A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 30, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We were Chris-less tonight due to a touch of flu-ishness.
Very straightforward plan for tonight. Since the OCG course in October, our setlist has been much more open and un-pre-planned. One interesting aspect of this is that there are a number of pieces that always seem to come out of the hat. Borderline spooky. The flip side is that there are a number of pieces we haven’t performed or even touched upon for a month or more. So for tonight the plan was to play everything. We pulled titles from the hat, and in this way also managed to “rehearse” playing pieces on the fly, whether or not we are (for instance) sufficiently warmed up. The metronome was on for every piece. We did pause from time to time to look at details of particular pieces, especially those we have not performed recently. One short break, but this process filled the entire rehearsal.
Monday, November 30, 2009
A Point of Seeing
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 30, 2009 – A Point of Seeing
I have been sitting on this for over a week. It first came to me during the Saturday sitting on the 21st. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death, and I found myself contemplating much, including the history and future of Tuning the Air. I decided to sit with it to see if it might re-express itself in a different way, perhaps a more “reasonable” way, but it keeps coming back, and has only been reinforced by events in the interim. It came to me in these words:
Monday November 30, 2009 – A Point of Seeing
I have been sitting on this for over a week. It first came to me during the Saturday sitting on the 21st. It was the anniversary of my mother’s death, and I found myself contemplating much, including the history and future of Tuning the Air. I decided to sit with it to see if it might re-express itself in a different way, perhaps a more “reasonable” way, but it keeps coming back, and has only been reinforced by events in the interim. It came to me in these words:
If anyone with Guitar Craft experience is contemplating moving to Seattle, or coming to Seattle for an extended period of work, now is the time.This was followed by:
There is a window of opportunity. The opportunity is great, but it is not unlimited. That we have kept this up, running and growing for 5 years (the anniversary of the birth of Tuning the Air is December 13) is nearly miraculous, and what we have accomplished is nothing short of astonishing. But in six months I cannot guarantee that there will be anything to move here for. With the right people engaged and committed, a new leap is awaiting; a beginning. Without that, more of the same, and eventual dispersal; with luck and work, an honorable completion.
I can live with either.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Vancouver Open Circle 2
A Tuning the Air Journal
Sunday November 29, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle 2
I was up early; certainly early for Sunday. I picked Greg up at 8am and we hit the road for Vancouver. It is a little under 3 hours door to door, but the border is the proverbial x-factor, so we need to allow for potential delays should there be a lot of traffic backed up at immigration. As it turned out, no delays this morning. A couple of cars in the line, and we were through in 5 minutes. This meant we arrived at Pablo’s place early enough to go out and grab a late breakfast before heading to the circle. Sotirios was already there. We piled into his van, which was also loaded with chairs, and went to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite, and then on to the studio for the circle.
Pablo’s report of the day is posted on the Guitar Circle and NST page on Facebook.
I concur with his description of events. The facility was less than ideal, but perfectly workable. A better than anticipated turnout. High note for me was having Brock turn up. It has been too long, and his presence in the circle was very helpful.
For myself, these circles, with participants at this level, are pretty labor-intensive. More or less, very little takes on a life of its own, but depends on the circle leader along with the “shills” (the more experienced players sitting in the circle: Pablo, Sotiros, Greg and Brock, in this case), to keep the thing moving. I saw a couple of things about preparing participants that I will communicate to Pablo. My sense is that the local experienced players need to work with the first-timers for an hour or so before the full circle, dealing with tuning and the most rudimentary details of technique. This worked very well in the early Seattle Circle open circles. I also see that for those who may become regular participants in these circles, it would be a good idea to get them together in between scheduled circles, to look at matters of basic technique.
After the circle, we returned to Pablo’s place. Greg and I packed our stuff in my car, and then we chilled out with the family for about 30 minutes, including coffee and patries!, before hitting the road once again. No difficulties on the drive. The border crossing took about 30 minutes this time – no trouble, simple traffic volume. Back in Seattle a little after 7:30. Dropped Greg off and headed to the local pub for a beer and a meal. Very tired.
Sunday November 29, 2009 – Vancouver Open Circle 2
I was up early; certainly early for Sunday. I picked Greg up at 8am and we hit the road for Vancouver. It is a little under 3 hours door to door, but the border is the proverbial x-factor, so we need to allow for potential delays should there be a lot of traffic backed up at immigration. As it turned out, no delays this morning. A couple of cars in the line, and we were through in 5 minutes. This meant we arrived at Pablo’s place early enough to go out and grab a late breakfast before heading to the circle. Sotirios was already there. We piled into his van, which was also loaded with chairs, and went to a nearby restaurant for a quick bite, and then on to the studio for the circle.
Pablo’s report of the day is posted on the Guitar Circle and NST page on Facebook.
I concur with his description of events. The facility was less than ideal, but perfectly workable. A better than anticipated turnout. High note for me was having Brock turn up. It has been too long, and his presence in the circle was very helpful.
For myself, these circles, with participants at this level, are pretty labor-intensive. More or less, very little takes on a life of its own, but depends on the circle leader along with the “shills” (the more experienced players sitting in the circle: Pablo, Sotiros, Greg and Brock, in this case), to keep the thing moving. I saw a couple of things about preparing participants that I will communicate to Pablo. My sense is that the local experienced players need to work with the first-timers for an hour or so before the full circle, dealing with tuning and the most rudimentary details of technique. This worked very well in the early Seattle Circle open circles. I also see that for those who may become regular participants in these circles, it would be a good idea to get them together in between scheduled circles, to look at matters of basic technique.
After the circle, we returned to Pablo’s place. Greg and I packed our stuff in my car, and then we chilled out with the family for about 30 minutes, including coffee and patries!, before hitting the road once again. No difficulties on the drive. The border crossing took about 30 minutes this time – no trouble, simple traffic volume. Back in Seattle a little after 7:30. Dropped Greg off and headed to the local pub for a beer and a meal. Very tired.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 28, 2009 – Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
Last Monday, the 23rd, would normally have been a rehearsal night. However, since there was no show Thursday, and additionally because Joel had a performance at Good Shepherd that night, we decided to take the night off. Many of us attended Joel’s performance. He was wonderful, in a space that works very well. It is a very different thing to perform this kind of material on stage for an attentive audience, rather than provide background music for something or someone else; preshow music as the audience arrives and settles in at Tuning the Air, or background music for yoga classes, which are the kinds of things he usually does. He acquitted himself very well, and no doubt learned a thing or two that will serve him well in the future. One of those things is to choose carefully who you share the stage with.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and so no Tuning the Air performance. A number of us were at the Wilsons for dinner. A very lovely time, that included a spirited game of “Taboo”.
Today, back to the groove. Performance team at Fremont Abbey in the morning. Began with a short meeting to address, together, some recent arisings that will significantly impact the show next season. The rehearsal that followed was very difficult work for the same reasons; a certain presence to the group that carried us most of the way, but not much in the way of enthusiasm. More no doubt to follow.
Back to my place for a meeting with the House Circle. Greg, Mary Beth, Christina and Andrew on board. We worked for 90 minutes almost entirely on a “simple” (not to be confused with “easy”) exercise in developing variations, taking a 4-note phrase played in circulation through the displacements, and retrograde with displacements. Once established, we moved on to several ways of counting the exercise. Very good work.
Tomorrow Greg and I will motor up to Vancouver to join Pablo and Sotirios in the Vancouver Open Circle #2.
Saturday November 28, 2009 – Catching up: no rehearsal, no performance, a rehearsal, and a house circle
Last Monday, the 23rd, would normally have been a rehearsal night. However, since there was no show Thursday, and additionally because Joel had a performance at Good Shepherd that night, we decided to take the night off. Many of us attended Joel’s performance. He was wonderful, in a space that works very well. It is a very different thing to perform this kind of material on stage for an attentive audience, rather than provide background music for something or someone else; preshow music as the audience arrives and settles in at Tuning the Air, or background music for yoga classes, which are the kinds of things he usually does. He acquitted himself very well, and no doubt learned a thing or two that will serve him well in the future. One of those things is to choose carefully who you share the stage with.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and so no Tuning the Air performance. A number of us were at the Wilsons for dinner. A very lovely time, that included a spirited game of “Taboo”.
Today, back to the groove. Performance team at Fremont Abbey in the morning. Began with a short meeting to address, together, some recent arisings that will significantly impact the show next season. The rehearsal that followed was very difficult work for the same reasons; a certain presence to the group that carried us most of the way, but not much in the way of enthusiasm. More no doubt to follow.
Back to my place for a meeting with the House Circle. Greg, Mary Beth, Christina and Andrew on board. We worked for 90 minutes almost entirely on a “simple” (not to be confused with “easy”) exercise in developing variations, taking a 4-note phrase played in circulation through the displacements, and retrograde with displacements. Once established, we moved on to several ways of counting the exercise. Very good work.
Tomorrow Greg and I will motor up to Vancouver to join Pablo and Sotirios in the Vancouver Open Circle #2.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Rehearsal and House Circle
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 21, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Twenty years ago today I was in San Diego with the League of Crafty Guitarists. We were in a period of doldrums during what has come to be colloquially known as “The Bogo Tour”. No gigs scheduled for several weeks, we were vamping and improvising while camping out at Paul Richards’ family’s condo. I was awakened at dawn by a phone call, and the news that my mother had passed away. It was her 60th birthday. A few minutes later I was on my way to the airport, and back home to DC and my family.
This was the essential content my sitting. It is not a source of sadness, particularly, but November 21 is inevitably something of a contemplative day for me.
Triplets day in Tuning the Air-land.
Two of the team were running a bit late, and Jaxie was not available, so the six of us began by turning on the metronome and circulating in triplets (D Major – a current favorite; so much so it was both called and pulled from the hat on Thursday). With six in the circle, this went swimmingly well. Only when I needed to get up to take care of a phone call, leaving five in the circle, did it begin to get ugly. When I returned to my seat, the tension was palpable. Fortunately at about that point the two late-comers arrived and we moved on to other matters.
First, La Rueda. It went very well on Thursday, but is still new and falls into the short list of pieces that need to be played every time we get together in order to move on to something farther from beginner’s luck and enthusiasm and closer to reliability and, dare I hope, something approaching mastery. Chris and I formed a limping rhythm section without Jaxie, but solid work all around and the circulators got a workout.
Cultivating the Beat was next. A few observations re our recent performances. It is the opener, and that means we need to be sharp right out of the gate. Chris noted a difference between the way he and his section is playing a particular passage and the way it is on the score/midi. I pulled up the score and Bob verified that it is correct, so we worked on making that correction. It is subtle, but initially a little jarring for me, since I am accustomed to hearing it played “wrong”. Very cool, and clearly right, but it will take a little time before I can stop being startled by it.
On to In My Room, which has not been as reliable as it needs to be. It didn’t come out of the hat in the last performance, but it did the week before, and it was a bit of a train wreck. In particular, we drilled the cascade/zither section, but the tempo problem we are fighting is systemic. Travis put it fairly but bluntly that by the time we get to the cascades, it has already died. Good work with the metronome, and a discussion of one potential (but labor-intensive) arranging adjustment – not for this season, but to be considered for the future. Acknowledged that this one is also on te list of “must play” pieces for every rehearsal.
The Shostakovich Prelude next. This one hasn’t been particularly problematic lately, but has always been at the top of the “must play” list, and we can generally find nuances to address. The first run-through began extremely well, especially considering that Jaxie, the player in the poll position of the circulation, was absent, but about halfway through it just crashed and burned. No big deal, just one of those things. Subsequent runs went much better. We focused on one perennially difficult phrase and made a number of useful observations about how it works.
At some point in there we ran Onyx, mostly because I miss performing it. It got sidelined when we moved to the Great Hall due to the tempo and complexity and the difficulty of pulling it off in that acoustic environment. It is not the best or most creative piece in our repertoire, but it has something really wonderful that nothing else we play can really duplicate. Hoping now that we are more at home in the new performance space that we can begin to reintroduce a few pieces like this that got set aside.
The last 45-minutes were devoted to a little more research on an arrangement strategy for the middle section of Charles Ives’ Children’s Hour. Not rehearsal, but more of a “proof of concept”; will this approach work? Last week we looked at the first 4 bars of the section, and it took over an hour. Today we looked at the next 4 bars. This section, all of 12-bars long, is an orgy of disjointed triplets, and the reason I began the rehearsal with the circulated triplet exercise. It looks like Igor will be tuning his low string down to “A” for this one; strange and amazing chord voicings written for the piano, played by 6 guitarists. Like last week’s set of phrases, when approached through the minutia of the fragmented parts, this one is completely incomprehensible, but once heard as a whole it is remarkably simple and even obvious. It may take a while before we can get to that point without spending an hour ramping up to it. But we’ll get there.
A break and a snack, and then the House Circle, represented by Mary Beth, Christina and Greg, arrived.
Continuing the theme of triplets, we worked with an array of circulated and modulating 6-note pentatonic scale patterns, highlighting keeping the pulse of the 6/8 – 1-2-3 4-5-6 – while alternating with two slower sequences that sit on 1-2-3 4-5-6 and 1-2-3 4-5-6. Much like the work on the Ives piece, these patterns have a musical sense and even seem pretty simple and obvious, once we can rise just a little above the mechanics. After 90 minutes, the team was pretty much cruising, although I’m not sure they would concur.
On Monday we blow off rehearsal in order to head to Good Shepherd to see Joel perform. For the performance team, a real treat. He plays before the show every Thursday, but we are sequestered in the green room and can’t hear him. On Monday, we will not only hear him, but will be able to relax and enjoy him, since we won’t be moments away from performing ourselves. Hooray!
Saturday November 21, 2009 – Rehearsal and House Circle
Twenty years ago today I was in San Diego with the League of Crafty Guitarists. We were in a period of doldrums during what has come to be colloquially known as “The Bogo Tour”. No gigs scheduled for several weeks, we were vamping and improvising while camping out at Paul Richards’ family’s condo. I was awakened at dawn by a phone call, and the news that my mother had passed away. It was her 60th birthday. A few minutes later I was on my way to the airport, and back home to DC and my family.
This was the essential content my sitting. It is not a source of sadness, particularly, but November 21 is inevitably something of a contemplative day for me.
Triplets day in Tuning the Air-land.
Two of the team were running a bit late, and Jaxie was not available, so the six of us began by turning on the metronome and circulating in triplets (D Major – a current favorite; so much so it was both called and pulled from the hat on Thursday). With six in the circle, this went swimmingly well. Only when I needed to get up to take care of a phone call, leaving five in the circle, did it begin to get ugly. When I returned to my seat, the tension was palpable. Fortunately at about that point the two late-comers arrived and we moved on to other matters.
First, La Rueda. It went very well on Thursday, but is still new and falls into the short list of pieces that need to be played every time we get together in order to move on to something farther from beginner’s luck and enthusiasm and closer to reliability and, dare I hope, something approaching mastery. Chris and I formed a limping rhythm section without Jaxie, but solid work all around and the circulators got a workout.
Cultivating the Beat was next. A few observations re our recent performances. It is the opener, and that means we need to be sharp right out of the gate. Chris noted a difference between the way he and his section is playing a particular passage and the way it is on the score/midi. I pulled up the score and Bob verified that it is correct, so we worked on making that correction. It is subtle, but initially a little jarring for me, since I am accustomed to hearing it played “wrong”. Very cool, and clearly right, but it will take a little time before I can stop being startled by it.
On to In My Room, which has not been as reliable as it needs to be. It didn’t come out of the hat in the last performance, but it did the week before, and it was a bit of a train wreck. In particular, we drilled the cascade/zither section, but the tempo problem we are fighting is systemic. Travis put it fairly but bluntly that by the time we get to the cascades, it has already died. Good work with the metronome, and a discussion of one potential (but labor-intensive) arranging adjustment – not for this season, but to be considered for the future. Acknowledged that this one is also on te list of “must play” pieces for every rehearsal.
The Shostakovich Prelude next. This one hasn’t been particularly problematic lately, but has always been at the top of the “must play” list, and we can generally find nuances to address. The first run-through began extremely well, especially considering that Jaxie, the player in the poll position of the circulation, was absent, but about halfway through it just crashed and burned. No big deal, just one of those things. Subsequent runs went much better. We focused on one perennially difficult phrase and made a number of useful observations about how it works.
At some point in there we ran Onyx, mostly because I miss performing it. It got sidelined when we moved to the Great Hall due to the tempo and complexity and the difficulty of pulling it off in that acoustic environment. It is not the best or most creative piece in our repertoire, but it has something really wonderful that nothing else we play can really duplicate. Hoping now that we are more at home in the new performance space that we can begin to reintroduce a few pieces like this that got set aside.
The last 45-minutes were devoted to a little more research on an arrangement strategy for the middle section of Charles Ives’ Children’s Hour. Not rehearsal, but more of a “proof of concept”; will this approach work? Last week we looked at the first 4 bars of the section, and it took over an hour. Today we looked at the next 4 bars. This section, all of 12-bars long, is an orgy of disjointed triplets, and the reason I began the rehearsal with the circulated triplet exercise. It looks like Igor will be tuning his low string down to “A” for this one; strange and amazing chord voicings written for the piano, played by 6 guitarists. Like last week’s set of phrases, when approached through the minutia of the fragmented parts, this one is completely incomprehensible, but once heard as a whole it is remarkably simple and even obvious. It may take a while before we can get to that point without spending an hour ramping up to it. But we’ll get there.
A break and a snack, and then the House Circle, represented by Mary Beth, Christina and Greg, arrived.
Continuing the theme of triplets, we worked with an array of circulated and modulating 6-note pentatonic scale patterns, highlighting keeping the pulse of the 6/8 – 1-2-3 4-5-6 – while alternating with two slower sequences that sit on 1-2-3 4-5-6 and 1-2-3 4-5-6. Much like the work on the Ives piece, these patterns have a musical sense and even seem pretty simple and obvious, once we can rise just a little above the mechanics. After 90 minutes, the team was pretty much cruising, although I’m not sure they would concur.
On Monday we blow off rehearsal in order to head to Good Shepherd to see Joel perform. For the performance team, a real treat. He plays before the show every Thursday, but we are sequestered in the green room and can’t hear him. On Monday, we will not only hear him, but will be able to relax and enjoy him, since we won’t be moments away from performing ourselves. Hooray!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuning the Air 170
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 19, 2009 – Tuning the Air 170
Two items from tonight’s performance…
Tuning the Air 170
Thursday November 19, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #8
Preshow
Thursday November 19, 2009 – Tuning the Air 170
Two items from tonight’s performance…
- The admonition to always “Trust the Hat” was severely tested when, in the final 15 minutes of the show, when my wish was to be “building up” to the end of the show, a call for “two pieces from the repertoire hat” drew 49 Notes and Voices of Ancient Children; two pieces I would never in a million years have put together, and certainly not at that point in the set. Strongly tempted to intervene, but since trusting the hat was a very specific and intentional piece of work in this scheme, I swallowed hard and assumed the virtue. Of course it was awesome, but in a way I had/could never have envisioned. In the end, it set up a gentle ascent to the end of the set that was completely organic and absolutely “right”.
- La Rueda is now a viable and performable addition to the repertoire. With a short-staffed and wedding-oriented rehearsal on Saturday, and no rehearsal at all on Monday, I had relegated it to the “not quite yet” list in my head. But we ran it during the warmup before the show, and it seemed hazardous, but completely doable. When we circled up in the green room with the audience applauding and demanding an encore, the question “what shall we play?” was posed, and La Rueda came out of three mouths simultaneously. Right choice. Just stunning. No doubt it will benefit from some solid technical work in rehearsal, but it is on!
Tuning the Air 170
Thursday November 19, 2009
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle, WA
Fall Season Show #8
Preshow
Joel Palmer ImprovisationsThe Set (including sources)
Cultivating the Beat: SetlistEncore
The Wig Maker, with double swirling zither: Hat
Beyond here be dragons: Hat
Aquarela do Brasil: Hat
Batrachomyomachy: Hat
Circulation in D Major: Curt
Sigh and a Kiss: Hat
Circulation in F Harmonic Minor: Hat
Follow the Lights: Hat
Address the audience: Jaxie
Kashmir: Setlist
Circulation in D Major #2: Hat
49 Notes: Hat
Voices of Ancient Children: Hat
Long Ago Today: Jaxie
Twilight: Curt/Bob
Thrak: Setlist
Eye of the Needle: Setlist
La Rueda: Greenroom
Monday, November 16, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 16, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We learned very early on that it is never a good idea to discuss how a particular performance went, immediately after that performance. Doing this show requires an openness that makes us very vulnerable, and the potential for misunderstanding and hurt feelings is very high when we try to switch gears too soon. Even casual remarks can have destructive repercussions. It is not an easy “rule” to follow, and none of us is completely successful every week, but we do our best.
So we set aside part of tonight’s rehearsal as the time for the entire company to get together to reflect on the recent performances and the new direction we are working with.
Unfortunately, the Fates were not completely on our side. Two performers had work obligations that kept them from attending, and another one was down with a bout of food poisoning. From the rest of the company, only Christina and Greg were available. So it was not really the “all-in” freewheeling discussion we had hoped for, and we were missing several key points of view.
Nevertheless, it was a very good review, and despite our low numbers it managed to extend to the entire rehearsal, and my guitar remained in its case. I was particularly interested to hear the observations from outside the performance team. Very useful. The result was essentially “no change” for this week’s performance, outside of a handful of minor tweaks.
Monday November 16, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
We learned very early on that it is never a good idea to discuss how a particular performance went, immediately after that performance. Doing this show requires an openness that makes us very vulnerable, and the potential for misunderstanding and hurt feelings is very high when we try to switch gears too soon. Even casual remarks can have destructive repercussions. It is not an easy “rule” to follow, and none of us is completely successful every week, but we do our best.
So we set aside part of tonight’s rehearsal as the time for the entire company to get together to reflect on the recent performances and the new direction we are working with.
Unfortunately, the Fates were not completely on our side. Two performers had work obligations that kept them from attending, and another one was down with a bout of food poisoning. From the rest of the company, only Christina and Greg were available. So it was not really the “all-in” freewheeling discussion we had hoped for, and we were missing several key points of view.
Nevertheless, it was a very good review, and despite our low numbers it managed to extend to the entire rehearsal, and my guitar remained in its case. I was particularly interested to hear the observations from outside the performance team. Very useful. The result was essentially “no change” for this week’s performance, outside of a handful of minor tweaks.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
The Sherman/Abel Wedding
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 14, 2009 – The Sherman/Abel Wedding
We began arriving about 5:30, with the plan to begin the music a little after 6pm. We were the Performance Team (minus Taylor, of course), plus Christina and Greg. Tony was on solo 12-string. The circle was not actually circular – the facility did not really work for that. Instead we were in a very slight arc, going up a ramp behind the folks seated for the ceremony. Tony was stationed just to the left of the celebrants, and lightly amplified. Ian was at the whims of public transportation, and arrived just as we were about to go on.
Because we were in an arc, we elected to circulate with return rather than trying to complete the circle in a situation where hearing was going to be difficult, and sight lines unreliable. We stuck with major keys, and kept it simple, as the guests arrived and began to find their places. Our aim was to set an atmosphere, rather than draw attention to ourselves. As the ceremony was about to begin, we modulated to Bb Mixolydian, setting up Tony’s first piece. For the prelude, during which the wedding party entered, we circulated as Tony played. Then Tony moved to the Processional for the entrance of the Bride.
For the ceremony we remained in place. Fortunately, it was not very long, so standing still with guitars was not a burden. A lovely and moving ceremony. At the end, Tony launched into the joyous Recessional as the wedding party made its exit. Last to leave was the judge/celebrant, who invited the guests to move to the reception area for cocktails, and on that cue we launched into Brasil, 3 choruses, with half-step modulations. We had kept the length open, to be called in the moment. Three choruses seemed sufficient, which was good because in rehearsal the 4th modulation was where things tended to come unglued.
Very generous applause, and we moved back to the “green room”, circled up to complete our contribution, packed away our guitars, and made the transition from musicians to simple wedding guests. Music for dancing would be provided by a DJ.
A terrific event in every way.
Saturday November 14, 2009 – The Sherman/Abel Wedding
We began arriving about 5:30, with the plan to begin the music a little after 6pm. We were the Performance Team (minus Taylor, of course), plus Christina and Greg. Tony was on solo 12-string. The circle was not actually circular – the facility did not really work for that. Instead we were in a very slight arc, going up a ramp behind the folks seated for the ceremony. Tony was stationed just to the left of the celebrants, and lightly amplified. Ian was at the whims of public transportation, and arrived just as we were about to go on.
Because we were in an arc, we elected to circulate with return rather than trying to complete the circle in a situation where hearing was going to be difficult, and sight lines unreliable. We stuck with major keys, and kept it simple, as the guests arrived and began to find their places. Our aim was to set an atmosphere, rather than draw attention to ourselves. As the ceremony was about to begin, we modulated to Bb Mixolydian, setting up Tony’s first piece. For the prelude, during which the wedding party entered, we circulated as Tony played. Then Tony moved to the Processional for the entrance of the Bride.
For the ceremony we remained in place. Fortunately, it was not very long, so standing still with guitars was not a burden. A lovely and moving ceremony. At the end, Tony launched into the joyous Recessional as the wedding party made its exit. Last to leave was the judge/celebrant, who invited the guests to move to the reception area for cocktails, and on that cue we launched into Brasil, 3 choruses, with half-step modulations. We had kept the length open, to be called in the moment. Three choruses seemed sufficient, which was good because in rehearsal the 4th modulation was where things tended to come unglued.
Very generous applause, and we moved back to the “green room”, circled up to complete our contribution, packed away our guitars, and made the transition from musicians to simple wedding guests. Music for dancing would be provided by a DJ.
A terrific event in every way.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 14, 2009 – Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
Sitting as usual. Two-part rehearsal in my living room. Tony and the house team joined us for the first segment, focusing on the music for this evening. The second part was a bit of “proof of concept” for the arrangement I had seen for the middle section of the Charles Ives piece. It has the strange quality of being unfathomable when analyzed and broken down into its constituent parts, but somehow simple and obvious once you hear it all together.
Now a bit of computing, a short nap I would think, and then off to the Sherman-Abel nuptials.
Saturday November 14, 2009 – Two Rehearsals and a Wedding
Sitting as usual. Two-part rehearsal in my living room. Tony and the house team joined us for the first segment, focusing on the music for this evening. The second part was a bit of “proof of concept” for the arrangement I had seen for the middle section of the Charles Ives piece. It has the strange quality of being unfathomable when analyzed and broken down into its constituent parts, but somehow simple and obvious once you hear it all together.
Now a bit of computing, a short nap I would think, and then off to the Sherman-Abel nuptials.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuning the Air 169
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 11, 2009 – Tuning the Air 169
…aka, Tuning the Air 132
Chillier in Seattle than it has been so far. But the sun is shining.
The plan for tonight is more or less the same as last week, with a few refinements. One less hat. Particular attention to the flow of the evening. La Rueda remains a question mark – the hat? in the pocket? wait another week? Probably tbd at the preshow warmup.
Thursday November 11, 2009 – Tuning the Air 169
…aka, Tuning the Air 132
Chillier in Seattle than it has been so far. But the sun is shining.
The plan for tonight is more or less the same as last week, with a few refinements. One less hat. Particular attention to the flow of the evening. La Rueda remains a question mark – the hat? in the pocket? wait another week? Probably tbd at the preshow warmup.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Rehearsal at the Wilsons
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 9, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
The primary task of the night was to discuss our observations from last week’s show; to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what, if any changes were to be made. We realized very late in the game that this was a meeting that really involved the entire company and not just the performance team, but with less than an hour before rehearsal time Jaxie and I agreed to acknowledge that we had made a mistake, and move ahead as planned. We will make sure that an open invitation to the entire team is made for next Monday.
Chris was running a little late, so the rest of us began with a look at the Charles Ives piece, Children’s Hour. In looking over the piano score, I had noticed a couple of things that were different from the way we had arranged it, primarily related to the octave in which the circulated part is played. We made the adjustments and ran it a bit, with pretty stunning effect. Chris arrived, and it was time to get down to business. But frankly, all I wanted to do was dive deeper into this piece.
Very good discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the improvisational strategy we adopted for last week’s show. Clear and direct observations, and remarkable unanimity in terms of our experience. We threw around a very wide range of possible adjustments that we could adopt, but in the end adopted an approach articulated by Howard: change nothing. That is, continue another week with this strategy, but… attend the flow, which we generally agreed was the stickiest part of our first experiment. So the decisions for this week were enumerated as:
During the final run through of the piece, a solution to the puzzle of how to arrange the middle section of Children’s Hour came to me. I have no idea what I was doing thinking about Ives while playing Pietrafesa, but sometimes associative thinking works in your favor. I ran the idea by Jaxie as we were packing to leave, and it seemed to resonate for her as well. Not sure when we will have time to test this arrangement, as next Saturday will be dominated by the Sherman/Abel nuptials. Soon, I hope.
Fernie popped in after I got home, for a short visit and nightcap, as he is going home tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure Moni and Uma will be happy to see him. I know he has been missing them badly. But I am sorry to see him go.
Monday November 9, 2009 – Rehearsal at the Wilsons
The primary task of the night was to discuss our observations from last week’s show; to look at what worked, what didn’t, and what, if any changes were to be made. We realized very late in the game that this was a meeting that really involved the entire company and not just the performance team, but with less than an hour before rehearsal time Jaxie and I agreed to acknowledge that we had made a mistake, and move ahead as planned. We will make sure that an open invitation to the entire team is made for next Monday.
Chris was running a little late, so the rest of us began with a look at the Charles Ives piece, Children’s Hour. In looking over the piano score, I had noticed a couple of things that were different from the way we had arranged it, primarily related to the octave in which the circulated part is played. We made the adjustments and ran it a bit, with pretty stunning effect. Chris arrived, and it was time to get down to business. But frankly, all I wanted to do was dive deeper into this piece.
Very good discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the improvisational strategy we adopted for last week’s show. Clear and direct observations, and remarkable unanimity in terms of our experience. We threw around a very wide range of possible adjustments that we could adopt, but in the end adopted an approach articulated by Howard: change nothing. That is, continue another week with this strategy, but… attend the flow, which we generally agreed was the stickiest part of our first experiment. So the decisions for this week were enumerated as:
- Change nothing
- Attention on the flow
- Trust the hat – only 2 this week: The Hat of Repertoire and the Hat of Mystery
- Joel to move a little more quickly when the hat is called for
- Igor will watch for possible opportunities for improv during the Hat
- We will not know in advance the themes of the improvs in the Hat of Mystery
During the final run through of the piece, a solution to the puzzle of how to arrange the middle section of Children’s Hour came to me. I have no idea what I was doing thinking about Ives while playing Pietrafesa, but sometimes associative thinking works in your favor. I ran the idea by Jaxie as we were packing to leave, and it seemed to resonate for her as well. Not sure when we will have time to test this arrangement, as next Saturday will be dominated by the Sherman/Abel nuptials. Soon, I hope.
Fernie popped in after I got home, for a short visit and nightcap, as he is going home tomorrow afternoon. I’m sure Moni and Uma will be happy to see him. I know he has been missing them badly. But I am sorry to see him go.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 7, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
When people engage, with openness, Music happens. I know nothing is ever guaranteed, but this seems to come about as close as anything can. The Open Circle is an excellent example.
Rehearsal entirely devoted to two new pieces. We worked to get La Rueda on its feet; a slightly limping version, as Bob was AAD, but nevertheless it is now provisionally ready for prime time. Monday night will tell the tale. For the last hour we began working on an arrangement of a lovely Charles Ives piece.
Saturday November 7, 2009 – Monthly Open Circle and Rehearsal
When people engage, with openness, Music happens. I know nothing is ever guaranteed, but this seems to come about as close as anything can. The Open Circle is an excellent example.
Rehearsal entirely devoted to two new pieces. We worked to get La Rueda on its feet; a slightly limping version, as Bob was AAD, but nevertheless it is now provisionally ready for prime time. Monday night will tell the tale. For the last hour we began working on an arrangement of a lovely Charles Ives piece.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
First Post-Orchestra Tuning the Air
Thursday November 5, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Tuning the Air
Jaxie’s setlist:
Set List:
Jaxie’s setlist:
Set List:
- Cultivating the Beat (Opener)
- Kashmir (In the Middle)
- Thrak (Closer – with Eye of the Needle or Lament potentially called afterwards, if needed)
- Improvisation - Here there be dragons
- Eye of the Needle
- Brazil
- Voices of Ancient Children
- Long Ago Today
- Little Gangsters
- Tuning the Air – call a key or not
- My Precious Dream
- Prelude XXII in G Minor
- In My Room
- Zither Improvisation
- Improvisation – Tell me your deepest secret
- Twilight
- Sigh and a Kiss
- Bus Artist
- Batrachomyomachy
- 49 Notes
- Lament
- Wig Maker
- Improvisation – Audience choice
- Circulation – D Major
- Circulation – Begin with: Plus 2 Minus 1
- Double Swirl Zither
- Improvisation – What is the sound of stars colliding?
- Circulation madness
- Music for a Found Harmonium
- Mevlevi Greeting – notes of your choice
Monday, November 2, 2009
First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 2, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
Filling in… load out from Raft Island was entirely uneventful, which is to say it was a complete success. Everyone who needed to get to the airport got there. Everyone who needed to get to town got there. The camp was cleaned and restored in record time, and we were on the road well before noon.
A get-together at my place Saturday night, which happened to be Halloween. Fifteen or twenty of us, including several out-of-town guests, decompressing. The evening remained pretty low-key until about 11, when the registrar took charge of iTunes and pulled up some Prince, and suddenly dancing broke out, which continued until we were all falling down.
While strolling down Market Street on Sunday afternoon, giving some of the folks still in town from the course the nickel tour of NW Seattle – Vera’s for breakfast, the Ballard Sunday Farmer’s Market, Ballard Locks (complete with at least one salmon in the fish ladder), Golden Gardens, and Fremont – Jaxie called. She had a pretty clear sense of a direction for this week’s show. Told her she should run with it.
All in, plus one, for tonight’s rehearsal, although Igor was going to be a little late. Tony sat in. We began with a bit of circulating in the “plus two minus one” form, which was surprisingly difficult. Don’t know if we were just all still a little hammered from the course, or what was going on.
Jax then laid out some of the things she was seeing for the show on Thursday. At first there was a lot of what I read as non-responsiveness, a kind of shoe gazing, but which turned out to be simply pondering. Once the discussion began to open up, it was very apparent that much of what she was describing was also on a lot of minds, not to mention a whole lot of other germs of ideas. All in all, a very fruitful discussion. After a short, and late, break, we kind of hammered out the general shape and strategy for Thursday, incorporating some of the myriad ideas that had been aired. It is going to be an interesting one. Suffice it to say, there will be no setlist insert in this week’s program (one joking suggestion was to print up an insert reading “this page intentionally left blank”).
Ran several small group pieces, and a couple of the large group pieces that are definitely going to be played, and called it a night.
Monday November 2, 2009 – First Post-Orchestra Rehearsal
Filling in… load out from Raft Island was entirely uneventful, which is to say it was a complete success. Everyone who needed to get to the airport got there. Everyone who needed to get to town got there. The camp was cleaned and restored in record time, and we were on the road well before noon.
A get-together at my place Saturday night, which happened to be Halloween. Fifteen or twenty of us, including several out-of-town guests, decompressing. The evening remained pretty low-key until about 11, when the registrar took charge of iTunes and pulled up some Prince, and suddenly dancing broke out, which continued until we were all falling down.
While strolling down Market Street on Sunday afternoon, giving some of the folks still in town from the course the nickel tour of NW Seattle – Vera’s for breakfast, the Ballard Sunday Farmer’s Market, Ballard Locks (complete with at least one salmon in the fish ladder), Golden Gardens, and Fremont – Jaxie called. She had a pretty clear sense of a direction for this week’s show. Told her she should run with it.
All in, plus one, for tonight’s rehearsal, although Igor was going to be a little late. Tony sat in. We began with a bit of circulating in the “plus two minus one” form, which was surprisingly difficult. Don’t know if we were just all still a little hammered from the course, or what was going on.
Jax then laid out some of the things she was seeing for the show on Thursday. At first there was a lot of what I read as non-responsiveness, a kind of shoe gazing, but which turned out to be simply pondering. Once the discussion began to open up, it was very apparent that much of what she was describing was also on a lot of minds, not to mention a whole lot of other germs of ideas. All in all, a very fruitful discussion. After a short, and late, break, we kind of hammered out the general shape and strategy for Thursday, incorporating some of the myriad ideas that had been aired. It is going to be an interesting one. Suffice it to say, there will be no setlist insert in this week’s program (one joking suggestion was to print up an insert reading “this page intentionally left blank”).
Ran several small group pieces, and a couple of the large group pieces that are definitely going to be played, and called it a night.
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