As being a part of the orchestra, I play the violin. During the concert we played two pieces. The first piece was called “Night Shift.” Richard Meyer arranged this piece. He won the Texas director's award (Luke's Music.) This piece is a spooky Halloween piece with many accents. This piece is called night shift because it uses a shifting technique. Going higher up the fingerboard allowing you to play higher notes performs this technique. Our second piece was called “Variations on a Ground.” Robert Washburn arranged this piece. He is a famous conductor. “His music is pleasant to hear and easy accessible to the public” (Burkett). A ground is not like the ground you stand on but this a continuing melody. So throughout this piece we keep the same melody but it moves around in different sections of the orchestra.
I have went online and listened to these songs being performed by professional orchestra players. Compared to our orchestra they had made a substantial difference. Their orchestra was much larger, and had a lot more training. Our orchestra has no bass players. The bass is an important instrument to be in the orchestra. The bass is the deepest instrument and help the beat of the song move along steadily. The opposing orchestra had three bass players. Also having many bass players help the orchestra produce more sound.
The viola is another important instrument in the orchestra. It has a deep tone but a lot higher than the bass. Our orchestra has about five violas. The opposing orchestra had about ten violas. Their sound from the viola section was booming because of their great attention to accents, crescendos, and decrescendos. The violas managed to play as loud and a little louder than the violin sections, which usually have much more people.
Violin sections in our orchestra are split into two section called first violin and second violin. The first violin usually has the melody and the melody sometimes comes to the second violins. The violins in section one and two are normally the same amount of people. You can expect there to be twenty violins in each section. Our orchestra and the opposing orchestra had about the same number of violins. The violins from the professional player were playing intensely and with much force. Since these players were a lot older they were more experienced and used plenty of vibrato.
Last but not least, the cello. Our orchestra has two cellos. The cellos are a big strong sounding instrument. It helps bring out the sound out the violas when needed. The opposing orchestra had six cellos. Their cellos gave great sound and produced a lot of vibrato.
Therefore, our School Orchestra compared to professional player in general is a good way away from professional level. Soon after a while and tons of practice our orchestra will be capable of tackling these songs on a professional level. With a few more years our orchestra will be just as good as a professional performance.
