Today was an open day for the school so there were prospective students all over the place. Our afternoon class today was an open workshop for the three people checking out the programme. Once again it was a very international bunch- South Korea, Columbia, and Japan.
John Miles led the workshop and I just love being in workshops that he leads because he is so high energy and excited about his material- it's nice having classes where everyone in the class is giggling.
We did some work based on an Indian rhythm that goes like this 1 12 123 1234 12345 1234 123 12 . It is the same rhythm that we used the first time I worked with John way back last year during a CPD (continuing professional development) workshop. In fact, not only was it the same rhythm, it was actually the same tune that we had made up with the kids too-- only it was very slightly different which meant I kept singing it wrong.
BUT! Eventually I was singing it correctly and playing the chords along with it on my bass and singing at the same time which I've never done before and was super excited about.
That is really the whole point of this entry. I sang and played at the same time, Yay!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
because I'm vain
Henrikke and Meredith and I went to the Columbia Road Flower market today, and it was gorgeous. Full of amazing flowers and cool antiques and remarkably sparkley cupcakes. (Seriously, can you eat glitter?) Henrikke is a demon with her camera and took bunches of lovely shots of everyone and everything in the market. This is my favorite one of me (see title).
We later had our first dinner party in our new house which was a rousing success. The food took a while to prepare, but everyone was lovely about that and the whole kitchen was giggling pretty much the entire time people were over.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Couple of things...
*I voted! It's all mailed in and everything because I take my civic duty *seriously.* I even voted for the judges who were running unopposed. Do you have your votor guide yet? Check out pg 86 & 87, all women for two pages straight! Neato.
*I have Christmas plane tickets! I'll be hanging out in Seattle from the 9th of December until the 7th of January. I'm flying direct on British Airways and I'm so extraordinarily pleased that I won't have to be switching planes. Such a treat.
*London has been doing a lot of road construction recently- mostly along the sides of roads where they have been ripping out Victorian sewers. Which cool! until you think about the fact that the sewers have been there since victorian times at which point gross... In anycase- I was waiting for a bus outside of Holborn yesterday and thought it was so cool that the big leafy trees were dropping their leaves in a particularly autumnal way and they were being flattened onto the road so that it looked like a giant flower pressing. Then I realized that the other side of the street wasn't a giant flower pressing at which point I realized that it was new asphalt and the leaves are now stuck there. I'm hoping they'll have been preserved in some way so that from now on you can go visit the leaf road at Holborn station. Wouldn't that be cool? Then when they have to rip out the 21st century sewers people will get all up in arms about the fact that they're ripping up an historic landmark.
*I have Christmas plane tickets! I'll be hanging out in Seattle from the 9th of December until the 7th of January. I'm flying direct on British Airways and I'm so extraordinarily pleased that I won't have to be switching planes. Such a treat.
*London has been doing a lot of road construction recently- mostly along the sides of roads where they have been ripping out Victorian sewers. Which cool! until you think about the fact that the sewers have been there since victorian times at which point gross... In anycase- I was waiting for a bus outside of Holborn yesterday and thought it was so cool that the big leafy trees were dropping their leaves in a particularly autumnal way and they were being flattened onto the road so that it looked like a giant flower pressing. Then I realized that the other side of the street wasn't a giant flower pressing at which point I realized that it was new asphalt and the leaves are now stuck there. I'm hoping they'll have been preserved in some way so that from now on you can go visit the leaf road at Holborn station. Wouldn't that be cool? Then when they have to rip out the 21st century sewers people will get all up in arms about the fact that they're ripping up an historic landmark.
Monday, October 13, 2008
A note regarding photos
I have taken photos- but currently they are trapped on the digital camera. I know that *somewhere* I've got a thingy that will attach to my laptop so that I can transfer the photos from the old school memory cards- but I can't find it. On the plus side: there are very few places it could be. On the negative side: I've already looked there.
So- pictures- I'm working on it! I want them back too!
So- pictures- I'm working on it! I want them back too!
MapMaking: the finish line
This weekend was spent in non-stop rehearsals for the MapMaking performance that finally happened at 8pm last night. A lot of time was spent sitting around and staring at the ceiling, but it all came together too- which is my favorite part of large productions like this one.
There were three sections: Indonesia/Water, Africa/Land, and South America/Air. The performance was about an hour long and flowed without interruption through all of the pieces. About half of the pieces were pre-recorded or electronic music. One piece had both electronic and live music- the film was tape footage of San Paolo that had been covered in whatever the chemicals that are found in acid rain are and then buried. The music was a tape recording of 9lives playing a samba song that was then also covered in acid and buried. The final piece began with the original, unmangled footage and the band singing and playing live and then slowly the footage was replaced by the acid eaten film and audio and we stopped playing.
The giraffe piece or "barrier" which is the piece that Kuku made that I worked on as well- went through many, many drafts. Last week (or the week before?) when we were at Toynbee hall I produced what I had been working on and was told by the various tutors that it was too heavy and dark for the video that Kuku had made- and actually- I can totally see that. Though given the instrumentation available (tuba, bass, cellos) it is understandable that it would be heavy. In any case I went back and reorchestrated it and tried again- but ultimately after much rigmarole it was decided that it was still too heavy and ponderous. So it was back to the drawing board and on Friday I presented the video to the group and started workshopping with them. I think we came up with some good material- but then they all decided that they were far too busy with their own pieces. Fair enough. But Oi.
Jorge, who hadn't had his own piece in the project due to his frequent Portuguese trips was enthusiastic about helping when I showed him the video Friday afternoon. At that point I was just so happy to have someone express interest that when he asked if I could manage to get a hold of a marimba I said yes. On Saturday- the day before the performance I brought Kuku in and worked with the tutor John Miles, Jorge, and Emma to see if we could come up with something. We based what eventually became the piece on Kuku's facial expressions: look of apprehensive confusion? Try something else. Smile? Sweet, it'll work. The piece was ultimately a marimba improvisation using both hands and mallets. It was pretty cool- but when Nell (the year supervisor) told me that it was well done and good job- I couldn't help but think I really hadn't had that much to do with it.
So here is what I will do next time I've got a collaboration with an artist, specifically for a video:
*listen to various pieces of music with the video and see what makes sense and works well in order to get and initial starting idea.
*Create samples to show the artist at multiple point during the process to make sure that they're happy with the direction you're taking it in.
*Double check again to make sure that they really are happy and aren't just shy about making their opinions known.
*Think about *all* of the instruments that are available, not just the ones that 9lives tends to lug around. (i.e, Caroline is a very good pianist, Jorge plays the organ, and everyone sings)
*Start talking about the musical concept either much earlier in the process or wait until the final video is complete. Don't make music for draft versions that won't bear any likeness to the final film.
I did communicate well with Kuku about her video. The film would not have been nearly as coherent and concise as it was without my input. Also, she was very happy with our working relationship- I listened well and did a good job of working with the language issues (Kuku is Taiwanese) which was useful during the final collaboration because it meant that we were used to communicating by that point and I knew how to translate John and Jorge's questions and statements another way so that Kuku would actually understand.
There were three sections: Indonesia/Water, Africa/Land, and South America/Air. The performance was about an hour long and flowed without interruption through all of the pieces. About half of the pieces were pre-recorded or electronic music. One piece had both electronic and live music- the film was tape footage of San Paolo that had been covered in whatever the chemicals that are found in acid rain are and then buried. The music was a tape recording of 9lives playing a samba song that was then also covered in acid and buried. The final piece began with the original, unmangled footage and the band singing and playing live and then slowly the footage was replaced by the acid eaten film and audio and we stopped playing.
The giraffe piece or "barrier" which is the piece that Kuku made that I worked on as well- went through many, many drafts. Last week (or the week before?) when we were at Toynbee hall I produced what I had been working on and was told by the various tutors that it was too heavy and dark for the video that Kuku had made- and actually- I can totally see that. Though given the instrumentation available (tuba, bass, cellos) it is understandable that it would be heavy. In any case I went back and reorchestrated it and tried again- but ultimately after much rigmarole it was decided that it was still too heavy and ponderous. So it was back to the drawing board and on Friday I presented the video to the group and started workshopping with them. I think we came up with some good material- but then they all decided that they were far too busy with their own pieces. Fair enough. But Oi.
Jorge, who hadn't had his own piece in the project due to his frequent Portuguese trips was enthusiastic about helping when I showed him the video Friday afternoon. At that point I was just so happy to have someone express interest that when he asked if I could manage to get a hold of a marimba I said yes. On Saturday- the day before the performance I brought Kuku in and worked with the tutor John Miles, Jorge, and Emma to see if we could come up with something. We based what eventually became the piece on Kuku's facial expressions: look of apprehensive confusion? Try something else. Smile? Sweet, it'll work. The piece was ultimately a marimba improvisation using both hands and mallets. It was pretty cool- but when Nell (the year supervisor) told me that it was well done and good job- I couldn't help but think I really hadn't had that much to do with it.
So here is what I will do next time I've got a collaboration with an artist, specifically for a video:
*listen to various pieces of music with the video and see what makes sense and works well in order to get and initial starting idea.
*Create samples to show the artist at multiple point during the process to make sure that they're happy with the direction you're taking it in.
*Double check again to make sure that they really are happy and aren't just shy about making their opinions known.
*Think about *all* of the instruments that are available, not just the ones that 9lives tends to lug around. (i.e, Caroline is a very good pianist, Jorge plays the organ, and everyone sings)
*Start talking about the musical concept either much earlier in the process or wait until the final video is complete. Don't make music for draft versions that won't bear any likeness to the final film.
I did communicate well with Kuku about her video. The film would not have been nearly as coherent and concise as it was without my input. Also, she was very happy with our working relationship- I listened well and did a good job of working with the language issues (Kuku is Taiwanese) which was useful during the final collaboration because it meant that we were used to communicating by that point and I knew how to translate John and Jorge's questions and statements another way so that Kuku would actually understand.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
CYO the journey
It took us eleven and a half hours to drive from London to Cornwall on Friday. We hit every patch of traffic possible. It was ridiculous. We were in a 17 seat van with all of the instruments and all nine of us. When we actually got to Cornwall it was pitch black and we discovered that what are called "Cornwall hedges" are actually granite walls with plants growing on them- because Cornwall is made of granite. We dropped the first group of people off at the first cottage at around 11:30pm and then took the van down the narrowest roads possible in the dark and stormy night. We took the wrong track at one point and ended up at a dead end with no way of turning around, so I hopped out the van, opened the gate and we turned around in a cow field before getting stuck on another gate and breaking it. Eventually we went down the right track and crossed a little ford where the water was riding because it was raining. We got to the cottage around half past twelve, killed hundreds of mosquitoes, and eventually crawled, freezing, into bed.
I thought it was all a grand adventure. Even the outdoor toilet.
The view the next morning was extraordinary- it turned out we had driven along the edge of a cliff- it was amazing.
Picture coming soon!
I thought it was all a grand adventure. Even the outdoor toilet.
The view the next morning was extraordinary- it turned out we had driven along the edge of a cliff- it was amazing.
Picture coming soon!
CYO the project
We're doing a new project with the Cornwall Youth Orchestra that started this weekend. The CYO rehearsal schedule is amazingly ridiculous. Because the students are spread throughout the entire region they meet up as a whole orchestra once a quarter somewhere in Cornwall (it changes every time. I had a couple of students right over the border from Devon who were fussy that the rehearsals had never been near them.) Then they have intense rehearsals for a weekend, like 9 am to 9pm Saturday and Sunday and apparently normally there are also Friday rehearsals but there weren't this time because it was the first of the new school year. During the weeks where not everyone is around to rehearse they have sectionals. So this weekend is string sectionals and then next weekend would be wind or brass I presume.
The kids all sleep in the rehearsal building. In this case because the rehearsals were in a school some of the classrooms were sleeping rooms and others, like the one I was in, said "no sleeping." Which is how I found out about this in the first place- because why would a math classroom have a sign that says no sleeping? Oh and the rehearsal schedule? Planned down to the minute and KEPT TO. Which is the amazing part. I've never seen a schedule like that that people actually followed. It was like the anti MapMaking project. (In that MapMaking can't keep to a schedule at ALL). (Seriously, at all.)
So the project itself is based on the paintings of Ben Nicholson who was a fairly important abstract modernist painter who lived in, and frequently painted Cornwall. So there is a retrospective being put on by the Tate that is currently travelling around and will be in Tate St. Ives in... January? (St. Ives is in Cornwall. See? It all begins to make sense.)
The orchestra has been divided into eight groups so that each of us get about six people to work with. Each of the group leaders chose a painting from the exhibition book. We’re meant to make a piece with the kids that relates to the painting and then in January will perform those pieces at the gallery. So that should be pretty cool.
My group is made up of six people: Sarah- oboist who has a kitten that chases its own tail; Peter- cellist who doesn’t have a funny animal story; Lizzie- oboist with two pet bunnies; Alyssa- violinist who was followed by a bull; Jenni- violinist who had some sort of interesting goat story; Lisa- violinist whose story I totally don’t remember; and Ellen- cellist with a cat that does back flips.
The painting that I chose is called “Six Circles” And it has...six circles. So I spent the prep time for the project trying desperately to figure out ways of representing circularity in music. Harder than you might think because music is such a linear art form. I came up with the idea of rounds, octatonic scales (based on a fully diminished 7th chord- neat because they can go *anywhere* which is think is sort of circular- or maybe more wheel spoke like), ternary beats (6/8 and 9/8 as opposed to 4/4 so the beat is divided “1 and a 2 and a” as opposed to “1 and 2 and”), and the idea of anacrusis or upbeat which to me sounds like the wind up to something continuing on- like a wheel rolling down a hill.
We decided as a group to use the painting itself as a score so that the various elements of it represent different musical ideas when read from top to bottom. We then played with the ternary beats which they had a bit of trouble really feeling so I pulled my dalcroze techniques out and had them running and skipping around the room. (Felt pretty pleased with myself at that one) and eventually made up rhythms that I had them use notes from the scale to make into melodies and then we layered those- at which point the whole group decided that really it sounded like the deep grooves in the painting rather than the circles....poo. So they get to figure out what sounds like circles now. They came up with what basically amounts to an ascending scale which I think is pretty linear- but hey. They like it.
The kids all sleep in the rehearsal building. In this case because the rehearsals were in a school some of the classrooms were sleeping rooms and others, like the one I was in, said "no sleeping." Which is how I found out about this in the first place- because why would a math classroom have a sign that says no sleeping? Oh and the rehearsal schedule? Planned down to the minute and KEPT TO. Which is the amazing part. I've never seen a schedule like that that people actually followed. It was like the anti MapMaking project. (In that MapMaking can't keep to a schedule at ALL). (Seriously, at all.)
So the project itself is based on the paintings of Ben Nicholson who was a fairly important abstract modernist painter who lived in, and frequently painted Cornwall. So there is a retrospective being put on by the Tate that is currently travelling around and will be in Tate St. Ives in... January? (St. Ives is in Cornwall. See? It all begins to make sense.)
The orchestra has been divided into eight groups so that each of us get about six people to work with. Each of the group leaders chose a painting from the exhibition book. We’re meant to make a piece with the kids that relates to the painting and then in January will perform those pieces at the gallery. So that should be pretty cool.
My group is made up of six people: Sarah- oboist who has a kitten that chases its own tail; Peter- cellist who doesn’t have a funny animal story; Lizzie- oboist with two pet bunnies; Alyssa- violinist who was followed by a bull; Jenni- violinist who had some sort of interesting goat story; Lisa- violinist whose story I totally don’t remember; and Ellen- cellist with a cat that does back flips.
The painting that I chose is called “Six Circles” And it has...six circles. So I spent the prep time for the project trying desperately to figure out ways of representing circularity in music. Harder than you might think because music is such a linear art form. I came up with the idea of rounds, octatonic scales (based on a fully diminished 7th chord- neat because they can go *anywhere* which is think is sort of circular- or maybe more wheel spoke like), ternary beats (6/8 and 9/8 as opposed to 4/4 so the beat is divided “1 and a 2 and a” as opposed to “1 and 2 and”), and the idea of anacrusis or upbeat which to me sounds like the wind up to something continuing on- like a wheel rolling down a hill.
We decided as a group to use the painting itself as a score so that the various elements of it represent different musical ideas when read from top to bottom. We then played with the ternary beats which they had a bit of trouble really feeling so I pulled my dalcroze techniques out and had them running and skipping around the room. (Felt pretty pleased with myself at that one) and eventually made up rhythms that I had them use notes from the scale to make into melodies and then we layered those- at which point the whole group decided that really it sounded like the deep grooves in the painting rather than the circles....poo. So they get to figure out what sounds like circles now. They came up with what basically amounts to an ascending scale which I think is pretty linear- but hey. They like it.
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