When Reality Isn't Fun

Sitting in my hotel room in New Orleans.  Just played my last scheduled audition (for now).  The result?  Exactly the same as the first two.  Ten minutes of playing, no call back.

Damn.

Honestly, I have a lot to be happy about.  It really was my best audition, yet.  All the notes were there.  I played with more sense of musical phrasing, and I think my dynamics were better.  And, yes, to drag out that oft-used cliche, I gained even more good experience.

The one problem I had here in the Big Easy turned out to be the same problem I had in Houston - the humidity.  Something about it takes away some of the underlying strength in my reeds, making them a tad mushy, and making a few of my notes really hard to keep from playing flat.  That certainly bit me in Houston, especially since they tune to A=442, and it bit me to a lesser extent in New Orleans.  It's tough living in a dry climate and trying to play in a humid climate.  I'll have to figure that problem out soon, if I want to have any success in the east.

In the short term, it's a little discouraging to think of the money spent, hours burned and time lost away from my ever supportive wife, and have nothing to show for it but "good learning experiences".  However, not expecting this exact result would have been extremely naive on my part.  Rarely does a musician go in and nail their first audition and land a perfect gig.  Or their second, third, or fourth, for that matter.  Yes, it does happen, but not often.  There are just too many other great bassoonists out there.  Sometimes reality sucks.

A friend of mine who's enjoyed not one but two full-time orchestra gigs took five auditions before he advanced for the first time.  It wasn't until his seventh audition that he won his first job.  That makes me feel a little better.

A year ago, when I told my bassoon professor I really wanted an orchestra gig, his response was, "Getting one takes hard work and tenacity."  I've put in a good amount of hard work.  Now is the part where I learn about that tenacity thing.  Should be fun.

So, that's that. Three tries. Three busts. Perfect record.  Back home tomorrow.