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October 21

Key for transposing instruments

What determine the key of transposing instruments (such as clarinets and trumpets) when writing for an orchestra? Is it the key of the music? Aquitania (talk) 00:23, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In general, yes. Instruments that are usually referred to as "in the key of C" such as flutes, bassoons, and strings will have their parts written out in the key of the piece. B-flat clarinets and bass clarinets and trumpets and cornets play in a key that is one full musical step higher than those instruments. For example, if a piece of music was written in the key of E-flat, the music for the B-flat instruments (such as clarinets, bass clarinets, tenor sax, trumpets and cornets and some treble-clef baritone horns) would be written in F. When an orchestra tunes up by playing a B-flat scale, the clarinets and trumpets will play a scale in C. The same works for those instruments that play in A-flat, E-flat, etc. Percussion instruments other than timpani and chimes, etc, are not assigned a particular key, and their notes are often represented on the musical staff by Xs.--Romantic Mollusk (talk) 01:26, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

So it doesn't matter which key you select for clarinets and trumpets, B-flat and E-flat? I have seen clarinets in E-flat and Trumpet in B-flat in the same piece. Sometimes the key of the instruments match the key of the music; sometimes it doesn't. So is there any pattern? Aquitania (talk) 01:44, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

All such instruments should be able to play every note in their range. They will not, however, necessarily be able to play all such notes easily, and certain keys are naturally easier for certain instruments than others. My wife plays flute, and complains about certain "evil" keys. I play guitar, which like piano, is much easier to play in just about any key. Once you know all of your bar chords, and develop a sense-memory for a song, you change the key simply by moving your fretting hand up and down the neck to a new location; or by using a capo. The actual playing of the song is roughly identical. With keyed wind instruments like clarinets, it isn't so simple. --Jayron32 01:57, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"B-flat trumpet" isn't just a notation choice; it's a characteristic of the instrument. It means that the part is intended to be played on a trumpet whose fundamental frequency is B-flat. That's the most common type of trumpet. "E-flat clarinet" is not the most common type, which for clarinets is also B-flat. So if the music contains a part labeled "E-flat clarinet" that means that the composer intends it to be played on a smaller member of the clarinet family. That choice may have been made because the part contains high notes that are more easily played on the smaller instrument, or because of a specific desired tone quality. Once the proper instrument has been selected, the choice of what key to use in the notation is simply determined by what the players of that instrument will be accustomed to. For a lot of brass instruments at least, the rule is that the fundamental frequency is notated as C, a rule which allows players to switch instruments within a family while maintaining the same correspondence between the note on the page and the fingering required to play it. 67.162.90.113 (talk) 07:09, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Our article Transposing instrument has more details. Thomprod (talk) 14:29, 24 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

What intro music is used in Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections ..?

What intro music is used in Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections ..? Electron9 (talk) 02:30, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

James Bond as a code name

I read an article the other day that claimed James Bond (as a fictional character) was just a re-usable code name for many different agents, therefore explaining the different incarnations. This made a lot of sense in hind sight. But I had always thought the character, James Bond, simply existed in a "floating" timeline, where the character never really aged (per se) despite the passing of the years. So my question is: For those who have read the novels (I've only seen most of the movies, in passing), is there any canonical evidence to support this theory? Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 02:40, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In the novels, it is clearly (or at least, most likely) that he's the same person. That is, the character has a consistent personality and timeline and backstory, and there is nothing to indicate that "James Bond" is actually multiple characters. In the films, the issue is not dealt with. The idea that "James Bond" is really multiple agents is something that the "fan community" has put forward as a means to retcon the fact that the character exists by being performed by different actors, and in different time frames, without apparent contradictions. The reality is the films don't deal with the issues of between-film continuity much at all; so your supposition that the character exists in a "floating timeline" is probably closest to the truth. An interesting parallel idea is in the Space Odyssey series of novels; Arthur C. Clarke played very "fast and loose" with the continuity between his books, while the books are all clealy in a series, the timelines and, sometimes, significant plot points (such as the mission of the Discovery spaceship) don't match up. I think of the Bond franchise as a similar idea; you know the characters and broad themes and settings shared by all the films, but don't look for any series-wide continuity. It just isn't there. --Jayron32 03:02, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

At the start of For Your Eyes Only, Bond (Roger Moore) is seen visiting the grave of his wife, who was killed by the bad guys in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, in which Bond was played by the immortal George Lazenby. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:58, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

There's a bit of a nod to the discontinuity at the end of the opening sequence of OHMSS: after narrowly escaping from some bad guys, Lazenby says (something like) "this kind of thing never happened to the other fellow". (Of course, this was the first time there had been a "new" Bond".) AndrewWTaylor (talk) 15:44, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that was a funny one, reminding the audience that it's only a movie. Reminds me of one of Roger Moore's final Bond efforts, in which a snake charmer was playing the Bond theme on his flute, and Bond says "Catchy tune!" Also, the American spy called Felix Leiter was played by a number of different actors. There were also several actors who played Charlie Chan in the 1940s, but I don't think anyone ever suggested that there were multiple Charlie Chans. For that matter, there was only one Darren in "Bewitched", but two different actors played him. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 16:03, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

That reminds me of an old, naughty joke. Bewitched was the first time there was ever nationally televised Dick transplant. --Jayron32 16:49, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Lassie has been making screen and personal appearances since 1954. That is one old dog. :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 20:07, 21 October 2011 (UTC) [reply]

And not only have there been many collies playing Lassie over the years, supposedly they have all been male. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:57, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Was it this website? Matt Deres (talk) 01:11, 22 October 2011

Yes, that's the one. Came across it on Stumbleupon. Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 03:55, 23 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Good website, BTW, for entertainment at least. Wonder whatever happened to the old Cracked magazine? Guess that's a question for another thread. Quinn ^{❀ BEAUTIFUL DAY} 03:58, 23 October 2011 (UTC) [reply]

This question reminds me of the comedy Casino Royale (1967 film), in which multiple agents were renamed "James Bond" to confuse their opponents. Zzyzx11 (talk) 06:06, 23 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Lynne Koplitz Birthday

in a video, Lynne shares that she is 43 not 42 as stated on your bio has her B~day as June 13, 69 (so it must b '68).

plz refer to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CtZA3Bqnl4&feature=related

Brentwood23 — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brentwood23 (talk • contribs) 17:23, 21 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]