Today ended up being the exact opposite of what friday was.
I'll write tomorrow.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
1/28 - I Love Weekends.
Today was awesome. Really, really awesome.
I had a good shower, a good breakfast with good people, and went to Aural Skills and aced a quiz.
In Composition, I didn't sound like an idiot, which is always a possibility.
In Singers, I knew most of my part for a syncopated, fast samba tune we hadn't even started working on yet, and I helped out a lot on solidifying the rhythm. It was cool to be the only one who really understood what was going on at that moment.
I went to the percussion departmental, which was good. Three new youtube videos.
I came home and watched Community and The Office, and they were both really good.
I went to Bullseye Bike Shop to buy a new bike. It's so cool. Thank you so much, granddad.
I came back and jammed with some of my friends who were sitting in front of Bruce. I played some drumset, some guitar, a little bass, but mostly djembe, and we played everything from surf bossa to blues to hip-hop, with my R.A. and his friends freestyling over it for an hour.
I came home and uploaded videos, and the fire alarm went off. It was a drill, don't worry.
I ate some really good brownies and watched 30 Rock and Parks and Rec.
Today was a very, very good day.
New videos:
I liked the last one the most. Well, that, and there was another one that I didn't record because it was all one note.
The one note was a roll on a sheet of resonant metal, like a thunder sheet. It went from inaudible to really soft, all the way up to loud and all the way back down. It was cool not only to hear all of the different overtones the metal created but to feel the tension the overtones created.
I'm going to go ride my bike.
M
I had a good shower, a good breakfast with good people, and went to Aural Skills and aced a quiz.
In Composition, I didn't sound like an idiot, which is always a possibility.
In Singers, I knew most of my part for a syncopated, fast samba tune we hadn't even started working on yet, and I helped out a lot on solidifying the rhythm. It was cool to be the only one who really understood what was going on at that moment.
I went to the percussion departmental, which was good. Three new youtube videos.
I came home and watched Community and The Office, and they were both really good.
I went to Bullseye Bike Shop to buy a new bike. It's so cool. Thank you so much, granddad.
I came back and jammed with some of my friends who were sitting in front of Bruce. I played some drumset, some guitar, a little bass, but mostly djembe, and we played everything from surf bossa to blues to hip-hop, with my R.A. and his friends freestyling over it for an hour.
I came home and uploaded videos, and the fire alarm went off. It was a drill, don't worry.
I ate some really good brownies and watched 30 Rock and Parks and Rec.
Today was a very, very good day.
New videos:
I liked the last one the most. Well, that, and there was another one that I didn't record because it was all one note.
The one note was a roll on a sheet of resonant metal, like a thunder sheet. It went from inaudible to really soft, all the way up to loud and all the way back down. It was cool not only to hear all of the different overtones the metal created but to feel the tension the overtones created.
I'm going to go ride my bike.
M
Thursday, January 27, 2011
1/27
Today was lazy, man. Too lazy to even have a title.
I didn't go to government. I tried to get up at 7:30 to go work out, then 8:30 just to get to class, but it wouldn't happen. I did manage to go to theory, though, but she talked about every single thing you could possibly cover about secondary dominants, so I drew a pretty picture.
I went home and watched 30 Rock. Since I started college I've started watching different TV shows, mostly out of "boredom," which shouldn't really be possible as a music major, considering we shouldn't have free time. But, I watch a lot of Hulu, and so does Dean, and we kind of subliminally encourage each other's TV habits.
Kids, when you go to college, don't stay at home and watch Nova all day.
I did that one day. I learned a lot.
I guess you could stay at home and watch Nova all day, but just for one day.
I surfed around on Kerry Marsh's website, kerrymarsh.com . Some of my favorite tunes I've heard of his are renditions of "Uninvited," "Higher Ground," and "Silent Night." I've done/am doing a lot of his stuff too. He's a cool dude.
I was looking for recordings of the music we're singing in Singers right now. I can't tell you what songs they are yet, but you'll know soon.
Looking at of the random music Kerry Marsh put his own spin on inspired me to put my own spin on something. So I grabbed my computer and a practice room key and cranked out a jazzy, chromatic version of "When I Fall In Love," and I'm hoping it doesn't sound too much like the Real Group version. Since I only have 60 seconds of music, and it only sounds like ahs on Sibelius, I'll wait until it actually sounds decent to show it to you.
And then I came back home and watched Arrested Development. A lot of it. And I felt guilty so I went to the gym for the first time all semester.
When I had a bike, I would go to the gym every day, because it only took 30 seconds to get down there. But now that I have to walk there, I don't want to go stationary bike, because walking is tedious. I prefer biking to my bike, and biking back.
Sorry I didn't really talk about music much today.
Some days just have to be like that.
M
I didn't go to government. I tried to get up at 7:30 to go work out, then 8:30 just to get to class, but it wouldn't happen. I did manage to go to theory, though, but she talked about every single thing you could possibly cover about secondary dominants, so I drew a pretty picture.
I went home and watched 30 Rock. Since I started college I've started watching different TV shows, mostly out of "boredom," which shouldn't really be possible as a music major, considering we shouldn't have free time. But, I watch a lot of Hulu, and so does Dean, and we kind of subliminally encourage each other's TV habits.
Kids, when you go to college, don't stay at home and watch Nova all day.
I did that one day. I learned a lot.
I guess you could stay at home and watch Nova all day, but just for one day.
I surfed around on Kerry Marsh's website, kerrymarsh.com . Some of my favorite tunes I've heard of his are renditions of "Uninvited," "Higher Ground," and "Silent Night." I've done/am doing a lot of his stuff too. He's a cool dude.
I was looking for recordings of the music we're singing in Singers right now. I can't tell you what songs they are yet, but you'll know soon.
Looking at of the random music Kerry Marsh put his own spin on inspired me to put my own spin on something. So I grabbed my computer and a practice room key and cranked out a jazzy, chromatic version of "When I Fall In Love," and I'm hoping it doesn't sound too much like the Real Group version. Since I only have 60 seconds of music, and it only sounds like ahs on Sibelius, I'll wait until it actually sounds decent to show it to you.
And then I came back home and watched Arrested Development. A lot of it. And I felt guilty so I went to the gym for the first time all semester.
When I had a bike, I would go to the gym every day, because it only took 30 seconds to get down there. But now that I have to walk there, I don't want to go stationary bike, because walking is tedious. I prefer biking to my bike, and biking back.
Sorry I didn't really talk about music much today.
Some days just have to be like that.
M
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
1/26 - Well-rounded
I realized today that I've been keeping up with my goals so far.
When I started this blog, one of my early posts was about whether I should pick from one of my possible majors, or to stay in the middle of all of them for as long as possible. I chose the latter, which is a lot of work, but, right now, I'm still well-rounded.
Today, I got up and got $4,710 dollars back from the University. That's what they get for making me pay out-of-state tuition. I checked out some Blind Blake, Art Blakey, Belle and Sebastian, Radiohead's "OK Computer," and Yes' "Fragile."
After Aural Skills I went to Composition, where my professor told us to listen to music without judging it, to listen and to keep an open mind, and to listen to anything you can get your hands on.
I sang baritone in Jazz Singers, then played snare and woodblock in the Percussion Group. After lunch, I played all of the parts to Tokoe and Gota with the African Ensemble.
I practiced for my lesson, and did pretty well. I remembered most of what I did last semester, and the rest I'll have to remember before I do early barriers in February.
After my lesson, I walked to Voertman Hall and listened to the Maniacal 4 trombone quartet, with the rhythm section from the One O'Clock lab band, and smiled as they played intricate classical pieces, grooved along to the latin song, and sang along to "Carry On Wayward Son," "The Ocean" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Now I'm going to a study group, but later, I'm going to watch the One O'Clock lab band play at the Syndicate, which will probably blow my mind a little bit.
So, in one day, I've covered all of my bases. I'm drumming, listening and experiencing the jazz scene, singing, playing world music, and I'm doing it every single day I'm in school. Except Fridays, I guess. But still, I think that's pretty impressive.
It's interesting to look back at the mistakes you made in the past; the things that you thought would be easy that were really hard, or the things that scared the crap out of you that weren't that bad. Sometimes I think that's better than looking back and realizing that you were right all the time.
M
When I started this blog, one of my early posts was about whether I should pick from one of my possible majors, or to stay in the middle of all of them for as long as possible. I chose the latter, which is a lot of work, but, right now, I'm still well-rounded.
Today, I got up and got $4,710 dollars back from the University. That's what they get for making me pay out-of-state tuition. I checked out some Blind Blake, Art Blakey, Belle and Sebastian, Radiohead's "OK Computer," and Yes' "Fragile."
After Aural Skills I went to Composition, where my professor told us to listen to music without judging it, to listen and to keep an open mind, and to listen to anything you can get your hands on.
I sang baritone in Jazz Singers, then played snare and woodblock in the Percussion Group. After lunch, I played all of the parts to Tokoe and Gota with the African Ensemble.
I practiced for my lesson, and did pretty well. I remembered most of what I did last semester, and the rest I'll have to remember before I do early barriers in February.
After my lesson, I walked to Voertman Hall and listened to the Maniacal 4 trombone quartet, with the rhythm section from the One O'Clock lab band, and smiled as they played intricate classical pieces, grooved along to the latin song, and sang along to "Carry On Wayward Son," "The Ocean" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Now I'm going to a study group, but later, I'm going to watch the One O'Clock lab band play at the Syndicate, which will probably blow my mind a little bit.
So, in one day, I've covered all of my bases. I'm drumming, listening and experiencing the jazz scene, singing, playing world music, and I'm doing it every single day I'm in school. Except Fridays, I guess. But still, I think that's pretty impressive.
It's interesting to look back at the mistakes you made in the past; the things that you thought would be easy that were really hard, or the things that scared the crap out of you that weren't that bad. Sometimes I think that's better than looking back and realizing that you were right all the time.
M
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
1/25 - Marvin Stamm
Today I slept in Poli Sci, did homework in Theory, had a good lesson with Christopher Deane, and learned a lot of Gamelan music. But that's not what I really want to talk about today.
Today Marvin Stamm came to UNT. He played in the One O'Clock when he went to school here, and he went on to play with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Quincy Jones, Bob Mintzer, Maria Schneider, and just about every jazz musician in NYC.
He talked about how the lab bands played in an army barracks, not a concert hall, and there was one person on the Jazz faculty when he was around. His treat at the end of the day was to play along to records given to him by his brother, who was his main inspiration. He told us the key to really getting your name out was to be on time, respectful, easy to work with, and then be really good; I thought it was interesting how the skill level wasn't really the deciding factor.
And the main thing he told us was to have fun, because if having fun is the reason you want or wanted to pursue music in the first place, what's the point of playing if you aren't having fun?
Have fun.
I recorded these, but I haven't listened to them yet.
Not only was it a good performance, but he was a cool person in general, and that was really nice to see.
Interesting thing of the day:
French grip, in which the palms of the hands face directly toward each other, and the stick is moved with the fingers and some wrist, is based on a French fencing grip. German grip, where the palms are parallel to the drumhead, and the stick is moved primarily with the wrist, is based on a German fencing grip. The grips were already common knowledge in those regions and they just applied it to timpani.
I thought that was cool. I should probably check with Todd on that though.
I have a lot of music to learn, so I'm done for the night.
M
Today Marvin Stamm came to UNT. He played in the One O'Clock when he went to school here, and he went on to play with Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, Benny Goodman, Bill Evans, Quincy Jones, Bob Mintzer, Maria Schneider, and just about every jazz musician in NYC.
He talked about how the lab bands played in an army barracks, not a concert hall, and there was one person on the Jazz faculty when he was around. His treat at the end of the day was to play along to records given to him by his brother, who was his main inspiration. He told us the key to really getting your name out was to be on time, respectful, easy to work with, and then be really good; I thought it was interesting how the skill level wasn't really the deciding factor.
And the main thing he told us was to have fun, because if having fun is the reason you want or wanted to pursue music in the first place, what's the point of playing if you aren't having fun?
Have fun.
I recorded these, but I haven't listened to them yet.
Not only was it a good performance, but he was a cool person in general, and that was really nice to see.
Interesting thing of the day:
French grip, in which the palms of the hands face directly toward each other, and the stick is moved with the fingers and some wrist, is based on a French fencing grip. German grip, where the palms are parallel to the drumhead, and the stick is moved primarily with the wrist, is based on a German fencing grip. The grips were already common knowledge in those regions and they just applied it to timpani.
I thought that was cool. I should probably check with Todd on that though.
I have a lot of music to learn, so I'm done for the night.
M
Monday, January 24, 2011
1/24 - Hm.
It's been a long day.
Don't think that it's been a bad day, though. It hasn't been.
Aural Skills was good. I finished my speed writing.
Composition was pretty weird. Mondays are departmental days in Composition, and they had a guest today, William Bolcom. He's written a lot of cool stuff, and he was Composer of the Year in 2007, you should go to his website: williambolcom.com
He spent the majority of his 50 minutes on a setting of a Lord Byron poem, "Prometheus," which I just discovered was a piece that he wrote. It took me ages to find anything on it, and I still can't find the music to show you.
Here's the poem: Prometheus
Basically, Prometheus gave humans fire, and the gods punished (and are still punishing) him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle disembowel him every day. Yeah, like he's reboweled overnight and then goes through it all again every day. Poor guy.
The piece is for piano, chorus, and orchestra, and begins with atonal piano. The chorus eerily makes its way through the first stanza using "sprechstimme". The second stanza slowly, carefully becomes tonal and by the third stanza, has reached something similar to D major. But, like the poem, it falls back into atonality as it moves closer to the end of the poem, as death could be Prometheus' only victory, which is a pretty morbid scene in itself.
Sprechstimme is between singing and speaking. Some composers give intervals to sing but don't give a starting note, and others just give directions to go. It sounds pretty weird when it's just one person, but really weird when it's a whole bunch of people, not singing the same frequency. It sounds like a ghost chorus.
I know that was one person, but, eh, still weird.
Anyways, I thought that was cool, even though it was weird. He did a really good job portraying Prometheus' unjust misery, and he was a pretty brilliant dude.
I'm the only baritone in Singers, which is fun because I'm usually the only one singing my part, and I love challenges.
Jayce handed out music in Percussion Group today; I got a cool percussion part and a tricky mallet part. We'll see how it goes.
African was alright. We reviewed the stuff we did on Wednesday and Friday, because we had some new people, but once they were caught up we learned all of the parts to Tokoe, which is 4 bell parts, shaker stuff, and at least 2 drums. I got CDs from Gideon of all of the grooves, and I'm excited to learn them all.
After African I jammed with Jesse, and then the two of us and another Jesse took my bike to the shop. My bike has a bent frame, bent pedal, broken front brake and bent seat, at least, and they said it would probably be less of a hassle and less expensive to just get another bike. Bummer.
I went to the library to get new CDs from a list of things I need to get, which I've compiled from a book I got for Christmas one year. It's a grab bag; today I got Pet Sounds, a Beastie Boys CD, Sidney Bechet (soprano sax jazz), and Waldemar Bastos' "Pretaluz," which is Afro-beat I think. I haven't listened to it yet.
It's been a good day, but kind of a downer every once in a while. Hard music to learn, late lunch, no bike, weird food, no mail.
But my reasons to complain would be overwhelmed by my reasons to be happy, so I'll keep thinking positive.
Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll have homemade, organic video of Marvin Stamm playing here at UNT, and maybe some Gamelan stuff. It'll be a good day.
M
Don't think that it's been a bad day, though. It hasn't been.
Aural Skills was good. I finished my speed writing.
Composition was pretty weird. Mondays are departmental days in Composition, and they had a guest today, William Bolcom. He's written a lot of cool stuff, and he was Composer of the Year in 2007, you should go to his website: williambolcom.com
He spent the majority of his 50 minutes on a setting of a Lord Byron poem, "Prometheus," which I just discovered was a piece that he wrote. It took me ages to find anything on it, and I still can't find the music to show you.
Here's the poem: Prometheus
Basically, Prometheus gave humans fire, and the gods punished (and are still punishing) him by chaining him to a rock and having an eagle disembowel him every day. Yeah, like he's reboweled overnight and then goes through it all again every day. Poor guy.
The piece is for piano, chorus, and orchestra, and begins with atonal piano. The chorus eerily makes its way through the first stanza using "sprechstimme". The second stanza slowly, carefully becomes tonal and by the third stanza, has reached something similar to D major. But, like the poem, it falls back into atonality as it moves closer to the end of the poem, as death could be Prometheus' only victory, which is a pretty morbid scene in itself.
Sprechstimme is between singing and speaking. Some composers give intervals to sing but don't give a starting note, and others just give directions to go. It sounds pretty weird when it's just one person, but really weird when it's a whole bunch of people, not singing the same frequency. It sounds like a ghost chorus.
I know that was one person, but, eh, still weird.
Anyways, I thought that was cool, even though it was weird. He did a really good job portraying Prometheus' unjust misery, and he was a pretty brilliant dude.
I'm the only baritone in Singers, which is fun because I'm usually the only one singing my part, and I love challenges.
Jayce handed out music in Percussion Group today; I got a cool percussion part and a tricky mallet part. We'll see how it goes.
African was alright. We reviewed the stuff we did on Wednesday and Friday, because we had some new people, but once they were caught up we learned all of the parts to Tokoe, which is 4 bell parts, shaker stuff, and at least 2 drums. I got CDs from Gideon of all of the grooves, and I'm excited to learn them all.
After African I jammed with Jesse, and then the two of us and another Jesse took my bike to the shop. My bike has a bent frame, bent pedal, broken front brake and bent seat, at least, and they said it would probably be less of a hassle and less expensive to just get another bike. Bummer.
I went to the library to get new CDs from a list of things I need to get, which I've compiled from a book I got for Christmas one year. It's a grab bag; today I got Pet Sounds, a Beastie Boys CD, Sidney Bechet (soprano sax jazz), and Waldemar Bastos' "Pretaluz," which is Afro-beat I think. I haven't listened to it yet.
It's been a good day, but kind of a downer every once in a while. Hard music to learn, late lunch, no bike, weird food, no mail.
But my reasons to complain would be overwhelmed by my reasons to be happy, so I'll keep thinking positive.
Tomorrow, hopefully, I'll have homemade, organic video of Marvin Stamm playing here at UNT, and maybe some Gamelan stuff. It'll be a good day.
M
Saturday, January 22, 2011
1/21 - African Ensemble at the Dallas Art Museum
Hey everyone, sorry this post is pretty late.
On Friday, at 3, we (the african ensemble) met at the music annex to load up all the drums. We left at about 3:30, and our car, with Jesse and the driver, Colin, who plays classical guitar, made it there first. We parked, for free, because we told the parking attendant who we were. Of course.
We carried our drums upstairs and we happily greeted by the lady who coordinates all of the concerts and events. She showed us where to put our drums, gave us free admission passes, and showed us to the Green Room. Yes, we had a Green Room. My first one ever. Hopefully, it's the first of many to come.
I was really excited about the Green Room.
Then I went downstairs and found everyone as they were parking and told them what to do and where to go. The sound guy came up and introduced himself to me, since I was the one directing traffic, which was pretty cool. I guess I was a little caught up in the moment.
We helped Gideon set up the stage and changed into our cool costumes and ate some chips, and we relaxed until we were directed downstairs with about 2 minutes before show time.
The concert started at 6pm in the middle of the museum, where we started singing and playing a processional down to the main stage. In my opinion, that was the best part of the concert, because we got to march in and dance around and play really loud around expensive and elaborate works of art. And it was fun.
Once we got to the stage, we played Tokoe, Gota, Dagbamba, and Kpanlogo, and they all went pretty well. Sure, someone missed a call and played a little after we all stopped every once in a while, but for 3 hours of rehearsal, it wasn't bad. The dancers had really awesome solos in the Gota and we had a big dance party in the end, during Kpanlogo, which probably went on for more than ten minutes. It was a blast.
Sorry I have poor sentence structure, but hopefully you don't care; I don't, this is a music blog.
After our big show we packed some of the drums up and carried the rest upstairs to set up for a show that we all thought would be just Gideon, but really ended up being the veterans playing whatever Gideon wanted to play. They played on the 4th floor, in between the Sub Saharan Africa and American exhibits, and even though there were loud drums and shakers, you could still hear Brave Combo playing on the main stage on the 1st floor.
Brave Combo is a groovy, funky polka/rock/punk/jam band. If you haven't heard them, check them out, they rock.
They also play a mean hokey pokey.
Anyways, I got a video of the vets playing upstairs. My video camera could only take 1:26 of video at the time, so this is all I got.
I think it's pretty cool that I can be a part of a group of goofy people that like to dance around and jam to West African beats.
Have a good weekend everyone, see you on Monday.
M
On Friday, at 3, we (the african ensemble) met at the music annex to load up all the drums. We left at about 3:30, and our car, with Jesse and the driver, Colin, who plays classical guitar, made it there first. We parked, for free, because we told the parking attendant who we were. Of course.
We carried our drums upstairs and we happily greeted by the lady who coordinates all of the concerts and events. She showed us where to put our drums, gave us free admission passes, and showed us to the Green Room. Yes, we had a Green Room. My first one ever. Hopefully, it's the first of many to come.
I was really excited about the Green Room.
Then I went downstairs and found everyone as they were parking and told them what to do and where to go. The sound guy came up and introduced himself to me, since I was the one directing traffic, which was pretty cool. I guess I was a little caught up in the moment.
We helped Gideon set up the stage and changed into our cool costumes and ate some chips, and we relaxed until we were directed downstairs with about 2 minutes before show time.
The concert started at 6pm in the middle of the museum, where we started singing and playing a processional down to the main stage. In my opinion, that was the best part of the concert, because we got to march in and dance around and play really loud around expensive and elaborate works of art. And it was fun.
Once we got to the stage, we played Tokoe, Gota, Dagbamba, and Kpanlogo, and they all went pretty well. Sure, someone missed a call and played a little after we all stopped every once in a while, but for 3 hours of rehearsal, it wasn't bad. The dancers had really awesome solos in the Gota and we had a big dance party in the end, during Kpanlogo, which probably went on for more than ten minutes. It was a blast.
Sorry I have poor sentence structure, but hopefully you don't care; I don't, this is a music blog.
After our big show we packed some of the drums up and carried the rest upstairs to set up for a show that we all thought would be just Gideon, but really ended up being the veterans playing whatever Gideon wanted to play. They played on the 4th floor, in between the Sub Saharan Africa and American exhibits, and even though there were loud drums and shakers, you could still hear Brave Combo playing on the main stage on the 1st floor.
Brave Combo is a groovy, funky polka/rock/punk/jam band. If you haven't heard them, check them out, they rock.
They also play a mean hokey pokey.
Anyways, I got a video of the vets playing upstairs. My video camera could only take 1:26 of video at the time, so this is all I got.
I think it's pretty cool that I can be a part of a group of goofy people that like to dance around and jam to West African beats.
Have a good weekend everyone, see you on Monday.
M
Thursday, January 20, 2011
1/20 - The Allegory of the Cave
Today was a pretty lazy day.
I didn't really pay attention in my government class. I half slept the whole time, but I was making sure that I wasn't missing anything I didn't know. But I already knew everything, so I went back to sleep.
We took some quizzes in Theory, which is the only time I really learn anything in class. So it was a good class.
I came home, took a nap, and studied for my Aural Skills final from last semester, which I took at 3. I messed up the speed writing pretty bad, but since I had a 99 in the class, it shouldn't have made an impact on my grade too much, especially since I did well on everything else.
I jammed with my friends Jesse and Jesse later in the day. We played for an hour an rocked pretty hard, but some R.A.'s came upstairs and told us we were being loud and they could hear us downstairs, so we got guilty and quit for the day. But it was a lot of fun.
Other than that, I fixed my debit card issues, bought some textbooks, and lounged around all day.
Yesterday, in my composition class, my teacher said something in class that I thought was pretty cool. He talks pretty fast, and he's a little eccentric, so it took me a little while to understand what he was saying. But it is a pretty cool idea.
The Allegory of the Cave:
Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to the shadows. The shadows are as close as the prisoners can get to viewing reality. He then explains how a philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.
So, in my opinion, in order to free yourself from the cave, you must shed all of your judgments and what you believe is right and wrong in order to see life in order to see the true form of reality instead of your own distorted version.
My teacher told us to put this in musical terms. Free yourself from judgment of all genres of music, or musicians or styles or pieces of music, and you will find what is really great about every player, style and piece of music. If you can do that, you will enjoy a lot more of what the world has to offer musically.
It's funny to look back from my perspective right now at when I was a kid, and all I listened to was Rush and the Who and the Beatles. This doesn't mean that they're bad music now, they're just not all that I listen to, and I enjoy them just as much as I enjoy downtempo or classical primitivism or good ol' Balinese Gamelan.
I challenge you to let go of your musical inhibitions and explore what this big world has to offer. If somebody likes it, it has to be good somehow, for some purpose.
M
I didn't really pay attention in my government class. I half slept the whole time, but I was making sure that I wasn't missing anything I didn't know. But I already knew everything, so I went back to sleep.
We took some quizzes in Theory, which is the only time I really learn anything in class. So it was a good class.
I came home, took a nap, and studied for my Aural Skills final from last semester, which I took at 3. I messed up the speed writing pretty bad, but since I had a 99 in the class, it shouldn't have made an impact on my grade too much, especially since I did well on everything else.
I jammed with my friends Jesse and Jesse later in the day. We played for an hour an rocked pretty hard, but some R.A.'s came upstairs and told us we were being loud and they could hear us downstairs, so we got guilty and quit for the day. But it was a lot of fun.
Other than that, I fixed my debit card issues, bought some textbooks, and lounged around all day.
Yesterday, in my composition class, my teacher said something in class that I thought was pretty cool. He talks pretty fast, and he's a little eccentric, so it took me a little while to understand what he was saying. But it is a pretty cool idea.
The Allegory of the Cave:
Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them, and begin to ascribe forms to the shadows. The shadows are as close as the prisoners can get to viewing reality. He then explains how a philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not constitutive of reality at all, as he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the mere shadows seen by the prisoners.
So, in my opinion, in order to free yourself from the cave, you must shed all of your judgments and what you believe is right and wrong in order to see life in order to see the true form of reality instead of your own distorted version.
My teacher told us to put this in musical terms. Free yourself from judgment of all genres of music, or musicians or styles or pieces of music, and you will find what is really great about every player, style and piece of music. If you can do that, you will enjoy a lot more of what the world has to offer musically.
It's funny to look back from my perspective right now at when I was a kid, and all I listened to was Rush and the Who and the Beatles. This doesn't mean that they're bad music now, they're just not all that I listen to, and I enjoy them just as much as I enjoy downtempo or classical primitivism or good ol' Balinese Gamelan.
I challenge you to let go of your musical inhibitions and explore what this big world has to offer. If somebody likes it, it has to be good somehow, for some purpose.
M
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
1/19 - Busy Already.
Today I had two classes and three ensembles. Aural Skills wasn't too big of a deal. My composition class sounds like it's going to be a hassle, but cool enough to stick with it. We had new people in Singers II, which was fun, and we did very little in 1:00 Percussion Group today.
But somehow, the class I thought would be least stressful is turning out to be most stressful.
At 3 I went to African Ensemble. The teacher is nice, cool, and has a thick accent like Sriji did, but African, so I'll have to get used to that. We learned a song for talking drums in about a half an hour, which was fun, and we got out early, but before we left he told us to come back at 6, which none of us were aware we were supposed to do.
We came back at 6 and learned that African Ensemble is playing a concert at the Dallas Art Museum on Friday night in front of a pretty huge crowd. I was told around 2000+ people, I don't know if I should believe that. So we got out all of the awesome drums and shakers and bells and learned three more tunes, this time with the veterans and the dancers, since my class is just beginners. We're playing Gota, Tokoe, and Kpanlogo as a big ensemble with dancers, and Dagbamba with talking drums and other larger drums.
Gota looks like this:
(notation is Bell, Shaker, Drum 1, Drum 2 if necessary)
B: x o o x x o o x o o x x o o |
S: x x x x x x |
D: x o o x x o o x o o x x o o |
X is low on bell, O is high. X is the low drum, O is the high.
Tokoe:
B:x x o o x o o |
S: x x x x x x x |
D:xx z z xx zz xx z z x x zz |
2: zz x x zz xx zz x x z z xx |
I couldn't really notate this clearly, but the two drums alternate playing full strokes. The z's are dead strokes, kinda like buzzes. And one drum is higher than the other, so it sounds like low low high high low low high high... it's pretty cool.
Kpanlogo:
b: x x x x x |
2: x o x o |
S: x x x x x |
I can't remember the drum parts. And yes, two bell parts. I like how they interlock. I would sing it to you, but I'm writing on a blog.
All of these start and stop and restart again with different calls, played by my teacher, Gideon. He gives a set call and we all know when to come in, gives another to stop, etc. He also solos over all of these beats, all the time, while dancers switch off between choreographed routines and freestylin' it.
If I can get a video of it on Friday, I'll put it up here. It's really a party.
I'm pretty excited for the concert, and really the rest of this week; only two classes tomorrow and a short day and a concert on Friday. Couldn't ask for much better than that.
M
But somehow, the class I thought would be least stressful is turning out to be most stressful.
At 3 I went to African Ensemble. The teacher is nice, cool, and has a thick accent like Sriji did, but African, so I'll have to get used to that. We learned a song for talking drums in about a half an hour, which was fun, and we got out early, but before we left he told us to come back at 6, which none of us were aware we were supposed to do.
We came back at 6 and learned that African Ensemble is playing a concert at the Dallas Art Museum on Friday night in front of a pretty huge crowd. I was told around 2000+ people, I don't know if I should believe that. So we got out all of the awesome drums and shakers and bells and learned three more tunes, this time with the veterans and the dancers, since my class is just beginners. We're playing Gota, Tokoe, and Kpanlogo as a big ensemble with dancers, and Dagbamba with talking drums and other larger drums.
Gota looks like this:
(notation is Bell, Shaker, Drum 1, Drum 2 if necessary)
B: x o o x x o o x o o x x o o |
S: x x x x x x |
D: x o o x x o o x o o x x o o |
X is low on bell, O is high. X is the low drum, O is the high.
Tokoe:
B:x x o o x o o |
S: x x x x x x x |
D:xx z z xx zz xx z z x x zz |
2: zz x x zz xx zz x x z z xx |
I couldn't really notate this clearly, but the two drums alternate playing full strokes. The z's are dead strokes, kinda like buzzes. And one drum is higher than the other, so it sounds like low low high high low low high high... it's pretty cool.
Kpanlogo:
b: x x x x x |
2: x o x o |
S: x x x x x |
I can't remember the drum parts. And yes, two bell parts. I like how they interlock. I would sing it to you, but I'm writing on a blog.
All of these start and stop and restart again with different calls, played by my teacher, Gideon. He gives a set call and we all know when to come in, gives another to stop, etc. He also solos over all of these beats, all the time, while dancers switch off between choreographed routines and freestylin' it.
If I can get a video of it on Friday, I'll put it up here. It's really a party.
I'm pretty excited for the concert, and really the rest of this week; only two classes tomorrow and a short day and a concert on Friday. Couldn't ask for much better than that.
M
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
1/18 - First Day Back
Today, folks, was a very good day.
I woke up at 8, took a hot shower, read the morning comics and ate a granola bar, and went to American and Texas Government. The class will probably be a joke. An 85% is still an A.
That's the last time I will ever mention that class on this blog, I promise.
Then I went to Theory II and caught up with my theory buddies. We didn't do anything today, which was pretty nice.
After classes I went to the Eagle Student Services Center (is that what it stands for?) to get a new id, so I could eat lunch. I think I lost my id in the accident, but I can't really remember. Whatever happened, now I don't have to spend money that I don't have to eat food. Hooray.
I ate food, played some pool, relaxed for a little bit, went to the union and the library to get cds, and made my way back to the music building for my next "class."
On Tuesdays at 2 I'm attending a "Jazz Lecture Series," which is actually famous musicians that are brought in to jam and hang out with you once a week. Awesome. All I have to do to get an A is attend every class period and write a little two page paper. Oh, and hang out with legends. Don't want to forget that part.
Let's see... I talked to the Financial Aid people about overpaying tuition, and they're fixing it so Dad is getting a substantial amount of money back. I talked to Mr. and Mrs. Ford about percussion-y things, and everything is swell; I'm playing in the Percussion Group, I can take the Percussion Methods test whenever I want, and I don't have to do my juries until the end of the semester. Yesss.
I ate dinner and went to Gamelan, which was really fun. I got to play actual instruments, which, sadly, made Gamelan Ensemble the most productive class I attended all day. The teacher, Ed Smith, is a pretty silly dude who rambles and gets off topic a lot, but he tells excellent stories and is a beast at jazz vibes, I've heard.
We played a couple of little patterns and put them together and made a little song. It took a little bit to get the dampening technique down, but I think with a little practice I should be pretty good. Only time will tell... and this blog, I guess.
And now I'm sitting in my bed, telling everyone how my day was. It was a good day.
Looking back at this will remind me that I need to ask someone to get tickets to this event:
Thanks for reading everyone, see you tomorrow!
M
I woke up at 8, took a hot shower, read the morning comics and ate a granola bar, and went to American and Texas Government. The class will probably be a joke. An 85% is still an A.
That's the last time I will ever mention that class on this blog, I promise.
Then I went to Theory II and caught up with my theory buddies. We didn't do anything today, which was pretty nice.
After classes I went to the Eagle Student Services Center (is that what it stands for?) to get a new id, so I could eat lunch. I think I lost my id in the accident, but I can't really remember. Whatever happened, now I don't have to spend money that I don't have to eat food. Hooray.
I ate food, played some pool, relaxed for a little bit, went to the union and the library to get cds, and made my way back to the music building for my next "class."
On Tuesdays at 2 I'm attending a "Jazz Lecture Series," which is actually famous musicians that are brought in to jam and hang out with you once a week. Awesome. All I have to do to get an A is attend every class period and write a little two page paper. Oh, and hang out with legends. Don't want to forget that part.
Let's see... I talked to the Financial Aid people about overpaying tuition, and they're fixing it so Dad is getting a substantial amount of money back. I talked to Mr. and Mrs. Ford about percussion-y things, and everything is swell; I'm playing in the Percussion Group, I can take the Percussion Methods test whenever I want, and I don't have to do my juries until the end of the semester. Yesss.
I ate dinner and went to Gamelan, which was really fun. I got to play actual instruments, which, sadly, made Gamelan Ensemble the most productive class I attended all day. The teacher, Ed Smith, is a pretty silly dude who rambles and gets off topic a lot, but he tells excellent stories and is a beast at jazz vibes, I've heard.
We played a couple of little patterns and put them together and made a little song. It took a little bit to get the dampening technique down, but I think with a little practice I should be pretty good. Only time will tell... and this blog, I guess.
And now I'm sitting in my bed, telling everyone how my day was. It was a good day.
Looking back at this will remind me that I need to ask someone to get tickets to this event:
Thanks for reading everyone, see you tomorrow!
M
Sunday, January 16, 2011
1/16 - A New Semester, Part Two
Hey everyone. I'm starting up again on Tuesday, my first day of class. I'm pretty excited.
Blue Knights camp went well. The front ensemble got music for the prelude, which is Holst's 1st Suite in Eb, complete with a very loud but not too difficult timpani part. It sounds good, especially with the battery and all of the brass. We (the front ensemble) learned the prelude in around 4 hours, then put it together with the battery and brass, and that was all that we did Saturday.
I ate tuna and PB&J, and bagels for breakfast. I slept on the floor on a terrifically comfortable air mattress. I'm trying to get used to it before the tour starts.
I was offered a contract this morning, and I signed all of my paperwork and turned it in, so once I pay all of my dues, I am officially a Blue Knight. Pretty exciting, huh?
Today I left camp at noon and headed to the airport after saying goodbye to my family and Zoe. I'm mostly settled in to my dorm, I'm washing my sheets as I write. I should probably take a shower soon.
If you want to see all of the places BK is going on tour this year, I made a map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=202726825914900715609.00049959b2b78bcbec648
and
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid= 202726825914900715609.00049959bd616ca602db9
I forgot to add Van Buren, Arkansas on there. But that should be it.
I think it's pretty cool.
Thanks for reading, see you on Tuesday!
M
Blue Knights camp went well. The front ensemble got music for the prelude, which is Holst's 1st Suite in Eb, complete with a very loud but not too difficult timpani part. It sounds good, especially with the battery and all of the brass. We (the front ensemble) learned the prelude in around 4 hours, then put it together with the battery and brass, and that was all that we did Saturday.
I ate tuna and PB&J, and bagels for breakfast. I slept on the floor on a terrifically comfortable air mattress. I'm trying to get used to it before the tour starts.
I was offered a contract this morning, and I signed all of my paperwork and turned it in, so once I pay all of my dues, I am officially a Blue Knight. Pretty exciting, huh?
Today I left camp at noon and headed to the airport after saying goodbye to my family and Zoe. I'm mostly settled in to my dorm, I'm washing my sheets as I write. I should probably take a shower soon.
If you want to see all of the places BK is going on tour this year, I made a map:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=202726825914900715609.00049959b2b78bcbec648
and
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid= 202726825914900715609.00049959bd616ca602db9
I forgot to add Van Buren, Arkansas on there. But that should be it.
I think it's pretty cool.
Thanks for reading, see you on Tuesday!
M
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
1/10 - A New Semester
I haven't written in a while because I haven't really had a reason to. Aside from singing in church once and practicing, I haven't been up to much musically lately. I'm getting sick of not doing anything.
Fortunately, that'll take care of itself soon.
Here are a few things to look forward to:
Blue Knights camp, this weekend. Should be fun.
Finishing old classes, next week. Should be less fun.
Starting new classes. Awesome, because now I can write about composition, my jazz lecture, and UNT's Gamelan, Brazilian and African Ensembles, and Steel Band. And Poli Sci, if you want me too, I guess.
Sadly, that's all I've got. I'll be back next week.
M
Fortunately, that'll take care of itself soon.
Here are a few things to look forward to:
Blue Knights camp, this weekend. Should be fun.
Finishing old classes, next week. Should be less fun.
Starting new classes. Awesome, because now I can write about composition, my jazz lecture, and UNT's Gamelan, Brazilian and African Ensembles, and Steel Band. And Poli Sci, if you want me too, I guess.
Sadly, that's all I've got. I'll be back next week.
M
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