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this might be an odd question, but i was scrolling through your blog a bit and you mentioned that you had perfect pitch. considering that you play clarinet which is Bb instrument it got me thinking a bit. is your perfect pitch like in the key of Bb if you get what i mean? so if you hear a Bb you recognise it as a C instead of a Bb or is it you hear a C you recognise it as a C? if its the latter is it annoying to play your music as you’re playing something that is a tone lower than its written?

My perfect pitch is in C!  I still mostly think about pitches and intervals in terms of violin.  But because I discovered I had it around the time I started playing clarinet, and because I play transposing instruments all the time, it doesn’t bother me at all.  I just recognize that concert C, Bb clarinet D, A clarinet Eb, Eb clarinet A are all the same note.

(So when I see a C on a Bb clarinet part, I don’t think the pitch C, I think the fingering C which is the pitch Bb.)

The names we give notes are arbitrary.  The color green is still green regardless if you call it green or vert or verde or grün or vihreä.  Going from instrument to instrument is like switching languages, all the transpositions “translate” to the same concrete pitch.

I also listen to quite a bit of baroque music so A=415 doesn’t bother me too much either, although it takes some adjustment and I have to think harder about what pitch is being played.

Hope some of that makes sense haha!

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did you do 3D modelling when you were like, 12? for a project called B:NG?

Whoooaaaa yeah I did.  Throw WAY back.  Were you in it too?

(Sorry just saw this, I haven’t been active on Tumblr in like a year)

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Hey, I’m in high school and I play the violin... well you see I try... there was an opportunity which I took in fourth/ fifth grade but I quit in middle school bc I hated the teacher... I’ve been getting back into it and learned some Christmas songs but my mom couldn’t hate in more.. if I try to practice she says she’ll run it over with her car when im not looking... I want to get better but she obviously doesn’t... PLEASE HELP HOW DO I CHANGE THIS

First of all, that’s great that you’re getting back into playing!  I used to play violin myself and it’s a lot of fun.

I’m really sorry your mom isn’t being supportive.  Have you tried to talk to her about it?  I know it might be hard, but maybe if you explain your frustration to her she would be more understanding?

Try to help her understand that you really want to improve, and the only way you will is by practicing.  “Mom, I really enjoy playing the violin and I really want to get better at it.  It really frustrates me when you make those comments about wanting to run over my violin.”  Or something along those lines.  Explain to her that since you just started up again after a long break, you’re still getting back into shape, but that the more you practice, the better you’ll sound.

Perhaps you could work out an agreement between the two of you where you’ll just practice between certain hours?

Also, if any of my followers have ideas, feel free to chip in.  I’m lucky to have not been in this situation, so I’m not totally sure what the best thing to do is, but perhaps some of you have dealt with this.

@gogaiago

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Hi! Found your blog by happenstance and just wanted to say hi! I am also a BM clarinet performance major!

Hey, awesome!  Sorry I just saw this, I haven’t been on Tumblr in months haha

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wtf i have no memory of following u lmao

me neither lmao

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How do you pronounce your URL because in my head I always say "Maxo Per-kutch"

Max Offer-cook

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I’ve hardly been on Tumblr in months, but I got an email that I was tagged in this so here we go XD

Tagged by @duckie-duckduck

1) Nicknames: Maxwell, Maximilian, Max O

2) Gender: Male

3) Star sign: Sagittarius I think

4) Height: 5′10″

5) Time: 6:00pm

6) Birthday: December 21

7) Favorite band: Does the Berlin Philharmonic count as a band?

8) Favorite solo artist: Too many to choose from aaaah.  Anthony McGill, Martin Fröst, Michele Zukovsky, Karl Leister, among others

9) Song Piece stuck in my head: Poulenc clarinet sonata, since I played it for a lesson this morning

10) Last movie I watched: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (how did I not see it sooner?!)

11) Last show you watched: I don’t really watch TV because I’m weird lol

12) When did I create my blog: March 22, 2015

13) What do I post: Pretty much nothing these days, but mostly classical music stuff and responses to asks

14) Last thing I googled: Trigonometric identities (for physics HW)

15) Do you have other blogs: I ran @virtualclarinetchoir for a while but I haven’t posted there lately

16) Why did you choose your url: It’s my name

17) Following: 183

18) Followers: 947 (bit of an imbalance here lol)

19) Favorite colours: Blue, especially dark blue

20) Average hours of sleep: 6-8?

21) Lucky number: Hmm I can’t say I really have one

22) What am I wearing: Blue polo-ish shirt, khakis

23) How many blankets I sleep with: 3

24) Dream job: Principal clarinetist with a major symphony orchestra + solo/chamber music stuff and teaching on the side

25) Dream trip: Travel the world

26) Favorite food: Dark chocolate

27) Nationality: American

28) Favorite song: You can’t make me choose...  Mozart clarinet concerto/quintet/trio/gran partita, Brahms sonatas/trio/quintet, Dvorak 8/9, Poulenc clarinet sonata, Rite of Spring, Daphnis et Chloé, among many, many others

I tag whoever wants to do this!

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hey max!!! how do you not freak out every day being lead by frank ticheli?!? does that ever trip you out? I don't know how I'd keep my cool (understanding that you have work to do, etc, but it's FRANK TICHELI!!!)

He doesn’t always conduct the wind ensemble, but I see him around all the time and have friends who study composition with him which is fun haha.  He was also on the panel that interviewed me for my scholarship after I was admitted.

I’m playing in the USC Wind Ensemble when they do his flute concerto in a couple of weeks with Jim Walker, I assume he’s conducting then.

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Wait for it

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Hi hello, despite what my URL suggests I'm a clarinetist and I'm a senior in high school who's planning on auditioning for music schools. I have two questions about auditioning. First, will I be expected to have all my pieces memorized? Second, if one of my pieces is written for A clarinet, will I have to play in on an A, even if I don't have one? Thanks!

Hi!  Most schools won’t require you to memorize your music, but I would recommend that you have it memorized anyways, even if you have the music in front of you.  It ensures that you’ve really internalized the music, rather than just reading it off the page, which is really important when you’re in a performance situation like an audition or a recital.

Ideally, pieces written for A clarinet should be played on A clarinet for college auditions; most clarinetists majoring in music are expected to own one since there’s so much repertoire written for it.  If you can possibly rent/borrow one for the auditions, that would be best.  Otherwise, I’d recommend contacting the professors to see if they’re ok with you playing it on Bb.

Worst case scenario, you play it in Bb at the audition and the professor ask you if you own an A clarinet/why you don’t own one.  If you play well enough, it probably won’t matter too much.

Best of luck!

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Hi Max! Two music related questions : 1) Favourite to play on the clarinet ? 2) overall favourite classical song. Thanks !

Hi!1) Probably the Mozart clarinet concerto/quintet or the Brahms clarinet quintet/trio.2) Too many pieces to name.  Dvorak 8/9, The Rite of Spring, Bach Double violin concerto, Mozart concerto, Brahms quintet, among many others

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How does this have almost 70,000 notes??

Is it bad that I saw the video of the vacuum cleaner playing the harmonica and my brain immediately, without hesitation, jumped to this?

(Original)

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Hello I just wanted to say that I'm also a clarinetist, I'm about to start college and also getting a bachelors in music and you seem super cool !!!

Haha thank you!  Best of luck in your freshman year.  I really feel like I grew as a musician and as a person in my first year, and I’m sure you will too!

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I interrupt my regularly scheduled Tumblr hiatus to bring you my classical-music-loving dog.

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I was tagged in an ask thing and I haven’t been on Tumblr in weeks so might as well

Tagged by: @flootloops

Rules: answer 20 questions and tag 20 some no followers you want to get to know better (lol)

Name: Max

Nicknames: Maxwell, Maximillian, Max O

Zodiac sign: I think Sagittarius?  My birthday is on the winter solstice so it’s right on the dividing line

Height: Around 5'10″

Ethnicity: Basically just white.  (Ancestors from Romania, Ireland, Russia, among others.)

Orientation: Straight

Favorite Fruits: Apple, raspberry, kiwi

Favorite Season: Summer or winter.  But only winter in CA haha

Favorite Books: I need to read more >.< so busy.  The books I enjoyed when I was younger were sort of the obvious choices (Harry Potter, etc.)

Favorite Flowers: Orchids, Mexican Bush Sage (I didn’t even know what that was called until today)

Favorite Animals: Dogs, birds

Favorite Beverage: Hot chocolate/mocha/anything with chocolate

Average hours of sleep: 6-8

Favorite Fictional Characters: I’ve barely read/watched anything fictional lately ;( So busy.  So Idk

Number of blankets you sleep with: Varies, usually about 2-4

Dream Trip: Visiting Europe, which I will be in spring 2018!  (Studying abroad in Finland.)  Also I visited Bryce/Zion national parks when I was younger, which was amazing.

Blog Created: March 2015

Number of Followers: 882

What do I post about: Music reblogs/asks almost exclusively.  (I’ve hardly posted anything lately.  Music major keeps me busy!)

Aesthetic: I don’t have a strictly defined aesthetic really.

Favorite band/artist: Oh boy here we go: LA Phil, Berlin Phil, London Symphony Orchestra, Michele Zukovsky (my teacher!), Anthony McGill, Martin Fröst, Karl Leister, Harold Wright, Yona Ettlinger, Boris Allakhverdyan, a bunch of other clarinetists who I’m forgetting, Itzhak Perlman, Leonard Bernstein, Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle, Mozart, Brahms, Stravinsky, Mahler... ok I could keep going here but it would take a while

Fictional Character I’d date: See above about fiction

Hogwarts House: It’s been a while since I took the quiz — I think it was Gryffindor.

Tagging: anybody who wants to do this!

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Any thoughts on Le Tombeau de Couperin de Maurice Ravel? :)

I’m actually not super familiar with it — need to give it another listen, it’s been a while

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Update from the anon asking for book recs: I got the Klosé book since it was recommended by a really good clinician and I really like it! It covers many topics and I'm less than thirty pages in and it's already worked fundamentals I wouldn't have even thought about, all while constantly reminding you to focus on tone. So if any of your followers were thinking about it/wondering about books, it's well worth the money (: Thanks for your input, Max! I appreciate it!

Sounds great!  I need to look into Klosé for this summer.