Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra

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Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra

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AndyL	May 10 2009, 11:35 PM Post #16
Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 171 Joined: 17-September 08 Member No.: 39952	This was an entertaining program - he's a funny man. I did enjoy watching it for the most part, although parts of it just came across as dumbed down. It also annoyed me when he incorrectly said during the oboe section that the bassoon has a cylindrical bore rather than conical. But, yeah, I enjoyed watching it for the most part.

BerkshireMum	May 10 2009, 11:44 PM Post #17
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 6597 Joined: 20-July 07 From: West Berks Member No.: 13405	I am obviously a boring old stick. I watched for about 20 minutes but became increasingly irritated by the way Bill Bailey loves the sound of his own voice - it would have been nice to hear more of the instruments playing and less of Bill! Anyway, I'm glad so many others appreciated it. Makes me feel my share of the licence fee wasn't wasted! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

sarah123	May 10 2009, 11:53 PM Post #18
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 6484 Joined: 27-July 07 From: Cambridge Member No.: 13655	I've just watched it again. My favourite bit has got to be 'Exterminez vous!! non, parce que je suis doctor qui...' (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Mad Tom	May 11 2009, 02:06 AM Post #19
Unregistered	It had some great bits (the first few minutes, the bells, the Dr Who jazz-style piano), some okay bits, some intensely boring bits (e,g, the American cop show car chase), a lot of factual inaccuracies, rather too much of Bill Bailey (like the excruciating voice-over, you can't call it singing, on the News theme) and not enough about the (magnificent) orchestra and its instruments. And if you listen properly you can hear the bassoon playing BeeGees numbers even when the rest of the orchestra is playing, even if Bill would like you to believe that you can't. On balance, a wasted opportunity. It could have been so much better.

fsharpminor	May 11 2009, 06:07 AM Post #20
Maestro Group: Members Posts: 12226 Joined: 7-June 06 From: Wirral (originally Keighley, Yorks) Member No.: 7089	I didnt smile once, programme was a load of rubbish !

lottie	May 11 2009, 06:40 AM Post #21
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 3891 Joined: 15-January 07 From: In among the purple heather of Scotland Member No.: 9057	I thought it was great.. not brilliant, but really good fun in parts. It's not something I would watch again though because once was enough.. but I did enjoy it. I loved Dr. Qui, the handbells (I really did laugh out loud) and the Belgian jazz. I like Bill Bailey but not in too big a dose (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) and he really shouldn't sing for his supper - it's not his strongest talent (but his piano playing is good).... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Babybird2	May 11 2009, 07:20 AM Post #22
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 3853 Joined: 20-February 08 From: Yorkshire Member No.: 25449	I enjoyed it, especially the cowbells (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

vectistim	May 11 2009, 07:53 AM Post #23
Prodigy Group: Members Posts: 1376 Joined: 12-November 07 From: Isle of Wight/Reading Member No.: 19545	QUOTE(sarah123 @ May 10 2009, 11:22 PM) QUOTE(guilmant @ May 10 2009, 11:17 PM) Does anyone know (or can do!!!) how you can 'keep' a copy and put on DVD, its the kind of thing I could use in the classroom. Any ideas? Preferably in the next 5 and a half days. I've never tried downloading anything from Iplayer, but there must be some way of copying the file so that it lasts more than a month (or whatever the limit on downloaded files is). get_iplayer is your friend, although it has a bit of an awkward interface

Stephie	May 11 2009, 07:55 AM Post #24
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 2281 Joined: 22-November 08 Member No.: 45825	Bill Bailey!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drummer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/woot.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hurrah.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/howDoYouDo.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/santa2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/highfive.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif) Yeah... Like my signature??! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Babybird2	May 11 2009, 07:58 AM Post #25
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 3853 Joined: 20-February 08 From: Yorkshire Member No.: 25449	QUOTE(Stephie @ May 11 2009, 08:55 AM) Bill Bailey!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drummer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/woot.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hurrah.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/howDoYouDo.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/santa2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/highfive.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif) Yeah... Like my signature??! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) When I was watching it I said to my boyfriend "Someone on the forum has this as their signature" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

skylark	May 11 2009, 08:09 AM Post #26
Unregistered	QUOTE(fsharpminor @ May 11 2009, 07:07 AM) I didnt smile once, programme was a load of rubbish ! Thank goodness! I was beginning to think it was only me! To be fair, I didn't watch much of it I'm afraid. Am I the only person on the forum who doesn't like Bill Bailey - I put him in the same school as Bill Oddie for irritating, sorry Bill Bailey fans (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

briantrumpet	May 11 2009, 08:36 AM Post #27
Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 779 Joined: 24-June 07 From: Exeter Member No.: 12403	QUOTE(guilmant @ May 10 2009, 11:17 PM) Does anyone know (or can do!!!) how you can 'keep' a copy and put on DVD, its the kind of thing I could use in the classroom. Any ideas? Preferably in the next 5 and a half days. I think you'll find that the only way to do this is to record it while it's being broadcast. The iplayer files are very heavily protected - I found that you can't even play them if you've saved them to your hard drive unless you've got internet connection when you want to play them as each file checks its status with the BBC before playing.

AmandaL	May 11 2009, 09:29 AM Post #28
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 3477 Joined: 18-November 03 From: Hampshire, England Member No.: 149	Overall, I enjoyed the programme. It was somewhat tongue in cheek and a bit of a send-up - a good chance for people who might not otherwise be tempted to watch/listen to orchestral music, see that classical musicians aren't stuffy or boring. I particularly liked The Swan on cowbells and the Dr Who theme converted into a jazz number (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) For those of you who feel critical about the programme - and that Bill Bailey liked the sound of his own voice - remember, he's a comedian in his day job.

Stephie	May 11 2009, 10:17 AM Post #29
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 2281 Joined: 22-November 08 Member No.: 45825	QUOTE(Babybird2 @ May 11 2009, 08:58 AM) QUOTE(Stephie @ May 11 2009, 08:55 AM) Bill Bailey!!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/drummer.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/woot.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hurrah.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rofl.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/howDoYouDo.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/santa2.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/highfive.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/notworthy.gif) Yeah... Like my signature??! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) When I was watching it I said to my boyfriend "Someone on the forum has this as their signature" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) Well it is one of the best sketches... His 'love song' is pretty hilarious, too! And the Kraftwerk one... I think I just have his sense of humour (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Arundodonuts	May 11 2009, 01:40 PM Post #30
Virtuoso Group: Members Posts: 4921 Joined: 14-May 08 From: Stockport Member No.: 30881	QUOTE(briantrumpet @ May 11 2009, 09:36 AM) QUOTE(guilmant @ May 10 2009, 11:17 PM) Does anyone know (or can do!!!) how you can 'keep' a copy and put on DVD, its the kind of thing I could use in the classroom. Any ideas? Preferably in the next 5 and a half days. I think you'll find that the only way to do this is to record it while it's being broadcast. The iplayer files are very heavily protected - I found that you can't even play them if you've saved them to your hard drive unless you've got internet connection when you want to play them as each file checks its status with the BBC before playing. There is software to do the job. The best is I've seen is "Iplayer Downloader" (unsurprisingly) at http://www.lawrencedudley.co.uk/iplayer/ for which you need a mac running OS X 10.5. It works just like a browser to display the iPlayer website. You pick the programme you want and it downloads as a Quicktime file, stripping the protection. It handles audio streams too. There is also a version for Windows which is a bit more fiddly, not having the fancy graphic front-end of the mac one. It works fine though, you just have to copy the URL of the movie you want from the iPlayer website into the application. You can get that one from http://po-ru.com/projects/iplayer-downloader/ I have to say I think it is extraordinary that the Beeb attempt to go to so much trouble to protect this stuff. If you record it off the tele or radio there is no protection. I believe it's largely to do with licensing as it's a 3rd party (not the Beeb) who look after streamed content. QUOTE(AmandaL @ May 11 2009, 10:29 AM) Overall, I enjoyed the programme. It was somewhat tongue in cheek and a bit of a send-up - a good chance for people who might not otherwise be tempted to watch/listen to orchestral music, see that classical musicians aren't stuffy or boring. I particularly liked The Swan on cowbells and the Dr Who theme converted into a jazz number (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) For those of you who feel critical about the programme - and that Bill Bailey liked the sound of his own voice - remember, he's a comedian in his day job. I agree with Amanda, but then I like Bill Bailey and I believe "humour does belong in music" (a phrase coined by my hero Frank Zappa - oh sorry I've said that before). I rather enjoyed the comment from some 16th century book (and I'm paraphrasing here) that the oboe is "pleasing and not much inferior to the trumpet".

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