and accuracy. Speed It just takes longer to move your finger an inch than it does a millimeter. Consequently you can play much faster if your finger is "close at hand" and in position. Accuracy If your finger is far away from the "mark", you have to "aim" to hit the right place. If it's right above the mark, all you have to do is set your finger down. All the above being said, keeping your fingers close to the playing surface (or in the case of saxophone - actually being ALWAYS in contact with the playing surface) is extremely difficult. Moving your fingers in microscopically small motions requires an incredible amount of control, much more so than broad clumsy gestures. This is much easier said than done, but the long term benefits are immeasurable. The movie "Bird" is incredible. The cleaned up version of "Ornithology" is worth the price of admission alone. | |
| SolArt -- 08/10/2005, 13:59:48 -- #17481 | |
| I've only known ONE drummer who sets up his kit real tight for economy of motion; why is this? If I were a drummer I'd CERTAINLY do the same. But it appears that most don't. Given their greater range of motion it seems they'd be the ideal candidate for economy, ain't that so? | |
| 7 -- 08/11/2005, 02:32:13 -- #17496 | |
| You can't deliver a hard punch if you've got no wind up. | |
| SolArt -- 08/11/2005, 05:26:12 -- #17499 | |
| You can still wind up. | |
| 7 -- 08/11/2005, 14:31:53 -- #17504 | |
| Take two years of drum lessons and call me in the morning. | |
| CynBad -- 08/11/2005, 15:02:11 -- #17505 | |
| SolArt, you should know better than to try to argue with 7. | |
| SolArt -- 08/11/2005, 15:46:27 -- #17506 | |
| Anyway I can't STAND those kind of loud drummers, especially right next to me... | |
| CynBad -- 08/11/2005, 18:02:07 -- #17509 | |
| I prefer a subtle and refined drummer, myself. | |
| james3 -- 08/11/2005, 18:57:21 -- #17510 | |
| I prefer a drummer that can't keep a beat but has an incredible windup. No wait I changed my mind I prefer a drummer that plays so loud I hear ringing in my ears... Ok I gotta go and end this post I hear the doorbell...oh wait nevermind just my imagination ;) | |
| SolArt -- 08/12/2005, 15:38:35 -- #17527 | |
| 'Just your drummer induced tinitus... | |
| CynBad -- 08/12/2005, 15:43:23 -- #17528 | |
| "I prefer a drummer that can't keep a beat but has an incredible windup." I am still laughing over that one. | |
| CynBad -- 08/12/2005, 15:45:16 -- #17529 | |
| Back to the original subject -- I saw the movie "Bird" many years ago, and I really liked it. Jamie Abersold had a different opinion -- he thought it was very dark and negative, focusing on Bird's problems and not enough on the music. He even went so far as to say "Shame on Clint Eastwood". | |
| JHMurray -- 08/13/2005, 00:07:35 -- #17540 | |
| I thought the same thing, that it would have been nice to focus on the actual music more. If you can find it, read Chan Parker's autobiography "Life In E Flat". | |
| JHMurray -- 08/13/2005, 00:10:39 -- #17541 | |
| By the way, doesn't Forest Whitaker look a lot like Cannonball Adderly? | |
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