I have two stories, one second-hand, the other personal.
The first has to do not with cracking but with mistakes in performance, and might offer a helpful perspective. SomewhereI read (I don't know where) that while playing with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock suddenly played a terrible chord on the piano. Miles, who was soloing on trumpet, immediately made his solo conform to the chord that Herbie had played, making the chord sound right.
The second story deals with a recent performance in which I was singing Bill Evans' "Waltz for Debby" in a range that runs from middle C to the F an octave and a fourth above middle C. Since I'm a baritone, that means I was performing as a counter-tenor for that piece (Tako, take note!). The only accompaniment was provided by myself playing guitar. I find the vocal part and the guitar part each quite challenging, and when I do both at once I feel like I'm really putting myself to a test. I had never performed the song before, and for the few days leading up to the performance I considered not doing it (even during the hour before the performance). As I began the song I immediately wondered what was wrong with the amplifier through which I was playing my acoustic guitar, because it was nowhere near as loud as I expected it to be. Half-way through the song I finally figured it out: I had left the volume pdeal in the off position, so that the guitar was not amplified at all! Did I fell silly. Without losing a beat I smoothly pushed the pedal to the on position. Perhaps it would have been better to leave the pedal off rather than changing it in the middle of things.
I hope these help, John Link
---------------------------------------------- The John Link Vocal Quintet is now on mp3.com! Visit http://www.mp3.com/JohnLinkVocalQuintet. ----------------------------------------------
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