The Real Dead Week

So here we are, on the Monday following the end of Finals Week at Sac State. They used to call the week before Finals Week "Dead Week". It used to refer to the tradition of being a week of study prep leading up to finals, where no new material would be assigned, and everyone is pretty much floating around like zombies as they try and catch up on a semester's worth of studying that they didn't get around to doing.

But this week, this is the real "dead" week. It's pretty quiet in the music building here as all the students have gone their various ways for the holidays. Just me and a few other hapless staff members floating around. It's also a dreary day outside, as a storm front is dropping continual albeit light rain today.

I guess I'd call the mood somewhat melancholy today.

I just finished reading a booked loaned to me by my friend Cassie, entitled, "Real Men Don't Rehearse". It's written by Justin Locke, who was a bass player primarily with the Boston Pops for nearly two decades. The book is basically a series of anecdotes about the life and times of a professional orchestra musician. It's supposed to be mostly humorous in nature, and indeed it is at times, but I found it to also be somewhat inspirational. We often forget that even career professional musicians started somewhere, and often had to claw their way up to the top. Just as many of us do here at the local state college level. I guess it's just nice to know that, really, we're not that much different, that we all had humble beginnings. And of course that professional musicians who are out there making it in the 'real world' are real people too.

My favorite line in the book, and it's one of the few that resonates with me as a composer as well as a bass player, is the definition offered of the word 'atonal': "a fancy musical term that means if you play a wrong note, there's a good chance no one will notice".

Indeed. I think probably a lot of my music could probably fall into that category. Heck, a lot of life can be defined like that. We make mistakes all the time. And most of the time, chances are no one will notice. Even though we often feel like we have a bright neon sign pointing at us. But I digress.

The first three movements of my String Quartet No. 2 are essentially done. I haven't tackled the 4th movement yet. Really I just haven't had the time, nor have I found the inspiration. I'm hoping it returns soon.

Last night was the first rehearsal, for me, of Big Fish the Musical. I'll be directing the orchestra for it in January with Runaway Stage Productions. The cast has of course been working at it for several weeks now. Last night was the first "work-through", a fancy musical term meaning "we're going to try and get through it and see if we all know how and when to get on and off the stage when we're supposed to". Last night was Act I. Well, it was most of Act I anyway. Tonight we're back at it again for Act II. Well, Act II plus a wee bit of the end of Act I. I really don't have much of a role for these rehearsals, as they're just singing along with the Broadway Cast recording and acting through the material. Mostly I'm just there to observe and see how things are going, and how they're starting to come together. But it's an important first step towards the goal of putting the whole show together so it can be appreciated by a real live audience. The holidays are drawing near, so we only have a couple more nights before taking a break, but after the holidays it will be full steam ahead. So I've got lots of score study to do to be ready for the first orchestra rehearsal on January 3.

I guess, for me, it's not really a dead week after all.