A university has a high-level student symphony orchestra, which can improve the school's popularity externally, enrich the cultural life of the campus internally, and improve the artistic accomplishment of students and even teachers and students. So in developed countries, almost every university has its own student orchestra, and some university student symphony orchestras have an impact in the world.

So much so that it is generally accepted internationally that a prestigious university should have a high-level sports team and a high-level student art troupe.

In short, Han Chaoyang very much agrees with the idea of building a student orchestra, but he still shakes his head when he thinks about it: "Professor Nie, PolyU is a science and engineering college, and it is not so easy to build a band. ”

"Xiao Han, you are a professional, what do you think should be in place for a school to build a high-level student band?"

"I think school leaders should first pay attention, not only pay attention but also have strong support, second, to have a stable source of funding, if you want to build a high-level band, you can't do without high-quality instruments, and these instruments are very expensive, and third, to have a high-level team of professional instructors. ”

"Team?" Professor Nie asked subconsciously.

"Well," Han Chaoyang explained with a smile, "It's not a conductor to play, it's a band formed from scratch and cultivated from scratch." To use a simple analogy, I can play the violin so-so, and I know a little bit about violinists and cellos, so I can teach violinists, violinists, and cellists. Flute, piccolo, oboe, clarinet, tuba, trumpet, French horn, I'm just a little bit better than the layman, just barely able to play, what level of flutist, piccolo or trumpeter can you expect me to teach?"

I almost forgot that one person can't be proficient in all musical instruments!

Thinking that it was impossible for Polytechnic University to recruit so many music teachers, Professor Nie couldn't help but frown slightly.

If it were that easy to form an orchestra, as long as it was a university, it would be formed.

Han Chaoyang felt that Professor Nie was whimsical, and continued: "It's not as good as before, as long as the university has money, I think as long as the school leaders pay attention to supporting funds, there should be no problem." As for the teaching team, it is not impossible to solve it, you can recruit a professional teacher who knows how to conduct, and other teachers can be hired externally, such as taking a few classes a month, and even let the students of the band go to teachers who are engaged in professional training.

In fact, the most difficult thing is whether you can get enough students with a foundation in playing musical instruments, PolyU is not a conservatory, students have their own majors, and it is impossible to spend all their time learning to play. And if you want to form a high-level orchestra, musicians can't be trained in two or three years. ”

If you only need to recruit one professional teacher, other problems can be solved.

Professor Nie muttered: "Xiao Han, I know that musicians cannot be trained in two or three years, and violin players like you are estimated to have started learning from a very young age. However, this problem should not be big, because we don't need to start from scratch, we can recruit students with artistic talents. ”

The state attaches great importance to quality education, and the Ministry of Education has expanded the authority to recruit students with artistic specialties to a large number of colleges and universities, as long as the students' artistic specialties have been tested by experts, they can enjoy a certain score reduction policy when they are admitted to the college entrance examination, and this policy has indeed promoted the construction of many college student art troupes.

But you need to build a high-level orchestra that can play a symphony, not a dance team, a choir or a drama club, and it is not a folk band that is relatively easy.

"Professor Nie, the score reduction policy you mentioned is a bonus point policy for candidates and even their parents, piano levels, violin levels, and what awards have been won in what level of performance competitions can add more points, but the college entrance examination score must reach the admission score line stipulated by the state, and some students with musical expertise but poor cultural performance will be eliminated if they cannot reach the admission score line.

The remaining high-level art students can choose the prestigious school they want to study at once they pass the prescribed college entrance examination score, and will not come to PolyU. Because of this, Tsinghua University, Peking University and other prestigious schools have never lacked talented, well-honed and artistic students who are good at playing various musical instruments, and even recruit students whose performance level is higher than that of students recruited by art schools. ”

As Han Chaoyang said, famous schools not only have a lot of funds, but also do everything!

PolyU is just an ordinary undergraduate institution, and it really can't get close to the famous universities, and good students can't compete with others.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed he became, and the more depressed he became, the more he wanted to build an orchestra and raise the profile of PolyU, he took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Xiao Han, do the school leaders attach great importance to it, do they have any funds, can they recruit students with artistic talents, put it aside for the time being, and tell me how many musicians are needed to form an orchestra." ”

I'm idle and idle, I'll talk to you, not to mention that I'm really interested in this topic.

Han Chaoyang pondered for a moment, and said, "Generally speaking, it takes about 65 musicians to form a medium-sized orchestra, which means that at least 65 instruments are needed. 22 violinists, including 12 first violinists, 10 second violinists, 6 violistists, 8 cellists, 6 double bass players, 2 oboeists, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 trumpets, 4 French horns......"

"Wait, I'll take note. ”

Knowing that this was an impossible thing to achieve, he actually took it seriously, and actually took out his mobile phone to record it in the memo.

Han Chaoyang felt a little funny, and waited for Professor Nie to record them all, and then said: "Conservatively speaking, if each instrument is worth an average of 5,000 yuan, 65 musical instruments will cost 325,000 yuan. But 325,000 is obviously not enough, because large musical instruments such as timpani, harp, piano, pipe bell, drum, and gong are worth a lot of money, often tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands. With the addition of supporting scores, music stands, chairs, wind platforms and other small things, it takes at least 700,000 to form a medium-sized orchestra!"

"Going around and around the funding, the funding will go back, let's talk about the staffing first. ”

"Professor Nie, I'm sorry, I'm digressing again. ”

Han Chaoyang smiled embarrassedly and continued: "Actually, I want to say that if PolyU really wants to do it, it can be adapted to local conditions, and it doesn't necessarily have to be equipped with all the instruments, as long as the voices are gathered first, which can also solve the problem of lack of personnel with a foundation for instrumental performance." ”

"I knew you had a way, tell me, how to adapt to local conditions. ”

"In recent years, not only the state has attached great importance to quality education, but also parents, and it should not be difficult to recruit students who can play the piano and violin, so pianists and violinists do not need to worry. Viola is more troublesome, few people learn it in primary and secondary schools, mainly because the viola is larger, more laborious to play, and the sound is not as beautiful as the violin, so many middle school bands replace the viola with a violinist who plays poorly, which is often called 'cello'. ”

Han Chaoyang glanced back at the direction of the indoor basketball hall, and continued: "Actually, this is a misunderstanding, the viola plays the role of a bridge in the band, and there are many defects in the viola part when playing the viola part, the violin can't play the sound on the viola C string, the violin timbre is not as full and rich as the viola's timbre, there is no viola connecting the cello and the violin, and the string part lacks fullness."

In practice, it is common practice to persuade and encourage those who have larger hands and play the violin well to change the viola. The best and worst violinists can't be changed, after all, the best ones play the most important violin parts. If people change the worst, they can't play the role of the viola well. ”

"As soon as the connoisseur opens his mouth, he will know if there is one, Xiao Han, you are really talented as a policeman!"

"It's hard to find a job, there's no way. Professor Nie, don't make fun of me. ”

"No fun, I'm telling the truth, I'm off topic again, and I'm down to business. If you ask a violin student to change to viola, because of the time spent practicing, he won't be able to change his reputation in a year or two, what will happen then?"

"If the change is not successful, it is not only necessary to change the score, change the treble score from the reading score to the alto score, and use the violin playing method to play the viola, but also to conduct special training for the 'violin'. The bow should be carried calmly, the bow hair should be as close to the string as possible, the arms should be properly forced, and the strength should be greater than that of the violin. After all, our purpose is to get the timbre of the viola, and only when we play it out can it be fuller. ”

"Kind of interesting, go on. ”

"Harps are also more troublesome because they are expensive, and they are rare in amateur bands, and bands that can afford harps may not be able to recruit harpists. No harp can only be replaced by a piano, but a harp band will look more standardized and imposing, and the effect of the harp is also incomparable to the piano. ”

Han Chaoyang habitually touched his nose and said eloquently: "If there is a harp but can't recruit students who can play the harp, then they can only be cultivated by themselves, and the training object is generally a pianist or guzheng player." The harp score is basically the same as the piano score, and those who can play the piano do not have much trouble reading the harp score, and can put their mind into practicing playing.

However, practicing the harp is very hard, and the fingers will practice blood blisters, which will hurt a lot, but it will not hurt if you persist and wait for the blood blisters to turn into calluses. If you practice hard for half a year, you can join the band and participate in rehearsals while practicing.

If a student who plays the guzheng learns to play the harp, the action of the guzheng is similar to that of the harp, and the hands will suffer a little less, and the harp needs to be tuned frequently. However, the zither is used in simple notation, and the notation is far from the harp. Therefore, there are pros and cons, and whether to let a student who can play the piano or a student who can play the guzheng play the harp depends on the specific situation. ”

"Bassoon is an important part of the orchestra, and among primary and secondary school students, there are not many people who learn bassoon, and this instrument has requirements for height and hand size, and the price of the instrument is relatively expensive. However, it is possible to use a tenor saxophone instead of a bassoon, which is obviously easier to do than a bassoon player who can play the saxophone. But then we have to change the score, and we have to 'transpose' the bassoon's score, raising all the pitches by a major second, that is, converting the score in C to B, and the bass clef to the treble clef......"

It turns out that there are so many ways to form a band, and it is really like a mountain.

Looking at Han Chaoyang's gushing appearance, Professor Nie suddenly looked at him with a smile and asked, "Xiao Han, as far as I know, it is very rare for graduates of the School of Music to become soloists, and most instrumental music students will eventually become band players or music teachers.

If you can go to a university and become a teacher, a fool is not interested!

Now that the conservatory of music is saturated, it is said that many seniors in the past have to break their heads in order to compete for a place to stay in the school.

Being able to become a university teacher who teaches music education is really Han Chaoyang's dream job, staring into Professor Nie's eyes, he asked suspiciously, "Professor Nie, PolyU is a science college, how can it be possible to recruit music teachers?"

"There are music teachers in elementary schools, junior high schools, and high schools, so why shouldn't there be science colleges?" Professor Nie asked rhetorically, and asked: "Whether the school will recruit is the school's business, I just want to know if you are interested?"

It is unlikely that the one who can sit in the first row to watch the performance in the area is an ordinary professor, Han Chaoyang was guessing the true identity of the person in front of him, and a middle-aged teacher pushing a bicycle came to meet him, and greeted him from a distance: "Principal Nie, why are you here." ”