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.
Monday, December 21, 2015
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Cocoa Time
So, here we are on December 1, and again the time has just flown by. Only two weeks till finals - can it be over so soon? This is my 33rd semester of working here at Sac State (good lord, has it been that long??). Where did this time go? Sometimes you sit back and just wonder in amazement at all that's happened and all that has passed. But I digress.
It's been cold out! We've all been waiting in California for the winter weather to arrive, mostly in hopes that the ongoing drought would be somewhat abated by, I don't know, some actual rain? Supposedly we're supposed to see some of the wet stuff in a couple of days, but we shall see what comes to pass. In any case, I'm taking advantage of the 33 degree mornings and sweltering 56 degree afternoons to catch up on all the cocoa drinking I've missed out on over the summer.
I don't drink coffee.
Every morning I drive to work up J Street, and as I pass by the Starbucks on 39th I see people frantically rushing around in an attempt to make it back to their cars before they freeze outside, or their coffee becomes cold. (Which is the worse outcome, I want to ask). It's funny, because although I've always rather liked the SMELL of coffee, I never could stand the taste. The closest I get to coffee is a mocha. And even that's rare. But I think it's a good thing, especially as I scroll through post after post on Facebook from various people who praise their undying devotion to the bitter brew. Some people really seem to think that they can't possibly function in the morning without their jolt of bitter brew. Some people are completely fanatic about this. Caffeine addiction much??
Well. Glad I have my cocoa anyway. The semester is drawing to a close, and I'm proud to report another successful year in the music writing world. Not only did the Sac State marching band do a bang up job with my Tragic Kingdom show, I delved back into the wonder world of original composition and began working on a String Quartet. Though I'd been meaning to write one for years, it's finally coming to fruition. It's already more than half done, although I admittedly only started working on it two months ago. But next spring some of it should be performed at Sac State.
So, things are going well, the kid recently turned two and is now learning to count and actually string words together to form more complete thoughts, and life marches on. Looking forward to winter break, but first we have to get through the sense of semester rush at school...bring on the madness.
And cocoa. I need more cocoa.
It's been cold out! We've all been waiting in California for the winter weather to arrive, mostly in hopes that the ongoing drought would be somewhat abated by, I don't know, some actual rain? Supposedly we're supposed to see some of the wet stuff in a couple of days, but we shall see what comes to pass. In any case, I'm taking advantage of the 33 degree mornings and sweltering 56 degree afternoons to catch up on all the cocoa drinking I've missed out on over the summer.
I don't drink coffee.
Every morning I drive to work up J Street, and as I pass by the Starbucks on 39th I see people frantically rushing around in an attempt to make it back to their cars before they freeze outside, or their coffee becomes cold. (Which is the worse outcome, I want to ask). It's funny, because although I've always rather liked the SMELL of coffee, I never could stand the taste. The closest I get to coffee is a mocha. And even that's rare. But I think it's a good thing, especially as I scroll through post after post on Facebook from various people who praise their undying devotion to the bitter brew. Some people really seem to think that they can't possibly function in the morning without their jolt of bitter brew. Some people are completely fanatic about this. Caffeine addiction much??
Well. Glad I have my cocoa anyway. The semester is drawing to a close, and I'm proud to report another successful year in the music writing world. Not only did the Sac State marching band do a bang up job with my Tragic Kingdom show, I delved back into the wonder world of original composition and began working on a String Quartet. Though I'd been meaning to write one for years, it's finally coming to fruition. It's already more than half done, although I admittedly only started working on it two months ago. But next spring some of it should be performed at Sac State.
So, things are going well, the kid recently turned two and is now learning to count and actually string words together to form more complete thoughts, and life marches on. Looking forward to winter break, but first we have to get through the sense of semester rush at school...bring on the madness.
And cocoa. I need more cocoa.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Connor's Growing Up
All in all, it was a great trip, though I'll have to go back again when I'm not saddled with a toddler and visit the Polynesian Center and Pearl Harbor. Kind of tough to do cultural things with a baby. Especially when he starts screaming because he's tired. Like he did at the USS Arizona Memorial. Sigh. And the Polynesian Center - fun place though it's basically open from 12-5 basically, since the performers in each land have to also do the evening luau show (which we didn't attempt). You really need more time than that to fully explore the place and really try out all the cultural shows and activities they have.
Well, he's made another milestone since we got back. Just this week we upgraded him from a crib to a toddler bed. So now, he technically doesn't HAVE to stay in the bed once we put him down. On the first night, he actually wandered out a fell asleep just inside the bedroom door. I discovered this as I went in to check in on him and promptly ran the door into his head...ooops. But he didn't wake up! Thank goodness. At 2:40am that morning he awoke crying; I think he got scared because it was dark and he couldn't remember where he was. So I put him back in his bed and he fell asleep fairly quickly after that.
This was three nights ago. The last two nights he's actually crawled back into his bed himself after exploring; I guess he realized it's much more comfortable than the floor!
Friday, June 12, 2015
Summertime
Well once again I find an eternity has passed since I've written a blog post. Not my fault! Well, actually it is. But life does tend to keep you busy, what with work and raising a kid and doing the odd musical here and there. But it's summertime here now, which means peaceful times in the Department of Music and time to catch up on a lot of things. Including writing.
I was struck today by the thought of how things change as I was driving to work up J Street. There's still the old decaying storefronts from another era: Copenhagen's, the Pfaff Sewing Machine store, and so on. And more recent changes, such as The Beat record store on 17th and J that is now a BevMo. I used to shop at that record store when I was in high school, in fact before it moved to the downtown location from 33rd and Folsom. I guess the inclusion of DVD and BluRay movies to their arsenal of products wasn't enough to save them. I think by the time Connor becomes a teenager, no one will buy CD's anymore. Why would they? They can already hear anything they want on demand with a few pushes of buttons on their smartphones or tablets or what not.
Not that I'm much different. I used to buy and collect CD's, and I still have a pretty impressive collection. But when was the last time I popped one in a player and listened? I can't even remember. Even driving in my car I hardly use the CD player. I just plug in my iPhone and play music from that.
It's a sign of the times I guess. Things change. Times move on. The "good ol' days" are gone and but a distant memory. My kid will never know the joy of searching through a used CD bin and coming across a rare gem that you've been looking for.
Well, anyways, enough nostalgia. Today is Friday, and it's the third weekend of the musical Catch Me If You Can, which I'm directing the onstage orchestra for. I say orchestra, but really it's a modified big band. The show is pretty hot, that is to say the music cooks along and brings a lot of energy to it. And tonight I'm debuting my new white tuxedo jacket, as previously I've just been wearing a tux shirt with bow tie and cummerbund. And yes, that's the right spelling of cummerbund. Who knew? Not me. I just found out this second.
Meanwhile, music writing is going well as I've completed the first part of the fall marching band show, and we've met to go over ideas for the second part just this week. I'm also writing some charts for River City High School, and just in the last week I've had my compositions start popping up for sale on martianmusic.net. A new endeavor, hopefully that will help spread my music beyond the confines of this college music department.
So things are looking up, Connor is growing up fast and developing a personality. Boy, he loves life. He's the most energetic and happy kid I've ever seen. Except of course when he doesn't get what he wants...welcome to the terrible 2's! And at only 19 months old, he's quite the overachiever! Next trip for us will be to Hawaii in July. I've never been, and of course neither has Connor, so we're all looking forward to that!
Now if I can make a point to write on this more frequently...
I was struck today by the thought of how things change as I was driving to work up J Street. There's still the old decaying storefronts from another era: Copenhagen's, the Pfaff Sewing Machine store, and so on. And more recent changes, such as The Beat record store on 17th and J that is now a BevMo. I used to shop at that record store when I was in high school, in fact before it moved to the downtown location from 33rd and Folsom. I guess the inclusion of DVD and BluRay movies to their arsenal of products wasn't enough to save them. I think by the time Connor becomes a teenager, no one will buy CD's anymore. Why would they? They can already hear anything they want on demand with a few pushes of buttons on their smartphones or tablets or what not.
Not that I'm much different. I used to buy and collect CD's, and I still have a pretty impressive collection. But when was the last time I popped one in a player and listened? I can't even remember. Even driving in my car I hardly use the CD player. I just plug in my iPhone and play music from that.
It's a sign of the times I guess. Things change. Times move on. The "good ol' days" are gone and but a distant memory. My kid will never know the joy of searching through a used CD bin and coming across a rare gem that you've been looking for.
Well, anyways, enough nostalgia. Today is Friday, and it's the third weekend of the musical Catch Me If You Can, which I'm directing the onstage orchestra for. I say orchestra, but really it's a modified big band. The show is pretty hot, that is to say the music cooks along and brings a lot of energy to it. And tonight I'm debuting my new white tuxedo jacket, as previously I've just been wearing a tux shirt with bow tie and cummerbund. And yes, that's the right spelling of cummerbund. Who knew? Not me. I just found out this second.
Meanwhile, music writing is going well as I've completed the first part of the fall marching band show, and we've met to go over ideas for the second part just this week. I'm also writing some charts for River City High School, and just in the last week I've had my compositions start popping up for sale on martianmusic.net. A new endeavor, hopefully that will help spread my music beyond the confines of this college music department.
So things are looking up, Connor is growing up fast and developing a personality. Boy, he loves life. He's the most energetic and happy kid I've ever seen. Except of course when he doesn't get what he wants...welcome to the terrible 2's! And at only 19 months old, he's quite the overachiever! Next trip for us will be to Hawaii in July. I've never been, and of course neither has Connor, so we're all looking forward to that!
Now if I can make a point to write on this more frequently...
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Is It Fall Yet?
I always say it, but I should really write more often on this thing….it's been about four months now. We're still in the heat-end of summer, looking forward to the cooler time of fall. Which I have to hope is just around the corner. We've been in a serious drought now for awhile, and cooler temperatures and some rain would certainly be welcome right about now.
Anyhoo, a new school year has started and here we are on week three already. This is shaping up to be a really light semester actually; the number of concerts we normally do is way down, most particularly in the student recital area. I guess I'm kind of looking forward to having a little bit of a break, more or less. Maybe I can catch up on some other things that have fallen to the wayside. Like writing music…
It's hard to believe it's been over a month now since our Mickey passed away. He was such a good kitty. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition last November (read the blog about that). It was tough seeing him go, but at least we all got to say goodbye. And he fortunately went peacefully, more or less, on his own. Which is about the most I could have hoped for. I certainly don't miss force feeding him pills twice a day. But his company and personality are sorely missed. There will never be another one quite like him.
I just finished conducting the Preview Show for RSP. What a trip that was! After arranging half of the tunes and trying to figure out how to run the other half, and correcting problems in parts and finding out there were whole songs the cast were doing that we knew nothing about, I was pretty burnt out on the whole project. But the show itself went really well in the end, and people seemed to really enjoy. Still, I don't think I'll be doing that again next year; I just don't have the time, and apparently nor do I have the patience, to do something thrown together like this.
Playing 'A Light in the Piazza' with Green Valley Theatre was far more rewarding. What a neat show! At least musically, anyway. It's the first time I've played a musical without amping the bass. And it didn't really need it. An amazing score with a flare for the operatic, it was a delight to play. Certainly one of the most musically rewarding experiences I've had in a long time. And hey, I've been around for awhile!
Well, I suppose I should get back to the Defensive Driver Training which I'm supposed to be completing online to continue driving state vehicles. I've been letting it just run in the background, and every once in awhile I go to it and press the forward button so it goes to the next slide. I have no idea what it's talking about, but the little quizzes at the end of each section are easy enough that you can just guess on them. So, back to it I suppose!
...It's still 90 degrees outside…come on Fall! I'm waiting!
Anyhoo, a new school year has started and here we are on week three already. This is shaping up to be a really light semester actually; the number of concerts we normally do is way down, most particularly in the student recital area. I guess I'm kind of looking forward to having a little bit of a break, more or less. Maybe I can catch up on some other things that have fallen to the wayside. Like writing music…
It's hard to believe it's been over a month now since our Mickey passed away. He was such a good kitty. He had been diagnosed with a heart condition last November (read the blog about that). It was tough seeing him go, but at least we all got to say goodbye. And he fortunately went peacefully, more or less, on his own. Which is about the most I could have hoped for. I certainly don't miss force feeding him pills twice a day. But his company and personality are sorely missed. There will never be another one quite like him.
I just finished conducting the Preview Show for RSP. What a trip that was! After arranging half of the tunes and trying to figure out how to run the other half, and correcting problems in parts and finding out there were whole songs the cast were doing that we knew nothing about, I was pretty burnt out on the whole project. But the show itself went really well in the end, and people seemed to really enjoy. Still, I don't think I'll be doing that again next year; I just don't have the time, and apparently nor do I have the patience, to do something thrown together like this.
Playing 'A Light in the Piazza' with Green Valley Theatre was far more rewarding. What a neat show! At least musically, anyway. It's the first time I've played a musical without amping the bass. And it didn't really need it. An amazing score with a flare for the operatic, it was a delight to play. Certainly one of the most musically rewarding experiences I've had in a long time. And hey, I've been around for awhile!
Well, I suppose I should get back to the Defensive Driver Training which I'm supposed to be completing online to continue driving state vehicles. I've been letting it just run in the background, and every once in awhile I go to it and press the forward button so it goes to the next slide. I have no idea what it's talking about, but the little quizzes at the end of each section are easy enough that you can just guess on them. So, back to it I suppose!
...It's still 90 degrees outside…come on Fall! I'm waiting!
Monday, May 5, 2014
May the 5th
Yesterday was May 4, a quasi-religious functional "holiday" celebrated by geeks around the world as Star Wars day. Nothing wrong with a little fun I suppose, though every time I read "May the 4th be with you" on Facebook, my gut reaction was to respond with "And also with you". Amen. I didn't do it however; every once in awhile I'm actually able to curtail my smart aleck persona. But it reminds me of a church service! I guess everyone takes what they will from things they hear and see.
Anyway, it's May now and Connor has passed the 6 month mark. He's still an unusually happy baby (for the most part), and we've been able to successfully take him to a multitude of restaurants and even a couple of River Cats games already this year. And yesterday he went to Cal Fit for the first time, and had his first time in a day care setting as well as getting spend some time in a pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it! It's a good thing he doesn't mind being with strangers or being away from his parents...
This is the busiest time of the season for me; I performed my annual concert countdown and discovered that the first 16 days of May hold 29 concerts (and two festivals). We've already downed a festival and 8 of those concerts. so it's winding down! I spent a bit of time at school this weekend, which always makes the weekends fly by. Can't believe it's another Monday already!
This summer will be Connor's first, and our summer vacations the first chance we've had to really spend time doing things with him since our maternity and paternity leaves expired. Not sure what all we'll do; perhaps go camping or maybe even take a cruise to Alaska (if the fares come down…). Not that I'll be idle and bored with nothing to do this summer - I'm conducting for the musical The Producers at Runaway Stage from May 30-June 22, and I have a whole load of composing and arranging I've committed to. So it has the makings for being an intensely busy summer, despite my secret inner resolution to take a break from it all and vegetate for awhile.
Well, what see what comes of it all. Two more weeks till finals!
Anyway, it's May now and Connor has passed the 6 month mark. He's still an unusually happy baby (for the most part), and we've been able to successfully take him to a multitude of restaurants and even a couple of River Cats games already this year. And yesterday he went to Cal Fit for the first time, and had his first time in a day care setting as well as getting spend some time in a pool for the first time. He really enjoyed it! It's a good thing he doesn't mind being with strangers or being away from his parents...
This is the busiest time of the season for me; I performed my annual concert countdown and discovered that the first 16 days of May hold 29 concerts (and two festivals). We've already downed a festival and 8 of those concerts. so it's winding down! I spent a bit of time at school this weekend, which always makes the weekends fly by. Can't believe it's another Monday already!
This summer will be Connor's first, and our summer vacations the first chance we've had to really spend time doing things with him since our maternity and paternity leaves expired. Not sure what all we'll do; perhaps go camping or maybe even take a cruise to Alaska (if the fares come down…). Not that I'll be idle and bored with nothing to do this summer - I'm conducting for the musical The Producers at Runaway Stage from May 30-June 22, and I have a whole load of composing and arranging I've committed to. So it has the makings for being an intensely busy summer, despite my secret inner resolution to take a break from it all and vegetate for awhile.
Well, what see what comes of it all. Two more weeks till finals!
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