Messages from the Ether

IMSLP is back

Order returns to the universe. That is all.

First electronic music

Listening to the Future Tense podcast on synthesized music. The first computer to play computer-generated music was CSIRAC (pronounced SIGH-rack) in 1950. No recording exists, but the BBC reports that the song played was Colonel Bogey March (written by F. J. Ricketts in 1915; I always hear Bart from The Simpsons when he sings: Lisa, her teeth are big and green. Lisa, she smells like gasoline. Lisa, ta-ra-ra Lisa. She is my sista, her birthday I mista.). The oldest recorded computer generated music, reported only a week or so ago, was created by the Ferranti Mark 1 in 1951. The songs were God Save the Queen/America (interesting, uncertain history that includes John Bull and Henry Purcell and that dastardly musica ficta), Baa Baa Black Sheep (originally a French melody from 1761 titled "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman"), and In the Mood (written not by Glenn Miller but Wingy Manone in 1929). The next attempt was in 1957 with an IBM 704. This was unique in that it was a 17-second composition by programmer Max Mathews. In 1962, the same model of computer was used to perform a synthesized voice version of Daisy Bell (Harry Dacre, 1892), with Arthur C. Clarke in attendance (2001: A Space Odyssey, Hal 9000, yadda yadda...).

Create Digital Music has a nice article summarizing this timeline with additional facts, links, and YouTube-ery. Also, good details in the linked Wikipedia articles.

Jeremiah Wright on music

OK, so I've finally found a subject to take issue with with Rev. Wright. On CSPAN today, he was denouncing the idea that the western music tradition is any more valid than the African music tradition. I'm all for inclusive education in the arts, but his examples were so poorly chosen as to--and I really hate to say this--invoke the specter of reverse discrimination.

His first example was harmless enough (although he phrased it inequitably as a value judgement), suggesting that western tradition emphasizes predominantly martial time with a notable absence of syncopation. In his fantasy world, African music freed the west from Sousa by offering up the off-beat clapping of gospel. I've often heard different forms of this argument, and it does injustice to both lineages. In the west, early sacred choral music took much from Eastern Europe and therefore took much of Eastern Europe's compound meter and shifting metric relationships. Similarly but different, Baroque virtuoso music stretched metric interest by committing to paper the technical flights of violin and keyboard masters. Beethoven also introduced great rhythmic color into his pieces, as did Brahms (although perhaps depending primarily on hemiolas). To say that Africa gave the west "syncopation" is like saying the west gave Africa "freedom."

Martial music is often simplistic in that it is meant simply to count to four and do little else. Conversely, folk music can be rhythmically surprising (for reasons I don't know) if a bit repetitive. Early Renaissance folk meter borrowed its irregularity from language (e.g. musique mesuree). Bartok and Kodaly transcribed much Eastern European folk music and came away absorbing and re-passing on its inventiveness to the western tradition. Gospel has similar characteristics but could only arrogantly declare itself as FIRST POST.

Rev. Wright is well-read, so I'm not sure why he would paint such a tainted picture. He does have a couple of nutty canards as Bill Moyers generously labels them, so maybe it's simply more of the same.

IMSLP, back

IMSLP will be online again on July 1st, 2008 at 12AM US EST.

Art and politics

Today's episode of Soundcheck on WNYC discussed the NY Philharmonic's recent trip to North Korea (sanctioned by the Bush administration, so enough with the knee-jerk liberal-bashing...). Norman Lebrecht feels great consternation towards the decision, calling it somewhere ... between morally inappropriate and aesthetically offensive. The short argument is that the Philharmonic plays into the propaganda of the Kim Jong-il regime. Lebrecht then mockingly rebuts a quote from music director Lorin Maazel:

[Maazel:] People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks, should they? Is our standing as a country -- the United States -- is our reputation all that clean when it comes to prisoners and the way they are treated? Have we set an example that should be emulated all over the world? If we can answer that question honestly, I think we can then stop being judgmental about the errors made by others.

The unreality of these arguments is almost beyond disputation. North Korea is a rogue state that flouts international law, threatens nuclear war and starves its own people. The U.S. is a democracy which, despite lapses in its treatment of prisoners after 9/11, is committed to the rule of law and the rights of the individual. Any comparison is illusory.

I was immediately reminded of a comment on Reddit this morning regarding the kangaroo court that is Guantanamo: Imagine for a second if sick garbage like this was reported out from China - the right wingers would fall all over themselves to point out how corrupt the system is there. Odd that when we act morally degenerate and those responsible insist on the nobility of those actions, the actions are merely lapses and we are still committed to the rule of law and the rights of the individual, yet others' moral corruption and flouting-of-international-law are unconscionable. The discussion on the show brought up South African apartheid (in defense of isolation) and the more recent Cuban embargo (in defense of diplomacy). And, not to forget a recent example from North Korea, it took the Bush administration to open diplomatic relations with North Korea to get them to shut down their nuclear tests.

Currently listening to

On the Transmigration of Souls, ASO

Tickets are available for the Saturday performance: go get them now. I had listened to Adam's work commissioned after 9/11 when the recording came out and was moved. It is at times chaotic in its textures but with a clear linear structure. I didn't expect just how powerful it would feel to hear it live. Notable moments: the ffff section around 2/3s through with full brass and choir, and the taped voice near the end saying "I see water and buildings." An unbeleivable performance that--I'll stress again--you must get tickets for now.

A catharsis of sorts came with Barber's Adagio performed immediately after. Oddly, anything following Adam's work, no matter how moving, become merely "moving." Not to be forgotten, the concert opened with a fine early work from Corigliano; some amazing part writing in there. Intermission and Beethoven's 3rd Symphony. Lively and powerful performance. Again: go brass! It brought us back to earth and less painful thoughts. One of the most outstanding nights at the ASO that we've had.

Dinner at Beleza afterwards. Small plates of fresh fresh food. People go for the Brazilian drinks, but for me it's the food.

IMSLP news for the new year

IMSLP (the story of its sad demise here) is looking more likely to return! From the forums, ArcticWind7 sez: It is not on a knife-edge, or even close. It IS coming back, there's no question. There's a (currently inactive) Google group that can be joined or subscribed to to receive announcements here. Not a week goes by when I don't have a need to browse IMSLP's scores. Man, I miss them.

Podcast music, 2

Another set finally pieced together with the ideas I had left over from the first suite. This has the same format of five short tracks at around 6-1/2 minutes total. You can stream the MP3 playlist here:

1. "Lossless" (1:15) - brass and strings
2. "Resin" (1:23) - piano and strings
3. "Desultory" (1:07) - violin, cello, guitar
4. "Spiral" (1:17) - brass and guitar
5. "Herald" (1:46) - brass, woodwinds, and cello

Podcast music

Last week and this past weekend, I wrote five short works for a friend who needed some music for their podcast and streaming. There's around 6-1/2 minutes of music, and you can stream the MP3 playlist here. The music was burned to MP3 directly from the MIDI. The tracks are:

1. "Perpetual" (1:27) - bright, orchestral
2. "Lunge" (1:15) - jazz combo, bebop
3. "Precipice" (1:11) - piano, acoustic guitar, french horn
4. "Aurora" (1:21) - electric guitar, bass, acoustic guitar, piano
5. "Darkness" (1:09) - electric guitar and orchestra

Public

NPR: Music Home [ via Digg ]. Streaming on demand. It is public after all. I just wish they had a composers'/performer's index.

IMSLP v. corporate lawyers

Anyone care to guess who won? Yesterday, the IMSLP project leader voluntarily took down the site, probably for good. This site was one of the best things to happen to the internets and music. Discussion in the IMSLP forums revealed that it was being used by schools around the world (and more importantly by me!). Very unfortunate. The only hope is that libraries and schools step up and support the tremendous effort that IMSLP went through to be absolutely within the law. Corporate fucks.

Portal for performance notes and analysis

(originally posted in the IMSLPForums under this thread.)

This is a request for suggestions on a community web site that I wish existed. Apologies if this has already been asked and thanks if it already exists and you have a link.

I was recently working on a Chopin Mazurka when I came across a phrase whose fingering initially stumped me. I eventually found something workable for me but was curious about others' solutions. Basically, I missed the days of music classes with practice rooms filled with immediately available opinions and piano teachers on hand for more seasoned direction. Google searches produced nothing.

With an abundance of scores now immediately available on IMSLP, such an online forum is easier to achieve. However, are there other musicians out there who would either want such a forum or want to contribute to it?

The first and simplest option would be to use the discussion pages for each piece here on IMSLP with headings and subheadings to break down the movements, sections, or pages depending on the work. Another option would be to create a separate wiki in order to allow greater structure. This would allow choices such as 1 wiki page/manuscript page, thematic discussions separated from the performances notes, pages on theory, etc.

Am I offering a solution to a problem that doesn't exist? What interest is out there? I'm a software engineer who loves interesting side projects if there's a need.

Currently listening to

OtToS

I resisted, but then decided to re-listen to On the Transmigration of Souls. The buildup to the ending is what hits you. You can download/stream from here until I get inundated by hits from MP3 robots.

Vasks - "Plainscapes"

Just listened to Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks' chamber work "Plainscapes" on St. Paul Sunday performed by the Seattle Chamber Players and the Seattle Pro Musica choral ensemble. Phenomenal and drifting piece with the choir vocalising over ametrical accompaniment in the strings. Beautiful climax and resolution. Alas, nowhere is there a recording.

Music diversion

Just listened to Ernst Krenek's first Piano Sonata on Classic FM out of Australia. The piece had that wonderful late Romantic harmony that reallyreallywants to be atonal (think Verklaerte Nacht). The performer, virtuoso pianist Geoffrey Douglas Madge (an Australian of course), worked directly with the composer when recording his sonatas. During rehersals, Krenek would even sit in front of Madge and conduct his performance in order to better communicate his intentions.

Further searching (what are Fridays for?) revealed that Madge is one of the handful of people who performed and recorded the entire Opus Clavicembalisticum (alas, most of Sorabji's works are still under copyright). Few words are appropriate for such an accomplishment beyond holy fucking shit. A recording of the four-hour performance is available, but there is great dispute over the quality. The first two reviews were good reading for the pro and con. This thread contains a discussion of the most damning evidence: Mr. Madge fakes his way through most of the [work] ... it is obvious he is improvising. Ouch. The Madge-hater provided audio samples--now purged--of the flaws next to Michael Habermann's recording and MIDIs of the piece. What a shame they're no long available.

Interestingly, the Amazon review praising Madge faults Sorabji as a composer saying that, among others, Messiaen is more skillful with large scale ideas. I've only heard some of Sorabji's transcriptions but may need to purchase the OC recording and hear for myself. The two works that are available on IMSLP look terrifying.

Artur Schnabel quote

In four minutes [of recording] you play perhaps 2,000 notes; in every take there are two notes wrong; then you make ten takes and choose the one with 20 wrong notes. It’s like being married to death.

Stravinsky's Petrushka

I had originally thought I'd move from Schirmer's to Stravinsky's transcription of Dance of the Coachmen and Grooms from Petrushka. Until I read through it. Ugh. Compared to the Schirmer's, it has much more register shifting with the chords and hand swapping with the melody. It would've become more work and less enjoyment. The differences are fascinating though. The Stravinsky version stands on its own as a piano piece. The Schirmer version is a little drab in comparison.

Currently listening to

Petrushka, Dance of the Coachmen and Grooms

Here are the opening bars of Dance of the Coachmen and Grooms from Petrushka from IMSLP's copy of Stravinsky's transcription:

From Schirmer's version for piano:

Full score from IMSLP:

I'm working on it from the Schirmer's edition, but may make a closer comparison w/ Stravinsky's transcription and decide to un-learn what I've got so far. From a quick comparison, his actually reads easier where he breaks it up into three staffs and this section specifically doesn't look too difficult.

Scores! Get your fresh scores!

From Scott Spiegelberg, a wiki with public domain music scores in PDF. Lots of content. Scores are older and sometimes with penciled fingering and phrasing, but still an outstanding resource.

Currently listening to

Music order

Yay.

Order Information
==================

Author: PROKOFIEV, Sergei
Title: Complete Piano Sonatas
Edited and with an introduction by Irwin Freundlich
Quantity: 1

Satie and Louis XIV

So one time back in college I checked out an authoritative collection of Satie piano pieces from the library in order to work on my sight reading. His works can be simple with repetition yet still cover the keyboard and include odd phasing and voicing. It throws some curves at you.

Anyway, I was reading through in a practice room and my best-friend-at-the-time, Ed Schoen (how old are you when you stop having best friends?) knocked and came in to chat. I was showing him the wacky comments that Satie added at various points in the score, and we quickly realized that a dramatic reading of the material was required. I don't remember exactly, but the text had something to do with a French aristocrat who was excessively proud of his legs. Over the static harmonies, Ed would deliver these over-serious proclamations of a dandy honoring his legs. It had such a Pythonian ridiculousness about it that I could barely play from laughing.

This morning, on NPR, Susan Stamberg pointed out parenthetically that Louis XIV was very proud of his legs. It reminded me--and how could it not--about the Satie piece and how backstories may take decades to be revealed.

Persichetti: Werewolf Slayer

Wacky vandalism I just had to clean up in Wikipedia's entry for Vincent Persichetti:

It is also worth noting that at age 42, Persichetti battled a werewolf and was victorious. He often told this story during his life, saying "If I you ever have a choice between pursuing a career in music or fighting a werefwolf, flip a coin."

Funny, but I'm watching you 69.121.211.44.

Wiktones

I may be in line for a Wikipedia editor smack-down, but after several comments I decided to move my transcription of the audio clips in The Kleptones song "Question" to its own Wikipedia article. I'd rather have added some sort of intellectual article, but what can you do?

Lost Highway

The opera Lost Highway is premiering in NYC the end of February, and I'm agonizing over whether I should go. It's at the Miller Theater. The music is by Olga Neuwirth (who has successfully put absolutely no audio clips of her work on the interweb) with libretto by her and Elfriede Jelinek.

Her moody and mysterious opera combines live musicians, singers, actors, electronics, and video—a full arsenal of stagecraft to bring Lynch’s film to life with gripping immediacy. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience some of Neuwirth’s best music to date!

Oh, decisions.

Culture wars

Terri Gross's interviews with both James Brown and the collaborator for his auto-biography, Bruce Tucker, were re-broadcast for obvious reasons the other day. It was interesting to listen to Brown's mumblicious rememberances, but there were a few, pointed mis-assessments on music that they both made.

First, Tucker pointed out that Western music theory downgrades things that aren't important in European classical music such as rhythm, and so there's no means of adequately notating it or appreciating it and so we're trained not to hear it. (Listen here beginning at 5:29.) This is very, very wrong. Its great wrongness is the wrong facts that it contains: James Brown's use of rhythm is well explained and appreciated in classical theory, complex rhythms (much more complex that what he is doing) can be and have been notated by classical composers. The examples are so oft-stated and boring in their re-statement that I shouldn't even have to (Beethoven, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Ginastera, to list my favorites). Its minor wrongness is the reverse snobbery that is so pervasive in pop culture studies. The fallacy goes back to the noble savage hoo-ha and should have been eradicated as extremism by good theorists long ago. His one rightness in this statement is that there are weaknesses in Western musical notation, most notably in the rhythms of Indian ragas or the pitches in microtonal and Pythagorean scales. He is, however, not discussing these subjects.

A more forgiving mis-statement came from James Brown. When asked why he got resistence from his band when presenting them with more rhythmic arrangements, he replied that it was because it was in their heads that Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Strauss, Bach, Chopin was correct and [the musicians in the band would] tell me that I was wrong. (Listen here beginning at 10:50.) Bruce Tucker teaches about music and should not have such a flawed understanding of history. James Brown, or any musician, can think what they like as long as the music is good. It's unfortunate that both have to perpetuate the idea that good pop music has somehow turned Western theory on its head. Why can't it just be good music?

Sparklehorse: "Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man"

This is one of the gems of Sparklehorse's more conceptual writing (without, honestly, trying as hard as Sonic Youth might).

It's 4:31 total. Beginning with a 45-second organ drone (descending/ascending span of a third in steps), then 45 seconds of an elliptical, pining pop verse as the guitar strumming fades and pops with between-the-dial radio distortion. A short chorus--all I want is to be a happy man--and abbreviated verse with more distortion. At around 2 minutes, the song completely de-tunes to static with the organ drone periodically returning.

The pop song eventually fades in and, once it dominates the sound, takes the remaining 2 minutes.

The pairing of the "happy man" chorus with the loss of communication is what's important. It expresses a formative desire repressed either by outside forces--a non-reactive medium--or by his own inability at the controls of that medium--the radio dial. Either way, as that impotence is resolved in the second half of the song, the desire remains.

Operas for sale! Fresh operas!

Just ordered the Black Dog Opera Library Deluxe Box Set for a cool 63-bucks + shipping. Includes 12 CDs with booklets/librettos for each: Aida, La Boheme, Carmen, Madame Butterfly, The Marriage of Figaro, and La Traviata. Only three left in stock now. I had previously gotten Black Dog's release of The Magic Flute. Discounty goodness and a good way to get opera-literate.

Genesis videos on YouTube

Index of Genesis videos available on YouTube.

• Trespass
1. Looking For Someone
2. White Mountain
3. Visions Of Angels
4. Stagnation - with interview (3:49)
5. Dusk
6. The Knife - live (6:23)
• Nursery Cryme
1. The Musical Box - live (10:03), live (9:42), live (27:29 at 24:30), live (8:07)
2. For Absent Friends
3. The Return of the Giant Hogweed - live (5:34), live (12:04), live (6:05)
4. Seven Stones
5. Harold The Barrel
6. Harlequin
7. The Fountain Of Salmacis - live (7:12), live (7:09), live (7:19)
• Foxtrot
1. Watcher of the Skies - live (15:31 at 0:00), Steve Hackett solo live (5:02)
2. Time Table
3. Get 'Em Out by Friday
4. Can Utility and the Coastliners
5. Horizons - Steve Hackett solo live (1:56)
6. Supper's Ready - live (23:00), live (9:12)
• Selling England by the Pound
1. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - live (9:06), live (4:21), live (9:27), live (9:09)
2. I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) - live (3:07), live (7:46)
3. Firth of Fifth - Steve Hackett solo live (3:11), live (27:29 at 0:00), live (3:31)
4. More Fool Me
5. The Battle of Epping Forest - opening live (1:25)
6. After the Ordeal
7. The Cinema Show - live (6:08), live (4:36)
8. Aisle of Plenty
• The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
1. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway live (9:18 at 0:00), live (27:29 at 19:45)
2. Fly on a Windshield - live (9:18 at ?)
3. Broadway Melody of 1974
4. Cuckoo Cocoon - live (9:18 at ?)
5. In The Cage - live (8:04), live 7:28)
6. The Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging - part 2 live (7:54 at 0:00)
7. Back in N.Y.C. - part 2 live (7:54 at ?), live (6:10 at 0:00)
8. Hairless Heart - part 2 live (7:54 at ?), live (6:10 at ?)
9. Counting Out Time - part 3 live (7:36 at 0:00)
10. The Carpet Crawlers - video from 1999 (4:04), live (5:12), part 3 live (7:36 at ?)
11. The Chamber of 32 Doors
12. Lilywhite Lilith - part 4 live (8:45 at 0:00), live (4:27 at 0:00)
13. The Waiting Room - part 4 live (8:45 at ?), live (4:27 at ?)
14. Anyway - live (1:56), part 4 live (8:45 at ?)
15. Here Comes the Supernatural Anaesthetist - part 4 live (8:45 at ?)
16. The Lamia - live (7:37)
17. Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats
18. The Colony of Slippermen (The Arrival/A Visit to the Doktor/Raven) - live (8:16)
19. Ravine
20. The Light Dies Down on Broadway - part 5 live (5:18 at 0:00)
21. Riding the Scree - part 5 live (5:18 at ?)
22. In the Rapids - part 6 live (7:36 at 0:00)
23. it. - live (0:51), part 6 live (7:36 at ?)
• A Trick of the Tail
1. Dance On A Volcano - live (27:29 at 8:42)
2. Entangled - live (6:34), live (6:35)
3. Squonk - live (6:41)
4. Mad Man Moon
5. Robbery, Assault, and Battery - live (6:18), live (6:20)
6. Ripples - live (7:59), live (8:01)
7. A Trick of the Tail - video (4:24)
8. Los Endos - live (7:07), Steve Hackett solo live (5:45), live (6:57), live (27:29 at 13:50)
• Wind & Wuthering
1. Eleventh Earl of Mar - live (2:12)
2. One for the Vine - live (10:58), live (2:39)
3. Your Own Special Way - live (6:17)
4. Wot Gorilla?
5. All in a Mouse's Night
6. Blood on the Rooftops
7. Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers...
8. ...In That Quiet Earth
9. Afterglow - live (4:15), live (4:38)
• ...And Then There Were Three...
1. Down And Out
2. Undertow
3. Ballad Of Big
4. Snowbound
5. Burning Rope
6. Deep In The Motherlode
7. Many Too Many - live (3:32)
8. Scenes From A Night's Dream
9. Say It's Alright Joe
10. The Lady Lies
11. Follow You, Follow Me - live (3:55)
• Duke
1. Behind the Lines - live (28:11 at 0:00)
2. Duchess - live (28:11 at 5:32), video (3:54), live (6:26)
3. Guide Vocal - live (28:11 at 12:34)
4. Man of Our Times
5. Misunderstanding - video (3:07)
6. Heathaze
7. Turn It On Again - live (9:00), live (28:11 at 14:02), live (3:37)
8. Alone Tonight
9. Cul-de-sac
10. Please Don't Ask
11. Duke's Travels - live (28:11 at 18:51)
12. Duke's End - live (28:11 at 25:51)
• Abacab
2. Abacab - live (4:11)
3. No Reply At All
4. Me And Sarah Jane
5. Keep It Dark
6. Dodo/Lurker
7. Who Dunnit? - live (2:22)
8. Man On The Corner
9. Like It Or Not
10. Another Record
• Genesis
• Mama - video (5:13), video (5:06)
• Home By the Sea - live (5:03), live (9:58)
• Second Home By the Sea - live (7:05)
• Invisible Touch
1. Invisible Touch - live (4:04), live (5:38)
2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - video (6:18)
3. Land Of Confusion - video (5:23)
4. In Too Deep - video (4:39)
5. Anything She Does - video (6:01)
6. Domino - live (9:58)
7. Throwing It All Away - video (4:17)
8. The Brazilian
• We Can't Dance
• Jesus He Knows Me - video (5:23)
• Calling All Stations
• Congo - video (3:42)
• Shipwrecked - video (4:24)
• Not About Us - video (4:18)
• Others
• Twilight Alehouse - video (5:56)

Trains

Started re-listening to Reich's Different Trains. I had the Kronos recording when it came out (1986?) and it was required listening in my collection but, as is often the case especially with books, was loaned out because of its importance and is now lost to history. The work probably reasserted itself in my head from all of the brouhaha over Reich's b-day, but every couple of years I think about it and pine after the CD. And, it's another train-related coincidence, what with me reading Colson Whitehead's John Henry Days.

I've been trying to come up with a sonata framework for the piece: fast-slow-fast. It doesn't quite work, but there's such a three-movement completeness (not to state the obvious) that it feels like it has a link to the past. And I'm reminded of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts. New, but old.

Happy birthday Amy Beach!

One of my first loves of American music. I was introduced to her violin sonata, paired with Arthur Foote's, in high school, and have had a weak spot for early American romanticism ever since.

Currently listening to

The first two Peter Gabriel albums paired with his last one. Have fun noting the similarities across the 25 years from his beginning as a soloist in 1977 to his possible final statement in 2002. One noticable difference is his use of genre musical styles on his first two albums (blues, honky-tonk, and even cool jazz) abandoned on all subsequent ones. There are some gems but unfortunately many throwaway items too.

From 1, "Moribund The Burgermeister" has his oddball storytelling that could have come from Tresspass's "The Knife" or Nursery Cryme's "Harold the Barrel," just as it reappears in Up's "The Barry Williams Show." Apparently, the townsfolk that Moribund is responsible for are having some sort of Woodstock freakout and he runs to his mother to help him bring them back under control: Mother please, is it just a disease, that has them breaking all my laws, Check if you can disconnect the effect and I'll go after the cause. "Humdrum" has a nice, short binary form that contrasts the mundane against the grandiose. The most notable song is "Here Comes the Flood:"

Lord, here comes the flood
We'll say goodbye to flesh and blood
If again the seas are silent
in any still alive
It'll be those who gave their island to survive
Drink up, dreamers, you're running dry.

This should have had more attention than (the obscenely over-played) "Solsbury Hill."

From 2, it opens with another silly misfit story in "On the Air," where our hero is a bum who lives out his fantasy life through television. The intended jab is not subtle, but the humor is well-placed. "Mother of Violence" holds up by its spare and timeless lyric Fear, she's the mother of violence, and "Indigo" is an effectively moody song about dying, reminding me of "In the Rapids" from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

Up is appropriately reminiscent of his first few solos and contains songs that are a hybrid of his early eccentricity, his middle obsession with world music, and his later commercial production. The strongest tracks are "Darkness," "Sky Blue" (also from the sad film Rabbit-proof Fence), "My Head Sounds Like That," and "Signal to Noise." And like PG1's closing "Here Comes the Flood" and PG2's closing "Home Sweet Home," Up closes with a reflective piano/voice composition called "The Drop."

Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35, in B-flat minor, 1st Movement, Development

The development lasts from measure 105 through measure 168 and is dominated by the rhythmic signature of the movement's first theme (shown below where it first enters at measures 9-11) played within varying harmonic progressions.

The movement as a whole, I realized, can be looked at as more of a compound binary form in ABAB than rigidly a sonata form. The first AB (in B-flat minor then the relative D-flat major) describes the two themes presented in the exposition, the next A describes the dramatic presentation of the first theme within the development, and the final B (in the parallel B-flat major) is the sostenuto return of the second theme. This is a nod to the history and origins of sonata form, but also manifests--as Charles Rosen emphasizes in his book The Classical Style--the very mutable nature of sonata form.

The development runs organically through five short episodes. The first, running from measure 105 through measure 120, begins the "conversation" between the two themes that I had mentioned in my previous entry on the movement's exposition. The second theme is only hinted at by ascending half-notes in the soprano, but in the second episode, measures 121 through 136, it is quoted in full phrases while the first theme pulses beneath in the left hand. The 16-measures of the second episode are divided into four measures of the second theme, four of the first, four of the second, and four of the first. Below are measures 115 through 128, consisting of the last six measures of the first episode and the first half of the second episode:

Harmonies in the first episode move up scale steps from F-sharp min to G maj to A maj to B min. B then becomes a pivot tone (of sorts) and becomes the third of the G7 in C min.

Just as the ascending half-notes in measures 116-117 and 119-120 seed the introduction of the second theme in measures 121-124, the four-against-three agitation in measures 125-128 seeds the rhythmic pattern for the development's third episode, stretching from measure 137 through 152. Here are the first two measures of the pattern that is repeated throughout the third episode:

The chords change every two measures and can be grouped every four: (G min, B-flat min), (F min, A-flat aug), (E min, G maj), (D maj D min, F maj), this time moving down scale steps. The fourth episode repeats a four-measure phrase twice from measure 153 through 160. It varies in rhythm slightly from the third episode by replacing the bass quarter-note triplets with open-voiced eighth-note arpeggios. Harmonically, it remains almost throughout on a C-flat maj chord.

The fifth and final episode acts as a bridge back to the second theme (the recapitulation). It is marked with a stretto immediately after a fortissimo and should be considered as paired with the ritenuto that opened the development section in measure 105. The music is all quarter-note triplets and acts as a pedal point on a dominant F approaching the B-flat maj recapitulation. With the triplet motion and the interspersed C7s acting as V/Vs, this section very much resembles the first coda of the exposition with its I V/V V I progression. This section even closes with a chromatic passage outlining the vii7 of B-flat similar to the octatonic passge at the end of the exposition's first coda outlining the vii7 of C:

And in the development:

Although the melodic second theme is present in the development, it is still very much the territory primarily of the rhythmic first theme. Here's a summary of the five episodes:

1. 105-120, first theme in the bass with second theme hinted at in the soprano, step-wise ascending harmonies
2. 121-136, alternate phrases containing the second theme with phrases containing the first presented in four-against-three rhythm, dominant harmonies,
3. 137-152, four-against-three rhythm persists across step-wise descending harmonies,
4. 153-160, fast four-against-four crescendo with sustained C-flat maj harmony,
5. 161-168, F7 pedal point referencing the first coda of the exposition

Video music

Following Tim Rutherford-Johnson's list of contemporary classical performances on YouTube--including some of the stunning Ligeti piano etudes that I had listened to over a year ago--I went hunting for Messiaen and found the sixth movement from his 20 contemplations for piano ("Through Him everything was made"). Ten minutes and absolutely riveting throughout. Many of these performances have been posted in the last month, so expect an even greater wealth to appear.

The World is Round

Spelunking in YouTube, I recently found three short videos from a performance of an experimental/minimalist opera called The World is Round (written 2003, music Pea Hix, libretto Scott Feldsher, book Gertrude Stein). I'm not sure of the correct order:

• AND THEN
• EITHER OR
• WHICH LITTLE GIRL NAMED ROSE

There are additional videos on Pea Hix's MySpace page. He also writes/wrote music in the band Optiganally Yours.

Oddly, the same Stein novel was made into an opera 10 years earlier (premiere 1993, music James Sellars, libretto Juanita Rockwell, book Gertrude Stein).

Rebel

In protest to Lisa going to the Tabernacle to listen to one-of-those-new-bands-that-sounds-like-all-of-the-other-new-bands (Arctic Monkeys), I'm cleansing the palette with: a 23-minute live version of Supper's Ready from 1973 (video via YouTube), paired with selections from The White Album, and finally selections from Don Caballero's wonderfully noisy What Burns Never Returns (I gotta get more of their music).

Ah! Creativity at last.

Open mic at Eddie's Attic, two nights ago

Many thanks to everyone who came out Eddie's Attic Monday night. It wasn't my best night, but that's going to happen so whatever. I've been puzzling over why exactly I couldn't focus: I had practiced enough and know the songs very well, but I think that poor stage monitors still throw me off. The bass was very loud and the higher notes were non-existent. I need to either test the sound more fully before starting or focus better. A little of both. Anyways, it was otherwise a good night and it's great to have friends who'll suffer through the open mic scene.

For anyone who's interested or who hasn't noticed those prominent links to the right of my front page: I occasionally go to venues with open mic nights to play songs from two rock operas that I had written. The first one, The Journalist, is about a photo-journalist who accidentally takes a picture of a map that can tell the future. The second one, The Silent Spectrum, is about kids in a rock band who try to stop an evil genius from taking over the world with his mind-control machines. If you're interested in listening to the demos, both pages have M3U playlists that will stream the audio. You can also download MP3s, the sheet music, and the MIDI. The piano writing ranges from moderate to advanced if you're interested in looking at the sheet music. In the next few months, I'll be starting work on my third rock opera. It is based on a true story about a man searching for parts to a time machine.

I don't have a MySpace account.

Open mic at Eddie's Attic tonight

Hey! Look out!! I'll be playing at Eddie's Attic tonight at 8:20. Come watch the keys fly: zing, there's F-sharp! Pow, a G-flat! Oof, an E-double-sharp! (I promise there'll be more variety than that.)

And even if you can't stand piano art rock (wha?!?), come support the other local musicians as they wander freely in the wilds. It's all for a good cause: our egos.

MC Frontalot at The Drunken Unicorn last night

Best show of the year. First time at the DU and man was it worth it. Frontalot was as geeky/cool as you would expect and backed by three tight session musicians (keyboard, bass, drums) in short-sleeve button-ups and ties. Very good. Also: hilarious opening rappers from somewhere in Whitelanta with the solid Casio beats. They closed their show with a "so you're all here for Frontalot? ... fuck that!" Nice.

The only tragedy was that my phone scrambled all of the Frontalot photos! Now I have no proof. Go here and support the man, will ya.

Fury

Heard on WNYC: the band Gutbucket doing a jazz cover of the sixth movement (Danse de la fureur, pour les sept trompettes, "Dance of fury, for the seven trumpets") from Messaien's Quartet for the End of Time, performed on their album Sludgetest.

Messiaen is so rock and roll sometimes; I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees that. The Peter Serkin recording of his Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus is required listening.

Art, brute

Been meaning to post about Scott Spiegelberg's recent writing on the delicate balance between (1) classical fans, (2) classical concerts, and (3) the interested-but-uninitiated. He makes good yet too brief points and is predictably tut-tuted by A. C. Douglas. Prof. S. replies and holy shit the science blogs pick up the story. Good reading.

Open mic: Monday the 22nd at Eddie's Attic

I'll be playing Eddie's Attic open mic again in a week. I go on at 8:20. Be there if you can because, as Eddie sez, it's good to have a fan club.

Where was I?

Last Friday: neighborhood Cinco de Mayo party OTP at Tedra and Bill's with some other ITP friends. Lisa came in second in the limbo contest (on Cinco de Mayo?!?) to the less top-heavy Shelby. I should have escaped with a giant, eight-foot-tall inflatable cactus sticking out my sun roof but can see now that it might have brought undo attention on the drive home from unwanted persons.

Saturday was the Kentucky Derby party at Mary and Andrew's. Last year, Scott took home the purse; this year, LC and I raked it in. I can't speak for her, but I spent my winnings on My Pretty Pony collectibles.

Tuesday, we went to see Sophie Scholl at Landmark. Simple and moving. I compare it in emotional impact to The Constant Gardener but less artfully filmed. Her arrest occurs relatively quickly, after a few scenes familiarizing us with the main characters and the society they live in, and is followed by a series of interrogations that make up the bulk of the film. The interrogations become a battle of philosophies between her and an investigator who is impassioned yet ultimately reluctant to sentence an intelligent and sincere young lady. Nazis are an easy target, but this film is more about an inspiring act of bravery. You'll be in tears for the last 30 minutes.

Thursday we had a new HVAC unit installed in our condo. Our old one, though only 9 years old, was installed poorly and died an untimely death. After an estimate of $4100 from CoolRay we got a second estimate of $6500, and the choice was simple. The installation took all day, but I got to go up on the roof for the first time. What a view! Although we pay approximately $1,000,000-a-month in association dues, they say it's too expensive to build a deck up there. Jackasses. Anyway, we now have a fancy new digital thermostat that keeps us below the 80-85 we've become accustomed to.

That night was The Fantasticks at Shakespeare Tavern for Alicia's b-day. I knew very little about the show except that the sheet music was ever present in the music room in high school. Because of that, I expected a silly little musical but was very very pleasantly corrected. The play is smart and the theater's directing keeps your attention. The female lead knocks everyone else off stage with her resonant coloratura flourishes--with such skill in a relatively small theater, one viewing will make you realize what jackasses those American Idol contestants are. Social criticism aside, this was such an enjoyable show I've been recommending it to anyone. It's playing through June 25th.

We got home that night--after seeing Alicia's playful new dog Jesco and having a few drinks at Milltown Arms--and drunkenly watched the season finale to The Office. We usually don't delete drunk viewings of shows, just-in-case, but that rule was forgotten and now we're downloading it for $1.99 from iTunes. Anyone know how to de-encrypt iTunes videos?

Friday was the ASO and a wonderful and varied program of Borodin (Overture to Prince Igor, clip), Berg (Violin Concerto, with Cecylia Arzewski, clip), Schubert (Symphony #8), and Liszt (Les Preludes, clip). We hadn't been in quite a while and this was a perfect evening to return. After that, we had a drink that the hip-yet-accessible Table 1280 right next door. Dinner reservations were at 11 at South City Kitchen down the street on Crescent. Too. Much. Food. So. Good.

Chopin, Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 35, in B-flat minor, 1st Movement, Exposition

I'm approaching Chopin's second piano sonata in order; I'm not jumping around, but I keep aware of what's coming up and where each section fits in the whole. The first movement is in the classical minor-key sonata form with a rhythmic first theme in B-flat minor and a more melodic second in its relative major, D-flat. The exposition closes with two codas. The development contains a conversation between the two themes--beginning with the first theme in the bass punctuated by first shorter then more extended passages quoting the second theme in the soprano. More technical variations on the first theme slowly take over the bulk of the development, resolving with a recapitulation marked by the return of the second theme in B-flat major. The second theme contains few variations, and the movement ends with the two codas plus a third, more chromatic coda that contains a quote of the first theme and ends in B-flat major.

Looking at the exposition section, the first theme is presented with a written repeat, measures 9 through 20 and 25 through 36, and is marked throughout by a prominent yet short rhythmic pattern that is a key component of the bulk of the development.

The theme trades sparse harmonies--primarily i and vii7--for a constant bombardment of eighth notes. The transition between the repeats acts notably as a chaotic, chromatic break with the theme proper. Because it contains the exact same eighth note rhythms in each hand as the rest of the theme, the diminished chord harmonies and non-chordal half steps builds a minor tension before the return.

A quick bridge gets us to D-flat major and the second theme. This immediately trades the eighth notes of the first theme for half and quarter notes that help accentuate the melody as it takes longer and longer breaths. Whereas the key characteristic of the first theme is expressed in a terse six eighth notes, the second theme begins as economically with only five, but continues with a long slur that sings across eight measures (the theme begins on the last two measures of the first staff system below).

Like the first theme, the second has a written repeat, measures 41 through 56 and 57 through 80, but with greater variation and much greater harmonic and melodic development transitioning into the first coda. The end section of the second theme (measures 73 through 80) is one aspect of this piece that affected me with its earnest romanticism and liberal declaration across several octaves. Here it is (beginning on the third measure):

The harmonic analysis of this closing section holds more information than that of the equally varied first theme transition quoted above. Whereas the transition is better described by a series of half-step alterations, this section of the second theme gives up a great deal of itself from its chords. Viewed in two measure phrases, it procedes from two measures tonicizing the ii then the V, then three pairs with different harmonizations of I-IV-V underneath increasingly complex variations of the same melodic fragment ending in a perfect cadence in D-flat (not shown).

The exposition ends with two codas. The first consists of 12 measures: 4 measures repeating a very simple I V/V V I up and down two octaves, 4 varying that as I vii/V V I, then an abrupt shift to a similar phrase but in C major. C will be revisited early in the development. I really dislike these over-obvious harmonies--especially with the earlier, nuanced sections. I understand the need for a simple declaration of key here at the end, and it's simplicity lends greater force to the introduction of C major (via a German 6th), but I still have a problem with it.

The two measures before the second coda puzzled me for the first couple of readings (beginning on the second quarter note of the measure, played as triplets):

It actually sits in your hands more comfortably than it looks. Put simply: the soprano jumps tritones of the vii7 of C minor, the alto walks an octatonic scale of the same chord, and the left hand plays broken major 6ths (dim 7ths) of the same chord in contrary motion. Everything describes the vii7, but the octatonic scale introduces some chromatic noise for the inner voice. A distinct variation on the pattern is in the left hand on the fourth quarter note of measure 91: the left hand steps a tritone instead of a major 6th. This is important. I've been speaking of these two measures as two patterns--one in the right hand and one in the left--that effect a leading tone diminished 7th chord. This is all true, and the intended speed will blur much of the distinctions away, but the voicing ultimately suggests a progrssion of V65/Eb C# V65/A V42/C V65/Eb. The C# is an enharmonic equivalent to the key of the second theme and would otherwise be V42/F# if the pattern were maintained. The choice is, simply, a reinforcement of the key of D-flat.

The second coda begins in C major and quickly works back, through a series of half-step progressions, to D-flat major and a somewhat ambivalent cadence tonicizing the dominant. Within the context of the exposition repeat, this acts as a jarring deceptive cadence to the vi (B-flat minor) and the minor tonic of the first theme. For the development, this acts as--and I could be wrong, so don't quote me--the V/V of F-sharp minor. More later.

I have the exposition in my hands now and need to work on consistency, expressiveness, and velocity as I continue with the rest of the movement. I'll try to spend 80% of my time on new music and 20% on refining what I have.

Currently listening to

I just recieved the Leon Kirchner double CD of historic recordings and the Vincent Persichetti CD with his Symphony No. 5 and Piano Concerto. I discovered Kirchner from the New World Records album with his Piano Concerto, checked out from the local library in 9th or 10th grade (?). I was stunned. It was beautiful and wild and new and my dad was perplexed ("do you really enjoy that?!?"). The very same recording is contained on this set--I immediately recognized the nuances of the performance even across the many years--along with various other mostly chamber music that is equally engrossing.

Persichetti was introduced to me by my first piano teacher here in Georgia, just post high school, whose name I hate that I forget. She presented me with the invaluable set of his Poems for Piano and it really opened up a new world of piano repertoire. Without digging out the sheet music, I remember one piece that I played from that set was "To whose more clear than crystal voice the frost had joined a crystal spell." I've listened to little of his works since that time, but expect the best.

Something brought me back to the Koyaanisqatsi score but I don't know what. I've been curious to watch it again just to see the masterful closing scene with the decending rocket. It also coincides with my Genius Idea that wine bars and coffee shops, instead of having live jazz, should have live music like that in Koyaanisqatsi. It would be similar to the trip-hop soundtracks of Very Cool Bars, but with a more unique flavor. Everyone does electronica. No one does minimalism.

So far, my workshopping of the idea to friends hasn't gone over as well as it does in my head.

Finally, the Saint-Saens Piano Concertos. I really have no familiarity with his music, so that needs to changes. These were recorded off of RadioWave.

Rhapsody, 25 free

Rhapsody is offering 25 free streams a month without subscription. This includes content either from their custom radio stations or from their songs online. If you're just testing out new music, it's probably worth using it as a resource. Not sure how long they've been doing this, so I may be stating the obvious.

Moresight at Graveyard tomorrow

Going to see Moresight at Graveyard Tavern tomorrow. Not my favorite bar: too bright, not dive-y enough. Maybe it needs some power-ups?

Ring

I think a new cube neighbor at work has one of the Einstein on the Beach themes as his cell phone ring.

Seems unlikely, but I've been waiting for it to ring again and now of course it's not.

Good night

I had a good, short performance over at Eddie's Attic open mic last night. The rules are two songs/10 minutes, blah blah, so unfortunately you're just really getting warmed up by the time they kick you off the stage. It's sometimes a benefit for listeners but kinda sucks for the performers. Isn't that always the case?

Several friends came by to be my fan club--oddly, I could hear them as if they were the only ones clapping. I know: weird. As it turned out, my keyboard got more attention than me with no less than three other keyboard players performing that night. That is to say, there were exactly three other keyboard players. Since I was the first, it was easier to use my keyboard (the sexy P90) than to break down and set up a different one. Eddie was gracious at the end of the evening and, seeing as I was not the winning recipient of $60 and not even one of the three finalists, he offered to play roadie and help me lug the sexy-but-heavy P90 down the precarious Attic Stairs. We chatted pleasantly and I resisted the urge to ask "What were you thinking?!?" Nah, he's a really nice guy, and the atmosphere and structure is perfect. A good experience all around.

I did however forget to sign up for the next available evening. What was I thinking? Anyway, I really appreciate the friendly support. These things can be tedious if you're not reallyreally into it, so thanks again for puttin' up with everything and maybe next time Lisa will figure out how to use my camera phone and I'll have a visual document to post here displaying the incredible rock that I laid out to all the pa-zizzles. Indubitably.

Open mic at Eddie's Attic tonight

I signed up for the 7:30 slot and will be playing two songs--the rules limit you to two songs or 10 minutes. We went two weeks ago and they had an entertaining group. Since I'll be adding my 10 minutes to that entertainment, tonight will probably red-line the entertainment meter. Golly!

Kill, kill

The stupidity of the concept of the noble savage in music ("don't learn to read music! it will ruin your natural skill!!) set bare by Gershwin [ via Alex Ross ]. This has long been an irritant to me primarily because it's born of ignorance and passed on like folk wisdom fighting against the Big Bad Intellectuals who complicate what's just basic common sense. The fear as it is manifest in the Fine Arts possibly originates with the artists' understanding that inspiration is fleeting. Examine it too closely and you may purge the force that through your inner fuse drives the art. And there's the real issue of too incisive religious examination purging the force of belief, as was recently outlined in The Washington Post's article on Bart Ehrman, author of Misquoting Jesus.

The writing of those who have spent time researching their subjects to the point of obsession provides a more clear truth. I recently listened to Sarah Vowell dissect the history of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Her love of historical nuance provides a more nuanced understanding of the subject. And read any Feynman essay or Brian Greene book to feel their deep love of natural science and the workings of the universe. The capacity for appreciation, and belief, is proportional to knowledge.

Two steps forward

One of my frustrating inabilities has always been The Inability to Play Piano While Drunk. I know, I know, anyone will point out that the most important point to focus on is that you're trying. Yes? Anyway, today at work we were talking about our first experiences in programming. One co-worker told of how he snuck into classes after the CS students left and saw WorkPerfect at an unattended terminal (years ago). He decided to try out this thing you call "programming" and began typing 2+2=? etc. After some frustration the teacher returned and explained the important and missing components to his attempted wooing of the word processing compiler. Funny story. And true. And I love how he has that vivid memory.

My first programming memory is not so funny, but still cherished. I had saved $300 from my paper route and planned on eventually purchasing my first computer: a $600 TRS-80, Model I (all geeks can either bow down or chuckle). One day, a large box arrived (you can see it coming) and my parents told me that they had paid for the difference. They were very supportive that way and I really should be a more appreciative son. Anyway, it came with a BASIC Programming Manual that eventually taught me enough to code a text adventure haunted mansion which my brother summarily dispatched in a couple of minutes. How long did it take me to code his two minutes of distraction? It doesn't matter. All of the messy re-arranging of line numbers and stumbling over logic--as I'm in awe of the power inherent in typing commands and having them realized--is the important thing.

And I remember, learning an instrument, the point in time when I didn't understand what a musical key was. This is a more vivid memory because the contrast between knowing and not knowing is more ... vivid. I even remember exactly where I was when I had the epiphany of The Concept of Musical Keys. I had long pondered on what it meant to be in "E" or "A-flat," when eventually it hit me (it's really not that difficult) in 5th (?) grade as I was walking home from school and was in front of City Hall, just a block from home. I guess I remember the feeling of revelation more than the understanding of ignorance. That is: I can remember the awe and the knowledge I have now, but I don't really remember well enough the feeling of notknowing. It's important to remember as best as possible our ignorances.

So I began watching La Dolce Vita tonight (I had--embarrassingly--never seen a Fellini film, but this is definitely the one to choose as introduction) and got an hour and 50 into it before I realized that it's almost three hours long. So I paused near the end of the second hour and my second bottle of wine and decide to hit the piano for a while ... damn the neighbors! After about a half hour of improvising, I decided to play some of my own music. To my surprise, I actually made it through some of the more complex pieces. That's sort of a milestone (he writes with one eye closed), maybe I can play drunk. Now if I can just be a little less sloppy with rhythm when I'm sober...

Albums and downloads

Free Albums Galore [ via Tim Rutherford-Johnson ] offers links to full album downloads, permanently hosted, and DRM/copyright-free. Their welcome message describes their purpose, and they provide an album directory where all posted albums are compiled (although unfortunately not alphabetically).

I finally listened to Soundcheck's show "Orchestras for the 21st Century," discussing how orchestras are approaching downloaded music, on WNYC. Interesting comments on what has already been done and the great potential that's there (think of the recent Beethoven offerings from the BBC). A good point that was made though: MP3 service search engines are almost useless for finding classical music in their catalogues. The show also talked about an orchestra giving away live recordings of their evening performances to patrons as they leave the performance. Nice.

A small setback

Trying to get booked at Smith's Olde Bar for their SongSmiths Songwriter Series--Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays, they book three or four bands to play. I finally got a reply from the lady that does booking and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but getting my music labeled as a "lounge-y stuff" was definitely not one of my original concerns. My concerns have now been duly updated. They were very nice though and provided a list of other venues that might be more in line.

Recent piano exercises

A couple of simple exercises I've been warming up with lately (in all major and minor keys):

Fiery Furnaces at Smith's Olde Bar on the 22nd

I have tickets. Shouldn't you? There's no chance of missing out this time.

End part one, turn tape over

Last night finished my four week re-introduction to playing out. Present this time--and suffering through another late start of 10:45--were Alicia and Dan (thankyouthankyou). The music had its rough moments in the unlikliest of places, but I got through the Yes almost without a hitch. The broken chords in contrary motion at the end of the piece (a la the middle section of Chopin's Etude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3) were the riskiest section and make it a nice piece to show off with. I realized afterwards that I need to start positioning the keyboard at an angle to the audience--people will still hear mistakes but they might not notice as much if they're focusing on my hands. Sneaky. I also need to start looking at the audience when I'm talking in between songs. There's sortof an I-can't-see-them-so-they-can't-see-me deceit that I slip into.

This was by far the least interesting open mic. It started out with several new faces and some promise, but devolved quickly into Starbuck's pop and lesbian folk. I have refrained from criticizing because (1) we're all just trying to play some music and have fun, and (2) if I'm going to be part of this "community," I maybe need to hold my tongue. However, the music critic in me really couldn't take much more by the end of the evening. I feel that people get so wrapped up in the sound of their own voice or the resonant feel of an acoustic guitar miked to a large room, that they forget that there's a need to actually write interesting songs that are carried by those instruments. And if you feel bored strumming F C G for the millionth time: listeners are going to be even more bored. And if I hear one more cliched metaphor about love, I'm going to puke out a rhyming dictionary (no more saying that someone is your "world," "the love of your life," or that they mean "everything" to you, and if you're "put on the back-burner" it certainly makes no sense that you're also "crawling on the floor").

That being said, there were still some pleasant surprises and a few very entertaining songs. The Tom Waits-duo were there with some gravelly fun, and a couple of kids played some expletive-laden Dinosaur Jr.-type pop at the end. Rock.

Also, one of the other performers told me that Smith's Olde Bar has something called the SongSmiths Songwriter Series on Sunday's, Monday's, and Tuesday's. They look booked up most of February (with our friends from last week, The Annunaki, playing on Sunday the 19th!) but it looks like a good option.

Open mic at The Red Light Cafe tonight

I'll be playing "The Photograph" from The Journalist along with Yes's "Starship Trooper". Both are knuckle-busters. After this, the only night I have planned is March 13th at Eddie's Attic. I'll be digging around for more. Some other musicians had mentioned Apache Cafe, but it looks more like a spoken work joint. I have nothing to say.

3rd open mic

I got the last slot again and my playing was a mess, but Shelby and Robert came by and there were some high points in the line up so all was well. I felt good and Lisa said I sounded good--still not "emoting" very much though. I'm getting the experience I need.

I've decided I just don't understand the signup process. I finally delicately pushed myself to a decent place in line, only to be rebuffed when one of the older guys (good friends with the owner?) started picking out who arrived earliest and then moved them to the front of the line. Oh well, I was quickly back to the 11:00 slot. There were some grumblings about how most other places use a lottery and how badly the random system at Red Light Cafe sucks, but ... well, they control the means of production, so we can do little else but submit. I think another problem is that I don't socialize well with those in power, so I have no cache. No cache!

High points were Alexander on electric bass doing some sort of beat poetry/Tom Waits type of thing. We were completely freaked out. Then, just before me, a band called The Annunaki played a couple of songs: piano, female voice, and acoustic guitar. Their second song was an ~10-minute epic, called "In Transition," that had some nice interplay between the two instruments. Check out their songs on Myspace.

Next week'll be the last week at Red Light for a little while in order to try to play at different places. I'll be playing my transcription of "Starship Trooper" and "The Photograph" from The Journalist.

Open mic at The Red Light Cafe tonight

I hope to get an earlier slot for my 3rd try (i.e. before 11). I'll be playing the last three songs from The Journalist: "Through the Woods," "Where Was I?", and "(coda)". I think of these three songs as sortof a reverse sonata, with the tocatta at the beginning and the more thoughtful piece at the end. Many of the songs contain repeated themes from earlier songs.

"Through the Woods" is a perpetuum mobile chase scene in 9/8 with constant eighth notes throughout. The section using syncopated arpeggios (E D Bb C) is a theme that appears varied in two other songs ("The Crossing" and "The Photograph"). The middle instrumental section is based on the progression that opens the first song of The Journalist. The ending was inspired by the ending of King Crimson's "One More Red Nightmare" from Red. I like how the alto sax improv over a driving 6/8 just drops into silence as if pulled into a black hole. I don't think I quite acheived the same impact though.

"Where Was I?" is a short interlude. It's framed by a melody, for the left hand alone, which first appears in "The Map." The bulk of the song interrupts this melody with a symmetric structure of A B B A. The B is taken from "My Beautiful Day" and rearranged with power chords.

"(coda)" opens with a somewhat orchestral instrumental section. The subsequent verses segue into a final verse based on the chords from the closing section of "Falling" (and re-used as the close of "(coda)").