I knew that Day 1 would be a special day when I was driving into town and heard Bill Gregory mention the Harbour Symphony on 97.5 K-Rock: "Come on down at 12:30 today to St. John's harbour to hear some interesting sounds...that is, apart from all the usual gurgling from the bubble."
Interesting, most definitely! I was actually a bit nervous, knowing I would take part in a harbour symphony, but it turned out to be pretty cool. To play the symphony you have to be either a 'tooter' or a 'timer' - the score is indicated in a timeline with short or long blasts, while the seconds are counted out loud.
After purchasing my $130 Gold Pass at the LSPU, it was time to get ready for the symphony. At 11:30 sharp, a group of us met with Delf Hohmann at the waterfront, where he explained how everything would play out, pardon the pun. After reviewing the score, he assigned us in pairs to our ships, and also gave us harbour passes and orange vests. I paired up with Darryl Cremasco, who was kind enough to call out the time thus allowing me to toot the horn. Thanks Darryl!
Once we boarded our ships, at 12:30 sharp our countdown came through on Channel 11, and the symphony began. It was pretty cool - I played our part as closely as I could...the horn was very responsive, and loud (naturally) but towards the end of the 4'55" piece (titled "Beethoven Was Here" and composed by Delf) our horn stuck and wouldn't stop! A couple of crew members had to go outside and fix it. Both Delf and Kathy Clark commented on the nice "drone effect" towards the end.
Thus ended my first Harbour Symphony as a player. Looking forward to the rest of the week!
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