The Woodwind Dream Thread

PrincessJ

PrincessJ

Someone had to start it.
We all have them, and I'm sure we all have some good stories to tell.
One of them was when I opened some kind of mysterious, thick, old book, and suddenly one of the illustrations came to life, three dimensional, it was a very orange clarinet, like a Pan Am. I forgot entirely about that one until I actually started playing my violin wood clarinet. It took me that long to remember it.

I have recurring dreams of "possessed" clarinets, one of them huge, it actually looked more like a tenor tárogató. Referencing a recent post by tictactux regarding his Vito, the instrument looked like it sunk with the Titanic.
Usually if I play the instruments in those dreams the spook comes out and the drama ceases.
That dream is actually what motivated me to start playing, I kid you not.

I wonder if it means something... perhaps my instruments really are out to get me.

Either way. I find it fascinating, the topic of dreams. I strongly believe woodwinds have telepathic powers.
 
A common psycho-analytical approach to dream interpretation is that all the characters in a dream, even if they are recognisable, are actually you.

This means that the people you dream about are displaying actions projected from yourself.

When you play an instrument, you are projecting yourself through the instrument. Coming to life in your dreams, you are projecting yourself as the instrument.

So be it troll, possessed, Titanic sunken or even a maiden in distress, you are them all, and so begs the first question of your psycho-analysis. Why?....

No, you really don't have to answer that, and I only mention what I read, not what I believe or do!

Chris
 
Chris, you're spot on with it! Most people try to use spiritual interpretations, etc, but it does in fact all boil down to one's self, regardless of how one wishes to believe it.

I actually taught a class on dream interpretation and the main thing I taught was that "dream guides" and "symbol recognition" are extremely subject to relativity and no "dream dictionary" can tell you the real deal. To some, a cigar is just a cigar. to others, the cigar may be a reflection of something deeper.
Bottom line is, what the grass means to one, may mean something entirely different to the other.

(By the way, my psycho-analysis "question" was meant to be a joke :) )
 
I (comparably) often have "band dreams". Like we're on a gig in the Waldorf Astoria, and I get lost in the bowels of that large hotels, being late for the downbeat. Or everyone parades in a new uniform, except from me, of course, who has managed to miss some important information.

Pretty easy to analyse. I just wonder why it's always the band I get lost with. :)
 
Memo to self:

Don't send any of the sound system components anywhere with Tictactix...

The only dreams that I've every processed enough to remember were:

• Various and sundry dreams related to critical situations during my spell in RVN. These were usually nasty ending sorts of affairs - stuff like dropping a track on the side of a mountain late in the afternoon, firing the main gun on the wrong azimuth at night and hitting a ville, or backing over someone in a sleeping bag. Once such an affair happens to you or those close to you, you tend to remember it vividly.

• A recurrent dream during my schoolboy days, this relating to forgetting the combination to my locker. As time went on, I pretty well stopped using the locker (having space in the band room allotted to me that was more convenient) so the dream actually came true. It was almost like having the governor come out to get it open at the end of my senior year.

• The only one remotely musically related has been that of forgetting one of the galaxy of horns that I carry around for musicals and band jobs. I have been jonesing for a "Tray-Pac" arrangement for my baritone or bass clarinet (big horn plus flute and clarinet) for many, many years. Other than a hugely expensive custom case, there just ain't no way.

(I did discover that the Yamaha baritone case, monster though it is, has a compartment (on the left side as you open it) that holds a typical flute case with a low B foot. No clarinet hole, though, despite having all the space in the world to fit it in.)
 
Interesting, interesting indeed...
I've always had extraordinarily vivid dreams, even when I was a little peanut.
Usually they just involve strange little buildings with slides connecting floors, etc, it's a recurring "location" or "setting".
I keep having these intense vivid dreams about these music stores, with incredible high-tech horns hanging on these crazy chrome rippled walls (and don't get me started on how cool the lighting effects on said walls are!)... and the ones I remember most were:

-Cone shaped, about 35" long, purple trim right after the mouthpiece, another purple ring right before the bell, almost tárogató-like, except made of a weird, bumpy composite material of sorts. It looked like it was rigged for electronic amplification, the keywork was black-purple. The mouthpiece was translucent indigo.

-About 26" long, Bb clarinet size essentially, this was after I started thinking about that up-turned clarinet bell I mentioned in another thread. Basically my brain turned it in to an entire instrument, it was a speckled light yellowy wood, the bell too, and the keywork was that same black nickel look. Crazy looking horn.

-A few smaller versions of the first instrument mentioned.

Maybe I really do think about woodwinds too much. They really are a part of me...
 
Aside from some dreams that may not be suitable for a family forum, my two recurring musical dreams are:
1. I've got a gig, and I need to get the PA set up beforehand, but I can't find the right room.
2. I found the room, got everything set up on the stage, and the room floods. I'm standing on the stage, holding my horns in the air as the water laps around my knees.

On a brighter note, the other night I dreamed about a trio I played in over thirty years ago. I woke up and googled the piano player, and we have re-connected. Isn't the internet wonderful?
 
The dreams that I have tend not be about music, although there's once or twice that I dreamed about the Clarinet. It seems that it is the mechanics that fascinate me with the instrument as I vividly recall being upset about leakages and keyworks and whatnot... no actual playing was done.
 
:chuckle:
I always set my alarm tone with jazz music. It helps eliminate any confusion between the string section and the wake up call.
 
PrincessJ said:
:chuckle:
I always set my alarm tone with jazz music. It helps eliminate any confusion between the string section and the wake up call.
Click to expand...

I have noticed that I listen to less of my favorite jazz musician since I started using his music as my alarm clock tone ..... guess I should stop that and go back to a traditional alarm clock tone so I could enjoy his music again !!
 
Instrument dreams? Oh, yah.

I've mentioned elsewhere that my favorite baritone I've ever played was a minty lacquer Selmer Mark VI to low Bb. I only played it for about an hour, but I've had many dreams about playing it since. However, in my dreams, the horn has a low A.

(I did play a bunch of Yanagisawa-made Vito baris to low A in my high-school years. They looked 95% like a Mark VI, but played terribly.)

I've also dreamed about playing various other instruments, like the flute (which I suck at in real life), Conn-O-Sax (which I've held, but haven't played), and a variety of EWIs (I owned a Yamaha WX-7) and playing the horns I've owned.

I've also dreamed about singing -- and singing songs that I've composed for the dreams. However, I never remember quite enough of the songs after I wake up.

=============

I essentially minored in philosophy when going to college the second third time. Dream analysis? I've read a lot on the subject. Personally, I agree more with what Chris J mentioned and the more "scientific" explanation that says that dreams are either fantasy fulfillment or an attempt to process things that you either consciously or unconsciously experienced. In other words, it's your brain trying to codify your experience.
 
SteveSklar said:
I have noticed that I listen to less of my favorite jazz musician since I started using his music as my alarm clock tone ..... guess I should stop that and go back to a traditional alarm clock tone so I could enjoy his music again !!
Click to expand...

And that's why I use my least favorite. I'm not naming names. :)


Pete, I think it depends on the person's mind. For some, it is an attempt to "codify" the experiences, but for others, it's symbolic of current, here-and-now emotions/experiences. Chris J is spot on with it, however I've seen instances with dreams that mean more "straight forward" things - for instance, before bed, I'll think about wanting to learn a song by ear the next day for fun's sake, and I'll start to dream about playing it, it's essentially my mind subconsciously analyzing how I'll go about doing it.

Dreams always work differently for different people, but the vast majority fall in to Chris's post. Mine usually do, but there are those exceptions where I fall asleep thinking about the washing machine, and my dream is simply a picture of the thing for 10 minutes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom