| drumming, and immersing our youth in the art of it. |
[Mar. 27th, 2007|05:13 pm] |
So one of the projects I'm now working on includes the introduction of the art of drumming to teenagers. The project got off with a bang (pun intended) on Sunday, where about ten of us tried some calypso on for size, and played with a bunch of new instruments.
They had fun! That made me have fun!
However, (and this does come with a big however) one of the adults watching the situation noted that the rhythm was not exactly perfect, and that maybe some audio examples of drumming would help them get an idea of how to keep a steady beat.
It was their first session, so the fact that they played together, stopped together (BIGGIE in drum circles), and enjoyed what they were doing sort of seemed more important than steady rhythm. And as a music teacher, I generally put rhythm in front of everything else in classical and jazz.
That said, the mix I'm putting together is to be divided into four categories: Asian, African, Latin American and First Nations drumming. Aside from some Bhangra, and Carnatic music though, I'm lacking in the Asian percussion sound. So I guess that may be added later.
The end of this first project will include a spiral dance to be done for an Earth Day service in about 3.5 weeks. However, that's not all I'm shooting for. My ultimate goal is to establish an all ages drum group for the San Gabriel Valley area. There's plenty of groups out towards Santa Monica, but not so much here.
There actually is a point to my post, and that's this: Do you have drumming music (not to be confused with drum corps music) that you really like? Who do you listen to when you want to just feel the noise through your feet? Do you have recommendations for young budding musicians (aged 10- 16)? Can I get the music off of iTunes?
Discussions are welcome.
x-posted. |
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| Voice lessons |
[Jun. 19th, 2006|11:50 am] |
So I've been asked to give two teenagers voice lessons this summer.
That's great. Except that I'm really a piano teacher.
Pointers? |
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| Food for thought |
[May. 10th, 2006|02:46 pm] |
My friend Bonnie was hanging out at a rehearsal I was participating in last night. During the rehearsal, many people poked their heads in and commented positively on the music we were working on. I pretty much attributed that to the musicians I was working with, as these individuals are very talented, and will go far if they want to.
After the rehearsal, and a staff meeting that evening, Bonnie, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) zedmanauk, and I were at my place preparing dinner. Bonnie was talking about how she really enjoyed listening to the music we were working on. She then asked me if I wrote any of my own music. I told her that the piece we were working on was one of my own pieces, and that, "Yes, I write my own stuff."
This dissolved into some animated discussion between Bonnie and zedmanauk about how I need a business manager, and why wasn't I marketing my own music more.
The thought of hiring a manager or agent has crossed my mind many times throughout the years, but I don't know what kind of audience I'd be calling out to. Perhaps a jazz/classical/Tori type of audience? Is my music good enough to fill a hall? I know I can fill a hall when I'm performing- but my own stuff?
I'd love to, but I'm still getting to know people here, and I'm a typical introvert.
Perhaps hiring a manager wouldn't be such a bad idea. |
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| Oops! |
[Apr. 14th, 2006|07:10 pm] |
Guess it's been a while since I've posted here.
I decided that I'm going to learn a war horse that was suggested to me in college. I think it may help with another piece I'm currently working on, or at least would be a good stepping stone to make certain aspects of that piece go better.
I'm going to actually make an effort to learn Chopin's Ballade in g minor.
Perhaps certain stretches in there will make the Scherzo in Bb minor go easier.
It's not that it's hard. It's that I need something to motivate me, since I'm currently without a classical teacher. I've been sitting on the scherzo for a while, and need something to give me a push so I can speed it up to the proper tempo. Perhaps the Ballade would help.
I'm also thinking about revisiting some Prokofiev. The last piece I learned by him was in college: The Toccata. That sucker is difficult, because it's near impossible not to emerge with bloody knuckles after practice. I don't feel like playing a sonata, I don't have the attentioin span for it right now. So perhaps some of his shorter pieces. Any suggestions?
Also, it looks like I'll be putting together a service on July 2nd. I'm going to plan American music for the service music. So far, I'm looking at Bernstein, maybe some ragtime music, or jazz. But perhaps some earlier American classical might do some good. The question is: what? |
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| Veni Coronaberis |
[Dec. 20th, 2005|01:11 am] |
| [ | I can hear |
| | Mediaeval Baebes - Veni Coronaberis | ] |
Ivy, chief of trees it is,
Veni coronaberis.
1. The most worthy she is in town,
He that saith other doth amiss;
And worthy to bear the crown;
Veni coronaberis.
2. Ivy is soft and meek of speech,
Against all bale she is bliss;
Well is he that may her reach,
Veni coronaberis.
3. Ivy is green with colour bright,
Of all trees best she is;
And that I prove well now be right,
Veni coronaberis.
4. Ivy beareth berries black;
God grant us all His bliss,
For there shall we nothing lack:
Veni coronaberis.
-a traditional English song. |
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| Question |
[Nov. 3rd, 2005|01:26 pm] |
So how does one spice up the song, "De Colores"?
I've always heard it in an 'oom-pa-pa' fashion. Yet my boss asked me to spice things up a bit. What does one do? It would be behind a choir, so I couldn't go all out and make it into a tango or something crazy. Oh, and it's in 3.
So now what?
EDIT: Here's a link to a simplified version of the song: http://www.montereybay.com/smitty/decolores.html |
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| Rant time!!!!!!!!!!!! |
[Oct. 31st, 2005|11:26 pm] |
So to keep in the festivities, I decided to use the help of Yme! and listen to their "Trick or Treat" station for some Halloween goodness. Sure, they played some good stuff like Bauhaus, Kate Bush, Oingo Boingo (always a plus), NIN, Cure, random tv themes, and a terrible rendition of 'Let's Do the Time Warp Again,' to get the spirit going. But then they throw in Rob Zombie two tracks in a row. Then, they added more tasteless songs that had nothing to do with creep factor at all. Top it off with random boring movie music from recent productions, and you've gone from playing happy industrial/goth/punk to snoozer fare. Not ONE single true creepy piece in the mix. Maybe I'm jaded.
I read Poe as bedtime fare with my mom when I was six. I've been listening to "dark" genres since I hit puberty. But where's the darkest music of all? The music featured in just about EVERY single horror movie in existence? What about the pieces that inspired writers like Edgar Allen Poe, and HP Lovecraft? What about the pieces that inspired some existence of hellfire to warm up to on such a dark and souless night?????
YME, you've failed. You've been put on notice! If you want to reminisce with the skeletons in your closets, or the monsters under your bed, the following songs should be part of your playlist:
Mussorgsky- Night on Bald Mountain
Carl Orff- Carmina Burana
Mozart- Dies Irae (aka, you're going to hell, and there's nothing you can do about it, you smeghed! from his requiem)
Bach- Toccata and Fugue in d-moll (well- much of Bach is scary to play...)
Wagner- Flight of the Valkries (also the song to get you showered if you're a resident of the Caltech dorms)
Mussorgsky (again)- Il Vecchio Castille (from Pictures at an Exhibition)
Saint Saens- Danse Macabre
Saint Saens- select pieces from Carnival of the Animals
Edward Grieg- In the Hall of the Mountain King
Dukas- The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Stravinsky- Firebird
Stravinsky- Rite of Spring
Beethoven- Symphony 5 in c
Franz Liszt- Mephisto Waltz
The list goes on and on!!!!!!
So DAMN anyone who deprives a good creepy music mix a good creepy classical piece that makes you feel buried under thousands of pounds of rocks in a dungeon somewhere. Oh wait, that's just Stockhausen. :P
What's the creepiest song of the lot? You decide, then tell me. |
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| Uh oh! |
[Sep. 16th, 2005|11:41 am] |
| [ | I'm feeling |
| | a little strange | ] |
| [ | I can hear |
| | a violin concerto being accompanied by our lovely tasteless neighbor's sub woofer | ] |
A C, an E-flat, and a G go into a bar.
The bartender says: "Sorry, but we don't serve minors." So, the E-flat leaves, and the C and the G have an open fifth between them. After a few drinks, the fifth is diminished: the G is out flat. An F comes in and tries to augment the situation, but is not sharp enough. A D comes into the bar and heads straight for the bathroom saying, "Excuse me. I'll just be a second." An A comes into the bar, but the bartender is not convinced that this relative of C is not a minor. Then the bartender notices a B-flat hiding at the end of the bar and exclaims: "Get out now! You're the seventh minor I've found in this bar tonight." The E-flat, not easily deflated, comes back to the bar the next night in a 3-piece suit with nicely shined shoes. The bartender (who used to have a nice corporate job until his company downsized) says: "You're looking sharp tonight, come on in! This could be a major development." This proves to be the case, as the E-flat takes off the suit, and everything else, and stands there au naturel. Eventually, the C sobers up, and realizes in horror that he's under a rest. The C is brought to trial, is found guilty of contributing to the diminution of a minor, and is sentenced to 10 years of DS without Coda at an upscale correctional facility. On appeal, however, the C is found innocent of any wrongdoing, even accidental, and that all accusations to the contrary are bassless. The bartender decides, however, that since he's only had tenor so patrons, the soprano out in the bathroom, and everything has become alto much treble, he needs a rest -- and closes the bar. |
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| The right piece |
[Sep. 7th, 2005|06:42 pm] |
I was asked to play something this weekend which would coincide with a fundraiser for Katrina victims. It doesn't have to be long, just there.
The only thing I can come up with is Mood Indigo.
I believe that the music should be meditative, so if anyone has suggestions, please speak up. Soon though, I need to submit my music tomorrow morning. |
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| What does it all mean? |
[Aug. 22nd, 2005|02:31 pm] |
The sounds coming out of my piano are to the tune of g#.
I wonder why I like composing in sharp keys so much. |
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| Dreams |
[Aug. 12th, 2005|01:08 pm] |
I dreamed that I was directing a choir, and I was doing a good job. In my dream, I was leading them through Mathieu's 'Alhamdulillah,' and it sounded beautiful.
Except I was conducting with my left hand. |
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| Unsent letter |
[Aug. 11th, 2005|07:04 pm] |
| [ | I'm feeling |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | I can hear |
| | Ravel, of course | ] |
Dearest Maurice, my Darling,
I always love your music, but your piano writing is always so awkward. I know you weren't much of a pianist, but that's certainly no excuse to voice certain chords the way you do. It's almost like a Napoleonic complex you have at the keyboard. My dear Maurice, how are my tiny fingers supposed to do these things with your script when even yours couldn't?
I await with baited breath for your reply.
MM bye_ya |
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| Pay for your musicians |
[Aug. 10th, 2005|03:58 pm] |
| [ | I'm feeling |
| | sleepy | ] |
One of the forums I belong to is discussing pay for pianists for regular gigs like churches, etc. Geographically, the rates vary. For example, I would expect that rates for musicians are higher in places like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, etc, than they would be in North Platte, Nebraska.
Considering that musicians are only paid for the time they actually show up to rehearsals and performances (not their practice times), I wonder what the monetary amount is per each region. Call it mere curiosity. If you have an idea, please feel free to respond, and this can include rates for bands, choral directors, soloists, etc as well.
The sociology of music very much intrigues me, and I may someday find a grad school that deals with these things in a program. |
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| UUMN Conference 2005 |
[Aug. 7th, 2005|01:43 am] |
I've spent the better part of this week participating in the UUMN annual conference being held in Denver, CO. It's been a few years since I've had the chance to attend a music conference, and it's been quite an interesting adventure. I only hope that I can utilize what I've learned here in Denver when I return to sunny Los Angeles.
Since the UUMN's theme was 'Interfaith music,' we had the opportunity to explore music of Jewish, Islamic, Sufi, Buddhist, African and pagan traditions. Then, we got the opportunity to perform in the Interfaith festival held on August 6th, which pulled from many backgrounds. I had the opportunity to play a bit, and sing even more, and with 249 other very talented musicians, which was a very spiritual experience.
This conference reminded me that my true religion is music, and that spirituality isn't always achieved in solitude. The message at this conference was not only that it doesn't matter what you believe to make music special, but that music is what makes everything cohesive. As a minister from Jefferson Unitarian church put it, "Music isn't just an interlude between words." As I've grown older, it's not enough for me just to play, it has to mean something to me when I play. If I have no passion, it means nothing. The way I play the piano generally depicts how I am spiritually, and for a very long time, I've felt like there has been something lacking.
I think I found one answer. It came from a musician from California- a Sufi, who explained that it was ALL about the music. And the music doesn't have to be complex, it could be just one simple line with the feeling of 'OM.' But that simple "OM," a sound that according to Hindu mythology, the sound that created the universe from the mouth of Brahma, that simple sound for the first time ever- sounded at middle C pitch, was cleansing. And cleansing of the loose stuff is what I need to reach for the fire that's otherwise hidden behind the clutter. This sufi musician has opened a door in my heart that I hope doesn't ever close. It's the first time I've been excited in a long time. I only regret that I do not have a piano to play until Tuesday night.
While I'm unsure whether the congregation I represented will be as excited about the things I've learned as I am, I at least have come back with a sharp hunger, a rekindled fire, and a renewed love for f# minor. |
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| I'm Off! |
[Aug. 1st, 2005|11:40 pm] |
| [ | I'm feeling |
| |  excited | ] |
I know I haven't been updating here much... that said, I'm off to a music conference in Denver, CO this week. I'll be sightreading, and performing, I've been told. I guess we'll see what's all in store for me.
Tata! |
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| An article I wrote on humanitarian, Norbert Capek |
[Jun. 9th, 2005|03:54 pm] |
On Norbert F Capek, by Jill Redding
Norbert Fabian Capek was born in southern Bohemia in the summer of 1870. Though his father Josef, was agnostic and his mother, Maria, was a devout Roman Catholic, Norbert was educated in Germany and ordained as a Baptist minister.
He was very passionate about his work and established nearly a dozen churches from Ukraine to Budapest. In time, his thoughts on religion became very liberal. These views, combined with his growing disapproval of the impending war, convinced him to immigrate to the United States in 1914. Five years later, he resigned from the Baptist denomination in favor of Unitarianism. In his diary, he confessed, “I cannot be a Baptist any more, even in compromise. The fire of new desires, new worlds, is burning inside me.”
In 1921, Capek and his family returned to Czechoslovakia, a newly independent country. That same year they founded the Czech Unitarian church.
The first flower communion was held on June 4th, 1923. People were asked to bring a flower of their choice, from their garden, a field, or even the roadside. If they had no flower, they were instructed that a twig would do. As each congregant entered the church, they placed their flower in a vase, to signify that they joined others by their own free will. The vase which held the flowers symbolized united church fellowship.
The bouquet was carried forward and placed on a pedestal by two Sunday School girls. There was prayer and consecration of the flowers. Then the congregants each selected a flower different from the one they brought. Doing this symbolized their acceptance of each other, as well as, giving and receiving from a great “treasury of grace”.
Nazis seized control of Prague in 1940. They found Capek’s message proclaiming ‘the inherent worth and dignity of every human,’ to be very unacceptable. A year later, Capek, along with his daughter, Zora, were arrested by the Gestapo. The Capeks were accused of listening to foreign broadcasts, a capital offense under the Nazi Protectorate. Additionally, Norbert Capek was charged with “high treason” with several of his sermons cited as evidence. Nazi court records stated that Capek was, “…too dangerous to the Reich to be allowed to live.” He was tried at Pankrac Prison, found guilty, and sentenced to Dachau. His daughter, Zora was sent to a forced labor camp in Germany.
The court decision was appealed at a second trial in Dresden in April of 1942. This time, the verdict was reversed and the court found Capek to be innocent of the charges. Sadly, the Gestapo ignored the new edict, however, and Capek lived his last days at Dachau. On October 12, 1942, he was sent on an invalid transport on to Hartheim Castle, where he died of poison gas.
After the war, survivors testified that Capek’s words helped them to hold on to hope despite the desperate circumstances of daily life at Dachau. They told how his courage and gentleness were a source of inspiration to his fellow prisoners.
In his life, Norbert Capek authored the music and lyrics to some 90 hymns -- many are still sung today. He also authored a half a dozen books. In addition, he worked to promote freedom of religion and religious beliefs on a global level through his involvement with the International Association for Religious Freedom.*
* IARF- an organization which works to promote freedom of religion and belief on a global level. |
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| I'm excited about the movie version of Rent! |
[Jun. 4th, 2005|09:58 pm] |
So, a trailer has been released for Rent, and while it's obviously going to be different from the stage production, I'm excited about it anyway. Sadly, it's being directed by Chris Columbus, who isn't known for anything other than campy family flicks (think Home Alone, and the first Harry Potter- for example).
Sorry, I don't have a link anymore to the Rent trailer, but it's around, so go find it, if you're curious. I absolutely loved the show, and would see it again on stage, given the opportunity. akane is so lucky she's close to NYC.
And now, I present this (ducks from angry sax players):
Before the 2001 inauguration of George Bush, he was invited to a get-acquainted tour of the White House. After drinking several glasses of iced tea, he asked Bill Clinton if he could use his personal bathroom. When he entered Clinton's private toilet, he was astonished to see that president Clinton had a solid gold urinal.
That afternoon, George told his wife, Laura, about the urinal. "Just think," he said, "when I am president, I could have a gold urinal too. But I wouldn't do something that self-indulgent!"
Later when Laura toured the White House with Hillary, she told Hillary how impressed George had been at his discovery that Pres. Clinton had a gold urinal in his private bathroom.
That evening when Bill and Hillary were getting ready for bed, Hillary smiled and said to Bill, "I found out who pissed in your saxophone" |
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| Ruth Laredo, Pianist Who Recorded Rachmaninoff, Dies at 67 |
[May. 29th, 2005|02:17 pm] |
| [ | I'm feeling |
| | I think this was the first pianist I ever saw in concert | ] |
By DANIEL J. WAKIN Published: May 27, 2005
Ruth Laredo, a pianist equally at home in chamber music and solo works who was known for landmark recordings of Scriabin and Rachmaninoff, died on Wednesday at her apartment in New York. She was 67.
Ruth Laredo in 1999 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she performed in the long-running "Concerts With Commentary" series.
Forum: Classical Music
Ms. Laredo, who played her last concert on May 6 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, had cancer and died in her sleep, said her manager, James Murtha.
The concert was one of a series she had given for 17 years at the Met called "Concerts With Commentary," in which Ms. Laredo played and spoke engagingly about music. The series had become an important part of the New York concert scene, where she was a frequent presence.
Just two days after the attack on the World Trade Center, Ms. Laredo celebrated the 25th anniversary of her Alice Tully Hall debut with a recital there. It was the opening concert of the 2001 Lincoln Center season, and Ms. Laredo addressed the audience beforehand, saying: "It was important for me to play. Great music gives us spiritual sustenance and gives us hope. It is in that spirit that I play tonight."
Ms. Laredo was a pianist in the Romantic mold, a dynamic performer concerned with texture and color. In recent years, Mr. Murtha said, her career as a soloist with orchestras had waned, but she was comfortable with a mix of recitals, chamber concerts and accompanying duties.
When she was first on the rise, in the 1970's, Ms. Laredo was a relative rarity as a female piano soloist, particularly in the technically demanding and muscular works of Rachmaninoff. There were only a few others - Gina Bachauer, Myra Hess and later Alicia de Larrocha, for example.
"Every time we did interviews in those early days, she was asked how does it feel to be a woman pianist," Mr. Murtha said. "She wanted to be a pianist, period."
Ruth Meckler was born in Detroit on Nov. 20, 1937. She attended the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she studied with Rudolf Serkin. She graduated in 1960 and that same year married the violinist Jaime Laredo, with whom she collaborated musically. They later divorced. Ms. Laredo is survived by their daughter, Jennifer Laredo, who lives in London with her husband, the cellist Paul Watkins, and by a granddaughter.
Ms. Laredo made her debut with an orchestra in 1962, in a program led by Leopold Stokowski conducting the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Pierre Boulez, 12 years later. Her Carnegie Hall solo recital debut came only in 1981.
At Curtis, Serkin schooled her in the basics of Mozart and Beethoven, turning a disapproving eye on her youthful love for Rachmaninoff. But it was with his music, as well as that of his fellow Russian Scriabin, that she made her mark.
In the 1970's she recorded two pioneering and acclaimed sets: the entire Scriabin piano sonatas, for the now-defunct Connoisseur label, and the complete solo repertory of Rachmaninoff, on seven LP's for CBS Masterworks.
When Ms. Laredo went to Serkin to ask if he thought she could handle the Rachmaninoff, he gave his blessing. " 'You must do it' was the answer he gave me," Ms. Laredo said in a 1987 interview with The New York Times.
But preparing for the recordings was a fearsome and wearing task. "I had to learn the many, many Rachmaninoff pieces that no one plays, and I found out why no one does," she said. "It's because they're so hard." She later channeled her love for Rachmaninoff into scholarship, preparing a new edition of his piano preludes for the C. F. Peters music publisher.
The Scriabin LP's came when little of his music was available on record, and they helped spark a surge of his popularity in the United States. Ms. Laredo said that she first heard his music at a concert of Vladimir Horowitz and was dazzled.
Bernard Holland, a Times music critic, wrote of her playing of Scriabin's music: "Ms. Laredo's sensuous, beautifully controlled playing caught its mad and slightly evil quality." |
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| Assimilated from CJ |
[Apr. 6th, 2005|08:55 pm] |
1. Total Volume of Music on My Hard Drive :
We have a server which holds approximately 150 GB of music (mp3 and flac formats). About 99% of this is our cd collection, the remainder bought from iTunes, or some equivilent.
2. The last CD I bought was :
I can't remember. I'm guessing it was Kanti (Kannada Film Songs), which we bought in India. It's much better than the Hindi equivilents I bought, in case you're curious. The last recording we aquired was present from a friend- the soundtrack to I &hearts Huckabees.
3. The song playing right now :
Our printer is currently making the music in tandem with the dryer. The last song I listened to was "Bring My Family Back" by Faithless. Good song, btw.
4. Ten albums that mean a lot to me: (in no particular order and for various reasons)
1. John Coltrane- Giant Steps
2. Dave Brubeck Quartet- Time Out
3. Meat Beat Manifesto- 99%
4. Bad Religion- Process of Belief
5. Samuel Barber: Symphony 1; Piano Concerto; Souveneirs (Leonard Slatkin and Andre' Previn)
6. Clifford Brown: The Definitive Clifford Brown
7. Cubanismo! : Re'encarnacion'
8. John Adams- Harmonium
9. Joshua Bell and Edger Meyer- Short Trip Home
10. Queensryche- Operation: Mindcrime
5. Which 5 people are you passing this baton to, and why?
The majority of the people I selected are pretty passionate about music in some way shape or form (they're djs musicians, or fangirls. Because of this, I want to know more...
I certainly would love to read everyone's response. So do it!
However, I guess the pressing curiosity awards for this meme go to:
mehndi_chick
djpekky
greatmediocrity
akane
nyghtwolf
That aside, have I mentioned how annoying the neighbors are? |
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