Double Bass Sharing a music stand..

[Ludwig]

I insist on my own stand, else I have problems reading the music and pointing the bass in a way I can see the conductor and the music notation at the same time.

 

[Andy Mopley]

Thanks all - I wonder if some of us may also not have quite the "peripheral" vision required to read the music? But after much practice, I prefer to have my own stand...

 

[SteveCS]

Think about it - desk partners in an orchestra ensure that at least half of the section continues to play through the page turns. If everyone had to stop to turn their own page there would be no music...

 

[CaseyVancouver]

Think about it - desk partners in an orchestra ensure that at least half of the section continues to play through the page turns. If everyone had to stop to turn their own page there would be no music...

There are many options available to avoid everyone turning a page at the same time, or gaps in playing. You can photo copy pages or sections and paste in, write out parts on the page before the turn, memorize parts until a rest, etc.

As one of my conductors recently said regarding tricky parts and page turning, ‘just do whatever you have to do’.

 

[SteveCS]

There are many options available to avoid everyone turning a page at the same time, or gaps in playing. You can photo copy pages or sections and paste in, write out parts on the page before the turn, memorize parts until a rest, etc.

As one of my conductors recently said regarding tricky parts and page turning, ‘just do whatever you have to do’.

All true, and I've seen examples of those and more. Yet still, even from the earliest ages right through conservatoire, the future professionals are all schooled in how to be desk partners, including the job of turner. Obviously individual long-term partners might find solutions limited only by their collective imaginations, but the default is shared desks.

 

[Neil Pye]

It is worth asking yourself if you need to be able to see both conductor and music? After all, if you need to focus on the conductor at a particular moment, trying to read the music as well will just mean you fail at both. You can't look at both, so don't worry about it. You can, after all, turn your head a bit if need be, surely? The default among pro orchestras is shared stands. There is a reason for that. Orchestral music is a shared endeavour, and the more links between players that can be established the better. It's more about making music as part of a group than it is about maximising your personal comfort. You know where the conductor is, and you know where your music is, so switching your gaze between them should be no problem for the vast majority of us.

 

[BASSDROID]

I was fortunate to spend about 5 years sharing a stand with - and turning the pages for - a principal who was left handed and played a left handed bass. Though it presented an unusual visual, it worked out perfectly. The line of sight between us was completely unimpeded. It was like having a clear and solid peripheral view of yourself playing in a mirror, so it was very easy to lock in quickly.

In the majority of cases, we were able to arrange our seating so that the line of sight to the concert master and conductor were also unimpeded. The stand would be placed equidistantly between us, roughly 5 feet out. The absence of a person sitting between the two basses provided the opportunity for the instruments to be situated a little closer together, again improving all lines of sight.

I am nearsighted, wear trifocals and I have a hard time seeing music at any distance. So I developed a habit of photocopying the parts on 11 x 17 paper and enlarging the copy to 125 or130%. Then I trim about 4 to 5 inches off the length resulting in a part that can accommodate "old guy" sized fonts, while still being of reasonable size.

 

[s van order]

I almost insist upon sharing stands in my section. Players - once they get used to it - feel more connected, supported and part of a whole rather than individuals. That is what a section is trying to achieve, after all. I do have one section member who insists on his own stand, but he is a special case and I accept that. The rest of the section loves sharing now, it gives them a sense of togetherness and the feeling that they have a special "buddy" within the section. I move the desk pairings around, but they all have their favourite "deskies".
I wouldn't be happy trying to lead a section who all wanted their own stand. Much harder to promote the necessary blending and cohesion.

All really good points. And basses being so bulky, how could everyone fit their own stand on most stages I wonder? We couldn’t have when I played in a bass section and the brass were in the house.

In a cello section my partner was a little bit odd and the principal had some issues with her. But in sharing a stand we became friendly and she was really ok. When I covered for the principal at a rehearsal, and the second chair had to play keyboards (pops concert) I invited my partner to sit next to me up front. The conductor gave me a weird look but was cool. It worked out well, we further bonded, and made solid pair in the section.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

my partner was a little bit odd and the principal had some issues with her. But in sharing a stand we became friendly and she was really ok. When I covered for the principal at a rehearsal, and the second chair had to play keyboards (pops concert) I invited my partner to sit next to me up front. The conductor gave me a weird look but was cool. It worked out well, we further bonded, and made solid pair in the section.

Games people play. I find intelligent and educated peers using personal politics dangerous, unsettling and disturbing. I’m referring to your conductor and principal, with the cellist a victim. It happens at all levels. There is no place for it, imo.

For a few decades I gigged jazz with an older surgeon who had elevated himself to a bureaucratic level of medicine. He was VP of one of Canada’s largest hospitals and directly involved in government decisions on Provincial medicine. He confided with us, his jazz buddies the craziest stories of personal childish behaviour between the cream of high society. Kind of like your conductor and principal with your cellist but much worse. Toxic and unnecessary. A topic for another thread. Or not.

 

[Bruce Calin]

There's an old joke about the stand partners in a bass section waiting in the dentist's office and one is turning the pages in a magazine as they both read it. I played in a section with a stand partner who would tend to doze off during longer rests in the music during rehearsals. I would give him a gentle elbow and point to where we were on the page. He always came in correctly. The several orchestras I play in now, community and professional, all use individual stands. I don't really know why, it just seems to be the majority's preference.

 

[Andy Mopley]

Of course, with the proliferation of (large) tablets, page turning may well become a lost art in years to come, when all it takes it a tap of the foot (for now...who knows, in the future it may be mind - controlled!!! )

 

[CaseyVancouver]

forScore Pro does have ‘face gestures’ (turn head or mouth gesture) to turn pages.

 

[Andy Mopley]

Wow...didn't know that Casey - thanks!!

 

[Matt Zory]

One of the great gifts of orchestral playing for me has been having the occasional stand partner with whom you share it all. It is (can be) an exquisitely deep personal connection. Always the same bow stoke, the same note lengths, same concept of style, complete respect, always listening and adjusting. Yeah, there’s always some juggling. I’ve almost always been the outside player for my career and never had too much trouble seeing the music and the conductor at the same time. (LUFU, pronounced lufu: Look Up, F**&$ Up. But that’s another thread).