you don’t know me

Little know things about me:

1. If you didn’t already know, the name I sign on notes is not my given name.  It is a literary and musical pseudonym I use.  It comes from two sources.  Rory is a Scottish name meaning "Red King" and I always thought it was a good strong name.  The other side of the source is the TV show, Gilmore Girls, and a specific character named Rory.  During the third season, she went through relationship angst that often times mirrored my own, caught between two boys – Tim (Rory’s Dean) and Manny (Rory’s Jess).  So when I started writing online and posting music on websites, I used the name Rory Skelton.  Skelton is my great-great-grandmother’s maiden name.  It was passed on to my great-grandfather as his middle name.  I like that concept of keeping the mother’s maiden name in the family.  Anyways – so that’s how I got my pen name – Rory Skelton.  And no, I won’t tell you my given name.
2. Now that you know #1, I can explain this.  I have a formal name and a nickname.  Like Lorelai becomes Rory in Girlmore Girls.  My formal name has many different nicknames associated with it, like Jennifer.  It can be Jen, Jenn, Jenny or Nifer.  Yes, I have a friend we call Niff, shortened from Jennifer.  When I was born, my parents already knew the nickname they wanted to use.  Which is the name I go by in RL.  I hate it, HATE IT when people call me by another nickname, espeically the one with the -ie sound on the end.  HATE IT.  Its not my name.  I hate it even more when I introduce myself and they still use the other nickname.  Really, really hate it.
3. On the subject of names – I don’t allow, permit or put up with everyone using my full name.  Family members and certain friends are allowed.  People who have my formal name on a roster or form, okay.  But they will be corrected.  As much as I hate the wrong nickname, I do NOT put up with anyone calling me by my formal name.  That is a privledge that you earn.  If you are lucky.
4. Shazar asked what my three instrumental nemesi are.  This is a complicated question, though I’m sure he didn’t intend it to be so.  It depends on the connotation of the word nemeses – There are instruments I can’t play to save my life, instruments I hate listening to, instruments I think are stupid, and instruments that just piss me off.  There are good and bad aspects of every instrument and reasons why I hate each of them.  But I don’t think there is one instrument that the world could do without.  They all have their place.  But I’ll try to pick a top three and explain why:
   # 3: SAXOPHONE – Its stupid.  A good beginning saxophonist sounds about the same as an amateur performer.  There is a level of great saxophone playing, I won’t deny that.  But rarely does anybody get up that high.  Nobody screams at a beginner saxophonist the way they do for oboists.  I understand why – Oboe sounds horrible for the first 5 years or so.  Saxophone sounds horrible for the first 5 minutes or so.  Its stupid.  But it does have its place.  There is nothing, nothing in the world, like a great jazz sax.  In the hands of a master, it is perfection.  Big bands too, need saxophones.  So the world should keep them.
   #2: VIOLIN – Its annoying.  Playing the violin seems to increase the ego of the person playing it to a point not needed in the world.  Makes John Adams look like a humble church mouse.  They never understand the concept of breathing or moving properly with the music.  Yes, there is a proper way to move when playing.  They do not understand the concept of needing to take a break because our mouths no longer work.  Most string players don’t understand this, but violinists seem to be the worst.  Violins also play stratospherically high.  Like sopranos, there is never a need for anyone to be playing a note that high.  Similar to cold temperatures, you reach a point where the notes are not different, they are just high.  The colder the temperature, you eventually reach a point where 6 degrees doesn’t make any difference.  Its just "freezing hell to cold."
   #1: OBOE – Yes, yes, indeed.  This is my biggest nemesis in the musical world.  It is impossible to play.  The reed (which is slightly important – the instrument won’t play without it) makes the bipolar disorder look like a zombie state.  The instrument itself is no picnic either.  Every other instrument which uses keys and screws holding their keys in place use single screws.  This means that if you move the screw in or out, you are only tightening or loosening one key at a time.  The oboe has double screws.  This means that when you move a screw in or out, you are tightening one key and loosening another key at the same time.  So everytime you move one screw, you have readjust the entire instrument.  This is why replacing a pad is extremely complex and usually done by a professional oboe repairman.  Yes, there are specifically oboe repairmen.  I would NEVER take my oboe to an instrument repair shop.  This is also part of the reason why oboes are so difficult to build.  They have to be exactly balanced.  Another fun part is the concept of "blowing out" an oboe.  For no good reason at all, an oboe will stop working properly.  It can not be balanced properly anymore.  The wood is too old and has been "blown out."  Depending on how good the oboe is, it can last a few years or a few decades.  And there is no way to tell how good the oboe is when it is first made.  Yes, there are good oboe makers that seem to make excellent oboes, but every once in a while one of their oboes will be blown out in a year.  Or crack.  Did I mention the cracking yet?  The oboe is made of wood, and wood cracks.  Sometimes you can figure out the reason for the cracking, like rapidly changing the temperature of the instrument.  Other times, there’s no known reason.  They just crack.  Cracks can be a superficial as a surface crack, which can be fixed by rubbing a little rubber cement into the space.  They can become bigger issues later, but not a huge concern.  Cracks can be worse, going through the oboe and allowing air to leak out where it should not.  This can be fixed by placing metal pins through the crack and pulling it shut, like staples on a human.  But this requires specific tools and the ability to re-balance the oboe.  Pins can cost $30 a piece, plus the man hours.  Usually its at least $100 to fix a cracked oboe.  If it can be fixed.  Cracks can be so bad that there is nothing to do and the whole piece must be replaced.  That’s at least $1000 and you’re not guaranteed it will work.  Its usually better to just buy a new oboe, which right now start about $6K and go up over $10K.  Violins can last for centuries, have a part replaced and last another 3 centuries.  And I haven’t even gotten to the listening to an oboe.  I hate listening

to oboe music.  I can’t just relax and enjoy the music.  I’m comparing it to every other recording I’ve heard and all the knowledge I know about the instrument.  I can hear the tiniest of mistakes, because I strive every day to get them out of my playing.  I could go on and on, but I think I should be done with the ranting now.