Will Auditioners "look
Taken to the extreme....
Right after I graduated from Univ. of California, Berkeley, I moved to Long Beach, Ca. to work for McDonnell-Douglas as a fledgling computer programmer. Cal State Long Beach (CSLB) had a fine music program with performance majors (which UCB did not have) and a great wind ensemble. During the fall football season, the wind ensemble rehearsed in the evenings, so I could fit it into my work schedule. Given that it was a "one on a part" ensemble, I had to audition into it.
The problem was that the only horn I had was an extremely worn out 1932 Pan American baritone my dad had given me after it had been stricken off the rolls at his junior high school. It had leaks in the lead pipe, 3rd valve slide, holes in the "out-pipe" from the valve block, a well dented bell and bottom bow, leaky valves, and no spit valve spring or cork on the main tuning slide. However, if you patched the leaks with masking tape, made a spitwad and used a rubber band to seal the spit valve, and liberally (very) oiled the valves, you could make it sound pretty nice.
So I showed up for the audition at the band ofice with only my incredibly well-used horn under my arm (no case or music mind you) and a letter of introduction from the director at UCB. Before I could audition, I asked the director if they had any masking tape. Hesitantly, they provided the tape and then started to laugh while I patched my horn. I then asked for a piece of paper and a rubber band. I tore the paper into a small square, folded it and chewed on it a bit to turn it into a suitable replacement for a spit valve cork (mmmm, delicious!). Finally they loaned me some valve oil so I could finish "preparing" my horn for the audition.
I warmed up for about 5 minutes (the patch job would only last for about an hour of playing and the valves had to be re-oiled every 10-15 minutes!) and then auditioned blind, no prepared music, just sight reading and excerpts of solos from memory.
I got the part and enjoyed playing with that group for over a year, until business travel precluded making a commitment to a musical group. I did manage to irritate some of the serious music performance majors, however....
Doug
P.S. Acouple of years later I treated the Pan-American to a rebuild and an old Mirafone gig bag. I still have the horn and it still plays wonderfully!
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