Monday, August 31, 2009
Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday August 31, 2009 – Rehearsal
Working in the Wilson living room. Chris was out due to his job, and we had an out of town guest sitting inside the circle.
We began with some full group work on an exercise that RF presented to us at the last Raft Island course.
I described a few things that I felt needed our attention tonight, and we began with “Cultivating the Beat”. Ian, Howard and Travis went to another room to work through Ian’s new part. The rest of us ran the piece together with the metronome. Very quickly Ian returned and requested help from the composer (Bob), and a little while later Taylor was drafted to help as well. It turned out that there was a passage in which the players and the score disagreed, and the conclusion was that the score was correct. Consequently there was some rapid re-learning going on. During this time, those of us left in the circle ran a number of other pieces as well, including “My Precious Dream”, “The Bus Artist” and “Twilight.” After everyone rejoined the circle, we ran the corrected “Cultivating” several times.
From there we moved to the Shostakovich prelude. The melody limping again, but differently, since one of the circulators was missing. We brought Bob and Jaxie up to speed on what we had observed on Saturday regarding dynamics, and did a bit of drilling on one particular transition.
A short break.
In the remaining time we simply ran “King for a Day” – which was overdue, but sounded very solid – and worked out the reorchestration of the zithers at the end of “Scorched Air”.
Next rehearsal will be on Saturday afternoon at my apartment, after the Monthly Open Circle which will take place at Fremont Abbey in the morning.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Rehearsal and House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 29, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Morning sitting at my place with the team. Not quite so well attended as the previous weeks. I do hope that this was not just an early in the process spike. Last season Saturday mornings got to be a bit sparse, and I have asked everyone to reexamine this.
To Fremont Abbey for rehearsal. Seven in team, as the Wilsons are out of town for the weekend. Bill R sat in the center and manned the metronome. We again began with some circulating, and then took a look at “49 Notes”. This was followed by some good work on “Eye of the Needle.” After a bit of a break we moved on to some detail and technical work on “In My Room.” Composed circulations in time, in the reverberant Great Hall, and tempo maintenance in general, are probably the greatest challenge. It would seem that our concentration last season on consistency in tempo, involving always practicing pieces at precise tempos, was just practice for what this season will require. We moved on to a limping version (2 out of 6 melody circulators missing) of the Shostakovich prelude, with specific attention on taking advantage of the room’s capacity for dynamics. “Cultivating the Beat”, with metronome and without the Wilsons (always a challenge). Travis stepped out of the way for Ian to take on the new part. Next, a return to F Harmonic Minor and the new zithers, and then on to “The Bus Artist”, which could be connected. Specific work with the rhythm section on maintaining coherence during the improv section in the middle. Ended the day with “Batrachomyomachy”, and some very specific work on the canon melody.
A quick run back to my apartment and the House Circle, three in attendance. Work in two halves. For the first half continuing with the work on circulating through specific harmonic sequences, and some particular work on useful strategies. In the second half I joined so that we could work as a quartet, circulating the 49 note melody. Very good work, and time ran out too soon.
Saturday August 29, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Morning sitting at my place with the team. Not quite so well attended as the previous weeks. I do hope that this was not just an early in the process spike. Last season Saturday mornings got to be a bit sparse, and I have asked everyone to reexamine this.
To Fremont Abbey for rehearsal. Seven in team, as the Wilsons are out of town for the weekend. Bill R sat in the center and manned the metronome. We again began with some circulating, and then took a look at “49 Notes”. This was followed by some good work on “Eye of the Needle.” After a bit of a break we moved on to some detail and technical work on “In My Room.” Composed circulations in time, in the reverberant Great Hall, and tempo maintenance in general, are probably the greatest challenge. It would seem that our concentration last season on consistency in tempo, involving always practicing pieces at precise tempos, was just practice for what this season will require. We moved on to a limping version (2 out of 6 melody circulators missing) of the Shostakovich prelude, with specific attention on taking advantage of the room’s capacity for dynamics. “Cultivating the Beat”, with metronome and without the Wilsons (always a challenge). Travis stepped out of the way for Ian to take on the new part. Next, a return to F Harmonic Minor and the new zithers, and then on to “The Bus Artist”, which could be connected. Specific work with the rhythm section on maintaining coherence during the improv section in the middle. Ended the day with “Batrachomyomachy”, and some very specific work on the canon melody.
A quick run back to my apartment and the House Circle, three in attendance. Work in two halves. For the first half continuing with the work on circulating through specific harmonic sequences, and some particular work on useful strategies. In the second half I joined so that we could work as a quartet, circulating the 49 note melody. Very good work, and time ran out too soon.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday August 24, 2009 - Rehearsal
We were two down for rehearsal this evening. Chris called in to work at the ballpark and Howard on a deadline with a client.
Began by sitting in silence for some time, and then circulated in F Harmonic Minor. We are not totally comfortable with this one yet (I kept losing track of the Db-to-E augmented 2nd), and so there were clams aplenty, but it remains a remarkable ambience. Haven’t yet seen exactly why it appeared, but I trust that will reveal itself eventually. We also reviewed the associated zither from Saturday. Seven is not quite enough players to reach escape velocity on a zither like this, but work on the mechanics was good.
We spent some time on a couple of pieces that have not been in the working repertoire for the past couple of seasons, but have reasserted themselves as we work in the Great Hall. “49 Notes” seems a natural, and so we ran it several times. We also did several takes of “Eye of the Needle”. Both within our grasp, though parts are rusty and need real attention before we attempt them again.
From there to “Cultivating the Beat”, where Ian has managed to learn his entire part. A couple of tweaks and adjustments needed, probably just a matter of section work. But he is more or less ready to roll on this piece. The bad news for Travis is that now that Ian can cover his part, he needs to get up to speed on the cello part. I know from experience how much work that is.
A break, and then we reconvened to address the circulations from “Scorched Air”. It did not look good as we began, but somehow by the time the rehearsal drew to a close (only a little bit late) we had the double circulation up and running and even managed to get through it at tempo once or twice. Considering that learning it the first time took us about 6 months, this was a major leap forward.
Next rehearsal Saturday morning. Meanwhile staging, set design and lighting are taking the greater share of my attention.
Monday August 24, 2009 - Rehearsal
We were two down for rehearsal this evening. Chris called in to work at the ballpark and Howard on a deadline with a client.
Began by sitting in silence for some time, and then circulated in F Harmonic Minor. We are not totally comfortable with this one yet (I kept losing track of the Db-to-E augmented 2nd), and so there were clams aplenty, but it remains a remarkable ambience. Haven’t yet seen exactly why it appeared, but I trust that will reveal itself eventually. We also reviewed the associated zither from Saturday. Seven is not quite enough players to reach escape velocity on a zither like this, but work on the mechanics was good.
We spent some time on a couple of pieces that have not been in the working repertoire for the past couple of seasons, but have reasserted themselves as we work in the Great Hall. “49 Notes” seems a natural, and so we ran it several times. We also did several takes of “Eye of the Needle”. Both within our grasp, though parts are rusty and need real attention before we attempt them again.
From there to “Cultivating the Beat”, where Ian has managed to learn his entire part. A couple of tweaks and adjustments needed, probably just a matter of section work. But he is more or less ready to roll on this piece. The bad news for Travis is that now that Ian can cover his part, he needs to get up to speed on the cello part. I know from experience how much work that is.
A break, and then we reconvened to address the circulations from “Scorched Air”. It did not look good as we began, but somehow by the time the rehearsal drew to a close (only a little bit late) we had the double circulation up and running and even managed to get through it at tempo once or twice. Considering that learning it the first time took us about 6 months, this was a major leap forward.
Next rehearsal Saturday morning. Meanwhile staging, set design and lighting are taking the greater share of my attention.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Rehearsal and House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 22, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Full house for the morning sitting at my place. Impossible to overstate what a difference this makes.
From there to Fremont Abbey Arts Center for rehearsal. We had kind of a rolling cast from the Performance Team there, as the Wilsons were tag teaming. Jaxie there for the first half. Bob joined at the mid-point break and we had the full team there long enough for a short photo-op necessary for a bit of promotional material. After the photos, Jaxie left to take up the childcare duties and Bob remained for the second half. Then Taylor needed to leave 30 minutes early for a work-related social obligation.
We began the rehearsal with a circulation in C Harmonic Minor. Then on to the creation and construction of a new zither that had been knocking on my door since last week’s rehearsal. The room really lends itself to some sonic stretching out, and this zither in F Harmonic Minor definitely qualifies as stretching out; certainly stretching out our capacity to hold a pattern. Jaxie noted that with something new like this we have a little window into the audience’s experience. A kind of mind-boggling wonder at the simple sound of the beast that we tend to lose once we have figured out how to execute it.
Beyond that I had no particular plan for the day. The truth is that we just need to play in the room as much as possible in order to figure out how to play in the room. What works, what doesn’t work, what needs to be reconsidered. We have very specific tempos for the pieces we play, but these may need to be reexamined for this room. So we played. Some very specific work on a couple of bars of the Shostakovich prelude, and then a couple of runthroughs with and without the metronome. We touched on the Zeppelin medley, “The Wig Maker”, “The Bus Artist”, and a bit of retooling on a revibrated “Voices of Ancient Children.”
Some circulation at the end of the day highlighted just how quietly we can play in this room and remain completely audible. That’s the good news. The bad news is that everything else is audible as well. Today’s reminder of that in the form of my intensely squeaky drum stool and someone else’s creaky guitar strap (Ian, I think, but I couldn’t tell for sure).
Back to my place for 90 minutes with members of the House Circle. Four onboard for this one. We focused on circulating diatonic arpeggios through specific sequences. It has been my observation that as players transition from the Gee Whiz Innocence and Magic of the early circulation experience into learning to take responsibility for the note choices, the significance and repercussions of specific notes within a particular tonality is the most difficult thing to grasp, and even harder to hear and respond to in real time. I always begin these circles with a circulation with little or no direction or precondition, other than possibly suggesting a particular tonality or scale. Then we work through what are often pretty grueling exercises in directed circulation designed to both strain the available attention and to highlight some aspect of musical organization. And then we end with another “free” circulation. What I always notice is the change in the quality of listening between the opening and closing circulations. The opening one is generally kind of rambling and random, occasionally blessed by the undeserved appearance of Music. At the end something different is going on. Sometimes it is merely self-conscious. Often in fact. But there is always a palpable listening happening, and where the early circulation might have moved into moments of grace and/or luck, these tend to be highlighted by moments of real group intelligence and intention.
Monday, August 17, 2009
First Weekday Evening Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday August 17, 2009 – First Weekday Evening Rehearsal
Full performance team together in Bob and Jaxie’s living room. The focus still primarily on getting up and running, rather than getting down to nuts and bolts. We did take a certain amount of time out to look at a few repercussions of the new seating arrangement. For the composed circulation at the end of the Zeppelin medley, we ultimately elected not to reassign parts after all. Instead, we are playing our usual parts, creating a kind of vectorized version. We’ll need to test this in the performance space and probably in performance to decide if it is really an effective presentation of the line, but in the living room it sounds pretty cool. The zithered final arpeggio did need to be reorchestrated, but that was a pretty quick fix. Same thing with the arpeggio at the beginning of “In My Room”.
The bulk of the work was on “Scorched Air”. With a composed counterclockwise circulation at the beginning, a composed clockwise circulation in the middle, and then the two of them played simultaneously, the vectorized option was not really an option at all. We tried it, and the playing of it wasn’t difficult, but the effect of the double circulation was completely obscured. This one took some time to sort out. We managed to get both of the individual circulations up and running, but the double circulation will require a bit of personal practice for the players, and so we set that aside until next week. There wasn’t time to address the closing zither, and so that is on the table for next Monday as well.
Monday August 17, 2009 – First Weekday Evening Rehearsal
Full performance team together in Bob and Jaxie’s living room. The focus still primarily on getting up and running, rather than getting down to nuts and bolts. We did take a certain amount of time out to look at a few repercussions of the new seating arrangement. For the composed circulation at the end of the Zeppelin medley, we ultimately elected not to reassign parts after all. Instead, we are playing our usual parts, creating a kind of vectorized version. We’ll need to test this in the performance space and probably in performance to decide if it is really an effective presentation of the line, but in the living room it sounds pretty cool. The zithered final arpeggio did need to be reorchestrated, but that was a pretty quick fix. Same thing with the arpeggio at the beginning of “In My Room”.
The bulk of the work was on “Scorched Air”. With a composed counterclockwise circulation at the beginning, a composed clockwise circulation in the middle, and then the two of them played simultaneously, the vectorized option was not really an option at all. We tried it, and the playing of it wasn’t difficult, but the effect of the double circulation was completely obscured. This one took some time to sort out. We managed to get both of the individual circulations up and running, but the double circulation will require a bit of personal practice for the players, and so we set that aside until next week. There wasn’t time to address the closing zither, and so that is on the table for next Monday as well.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Inaugural Circle, Meeting and Rehearsal for Season Eight
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday August 15, 2009 – Inaugural Circle, Meeting and Rehearsal for Season Eight
Sitting at my place at 8:30am. Well attended. Saturday sittings only 30 minutes this season. This allows us to begin a little later, and then begin rehearsal a little earlier. Hoping this will mean more people at the sitting, which strikes me as crucial for the next phase of Tuning the Air.
To Fremont Abbey Arts Center for a 9:30 beginning. Everyone in attendance. Began with a circle for everyone who plays guitar, performance and support teams together. Meleah observing. A simple improvisation. In current Guitar Craft parlance, “when ready, begin,” except that no one needed to utter the words. We sat in silence until moved to play. The Great Hall at Fremont Abbey is very conducive to this kind of play. Some circulating. A short all-in circle, but important to begin together with Music. When all is said and done, that is all it is about, after all.
Guitar down, and a short meeting. Focused on the immediate tasks: 1) getting the music up and running, 2) promotion, and 3) staging. There is a great deal to do, and no room to hide from any of it. Simply articulating the challenge is the first step. Then we address the various needs.
From there on to the first full rehearsal for the Performance Team. Learning to play in this space is the primary challenge. Very different in sound from the downstairs café space, and it will require a period of adjustment, and no doubt some pretty serious changes. I proposed a new seating arrangement, which we adopted. It will necessitate some re-tooling of several composed circulations. But we are pretty adaptable in that respect and I don’t anticipate much in the way of difficulty. For this first rehearsal we did not try to address much in the way of nuts and bolts. Instead we simply played through our entire repertoire. I made a number of mental notes, but primarily the aim was just to play together for the shear joy of playing together. The work will come, but not today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
