Did some more songwriting tonight... well maybe piece-writing would be more appropriate (where as the piano thing I wrote recently is a full song concept that I worked out a basic arrangement for, these were just ideas or sections... probably of separate songs)
It ended on a good note, and I really liked some of he stuff I was doing... I often get into this creative block w/ piano and improvisation, where I keep going doing/playing the same pattern or patterns...
Doing it on a keyboard (as opposed to a piano ) really helped... I'm very encouraged by it & I ended feeling good... I want to write more but I need to chill...
Still burnt out on this whole music thing... my cello teacher said that was natural (cuz I had the competition last week) .. maybe he's right...
Anyway, we did Beethoven & Irish Folk Music in the lesson today... it was a good break... in the meantime, I have all this non-music stuff I need to catch up with, but all I want to do is make (write/create) music...
Got asked about being in a band and might have another cello student... excited about both of those... also concerned... though depending on what lessons pay, maybe I'll finally be able to quit Barnes & Nobles??
Sometimes we just need to step away and breathe... I'm considering the possibility of maybe staying an extra semester so that I don't have to keep credit overloading myself... if I did that, I'd be able to drop a class now & not take as full of a schedule next semester... I don't know if that makes sense or not though... I'll think about it, then bring it up w/ my advisor...
Edit: Terry, thanks for your response on my other post... I'm probably gonna answer it up with a follow-up post (as opposed to just a comment) soon.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Concerto Competition, followed by Amahl & the Night Visitors
2 Very awesome experiences. First, the concerto competition, it was great to get to work on the Elgar Concerto w/ Dr. B & Dr. Kuan. I feel like I'd be able to play that movement with anyone at this point, and playing it with piano really expanded my conception of it. It had a really interesting result, which is that it was declared that none of us won ... the official reason for that was that the judges & the orchestra conductor felt that none of the pieces would be ready for a public performance... it's very strange to say the least... We still do get to read through it with the orchestra though, so that's cool. Personally, I don't really care that I didn't win per se... as cool as it would have been, I've got so much stuff going on anyway that it's just Dust in the Wind...
Amahl... let me start off with the bad, and get it out of the way. I missed a show!!! Um, holy fuck. Can we talk about my worst nightmare?? I've only missed a gig once before and I utterly hate doing it. It's only been in the last 6 months too... never before has this kinda thing been a problem... there used to be a time where I was always early for anything I was doing... that's changed here at Manhattanville. I'm working on changing it back...
Now for the cool stuff:
1. I got the Oboe player the gig, she was a friend of mine (Caitlin Walters) from the Mville Orchestra & it was great to have her in the pit... turns out that she new David Jutt's (the pianist) sister and that they had been out of touch for a while... nice to know that I helped facilitate that exchange of info.
2. I got to play with a mix of students & pros & semi-pros. Playing with pros is great, b/c they of course are at a whole different level than you are. The Bass player's daughter apparently does Electric Cello stuff... was cool to discover, she said she's gonna send me a cd. The Harpist has an ensemble that does celtic music (how cool is that??).
3. David Toby is a really cool guy. He started off freelancing and has done a ton of really interesting stuff. It was great to get some stories & perspective of someone who has done all that stuff. But much cooler than that, he apparently plays with Von Cello (Aaron Minsky) from time to time!! How amazing... he's hopefully gonna put me in touch with him, next time they're in touch. That would be so cool.
4. I ran into Ms. Garnett!! (an old art teacher who I was out of touch with because she retired). I got to talk to her a bit & it was so exciting, she gave me her number so that I can give her a call. She was such an awesome teacher & person. Looking back, I just think of the amount of creativity & achievement that came out of her students. There were some really talented kids under her wing (some of them were/are friends of mine too!)
5. I've now played an Operetta, it was a fun gig all in all, even though I was exhausted and burnt out for most of it...
Anyway, on to the next post...
Amahl... let me start off with the bad, and get it out of the way. I missed a show!!! Um, holy fuck. Can we talk about my worst nightmare?? I've only missed a gig once before and I utterly hate doing it. It's only been in the last 6 months too... never before has this kinda thing been a problem... there used to be a time where I was always early for anything I was doing... that's changed here at Manhattanville. I'm working on changing it back...
Now for the cool stuff:
1. I got the Oboe player the gig, she was a friend of mine (Caitlin Walters) from the Mville Orchestra & it was great to have her in the pit... turns out that she new David Jutt's (the pianist) sister and that they had been out of touch for a while... nice to know that I helped facilitate that exchange of info.
2. I got to play with a mix of students & pros & semi-pros. Playing with pros is great, b/c they of course are at a whole different level than you are. The Bass player's daughter apparently does Electric Cello stuff... was cool to discover, she said she's gonna send me a cd. The Harpist has an ensemble that does celtic music (how cool is that??).
3. David Toby is a really cool guy. He started off freelancing and has done a ton of really interesting stuff. It was great to get some stories & perspective of someone who has done all that stuff. But much cooler than that, he apparently plays with Von Cello (Aaron Minsky) from time to time!! How amazing... he's hopefully gonna put me in touch with him, next time they're in touch. That would be so cool.
4. I ran into Ms. Garnett!! (an old art teacher who I was out of touch with because she retired). I got to talk to her a bit & it was so exciting, she gave me her number so that I can give her a call. She was such an awesome teacher & person. Looking back, I just think of the amount of creativity & achievement that came out of her students. There were some really talented kids under her wing (some of them were/are friends of mine too!)
5. I've now played an Operetta, it was a fun gig all in all, even though I was exhausted and burnt out for most of it...
Anyway, on to the next post...
Sometimes it's really hard to remember why I do this in the first place..
I just need to write... to get it all out. It keeps penting up inside of me, no matter what I do. I'm trying to stay on top of things, to time manage to work on all my classes & projects, but it's just so ridiculously overwhelming... well maybe not overwhelming, but it's so unsatisfying. I'm really getting sick and tired of classical music. It's uninspiring and anachronistic... there's so many different ways to make music & I want to create & experiment. Classical music just doesn't have any outlet to do that with (sure there's classical composition, but that's so limiting, because like I said, it's anachronistic, and more importantly, it's not what excites me)
Stuff that has been going well and fun are the following: Working with Reason. Just finished an audio recording project... now there's making music the way I like to... create different textures, layering things. writing & improving over... etc.. basically, recording & editing... The next thing that's been going well has been writing, though I haven't made as much progress as I'd like... I have this piano part & really want to write out a vocal melody for it, since I've got some lyrics... then I've got more to write... that stuff's really flowing thankfully, and all my work with improv. is really helping. I'm returning to Jordan Rudess' stuff finally (from his online conservatory - http://www.jroc.us) & now that I'm musically and technically more mature, it makes a lot more sense/means a lot more than it did the first time I explored it (damn am I glad it's a lifetime membership!)...
I guess that's part of the good thing about being in school for music & constantly doing all this classical stuff, it's given me a foundation & a method... but I just find myself constantly wondering how much more I can actually benefit from this ... even though it's inherently helpful, it's just so far from what I want to do...
One of my teachers passed on a mailing she got for an Artist in Residency Program w/ a community symphony orchestra... requirements were I think 3 concertos a yr. & sitting principal cello with a stipend of $30,000 ... now, even if I was at that level, my immediate reaction was "I'd never want to do this, I'd be unhappy and miserable" & I passed it on to the other cellist, who also wasn't interested. To clarify, $30,000 seems like a tremendous amount of money to me right now, but I think I'd be so unhappy in an orchestral setting, I'd rather not go for something like that at all (It's also in Alabama, but that's in the details...).
I was thinking more about this as the day went on, and particularly in the last few hours, and I realized, the symphony orchestra is extremely boring. It is one of the only ensembles where you will have 10 instruments playing the exact same thing!! Not 10 different instruments w/ different timbres, but 10 instruments that are pretty much exactly the same playing the exact same thing... what about tonal variety anyone??? I've pointed this out before, that an orchestra's size could be reduced through the use of amplifiers (and then we'd be able to do much more complex music, not to mention be able to hear the damn group), but the classical people always have reservations about the sound, and the fact that it "just wouldn't be the same" ... it's so fucking frustrating... there's no experimentation... everything has to be exact and fit in to a little stupid preconceived notion of how things should go... performing shouldn't be about exact replication. It should be about expanding, about arranging. That's why I like the jazz classes I take, there's that element of doing something more... even still though, it always seems to be following a formula (a lot of the time anyway) ... seems to be fitting itself into a box... guess that's where MIDI Band comes in... it's an entity to its own... it doesn't have much of a tradition (electronic music is in my opinion one of the most non-traditional styles out there)
So I sit here frustrated.. I've just played guitar for an hour messing around with my Multi-FX pedal (which, now that I have the instruction manual, actually makes sense to me) & I got a lot of this out & experimented & found some cool tonalities & patterns, and I'm just thinking to myself that making music that way, or improvising over loops in reason, or fooling around with layering & panning & audio engineering is what I really want to do. It's always been the stuff I've connected with & been excited by and all that... it always will be...
Someone asked me what I wanted to do with music... well people ask me that all the time ... my answer is that I want to be in a rock band. I mean that seriously, that's what I want to do professionally. Writing rock music, and collaborating is where I get the most fulfillment from. I realize that it's not pretty & glamorous all the time, and I certainly wouldn't be in it for the fame or any of that bull shit. I also realize that it's extremely hard to make it as a band, and that finances will almost always be tough. But the other thing that I really want to do, that I can see myself being happy in is I want to freelance, and that's got basically the same set of problems... I think realistically I'll do both. I need to be doing a lot of things at once. I have so many different musical impulses & by not exploring all these different areas, I feel stifled...
So in that context, with a year left of school, and a (year in between) ... I raise the question (almost daily ... particularly every time I think of giving Julia Lichten a call)... Is Grad. School worth it?? Does it make any sense?? If so, do I really want to do a performance program, what about a composition or audio engineering program...
If anyone has any thoughts, they're greatly appreciated... if not, thanks for taking the time to read... I'm gonna have a few more posts following this, focusing on Amahl, recent purchases & inspirations, the concerto competition, Emily Wright, Greg Sandow, my brother & anything else that might cross my thoughts...
P.S. Just to clarify, there are plenty of things in classical music that inspire me, plenty of people, both alive and dead, as well as works. I don't mean to diminish those. I want to give special thanks to Emily Wright, Greg Sandow & Eric Edberg, Steven Isserlis, Hillary (my student), Mike Meade (my teacher) & all the musicians and teachers I've worked with and really had a great time with. There's something fulfilling about this classical music stuff, definitely... just not when I'm confined to it...
Stuff that has been going well and fun are the following: Working with Reason. Just finished an audio recording project... now there's making music the way I like to... create different textures, layering things. writing & improving over... etc.. basically, recording & editing... The next thing that's been going well has been writing, though I haven't made as much progress as I'd like... I have this piano part & really want to write out a vocal melody for it, since I've got some lyrics... then I've got more to write... that stuff's really flowing thankfully, and all my work with improv. is really helping. I'm returning to Jordan Rudess' stuff finally (from his online conservatory - http://www.jroc.us) & now that I'm musically and technically more mature, it makes a lot more sense/means a lot more than it did the first time I explored it (damn am I glad it's a lifetime membership!)...
I guess that's part of the good thing about being in school for music & constantly doing all this classical stuff, it's given me a foundation & a method... but I just find myself constantly wondering how much more I can actually benefit from this ... even though it's inherently helpful, it's just so far from what I want to do...
One of my teachers passed on a mailing she got for an Artist in Residency Program w/ a community symphony orchestra... requirements were I think 3 concertos a yr. & sitting principal cello with a stipend of $30,000 ... now, even if I was at that level, my immediate reaction was "I'd never want to do this, I'd be unhappy and miserable" & I passed it on to the other cellist, who also wasn't interested. To clarify, $30,000 seems like a tremendous amount of money to me right now, but I think I'd be so unhappy in an orchestral setting, I'd rather not go for something like that at all (It's also in Alabama, but that's in the details...).
I was thinking more about this as the day went on, and particularly in the last few hours, and I realized, the symphony orchestra is extremely boring. It is one of the only ensembles where you will have 10 instruments playing the exact same thing!! Not 10 different instruments w/ different timbres, but 10 instruments that are pretty much exactly the same playing the exact same thing... what about tonal variety anyone??? I've pointed this out before, that an orchestra's size could be reduced through the use of amplifiers (and then we'd be able to do much more complex music, not to mention be able to hear the damn group), but the classical people always have reservations about the sound, and the fact that it "just wouldn't be the same" ... it's so fucking frustrating... there's no experimentation... everything has to be exact and fit in to a little stupid preconceived notion of how things should go... performing shouldn't be about exact replication. It should be about expanding, about arranging. That's why I like the jazz classes I take, there's that element of doing something more... even still though, it always seems to be following a formula (a lot of the time anyway) ... seems to be fitting itself into a box... guess that's where MIDI Band comes in... it's an entity to its own... it doesn't have much of a tradition (electronic music is in my opinion one of the most non-traditional styles out there)
So I sit here frustrated.. I've just played guitar for an hour messing around with my Multi-FX pedal (which, now that I have the instruction manual, actually makes sense to me) & I got a lot of this out & experimented & found some cool tonalities & patterns, and I'm just thinking to myself that making music that way, or improvising over loops in reason, or fooling around with layering & panning & audio engineering is what I really want to do. It's always been the stuff I've connected with & been excited by and all that... it always will be...
Someone asked me what I wanted to do with music... well people ask me that all the time ... my answer is that I want to be in a rock band. I mean that seriously, that's what I want to do professionally. Writing rock music, and collaborating is where I get the most fulfillment from. I realize that it's not pretty & glamorous all the time, and I certainly wouldn't be in it for the fame or any of that bull shit. I also realize that it's extremely hard to make it as a band, and that finances will almost always be tough. But the other thing that I really want to do, that I can see myself being happy in is I want to freelance, and that's got basically the same set of problems... I think realistically I'll do both. I need to be doing a lot of things at once. I have so many different musical impulses & by not exploring all these different areas, I feel stifled...
So in that context, with a year left of school, and a (year in between) ... I raise the question (almost daily ... particularly every time I think of giving Julia Lichten a call)... Is Grad. School worth it?? Does it make any sense?? If so, do I really want to do a performance program, what about a composition or audio engineering program...
If anyone has any thoughts, they're greatly appreciated... if not, thanks for taking the time to read... I'm gonna have a few more posts following this, focusing on Amahl, recent purchases & inspirations, the concerto competition, Emily Wright, Greg Sandow, my brother & anything else that might cross my thoughts...
P.S. Just to clarify, there are plenty of things in classical music that inspire me, plenty of people, both alive and dead, as well as works. I don't mean to diminish those. I want to give special thanks to Emily Wright, Greg Sandow & Eric Edberg, Steven Isserlis, Hillary (my student), Mike Meade (my teacher) & all the musicians and teachers I've worked with and really had a great time with. There's something fulfilling about this classical music stuff, definitely... just not when I'm confined to it...
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
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
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Scratch That...
So forget what I said about lack of passion... I dunno what happened, whether it's just because I pushed myself back into things, or because of all the underclassmen I've been meeting, but seriously, I'm having my expectations pushed way up here & loving it! My classes are challenging (particularly Jazz Improv, which I'm in the advanced section & Piano for the Classroom Teacher - everything I could hope for in a piano class...)
MIDI Band is rocking this year!! I definitely miss Sam Crawford a lot (he was the guitarist last year, and I worked with him on some other stuff... that kid is such an inspiration... he took a leave of absence to go work on music and do the things he needed to) ... on the other hand though, there's such a diverse combination of kids in MIDI Band this year, and I've improved a lot thanks to the jazz improv class (and my metronome work!!). We start out classes with a free improv session now & have talked a bit more about the theory of some stuff and doing projects with electronics... it's all quite cool!!
Speaking of Jazz Improv, it's really pushing me... got lots of theory and practicing to do for that... we're writing solos & working with modes... it's basically really amazing... I'm so lucky to get to study with Jay (Azzolina) can't wait for Small Ensemble...
Chamber's going awesome too... Dvorak & Weber & possibly Rorem... if not, then Beethoven... either way, cool shit...
In other news, I'm working towards recording that cd (making up a set list & hopefully recording all of it in the next week or two).
I've been playing a lot of Rock Band lately - it's amazing!! It's great to play a video game where the focus is music performance, b/c I can play and work on my music skills at the same time (not to mention, it's fun!!)
Recent Music Purchases:
I started a list recently to keep track of what's going through my musical consciousness... here's some stuff I've bought recently:
CD:
Blackfield - Blackfield II
Yes - The Yes Album
Queen - Night at the Opera
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
DVD:
Blackfield - Live in NYC
Black Sabbath - The Last Supper
Testament - Live in London
Book:
Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal - Ian Christe
Queen & Testament are the only ones I haven't gotten around to listening to yet... otherwise, I'm really enjoying everything else I've picked up... gonna need to get some staff paper soon... I watched the Sabbath DVD the other night - man was that a trip!! I feel like I learned so much about what their music actualy is & about music itself from watching it!! And Blackfield... Let me say, I love Steve Wilson & Aviv Geffen... they're both amazing, and so is this project ... the songwriting, the lyrics, the music, the production, everything's perfect about it... it's been so great to watch the DVD of the concert I was at & to listen to the album almost non-stop...also, they have a really cool cover of "Thank You" - by Alannis Morisette...' I'm gonna go find thereal version at some point...
Finally, as recommended by Jordan Rudess (because he's that damn cool & actually posts on his forums.
Artist: Kiln
Album: Duster
Great electronic music... http://www.ghostly.com/1.0/ghostly/gi56.shtml
Actually last finally... I had a solo gig last thursday.. it went well, I got a few people interested in my music... unfortunately, there was barely anyone at the restaurant b/c of the snow... hopeflly I'll do another one soon...
MIDI Band is rocking this year!! I definitely miss Sam Crawford a lot (he was the guitarist last year, and I worked with him on some other stuff... that kid is such an inspiration... he took a leave of absence to go work on music and do the things he needed to) ... on the other hand though, there's such a diverse combination of kids in MIDI Band this year, and I've improved a lot thanks to the jazz improv class (and my metronome work!!). We start out classes with a free improv session now & have talked a bit more about the theory of some stuff and doing projects with electronics... it's all quite cool!!
Speaking of Jazz Improv, it's really pushing me... got lots of theory and practicing to do for that... we're writing solos & working with modes... it's basically really amazing... I'm so lucky to get to study with Jay (Azzolina) can't wait for Small Ensemble...
Chamber's going awesome too... Dvorak & Weber & possibly Rorem... if not, then Beethoven... either way, cool shit...
In other news, I'm working towards recording that cd (making up a set list & hopefully recording all of it in the next week or two).
I've been playing a lot of Rock Band lately - it's amazing!! It's great to play a video game where the focus is music performance, b/c I can play and work on my music skills at the same time (not to mention, it's fun!!)
Recent Music Purchases:
I started a list recently to keep track of what's going through my musical consciousness... here's some stuff I've bought recently:
CD:
Blackfield - Blackfield II
Yes - The Yes Album
Queen - Night at the Opera
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz
DVD:
Blackfield - Live in NYC
Black Sabbath - The Last Supper
Testament - Live in London
Book:
Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal - Ian Christe
Queen & Testament are the only ones I haven't gotten around to listening to yet... otherwise, I'm really enjoying everything else I've picked up... gonna need to get some staff paper soon... I watched the Sabbath DVD the other night - man was that a trip!! I feel like I learned so much about what their music actualy is & about music itself from watching it!! And Blackfield... Let me say, I love Steve Wilson & Aviv Geffen... they're both amazing, and so is this project ... the songwriting, the lyrics, the music, the production, everything's perfect about it... it's been so great to watch the DVD of the concert I was at & to listen to the album almost non-stop...also, they have a really cool cover of "Thank You" - by Alannis Morisette...' I'm gonna go find thereal version at some point...
Finally, as recommended by Jordan Rudess (because he's that damn cool & actually posts on his forums.
Artist: Kiln
Album: Duster
Great electronic music... http://www.ghostly.com/1.0/ghostly/gi56.shtml
Actually last finally... I had a solo gig last thursday.. it went well, I got a few people interested in my music... unfortunately, there was barely anyone at the restaurant b/c of the snow... hopeflly I'll do another one soon...
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
City of Angels & School...
So City of Angels is done and over... I go to meet a few more of the band (though I really didn't get to chat with the other side of the pit at all)
It was a fun, but also very stressful show. The commute was quite stress-inducing (particularly getting lost the first two rehearsals). Also, all the other players around me were way better than I was (which was really cool, but also stress-inducing because it meant I had to really step stuff up - which I think I could have done a bit more). The last day was particularly fulfilling because I got a bit more comfortable with the music by that point.
To look at the broader picture, it was really inspiring that I was able to actually read through this music fairly well and stay with everyone (most of the time) ... a year ago, this music would have been way over my head
I need to work on memorizing things more efficiently (I'm still amazed by: Amit peled who can memoriz new music in a week & Jacqueline DuPre who memorized the entire Elgar Concerto the day she got it - can we say meant for each other?!)
Now on to school. I've been back at school for a few days now, and of course am kind of mixed about it. I've got some really cool stuff lined up that I'm working on (making a cd, working on modern composers music - a faculty member and an outside composer - Dumky Trio, probably a Beethoven Cello/Piano sonata, Jazz Improv & Ensemble & Piano for the classroom teacher). So I'm thrilled about all that, not to mention my psych classes (Adolescent Psych & Physiological Bases of Behavior).
What I am worried about however, is the lack of passion here, the lack of everybody being better than me, or going at the same pace or faster... I'm worried that I'm gonna lose my drive and my vision. What I have to combat that however, is the fact that I'm playing for Julia Lichten sometime soon (I have to call her about that) & my own will & my vow to myself that I'm not going to slip, that I'm going to stay organized & continue to progress at the rate I'm going. So far that's a really inspiring rate! I played cello yesterday & for the first time in a long time I really heard myself playing a lot better! I was making music out of things things I had been struggling with ... I still feel like I haven't reached the rate of progression I had in high school, but I'm getting damn close to it.. So here's to more practicing!!
In other news, I'm working on a 3rd piece for solo cello, and am going to be commissioning one from Jen Castellano (who's music I've played before). I'm thinking that I want to write something for cello/clarinet soon...
Guess that's all for now...
It was a fun, but also very stressful show. The commute was quite stress-inducing (particularly getting lost the first two rehearsals). Also, all the other players around me were way better than I was (which was really cool, but also stress-inducing because it meant I had to really step stuff up - which I think I could have done a bit more). The last day was particularly fulfilling because I got a bit more comfortable with the music by that point.
To look at the broader picture, it was really inspiring that I was able to actually read through this music fairly well and stay with everyone (most of the time) ... a year ago, this music would have been way over my head
I need to work on memorizing things more efficiently (I'm still amazed by: Amit peled who can memoriz new music in a week & Jacqueline DuPre who memorized the entire Elgar Concerto the day she got it - can we say meant for each other?!)
Now on to school. I've been back at school for a few days now, and of course am kind of mixed about it. I've got some really cool stuff lined up that I'm working on (making a cd, working on modern composers music - a faculty member and an outside composer - Dumky Trio, probably a Beethoven Cello/Piano sonata, Jazz Improv & Ensemble & Piano for the classroom teacher). So I'm thrilled about all that, not to mention my psych classes (Adolescent Psych & Physiological Bases of Behavior).
What I am worried about however, is the lack of passion here, the lack of everybody being better than me, or going at the same pace or faster... I'm worried that I'm gonna lose my drive and my vision. What I have to combat that however, is the fact that I'm playing for Julia Lichten sometime soon (I have to call her about that) & my own will & my vow to myself that I'm not going to slip, that I'm going to stay organized & continue to progress at the rate I'm going. So far that's a really inspiring rate! I played cello yesterday & for the first time in a long time I really heard myself playing a lot better! I was making music out of things things I had been struggling with ... I still feel like I haven't reached the rate of progression I had in high school, but I'm getting damn close to it.. So here's to more practicing!!
In other news, I'm working on a 3rd piece for solo cello, and am going to be commissioning one from Jen Castellano (who's music I've played before). I'm thinking that I want to write something for cello/clarinet soon...
Guess that's all for now...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Focus
"As far as I'm concerned, If you look down, you've already missed the note"
- Steven Isserlis
So that quote may not be 100% verbatim, but it popped into my mind as I was practicing recently. For whatever reason, I had been thinking about the Alexander technique & stressing & muscle tension, and so I started my practice by trying to play relaxed (because I've been doing lots of technical work lately). Immediately, I started listening to my playing (and let me tell you, the things I discovered that needed improvement... I could go on forever!!)
which brings me to my next point: Focus... truly making progress on a string instrument (well musically in general) involves extreme amounts of focus. First of all, you always have to find something to improve, but second, you have to manage multiple things at once (in my case, 2 hands, plus tone and articulation for each hand, at the bare minimum). In order to do this, you have to be able to listen to multiple things at the same time & then connect them with the physical sensation. I do this when I listen to music (try to listen to multiple parts at once & sing one part while "thinking" the other). It's nice to apply it to my musical work again.
I'me working on 2 musicals currently (well, one's an operetta). First, I'm working on "Amahl & the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti with New Rochelle High School. This is loads of fun. Besides getting to hang out with some cool high school kids, I also get to play along David Jutt & David Toby (is that his first name??) & both of them are very amazing players. On top of that, the music is absolutely beautiful.
Next (and showing this weekend), I'm working on City of Angels, with Hastings High School. What an awesome gig!! I got it from randomly adding musicians (aka networking) on facebook. One of the people I added (Remy Kurs) had posted an ad that he needed a cello for a musical (this was long past), so I told him that if he ever needed a cellist, to drop me a message. Well, turns out he needed one!! It sucked getting lost the first time or two I went up there, but the rehearsals have well been worth it.
For one, I've met a couple of new people:
Insia Malik - a violinist who goes to school with Remy & knows a friend of mine at Manhattanville. She's got a really unique name & is very nice (not to mention a really good violinist!!)
Helen Hess - Goes to Boston Conservatory, and is into fantasy novels. I sat next to her at the 2nd rehearsal & during the break she was reading "The Amber Spyglass" (if you're not familiar w/ the His Dark Materials Trilogy, go pick up the Golden Compass now). Interestingly enough, her main instrument is actually viola (which is insanely cool... as much as I'll make fun of violists, I think the instrument is insanely beautiful... and better than the violin...), but she's playing violin for the show. There's some really nice moments where the cello & violin parts come together (unfortunately, it's next to impossible to see on stage... hmmm...)
Becky Riss - A sax/flute player & a friend of Helen's. Seems very nice.
Rob Statell - a brass player, also formerly taught in the New Rochelle School District. When I first met him, he was reading a book about Christianity that his mother had given him (much to the dissapointment of his mother, he's not quite Christian... was quite exciting, as neither am I!)
Michaelangelo Quirinale - Awesome guitarist from New England. Went to school at Berkley & now lives/teaches in Brooklyn. Apparently he taught Remy in music camp!! Was very interesting to talk to. Can't quite hear his playing from over where I am.
Remy Kurs - The music director. Cool kid, goes to NYU, really haven't gotten to know him too well. He's very good about not keeping the musicians past scheduled time... it's different than what I'm used to.
Todd Olson - Keyboard player, also goes to school with Remy. Todd sits with the strings & is fun to make jokes with, he also feels free to tell me when I'm playing something wrong or throw in helpful reminders (like that there is in fact an A sharp in the number we're doing!). It's quite cool.
And that's not even the whole pit!! It's nuts... also, very tight (but hey, that's the fun of it, right?!)...
In other news, I had a very good lesson with Hillary the other day. I don't fully remember what we worked on, but I remember doing quite a bit! She seems much more motivated, almost out of nowhere. It's quite exciting! She asked if we could have a scale due for each lesson (that is Major Scale + relative minor + Broken 3rds & Arpeggios), and I think it sounds like an amazing idea! More structure is good. So we're working with C Major & A Minor ... Next week G!
Some technical things I thought of while playing:
1. Efficiency! This means economy of motion (if there's one thing I should have absorbed from my current teacher, this is it!). The smaller the motions & the efforts involved, the cleaner & more rewarding the sound.
2. Hug the string with the bow - ties in with #1. A great way of being efficient... makes string crossings substantially easier & helps eliminate that surge I tend to get on open strings
3. Breathe & Listen... if I were to write two words on top of every piece of sheet music I own, it would be these two!! So important & helpful
4. Double Stops!! Think of as many inventive things as you can do with them - they are quite rewarding & help with callous building, as does sliding & wide vibrato
5. Practice everything Forte - if you can make a big sound (relaxed), you can make a small one!!
Think that's all for now.. tomorrow is the first show of City of Angels, which is really interesting, b/c we haven't even run through the whole thing with the cast (and we have a dress rehearsal after!!) ... the first real showing though is friday evening.
By the way, for all you cellists out there, Emily Wright is doing a "Does your Bow-Grip Work?" seesion through her blog, go check it out: http://starkravingcello.blogspot.com/
- Steven Isserlis
So that quote may not be 100% verbatim, but it popped into my mind as I was practicing recently. For whatever reason, I had been thinking about the Alexander technique & stressing & muscle tension, and so I started my practice by trying to play relaxed (because I've been doing lots of technical work lately). Immediately, I started listening to my playing (and let me tell you, the things I discovered that needed improvement... I could go on forever!!)
which brings me to my next point: Focus... truly making progress on a string instrument (well musically in general) involves extreme amounts of focus. First of all, you always have to find something to improve, but second, you have to manage multiple things at once (in my case, 2 hands, plus tone and articulation for each hand, at the bare minimum). In order to do this, you have to be able to listen to multiple things at the same time & then connect them with the physical sensation. I do this when I listen to music (try to listen to multiple parts at once & sing one part while "thinking" the other). It's nice to apply it to my musical work again.
I'me working on 2 musicals currently (well, one's an operetta). First, I'm working on "Amahl & the Night Visitors" by Gian Carlo Menotti with New Rochelle High School. This is loads of fun. Besides getting to hang out with some cool high school kids, I also get to play along David Jutt & David Toby (is that his first name??) & both of them are very amazing players. On top of that, the music is absolutely beautiful.
Next (and showing this weekend), I'm working on City of Angels, with Hastings High School. What an awesome gig!! I got it from randomly adding musicians (aka networking) on facebook. One of the people I added (Remy Kurs) had posted an ad that he needed a cello for a musical (this was long past), so I told him that if he ever needed a cellist, to drop me a message. Well, turns out he needed one!! It sucked getting lost the first time or two I went up there, but the rehearsals have well been worth it.
For one, I've met a couple of new people:
Insia Malik - a violinist who goes to school with Remy & knows a friend of mine at Manhattanville. She's got a really unique name & is very nice (not to mention a really good violinist!!)
Helen Hess - Goes to Boston Conservatory, and is into fantasy novels. I sat next to her at the 2nd rehearsal & during the break she was reading "The Amber Spyglass" (if you're not familiar w/ the His Dark Materials Trilogy, go pick up the Golden Compass now). Interestingly enough, her main instrument is actually viola (which is insanely cool... as much as I'll make fun of violists, I think the instrument is insanely beautiful... and better than the violin...), but she's playing violin for the show. There's some really nice moments where the cello & violin parts come together (unfortunately, it's next to impossible to see on stage... hmmm...)
Becky Riss - A sax/flute player & a friend of Helen's. Seems very nice.
Rob Statell - a brass player, also formerly taught in the New Rochelle School District. When I first met him, he was reading a book about Christianity that his mother had given him (much to the dissapointment of his mother, he's not quite Christian... was quite exciting, as neither am I!)
Michaelangelo Quirinale - Awesome guitarist from New England. Went to school at Berkley & now lives/teaches in Brooklyn. Apparently he taught Remy in music camp!! Was very interesting to talk to. Can't quite hear his playing from over where I am.
Remy Kurs - The music director. Cool kid, goes to NYU, really haven't gotten to know him too well. He's very good about not keeping the musicians past scheduled time... it's different than what I'm used to.
Todd Olson - Keyboard player, also goes to school with Remy. Todd sits with the strings & is fun to make jokes with, he also feels free to tell me when I'm playing something wrong or throw in helpful reminders (like that there is in fact an A sharp in the number we're doing!). It's quite cool.
And that's not even the whole pit!! It's nuts... also, very tight (but hey, that's the fun of it, right?!)...
In other news, I had a very good lesson with Hillary the other day. I don't fully remember what we worked on, but I remember doing quite a bit! She seems much more motivated, almost out of nowhere. It's quite exciting! She asked if we could have a scale due for each lesson (that is Major Scale + relative minor + Broken 3rds & Arpeggios), and I think it sounds like an amazing idea! More structure is good. So we're working with C Major & A Minor ... Next week G!
Some technical things I thought of while playing:
1. Efficiency! This means economy of motion (if there's one thing I should have absorbed from my current teacher, this is it!). The smaller the motions & the efforts involved, the cleaner & more rewarding the sound.
2. Hug the string with the bow - ties in with #1. A great way of being efficient... makes string crossings substantially easier & helps eliminate that surge I tend to get on open strings
3. Breathe & Listen... if I were to write two words on top of every piece of sheet music I own, it would be these two!! So important & helpful
4. Double Stops!! Think of as many inventive things as you can do with them - they are quite rewarding & help with callous building, as does sliding & wide vibrato
5. Practice everything Forte - if you can make a big sound (relaxed), you can make a small one!!
Think that's all for now.. tomorrow is the first show of City of Angels, which is really interesting, b/c we haven't even run through the whole thing with the cast (and we have a dress rehearsal after!!) ... the first real showing though is friday evening.
By the way, for all you cellists out there, Emily Wright is doing a "Does your Bow-Grip Work?" seesion through her blog, go check it out: http://starkravingcello.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)