I am a classical musician and nerd and a big lover of music and instruments. And I observe and notice all sorts of things.I am paranoid about my own instrument and am very careful about handling it, cleaning it and taking it anywhere. It is my 'baby' and I do not want anything to happen to it. I have even had a nightmare about my instrument being wrecked. Horror scenes for classical musicians including losing your instrument having it stolen, leaving it out in the sunshine, a child playing it and travelling abroad.
So watching last episode of NCIS:LA was a 'horror' for a classical musician like me. In one of the last scenes they have Kensi go undercover as a cellist at some plaza. Great plan to have some pretend to be a busking musician except they completely wrecked it in my own, classical musician, opinion.
1)Cellos are extremely large and hard to carry around. They have to be treated with great care. Their are not instruments you just pop in your car and go. They take up space and it takes time to get them into the car. Somehow I am not seeing people like Kensi and Deeks pulling something like that off.
2)It has been stated several times that Kensi does not play an instrument. So why on earth have her pretend to be a cellist? Cellos are extremely hard to master and they sound terrible if not played right. It's not like ukulele which requires very little knowledge to be played. Having cello played badly is like listening to a hundred cats getting choked (only violins are worse).
3)One of the key rules of classical musicians is to be paranoid about their instrument when it comes to weather conditions. Especially string musicians as the stringed instruments are extremely sensitive to all change in atmosphere. My own instrument throws a temper tantrum every time it has to encounter cold/heat changes and un-tunes itself. Even a slight change in temperature makes it freak out. I would never leave it out in the sunshine or play it outside.
So Kensi playing a cello in bright sunshine, not a good idea in any way.
4)Another extreme musician paranoia is leaving your instrument unattended. That is something no musician would ever do as it might be stolen. In rehearsals I always have my music box in sight and my instrument rarely leaves my side when I travel with it. Yes, I helicopter parent it but for a good reason. String instruments are high quality and cost a lot of money and are valuable items to steal.
So Kensi running away from her instrument is not a good idea. Anyone could come and take her cello away.
5)Why on earth do the NCIS:LA people have a cello handy for undercover missions? It's not like it's a weapon or that it can be used for defense.It's a large, bulky instrument that requires great care.
But they did do one thing right - the cello was placed on a stand so at least it was not on the ground! That shows some thinking at least.
I'd personally recommend owing a bunch of ukuleles. They are cheap, easy to play, can be left behind, require only minimal instrumental care and have a lot of incredible Hawaian music behind them which is wonderful to play. Not to mention, a lot of people play them and they can be played badly.
This scene made me laugh and shake my head over. And it's one of those odd things I like about NCIS:LA, the silly mistakes they make.
No comments:
Post a Comment