Ask John Schaefer Anything: What Makes A Good Wedding DJ?; Who Invented The Bassoon?
By most anyone’s standards, John Schaefer knows a lot about music. Yet despite his two radio shows and various other music-related projects, we get the feeling he's withholding some of that knowledge. So now's your chance to ask Soundcheck's famously brainy host anything as long as it has something to do with music. While we've started hearing from readers and listeners, we also received a few questions from some notable names WNYC listeners may be familiar with: Anna Sale, host of WNYC's Death, Sex & Money podcast, and WQXR's own Jeff Spurgeon.
Anna Sale asks: "I wanna know what your philosophy on a great wedding DJ is."
John Schaefer: A great wedding DJ. Well, that’s sort of like asking a New Yorker about baby pigeons. We all know they must exist, but none of us have ever seen one. I guess, if there were such a creature out there, he or she would take the time to talk to the couple and find out what kinds of music they like, and what kinds of music their parents like, because the trick is, you gotta keep several generations on the dance floor. A great wedding DJ would listen to me -- I mean, the groom -- when he says “Under no circumstances are you to play 'Hava Negila' at my wedding."
But that same great wedding DJ would not listen to my brother… I mean, another groom, when he says they want to enter the reception hall to the strains of “Baby Don’t Get Hooked On Me.”
It’s not just that it’s a terrible song. I mean, listen to the words; it’s just all kinds of wrong. So a great wedding DJ needs to be a little bit of a guide, a little bit of a counselor. And in addition to the usual hits -- you know, The Beatles’ “Shout” and tons of Motown and yes, "Y.M.C.A." -- he or she needs to have some surprises that make people say, "What? Oh, this is great for dancing." Almost any of James Murphy’s remix projects, for example, or anything from the soundtrack of Bend It Like Beckham -- like Texas' song "Inner Smile."
WQXR's Jeff Spurgeon wants to know: "John, the bassoon is the weirdest instrument in the orchestra. It's basically a quarter staff that Robin Hood would've thrown aside, somebody hollowed it out, and turned it into a resonator with two pieces of bamboo. It makes a weird, generally unpleasant nasal sound, and is nerdier than any other instrument -- except perhaps the crumhorn. Who invented the bassoon, and has medical science devised a remedy for the disorder that lead to its creation?"
JS: Jeff… Dear sad misguided Jeff. No one invented the bassoon -- it was given to us, by God. To make normal humans feel superior to the poor schlubs who have to blow into these crazy contraptions. But seriously, we answered this question on Soundcheck back on August 4, 2011, when your WQXR colleague Elliott Forrest guest hosted our show. Apparently, Ellliott didn’t tell you about it, or the two of you don’t talk, I dunno.
Soundcheck spoke with Eileen Reynolds, a bassoonist who wrote a great article for The Believer titled, and I’m just telling you what it says here, “The Farting Bedpost,” which is a nickname for the bassoon. She says:
I think part of the reason that the bassoon isn't taken seriously as a solo instrument was because way back when the bassoon was new -- it's a very old instrument -- in the Baroque era, it was pretty primitive, it didn't have that many keys, and it was difficult to play. And so there wasn't a lot of super great writing for the bassoon back then. But as the instrument evolved and became easier to play and tune and got more keys, then people really started to write for it. And that takes off with Mozart, who wrote us our concerto that we play for every orchestra audition we ever do.
So, to answer your question, Jeff Spurgeon: Who invented the bassoon? Well, some people claim it started with that Mozart bassoon concerto. But many people point to a guy named Jacques Hotteterre, who's known as a flute player and composer around the time of Bach, and who may have invented the modern bassoon. You can blame him. Your second question was: Has medical science devised a remedy for the disorder that led to its creation? The answer is no, but Dr. John Schaefer always prescribes the same remedy for every ailment… bourbon.
Do you have a music-related question you want answered? Leave it in the comments, drop us an email at soundcheck@wnyc.org, leave us a voicemail at 866-939-1612 or tweet @Soundcheck.
