Saturday, February 2, 2008

A step away

So much has been going on since last week. For one thing, I bought a *ton* of cd's (Which I will be blogging about) because borders went out of business (Edit: to clarify, this is Borders in White Plains, NY). Lots of new inspiration there. On top of that, I rediscovered some Stabbing Westward videos & finally gave Bass Communion (one of Steven Wilson's side projects) a listen. I'm very impressed with it - very ambient, electronica-ish kinda ... I'll be picking it up next weekend).

Outside of that, I've started some songwriting (and no, this isn't the first time I've done this, but it's the first time I've actually written up some music & lyrics - that need to be revised - and had a vocal line in my head - will be writing out & then recording a demo very soon). It's for piano & voice & was very inspired both by Blackfield & Tori Amos (If you haven't already, go check out her video of the song Muhammad w/ Maynard James Keenan From Tool: )... also my discovery of Sus chords (well I knew about them before, but had never really used them...)

On top
of that, I've worked with Dr. B on the Elgar Concert, which is absolutely thrilling. For one thing, it's tremendously exciting to see the progression I've made mentally and musically & the level I can work on the concerto . For another, it's so amazing how the cello part comes alive with the piano accompaniment, and how much more meaningful it is... I saw a DVD of Jacueline DuPre, but I had already grabbed too many cds to justify grabbin' (only have so much money...).

In other news, I've been writing a lot & trying to keep myself as stimulated as possible - I almost forgot that that's really the way to be creative & successful... to always work on something, well on a lot of things, and bounce back from one to the other... I might start up another blog for poetry/song lyrics/ideas/essays/rants... that sort of thing... the sort of thing I used to do in high school, when I was more myself (I've really spent a lot of the last year redefining myself by incorporating all the best elements of who I used to be)

I've also started exercising, which has helped my playing tremendously (especially since, I've barely been able to practice in the last week...). Speaking of, I've decided from now on, that if I'm in my room relaxing & or being idle in front of my computer, I'm aways going to pull out my bass & metronome & improvise or practice scales o figure tunes out... whatever it is, as long as I'm musically stimulating myself in some way (whatever it is... as long as I'm doing something & not wasting my time...)

I'm really hearing music more and more fully lately, it's tremendously inspiring...

In other news, I'm probably going to be cowriting (adding a cello part to) a piece with Melanie Lamoreaux (a pianist/vocalist that I'm in MIDI Band with). I'm absolutely thrilled about it... can't wait. It's exactly that collaborative kind of thing that I find fun...

Speaking of collaborative & fun... small Jazz band is beyond amazing & we're doing some really cool stuff with that... also, MIDI Band is pretty interesting... we're experimenting w/ doing a Bach Invention with loops and improvisation using the Live Ableton software... very interesting stuff... I can't wait to see what the full results of that are...

Also, one of my teachers & I exchanged blogs (http://richardthetenor.blogspot.com/)

I'm gong to include an inspiration section at the end of all my posts (at least where it's appropriate/I'm inspired) from now on, linking to any bands/songs/literature/vids/anything else that inspires me... so, here goes...

Inspired By:
1. Stabbing Westward - So Far Away: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mG5bqKSv5-8
2. Stabbing Westward - Nothing: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=EMfkFwRmn44
3. Stabbing Westward - Lies: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3zXZFZBJI0g
4. Stabbing Westward - What Do I Have To Do: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ajVLfxD58Is
5. Stabbing Westward - Shame: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6xkUhaeY4qY
6. Stabbing Westward - Save Yourself: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oE5JjQuabB8
7. Intro to the Home Studio of Jordan Rudess: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2q7tIOAoIZw
8. Dream Theater - Constant Motion: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ2RENhejPk
9. Steven Wilson & Aviv Geffen - Thank You: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=X4MAvwwhiPE
10. Steven Wilson Interview: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VLkQkrk6DDk
11. Steven Wilson: http://www.swhq.co.uk/
12. Blackfield: http://www.blackfield.org
13. Bass Communion: http://www.myspace.com/basscommunion
14. Tori Amos & Maynard James Keenan - Muhammad My Friend: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-SxHJBMrVhI
15. Dream Theater - Forsaken: http://mville.facebook.com/share_redirect.php?h=f5ebe68f6fc78fd5ea15641def39ab0c&url=http%3A%2F%2Fuk.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2k4WjoQA1bg&sid=8130298441

1 comment:

missmiz said...

believe it or not, I ran into your blog by googling playing cello :)) I see you are a very artistic person, keep up the good work, best regards from far faaaaar away..