Archive - October 2005October 24, 2005: "The Flickering Tintinnabulations of Distant Ukuleles" October 19, 2005: "It's in the Mail!" October 10, 2005: "The Home Stretch?" October 24, 2005: "The Flickering Tintinnabulations of Distant Ukuleles" So the piece is still done, by which I mean I haven't noticed anything so obviously damning about it so as to violate my inalienable right to posit its done-ness. Sidney, back at the bat-cave, faxed the top-secret goods to Estonia, where the quartet intercepted it and hopefully will not be injured when the score self-destructs at 0-200 hours tonight. The intrigue continues as I get my rear in gear to go do some electronic work in a few weeks, and also to reduce so as to make performance more manageable--currently the parts tip the scale at 13 pages, which at only a small loss of clarity might be pared down to about 6 or 7 if each player feels fairly comfortable with the score. Another, more revealing way of rephrasing the previous paragraph would be to say that while my few reservations about the music haven't achieved critical mass, there's still a host of piece-related issues I have to deal with and which, in tandem with some non-Kronos-related work, severely stole my fire in respect to that "I'm finally done!" exultation. I think one of the only ways I was able to pull so many all-nighters and push myself to really hone this piece was by focusing on my piece-completion fantasy, which in my mind involved one of those lush, vaguely pornographic pages from vacation wall calendars and in which I am served heavily alcoholic, candy-like girly-drinks while I am fanned with palm fronds, all to the flickering tintinnabulations of distant ukuleles peeling across an everlasting sunset. For reasons I could not entirely foresee at the time (i.e., social/financial/academic/difficulty-of-finding-good-uke-players-related), my post-completion reality failed to measure up to the fantasy. Tropical vacation aside, I bribed myself to hang in there based on a certain sense of incredible accomplishment and well-being that I'd projected into the future, and while I feel good about being done and am largely happy with the piece, I think I might be experiencing some kind of post-partum letdown. This, I realize, is just a natural part of life, kind of like the odd remorse that often accompanies the long-hoped-for defeat of a despicable but respected foe. The end product is never quite as wonderful as one imagines at the outset, there's always a few revisions and loose ends to tie up, and you have to catch up with all those classes you were cutting/bs-ing and get geared up for your new projects, where you'll get a chance to relive the entire process another time. So as far as the piece itself is concerned, I'm going to try very hard not to second-guess myself. While I've got my own list of things that maybe should be changed and hope that it will soon be augmented with the observations of others, I'm going to record these and sit tight until after the premiere when all these notions have had some time to gel. I'm really pleased with the opening and the climax through the end, but am concerned that what connects these outer sections might not have a strong sense of trajectory; that is, I'm worried that some of it might be exalted filler that marks time until the next real event is ready to happen. I'm not terribly worried about this for the premiere, since I'm sure the Kronos Quartet will completely take up the challenge of shaping and phrasing things into a piece that builds naturally, but I'd like there to be a strong musical support for their strong musicianship. Also, while I'm happy with the ending, I keep wondering if I've really thought of the most special, interesting thing that could have happened with my musical material...I think it works at what it does, but it might do well to try something even better. These thoughts are necessary even if they turn out to be unfounded in that their negation can provide a real sense of closure and certainty in the same way that their confirmation can lead to useful revisions that achieve the same end. So while I hack away at these kinds of things with my keen mental hatchet I've got maybe a little more time to enjoy reading again and playing guitar. It's been a long time since I rock and rolled, and this might be the week that I restring my strat and attempt to work up my jazz chops again. Maybe next entry we can talk a bit of improvisation, what it is and how it's done, and if -- by stroke of luck -- I'm especially competent, I might post a few audio excerpts illustrating some finer points with my hatchet-like (but not so sharp) fingers. Also, you, dear target-audience, need to get cracking with your questions! Surely you must realize how silly this will look if I am forced to answer made-up questions rather than real ones--oh, the shame of it! Again: anything even peripherally musical preferred, be it artistic, personal, or career-based. Just because this bjournal is so static is no reason to act that way, gosh darn it, so free yourselves from the shackles of my own whimsy and let's open this up a little bit, cool? [Back to Top] October 19, 2005: "It's in the Mail!" I only have one thing I'd like to share with everyone this week, and this is it:
It was either you or me, Casio. Alright, I shall say a few things more. First of all, the piece is done! I mailed it off yesterday and then enjoyed some well-deserved sleepage. I am so completely happy to have it done, and I'd like to thank everyone at Kronos and the Hop for a fun, occasionally excruciating, and always interesting 6 months, and also for providing me with a fun way to blow off steam using the cold, impersonal precision of the web-interface. I'm looking forward to writing some longer posts starting this weekend, since now might be a good time to go on some musical excursions (discursions?) that might be interesting to develop. I'll still have plenty of Kronos-related material to hash over, such as my work on the electronic portions of the piece (replete with my descent into the Dante-like ninth circle of the Yale electronics studios), rehearsals in San Francisco, and of course the piece's eventual premiere. Although I have a few topics I'd like to pick up, I'd like to throw open the hatches for random questions, which I will save up and try to answer in an upcoming entry. Of course, anything is game, but questions of a musical/career/mystery-of-life-related nature might be the type most worth answering in the context of this journal format. Send 'em to the Hop, and request anonymity if your questions is so jarringly stupid that you would shrink at the thought of claiming its authorship—no, just kidding, but my point is that I wouldn't want anyone to refrain from asking a lingering question just because of this ridiculous societal taboo we seem to have about showing weakness. While there are, as is evident to any rational person, some stupid questions, they usually imply a commendable bravery along with a real desire for actual knowledge—a desire that to me is a lot cooler than any kind of hip, feigned disinterest. So I'm fairly happy about the piece as a while…it's about 12 or 13 minutes, and it has some good parts and some lame ones, too. Next entry I'll start off hashing over what I think is strong and weak about the piece, and how healthy self-criticism can often lead to successful revision further down the line. I think that the process of revision is a crucial component to almost every artistic endeavor, but it's most useful when we've acquired some distance from the object that we so recently were wedded to…now that the divorce has gone through, I'd like a little grace period before I have to start smacking out the alimony, and also some time to pick up on my life where it left off, and do some things like: -Study for classes -Attend classes -Read again -Listen to other people's music -Drive around aimlessly in this little New-Englandy state -Cook -Embed Funboard in washtubful of cement, dump into Long Island Sound Until next week, implied second person…[Back to Top] October 10, 2005: "The Home Stretch?" So I just got a recording of my orchestrated version of "Black Bend" from the Cabrillo Festival...I don't have much to say for myself this week, so it comes at a rather opportune time, after all. The festival has been gracious enough to grant me permission to post an audio excerpt, with Julien Benichou conducting. Newcomers may want to refer to my August 5th entry in particular for information about the major changes in the new version of the piece. Thanks again to the Cabrillo folks for doing such a fine job! Here's a pic of me taking it all in, an action-shot of the orchestra, and a very telling shot of one of my other conductors, Alondra, staring helplessly at the principal violinist...who, yes, has been driven to madness by the unreasonable demands of my violin writing:
Piece is coming along, I've got the beginning, climax, and ending finished, just need to do some work this week with connecting the two halves of the piece. I found it useful to work ahead in this case because it now allows me to have a more fully-realized sense of the piece's goals, and I'm hoping that this home-stretch will move slowly. Ladies and gentlemen, if you hear from me next week it shall be the sweet victory-song of jubilation; if not, you will be safe to assume that the piece won out in the end, and that I lie KO'ed in the ring. This is the kind of week that ought to be aired on ESPN2 -- albeit in a 4 AM timeslot.... |
