News

Welcome to the first rehearsal of Collected Wisdom's new but somewhat makeshift symphony orchestra. We're calling it the Jackman Philharmonic. But wait a minute, half the musicians haven't shown up. Where are the descant kazoos? And what's happened to the washboard player?

THE QUESTION: “Having just finished listening to Beethoven's Ninth,” wrote Wil Vanderelst of Jordan, Ont., “I wondered how these great symphonies were written. Did the great composers write the musical score for each of the instruments involved in a symphony … or was there another technique employed? And, what technique is used by modern-day composers?”

THE ANSWER: Virtually all composers do their own orchestrations, says Robert Levine of Milwaukee, Wis., writing out all the parts for all the instruments in what's called a “score.”

“There were a handful (Wagner was one) who would have assistants or apprentices do some of the orchestrations,” he says. But which instruments play which lines in an orchestral composition are key decisions for a composer, so most made those decisions themselves.

Composers generally still make those decisions today, “but they use music-scoring software to actually notate the parts in the score. Commercial and pop music (Broadway, Hollywood etc.) is more often composed by one person and orchestrated by another.”

FURTHER NOTICE

Last week, we looked at the question of why power boats have their steering wheels on the right while cars have them on the left. We said it was because, in single-engined boats, the torque from the propeller tended to make the starboard (right) side of the boat rise up and the weight of the driver being on the right counterbalanced this to some degree.

Well, several of you wrote in to say there's more to it than that.

According to boating rules, says Dan McTavish of Toronto, if you're motoring along and a power boat is approaching you from the right, that vessel has the right of way. “That means you are responsible for altering course or speed to avoid a collision.” The approaching vessel is responsible for maintaining its course and speed so you can avoid it.

“Sitting on the right,” he points out, “gives you an unobstructed view of vessels approaching from the right.” If you were sitting on the left, passengers or cargo could obstruct your right-hand view and you might not see the approaching vessel.

He adds that steering has not always been on the right. “In the early days of recreational boating, steering was often set on the left to try and make boating like driving a car.”

HELP WANTED

• Why do fingernails grow faster than toenails? Is this the same in cultures where people go barefoot? Colin Ross of North Saanich, B.C., wants to know.
• What is the origin of the dollar sign? asks Don Large of Kingston.
• Why does hair look darker when it's wet? asks Rob Parker of San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jalisco, Mexico. “Even grey or white hair is much darker when wet,” he writes, adding: “Guess why I know this?”

Send your questions and answers to wisdom@globeandmail.com. Include your name, location and a daytime phone number.