Full Tech Rehearsal at Fremont Abbey

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday April 8, 2010 – Full Tech Rehearsal at Fremont Abbey

I met with Taylor and Mary Beth early in the day to load the lighting and house gear out of the storage space and into my car. Travis and Chris were in charge of getting the sound gear out of Travis’ place.

The team arrived at Fremont Abbey at 6:30. We circled up, took a look at the tasks in front of us. Within 45 minutes, the room was set up and pretty much ready to go, including the entrance/lobby, and the new concept for the audience, as if it were a gig night. Sound check was relatively quick, although it involved some tweakage throughout the evening. Joel soundchecked, and we were ready to go.

Chris had Joel set up a bit of C Harmonic Minor, and we joined in a Tuning the Air improv. As the improv faded, I brought Voices of Ancient Children in. From there to Cultivating the Beat and The Wig Maker; our first mini-set. Next came a semi-structured improv in D Minor, with Joel taking part. Then the second mini-set: Brasil, Ikada Jima and the Turkish Trilogy. For the trilogy, I took a step inward toward the audience, and the rest of the team eventually caught on and followed. Being closer together makes the quick stuff easier to hear and coordinate. Joel later mentioned that the way we stepped in looked kind of ominous, so we need to take a look at “how we are” when we move.

A break. Jaxie and I talked to the House Manager, and we added chairs, looking at how we will deal with larger crowds. The second half of the rehearsal was conducted with this larger audience arrangement.

Trapiche was next, complete with Joel jumping in on the “Cloud of Unknowing”. Bill took a few minutes to work with Joel on finding sounds and patches that blend with the full team.

Jaxie had some thoughts about circulation strategies as well as some other movement-oriented concepts, which we tried, all to the enthusiastic approval of the team sitting in the audience space. Circulating in a spiral through the audience was a particular stunning. A gentle pulsing C Harmonic Minor over Joel’s opening improv, leading into Voices, with gently turning guitarists – killer!

We ended with the next mini-set – Sigh and a Kiss, Twilight and My Precious Dream – and then on to breakdown. Managed to get everything stowed in the storage space. So far, so good.

Christina made this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70dPOKdt8S0