LONDON — Backstage at one of London’s most spectacular classical music venues, the Royal Festival Hall, Philharmonia Orchestra bass trombonist James Buckle is set to do something he’s never done before. tightened up. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony Opening.
Trombonists typically spend most of a symphony waiting quietly behind the orchestra, ignored by the audience, only to take their chances. play the last movement of the songBut thanks to a popular new video game trombone champ — a guitar hero of sorts for brass players — Buckle experimented with that exhilarating opening as if he were one of the first violinists. “I have to admit I’m a little excited,” he said.
Buckle, 29, who gamely agreed to try Trombone Champ last weekend, grabbed the mouse, moved it up and down to change the pitch of the virtual trombone, and rested his left hand on his laptop’s space bar. and hit it. Play notes. And then the game started. Buckle desperately tried to catch up as the notes moved across the screen from right to left. However, things didn’t go as planned. Instead of Beethoven’s masterpiece, what came out of the laptop’s speakers was an out-of-tune chaos.
“God, looks like I’m warming up!” Buckle said.
When the song ended, Buckle leaned back and grinned happily. “This is going to sound really sad,” he said.
Over the past week, Trombone Champ has become an online phenomenon among fans of the game. go to social media to post clips “Auld Lang Syne”, “The Stars and Stripes”, “Richard Strauss”Talk about Zarathustra” last week, Clip of someone messing up Rossini’s ‘William Tell Overture’ Retweeted over 40,000 times.
The game received rave reviews.Christopher Livingston in PC Gamer magazinecalled it “the serious game of the year” (Livingston added that he was not kidding, in case anyone was unsure). Constructed trombone controller Play the game like a real musician.
But how do real trombone players perceive it?
Trombone Champ doesn’t take trombones or trombone players too seriously. First, the player is called a “trombonist”. Each song is preceded by a pseudo-fact about the trombone (“In England, trombone is spelled trombone” is typical). In the clip, the “trombonist” dances while playing seriously.
But Buckle, a professional trombonist, had nothing but positive things to say about the game. “If it raises awareness or means someone wants to pick up a trombone, that’s great,” he said.
Trombone Champ was created by Dan Vecchitto, web application designer at Penguin Random House. Dan Vecchitto works with his wife, Jackie Vecchitto, to create video games in her spare time in her Brooklyn apartment bedroom.
Vecchitto, 38, said he came up with the idea four years ago when he was conceptualizing a fun arcade game. “Arcade with giant rubber trombones attached. He just came up with the image of a cabinet,” he said. After finding it difficult to make, Vecchitto set about creating a version that allowed the player to use the mouse to emulate trombone movements and slide between notes.
It was quickly apparent that the game was going to be a comedy, Vecchitto said, using every opportunity to insert jokes.
Vecchitto played saxophone in his high school band, but said he had no experience with the trombone. Asked if he consulted a trombonist during the creation of the game, Beckitt laughed, saying, “I was going to.” At one point, Veckit bought a plastic trombone. pBone“So I had some idea of what this was really going to feel like,” but it was as close as he got to the in-depth study.
“I was a little worried that the real trombone players would be offended, but for the most part they were very supportive.”
Vecchitto said he received one negative email from a jazz trombonist saying the game was disrespectful to the trombone, but otherwise some trombones youtuberhas rave reviews.
Several trombonists said they see the game as a positive showcase for the instrument. WWE star wrestler Xavier Woods a person who plays the trombone in a match and a famous gamer under the name Austin Creedhe didn’t think the game would catch his attention, but he played it for hours.
The joy of the trombone lies in its versatility, says Creed. everyone laughs.
Alex PaxtonThe British composer said in his London apartment that the clip for “The Trombone Champ” “has all the hallmarks of great experimental music,” as it’s filled with out-of-tune notes and microtones. ”, he said. Paxton then sat down and tried the game on himself. After a few tries, he seemed tired of following that rule and began quickly waving the mouse up and down to create a barrage of noise. As he did, the screen began to glow in a psychedelic range of colors.
Paxton later said that Trombone Champ was nothing like playing a real instrument. In real life, he said, beginners usually do not play notes well if the player’s lips are in the wrong position. That said, the game “shows that the trombone can be a license to be weird, to be yourself,” Paxton said.
It remains to be seen whether the game will encourage online “trombone players” to acquire real instruments. invited. After struggling with Tchaikovsky’s trombone on my laptop, I fluffed up the notes and laughed when the word “Meh” appeared on the screen in big letters, but was asked if I could change instruments.
“Not a trombone,” Fisher said.