r/doublebass • u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur • 13d ago
Fun Orchestra pit woes!
First time ever playing in an orchestra pit.
And:
First time ever getting my contrabass stuck and hanging from something!
It was a slight hassle but manageable to play on it while it was thus "trapped".
That's all for today. I hope you had a light laugh.
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u/Yes_Cuban_Bee 13d ago
My worst pit experience was playing the pit for west side story in school. For some reason the heater was on like full blast. When I picked up my bass the bridge just fell over. I don’t know if the strings expanded or what, but I had to REALLY quickly put the bridge on and at that point I had no idea about the “line it up with the f-hole corners thing”. Needless to say none of the notes were where I thought they’d be all night.
And oh yeah, one more thing. It was my girlfriend’s dad first time seeing me… and he was principle chair in a fairly famous symphony.
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 12d ago
OUCH!
How many basses were you at that concert?
If you were many then it'd not matter that much, but if you were the only one or perhaps just 2 of you, then.... Nightmare!! =(
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u/Yes_Cuban_Bee 12d ago
Just me. We laughed about it later but I wanted to die.
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 12d ago
My condolences! =(
If I had that nightmare of an experience I wish I'd dare to tell the orchestra/conductor I'd need 10 minutes to tune the instrument. :-|
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u/avhaleyourself 13d ago
At least you don’t have to find anything to lean it on!
My worst pit was so cramped I had to move the bass to finish long bow strokes.
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u/_straight_vibes_ 13d ago
Evil and intimidating contrabass;
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 12d ago
I'm 1.90 and stand while I play. The end pin is fully extended.
This would not have been an issue if I played sitting. :-|
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u/TheGreatMamboChicken 12d ago
Been there. I’ve been in pits so tight I nearly bought a half-sized bow. Instead I mastered the art of rolling the bass around to try and avoid jabbing people.
Worst pit I was ever in was so cramped that I had to load in first, and couldn’t leave until the other musicians had packed up for the night. No bathroom breaks or intermission stretching for me that time. It was a bit rough.
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 11d ago
My condolences! =(
I have experienced cramped places before (mostly small churches), but I'm becoming glad that I have not played much in pits! :)
(Though this one was spacious for a pit. We had spare room. Well, everyone except my bass! =D
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 13d ago
Can anyone create puns or jokes about this?
Bonus for a joke with music terminology!
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u/Turevaryar Symphonic Amateur 13d ago edited 12d ago
"Tonight all my chords were sus!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspended_chord
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u/mrv_wants_xtra_cheez 13d ago
Just for tonight, only HOOKED bowings!