Monday, September 27, 2010

Woot!

Electric viola has been purchased, as has pedal.  Amp TBD.  But the fun will begin soon!  Yes, it is tacky, but what better way to go?  I'm sure the strings are awful and it will sound dreadful, but with some adjustments, we'll be in business, right?  I've been writing down my musical ideas in a notebook, and I'm excited to begin creating music myself, even if it won't be award winningly brilliant.  It will, however, be much better than this.  I can guarantee it.  It will also be better than this.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Life Crisis and other thoughts

After 6 weeks of being without internet at home, I finally have it.  And it's great.  I feel a little more connected to the world now, and I'm way too tired to write a full-fledged blog post (there's a lot going on in my brain right now, mostly related to the big life questions like:
What do I want in a career?
     How do I get to said career?
Am I doing the things/gigs/workwise that will achieve said career?)
The usual.

On the bright side, I've decided to cash in my refund check (from loans-I have an extra 1500 in loan money since I already have health insurance from the parental units) and buy a condenser mic, amp, and loop pedal.  Why?  Well, I always talk about how I want to play in a band.  And duh, I need a mic for that shit.  More importantly, I'm proposing an outreach project in which I will use mostly extended techniques and contemporary repertoire to build a musical storytime around a personal fav "Where the Wild Things Are."  The premise is that the loop machine will help me to build my own additive music, without needing any other musicians, and that I can more or less improvise an entire score as the narrator reads the story.  Frankly, I'm pumped about it, partially because it gives me a creative musical outlet, which I've been deeply lacking.  (Cadenza improvisation just doesn't cut it sometimes)  And, I think it's a good start for my interests.
Oh, and on the silly side, I'm in the orchestra for this new Weezer track.  It's sort of annoying, as songs go, but it means something, and it's something I wouldn't mind doing again.  I occur somewhere around the 2nd minute, after all the silly flutes.

Dirty Projectors rocked my socks off

Oh my god.  So amazing.  Never heard vocal hocket quite like what I heard last night.  The show was just so amazing, between the textures, the super tight musicianship, the amazing communication, and the great space.  (Wilbur Theatre in Boston)  The opening act was Owen Pallett, formally known as Final Fantasy, and he was a solid opener.  He combines much of Andrew Bird's additive looping techniques (he's a singing violinist) but he's more experimental in his songwriting and textures, and also plays with a multi-instrumentalist.  (He doesn't regularly whistle in his songs either.)  DP consist of six people (three amazing female vocalists, always in spectacular harmonies), including Dave Longstreth, songwriter and lead singer. I enjoy their music, but in a live setting, things came across that suffer in an album format.  Their vitality and spontaneity was amazing, and you could tell that they were responding to each other's music. It was the bee's knees.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Bits and Pieces

I haven't been able to update the ol' blog since I, um, don't have internet at my house.  Yup.  But anyway, here are the details of what's been shaking:
1) Moved into my apartment, more or less.  Things are still lying around the house, but general organization is successful.
2) Started working for kim-teaching her basic computer skills.  (Command-C, scrolling and clicking, those sorts of things.)
3) Have been seeing lots of old friends.
It's been lovely, and I'm excited to be back in the city.  The end.