<p>What a lovely dress! D came home Tuesday night in a nasty snow storm-she was a bit late in leaving because she was engossed in shoe shopping at Nordstrom’s Rack, so to make up for it we spend all of Wednesday afternoon dress shopping! We really got lucky, finding one fabulous spring designer collection Master Class/ Jury/Opera Workshop type of dress. a really amazing audition dress and a spectacular long gown. With all of the sales, discounts and store coupons, I think they should have paid us to leave!
I have to take issue with your “catagorization” of colors, though, musica, and I have no idea who would have said such a thing. Black can be just fine for a recital where a girl is singing with the piano on stage, and many famous singers have appeared in front of orchestras wearing very elegant black gowns ;in fact, if one is singing a Mozart or Verdi Requium or other music with base in religion or sung in a house of worship, it might not be appropriate to show up wearing anything BUT black.What’s right for one girl may not necessarily be right for another, that’s true, but red and purple are perfectly acceptable colors, just as periwinkle is. A color that makes one girl look washed out can make another look radiant. My D is dark-haired, has very, very fair skin and violet-blue eyes, so we have to watch that she doens’t look too pale and then there are the lighting conditions to consider,etc. What really matters is matching the style for the event and making sure that the dress is suitable for the age-level of the young lady as well. I know we’ve all seen girls with dresses cut too low for comfort (theirs AND the audiences!) and it has to be comfortable to sing in, of course. If one has doubts, it’s always good to consult the voice teacher and it can also be fun to look around on YouTube to see some of the lovely gowns worn by Natalie Dessay, Elina Garanca. Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette and Miah Persson or, of course Renee Fleming, Dame Kiri or Barbara Bonney and for the ulitimate in good taste, the late Arleen Auger. Allow for the decade, but elegance is always in style…</p>
<p>When D was home for Thanksgiving, we took a “quick” run to the mall. (Took us 45 minutes each way because of traffic, leaving us about 10 minutes left to shop!) She has a junior recital this year, and a senior recital next. We can’t afford to spend big bucks for one-time dresses. As we entered the mall, I told her, “You will find the perfect dress the first one you try on, and it will be cheap.”</p>
<p>We went to Dillards first, where we’ve usually had great luck, but they had nothing appealing. We ran to a couple other stores, and ended up at JC Penney’s. D found a “leftover” prom dress she really liked. I wasn’t thrilled with it, except that I knew it was a great color for her. (Shades of melon. She is pale & blond - she has a closet full of blue.) But she tried it on, and looked stunning! And it was marked down to $34. So we’re set for this year. 
And it was the first one she found that she liked, and tried on. Took us more like 20 mintues, though.</p>
<p>S2 has a friend who is a fashion designer, who has offered to make D a dress for the “cut rate” of $250 - 400 or so. Since I paid $150 for my wedding dress, this is really hard to swallow. However, the girl’s designs are exquisite, and my D is hard to fit. She is short, and on the small side, except she has broad shoulders, no hips to speak of , and belly fat (inherited my m-i-l’s figure, not mine, which is the exact opposite!) The only reason I’m considering it is that my D would probably get a great deal of insight into what sort of clothing she would look best in. So I wouldn’t be paying for the dress as much as for the fashion advice.</p>
<p>But I still doubt I will do it. Too much I could do with that money.</p>
<p>Probably be a lean Christmas at our end, though our son generally is not particularly lacking in things (he also tends to recognize how much is spent on his music stuff during the year, the scores, Juilliard Pre C tuition, strings, repairs, summer program(s), the like). I got him a couple of sports games for the PS3 he has (his one indulgence, after a long day of practicing and schoolwork, helps him wind down, especially if he saw his teacher that day!).
Plus he may end up going to a program in Europe this year and possibly tanglewood or Yellow barn (if he gets the luck of the mighty and gets in to either program)…so we have to be careful:).</p>
<p>A couple of people mentioned turntables, and I thought I would throw out our experience with them/advice. There are a wide range of turntables out there, some with digital connectivity (i.e have a USB connection), others not. They range in price from around 80 bucks discount up to,well, a lot…Makers include Denon, Audio Technica, Ion on the lower end of things, Numark low to midrange (I have a Numark DJ turntable in the mid range of about 300 bucks, that is direct drive, really stable and heavy, that allows among other things adjusting the drive speed for pitch control). </p>
<p>We have a DJ turntable that has USB (It was somewhat higher priced, but it was direct drive and supported 78’s. I got a deal on a collection of mostly 78’s that came from a music professors collection, that includes some rarities like a recording of Caruso with Mischa Ellman). </p>
<p>-You can still use a turntable to digitize albums without USB output, the audio output of the turntable can be plugged into the input sound port on the pc (you may need a two rca input jack to single plug cable, radio shack and other places would have them for less then 10 bucks (USB is preferable in my experience, most sound cards aren’t that good with this, especially built in sound on the motherboard</p>
<p>-If you plan on digitizing 78’s, get another cartridge with a 78 stylus on it, for regular playing a standard stylus wouldn’t sound good playing 78’s and would damage them</p>
<p>-Besides the turntable, you will need recording software on the pc. Audacity is a free download program that my son works well, or you can use commercial software llike Nero, etc to do this. It is the software that can pull out the clicks and pops, some turntables come with easy to use program that have automatic noise filtering built in, that works halfway decently. </p>
<p>The other trick is to clean the album and the stylus (Gently), lot of albums by now (which have been sitting) are pretty dirty. On vinyl rubbing alchohol with a soft cloth works, on older 78’s you have to be careful, some of them are wax or lacquer that can be damaged by chemicals.</p>
<p>You can get albums a lot of the time at thrift stores and such in great shape, I have found some real gems in decent shape, some of which have never been put on CD.</p>
<p>Plus, I have to tell you I was surprised at the difference with playing an album versus a CD. I used to think that a CD was superior sound, now I realize how much has been lost with the conversion to CD’s, though a properly engineered CD is a wonder, records sound better IMO, and with my son’s ear (who was even more skeptical then I) he said that the CD recordings clip out a lot of the sound, including overtone sequences (possibly due to clean up)…and the old 78 recordings, done often with single microphones, and a lot of them done with mechanical recording, have a very different sound, in some ways better because they didn’t have all the engineering cleaning things up:). If you love music, I highly recommend trying to find a way to listen to them on album someplace, it really surprised me how to me different the experience was. Obviously, albums have shortcomings, they have to be turned over, multiple LP’s for a symphony, they are delicate, don’t travel well (something cd’s and of course MP3’s have in their favor), but they also are a rich musical experience (I am curious if the SACD format is as close to LP as claimed or if FLAC recording can approach an LP, haven’t done comparisons with them yet)</p>
<p>“-You can still use a turntable to digitize albums without USB output, the audio output of the turntable can be plugged into the input sound port on the pc (you may need a two rca input jack to single plug cable, radio shack and other places would have them for less then 10 bucks (USB is preferable in my experience, most sound cards aren’t that good with this, especially built in sound on the motherboard”</p>
<p>When digitizing vinyl, one must be careful that there is one and only one RIAA equalization being performed. Purely analog turntables may have this circuit built in (in which case connecting directly to the PC audio input jacks is fine). However, if the turntable does not provide this function, you will either need a preamp with the RIAA equalization feature between the turntable and the digitizer or you will need to do some post processing on the audio to get the frequency response right. All USB turntables should have this feature built in before the audio is digitized and sent through the USB port.</p>
<p>If the record was cut before about 1954, the equalization curve had not yet become standardized and varied (sometimes a fair amount) from label to label. To get the best result, you would need to do some research to find out what was used and how to compensate for the difference between that and the later standard.</p>
<p>“I have no idea who could have said such a thing…”
D has worn black for several recitals, but in this case the Director of the Phil(during a coaching), asked that she wear anything but black, red or purple. Purple is apparently an “issue” as it has funereal associations in certain European countries. Black–because he didnt want her to blend in with the orchestra and red (I’m not quite sure why). This is a HUGE opportunity and if the conductor nix’s a color, then you just smile and nod. (And her teacher ,who has had a major international career backed up everything the conductor said.)
But ultimately between my D’s teacher, the conductor, my H who has costumed several dozen major films, and D…my vote or insight does not count for much.And the last thing I need to do is tell my D “but I saw it on YOUTUBE!”</p>
<p>Bass Dad is correct, depending on the turntable you may need a phono pre-amp to have it match properly. The turntable I have gives ypu the option of having its internal pre-amp on or off. </p>
<p>From what I know when researching it all the USB turntables I looked at had build in pre-amps.</p>
<p>Musica, pardon me, I apparently overlooked whereever you posted about your D singing such a major gig!. Of course you are correct in that the Director would have the final call,and his instructions must be followed, but what I did read seemed to be a stand-alone post which was misleading as is one man’s opinion based on what he wants at that moment( but it should be noted that the person in charge IS the “supreme authority” for the event they are handling!).I have known others to request the precise opposite, so it is very important to always take the time to find out what the “powers-that-be” desire. We have something in common with family members involved with costuming. My mother had a career as a successful singer and then transitioned into becoming a major theatrical costume designer, so I grew up in costume houses and learned to read on those giant tomes about what was worn in which century! Even now, what a color means in one region of the world can mean something else in another- and that includes white and red.
As for YouTube, I was suggesting that some might enjoy viewing the clips of certain singers specifically because they are known for their sense of style (or lack thereof, in a few cases!). It’s a good place to begin if one is wondering if a certain style might work for a singer and doesn’t have in-house advice.
Wishing your D the best, and could you please point me to where I might read about what/where she is going to be performing- with the busy season now, I’m not on the board as much as before, so I notice that I’m missing some important facts!</p>
<p>Bought two books on Balinese music (and dance). Our daughter is “into” the gamelan right now. Also bought a paperback book on the Guarneri string quartet.</p>
<p>Otherwise, money will go toward a summer program.</p>
<p>I always get each kid a book. Didn’t know what to get for S2 (he had a specific mthod book on his list, but it was going to take at least 3 weeks to arrive) so I searched Amazon, and found this. Has good reviews, hope he likes it:
[Amazon.com:</a> A Devil to Play: One Man’s Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra’s Most Difficult Instrument (9780061626616): Jasper Rees: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Play-Year-Long-Orchestras-Instrument/dp/0061626619/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261326765&sr=1-2]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Play-Year-Long-Orchestras-Instrument/dp/0061626619/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261326765&sr=1-2)</p>
<p>PS I didn’t write it - don’t get me involved in any arguments over whether or not it really is the “most difficult instrument”! ;)</p>
<p>Looks good to me (even though I think the oboe is a harder instrument!). </p>
<p>Anyone have an idea where I can get a LARGE hard case for my son’s oversized sunglasses (not exactly a HOT item in New England at this time of the year). Or a coin purse for him…that is what is on his “list”. Yikes.</p>
<p>A great intriguing book for college age singers (and others interested in opera)</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Divas and Scholars: Performing Italian Opera (9780226304823): Philip Gossett: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226304825/ref=wms_ohs_product]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226304825/ref=wms_ohs_product)
Bought Divas and Scholars for D last year after it got a great review in the NYT. This year it was on her reading list for a performance history seminar.</p>
<p>thumper - check amazon.com. I ordered both a coin purse and a sunglass case from there last year. You should have time to order and get by Christmas.</p>
<p>Thumper, also check any sporting goods stores or ski stores(you have PLENTY of those in your area!!)- they will have hard cases for oversize glasses for sure. How’s the snow there?</p>
<p>We only got 3 inches of snow…we’re inland enough that the storm really passed to our south and east. Hartford got about 10 inches…we’re 25 miles nw of Hartford…and we got 3. Thanks for the tip…I’ll check Dicks tomorrow.</p>
<p>At least in the Dicks here, there is a big, free-standing circular counter in the center of the main aisle where they sell high-end sunglasses, and when I checked this afternoon, they did have hard-shell cases available. There were also some “upstairs” with the ski equipment & the ski stores have a good selection now too.</p>