"Hocus-Pocus - in Concert" (live to film) - entire movie

[bloke]

Who else has played this Halloween-season concert?

This is my first time for this one.

The tuba part itself - and the tempos of all the "movements" - are relentless.

Are there "hard" licks? I dunno...I suppose it depends on the experience of the player.

It's often very low (a whole bunch of E's, some E-flats, a couple of D's...a low C...and a "lowest possible pitch").

VERY rhythmic...typical tuba "sound effects"..."spookeffects", etc...

Every thing is FAST the slowest quarter notes tend to still be well over 100 bpm...a whole bunch of 150+ - 170+, and much of that is in duple meter and uneven meters (and the tuba licks would not be particularly slow even were the tempos half of the typical tempos).

It's a THICK book (I don't own a tablet, so my book was xeroxed)...Fronts-and-backs, it's STILL a thick book.

I just played through about 60% of it. There's nothing that I can't play... I wrote in some "fingering choreographies (ie. alternates to make things sound more slippery/spooky/lugubrious) and quick identifications (ie..."oh yeah: THAT friggin' low pitch") of some of the "cellar" pitches.

Oh well...something to work on for a week or so, prior to the two rehearsals...

I'm told this is a complete play-along:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP9rdbp ... b-m4PE9pYQ

I'm not sure I'll go to the trouble...OK...maybe ONCE. I'm not sure (again: more than once) I want to spend an ENTIRE 1-1/2 hours + counting ALL the rests (at least, NOT when I'm NOT on the $$$ clock).

I'm using the Holton (squatty/punchy-yet-phat-sounding) B-flat for all of this. The low stuff jumps out, and the spooky crescendos are more obnoxious.

so...I don't pay (neither theaters nor at home) to watch movies...and stuff such as this doesn't interest me. I know it's old, but still - I've never watched it...so does it suck, does it sparkle, or is it somewhere in-between suck and sparkle?

[Colby Fahrenbacher]

It's available for rent for a month on Amazon Prime for a whopping $3.79. I've got a promotional discount that brings it down to $0.79, though I can't tell if that's because I have a Prime subscription or that is a generic seasonal promo available to everyone. You could stream it to any internet-enabled device to watch/listen to while playing through the book. Heck, your library might also have it available to be checked out.

Considering how little rehearsal time is allowed for shows like this, I think the only way to comfortably prepare the part is to watch the movie and/or play-along with it, particularly if you want to know how much time you actually have between licks instead of having to count rests. At least the run time for "Hocus Pocus" is only 96 minutes, so rehearsal won't be as jam-packed as the longer movies (looking at you, Harry Potter).

I'm not sure "Hocus Pocus" quite falls into the "cult classical" territory, but I think its community has that vibe. I've always gotten the impression that if you grew up watching it, you loved it and thought it was hilarious. It's definitely not a scary movie, though it has some dark under-tones and general seasonally-appropriate spookiness. It's a hoot. It did get a sequel in 2022, but the reviews don't look great, and it sounds like it was mostly fan-service nostalgia.

[arpthark]

I'm not sure "Hocus Pocus" quite falls into the "cult classical" territory, but I think its community has that vibe. I've always gotten the impression that if you grew up watching it, you loved it and thought it was hilarious. It's definitely not a scary movie, though it has some dark under-tones and general seasonally-appropriate spookiness. It's a hoot. It did get a sequel in 2022, but the reviews don't look great, and it sounds like it was mostly fan-service nostalgia.

Yeah, my wife grew up watching it and it has turned into a Halloween tradition at our house, now. But I never watched it as a kid, so it's just sort of campy fun with no nostalgia factor. I probably wouldn't watch it by myself!

@bloke, it looks like there is one DVD copy available to borrow at the Somerville-Fayette County Library if you'd like to toot along.

[bloke]

@Colby Fahrenbacher

This is not any sort of "I'm such an amazing quick-study that I'm not going to have any problems" post (as - with typical symphonic works - youtube is always a great tool, and the link above has the entire show divided up in the same way as my written parts are divided...so no need for a library nor a download), but - having done some of the video-game live-with-video concerts, the principals (including the tuba) are given the same clicks/prompts/earbuds as the conductor, which makes these things (as long as the "licks" are all mastered at the indicated tempos, and the tempos - due to the genre - are going to be THE tempos) semi-foolproof...

...ie. Even if I can't clearly hear the fiddles or a bassoon cue (there are no cues in these charts) I've got the click.

The "suck" thing is the vastness...The tuba part (per typical) is probably (??) just about the easiest part in the entire score, but - still - it is not easy...and (again) the book is relentless. more clarification: Time-out-of-my-life-wise, I would probably rather go through the entire book twice or thrice more times (working on all the individual licks/solos/sound-effects at the indicated tempos) than play through the entire movie once - with youtube - at home...Just as rehearsal time is limited, my personal time is also limited. Finally (and particularly important), this is an orchestra that has recently decided to save money (in order to fund a new "music academy") via cutting rehearsals...so - as performance perfection has obviously been de-emphasized by my client, I can't be counter-weighing my client's de-emphasis of performance quality via donations of additional time segments of my own life (whereby my time is mostly invested in other financial gain pursuits, as well as precious personal time - time being the only thing that any of us actually possess which is-or-can-be worth anything).

moreover: I'll be spending the the minimum needed time (unpaid, at home) for maximum results.

[Colby Fahrenbacher]

but - having done some of the video-game live-with-video concerts, the principals (including the tuba) are given the same clicks/prompts/earbuds as the conductor, which makes these things (as long as the "licks" are all mastered at the indicated tempos, and the tempos - due to the genre - are going to be THE tempos) semi-foolproof...

...ie. Even if I can't clearly hear the fiddles or a bassoon cue (there are no cues in these charts) I've got the click.

Have they told you that you personally will be using an in-ear with a click track? This isn't always guaranteed to be the case. Sometimes the conductor will just follow a video screen with the click visually displayed, and the orchestra is expected to follow them.

There is absolutely still value in referring to the original movie. Your YouTube playlist doesn't include the time between tracks or tuba entrances, so you don't necessarily know how long you can relax. If there's no click, not watching the video means you don't know any scene or dialogue cues that can help you focus back in.

[bloke]

There is always value in additional practice time, but - when I'm practicing others' music (rather than things I choose to practice) I do tend to somewhat balance my dedication to the end product with theirs. To be clear, I'll be ready to play it.

The times between so-called "movements" is indicated (to the second) at the end of each one of them. They tend to range from two seconds to a minute or so. I don't recall any "volti subitos" in the tuba parts. Am I penciling stuff in where the parts tend to be nebulously-written? Yes...yes, I am.

bloke "I'm not going to work on it right now, either. There's a formerly busted-in-half piccolo to put the final reinforcing touches on for Mrs. bloke's customer, a Miraclone with several issues, a 3/4 Jupiter busted into pieces, and parts to order for it (from their crappy/blurry schematic - with not all of the parts - which are normally broken - even shown), other scavenger-hunt parts orders (Yamaha/Conn-Selmer/etc.) and a Holton 345 (3/4th of the way to the finish line) that someone is patiently waiting to purchase...etc., etc..."

[bloke]

Here's a better explanation of what's on these pages/in these segments-movements:

The FASTER the quarter note, the MORE 16th notes and 16th note triplets are found on the page.

As an example, if the tempo is ♩=164 (ie. half note = 82) the page will be filled with frantic stuff for the tuba...and there are plenty of these pages.

Also, fp cresc. or sffzp cresc. is the rule, rather than the exception.