The 3 T's, Triangle, Timpanis and the Titanic

Ugh, I 've finally stopped rubbing my eyes so I can say something now.

If you're not the best percussionist in your section in the Orchestra you play the triangle.
I, have been in that position many times.
There are quite a few advantages to that.
The gentle ring and 'ting' of the triangle fits in anywhere in most pieces, when it's right it's right, when it's wrong it sounds right (95%).
You also cannot play the wrong note. It only makes one note.
When I'm lucky enough to have a decent part on the xylophone or the glockenspiel, it usually involves me counting for about 16-17 bars (64 bars once!) - with a changing time signature (different amount of beats in a bar).
And I cannot count.
Or rather my concentration span does not reach the capacity to count for so long.
Also, the glockenspiel parts have been time and time again very exposed.
And I do not perform well under pressure.
I quite like the triangle.

The timpanis are pretty cool I guess.
I think I have a photo of me playing the timpanis.

5 minutes of browsing and its not great quality.
I remember that concert, it was about a year ago.
I was showing off my skills that I could play that, the xylophone and the flute so I played all 3 and in between every piece of music I would run about to my destination.
To be honest, I don't actually play the timpanis, I just pretend I can, push the pedal to get the right note, and hit it and perform rolls on it.

My conversation with my brother sums it up pretty much:

Me: I have a 3 bar solo on the timpanis in Wind band!!
My brother: I didn't know you could play the timpani!
Me: Neither did I!

The timpani also fits into most places, however its very easily out of tune, and seeing as I am in a room full of amazing musicians, they can probably tell.

My first year in county orchestra was when I was 12. It was quite intimidating as everyone was 15  to 18 roughly. I was playing the traingle....yay. The conductor then made the orchestra applaud me for my triangle skills because I was hitting it 'beautifully' and making the perfect note.
Go me!

Oh and I just wrote 'Titanic' in the title because I needed to make up for the 3 T's. Actually I coud write 'tambourine'. Nah.

Any orchestra with me in it, will never be prim nor proper.

Sunday morning, 10 am, Orchestra practice...
Percussion section, me, and three other girls.

It was great.... well, as great as it gets.
Me, playing the glockenspiel, hitting some notes every minute in a piece or so.
*** playing the snare drum, eniviously expertly.
*** playing the timpanis.
*** standing by the xylophone, standing there, counting the beats until, I guess until the piece finishes and we can all sit down.

And then there was a ginger kid. He was going to join our percussion section... great, we needed a drummer, who could play the drums. Unlike us, drummers who can't.
So the the staff told him to join us, and we would be lovely and look after him and give him parts to play.

We spoke English, he spoke English. And we know his name is Benedict. Or Benjamin. Or something else. Bashfully I admit to you, (I can't remember).
But the beautiful outcome was that he ended up eating cheese and onion pringles for the rest of the 4 hours in rehearsal. He didn't even produce one note. Wow, thats even worse than my first rehearsal. (Call me Corinne, Corinne the trianglist).
Oh, but then, I can't say much about him eating pringles, I ate chocolate digestives in a piece once where there was one note, which I couldn't even play at the right time, and choked in the pianissimo (very very quiet) part.

BUT, that wasn't even the worst part.
Cymbals,
loud,
sonorous,
distinctive.
And the exact instrument you should not entrust me with.
So, I was given the crash cymbal (a cymbal on a stand, usually part of the drum kit, hit with a mallet).
Well, once they found it they gave it to me.
It was already halfway through the piece when we set it up.
And I started hitting it, (to the correct beat, I must boast)
And, silence, a dramatic clean finish.
HA
And, silence, *crash* (everyone swivels around to look at the culprit) *nervous giggling*.

Yeah, even with the conductor waving for a sharp finish, I continued right through, hitting the crash cymbal with all my might. Being me, I died a little inside. Oh, how embarassing.
I nearly ate my scarf, trying to hide my face.