Tuning the Air Complete

At 9:54pm Pacific Time, December 16, 2011, after many anecdotes and many toasts, Tuning the Air was declared completed.

Tuning the Air #225 - The Final Performance

A Tuning the Air Journal

Tuning the Air #225
December 15, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

The Final Performance of Tuning the Air

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur (Gavin)
Little Red Truck (Germaine)
Prelude in B Minor (JS Bach)
Fugue in B Minor (JS Bach)
Tango Apasionato (Piazzolla)

Tico-Tico no Fubá (Abreu)
Gnossienne (Satie)
Vashon Ferry (Metcalf/Abuladze)
Chanson de Mardi Gras (Trad)
Circulation in A Minor (TTA)
Space Circus Part I (Corea)
five-five-FIVE (Zappa)

I Am The Walrus (Lennon/McCartney)
Slow Burn (Williams/Binder/et al)
Mad World (Orabal, arr Andrews)
Fallout (Gibson/Williams)
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II (Fripp)

Encore:

Thrak (Fripp)
Spiral (Cmaj/min) (TTA)

Final Encore:

Eye of the Needle (Fripp)

Final Extracurricular group workout (#14)

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, December 14, 2011 – Final Extracurricular group workout (#14)

The final (everything this week is “the final”) extracurricular group workout. Curt, Jaxie, Carl, Chris and Greg gathered at Curt’s place to work for a couple of hours on whatever seemed useful and relevant.

Chris and Greg were running a few minutes late, so Jaxie and Carl began by looking at the tempo and count-in for “Tico Tico”. Several runs through this as the rest of the team gathered, as well as later on during the break and just before the rehearsal came to an end.

Chris arrived. For a warmup I suggested cycling the diminished run from “Fallout”, with the metronome beginning at a rather benign tempo and notching it up until we reached performance tempo. Greg arrived and joined in at the tail end of the warmup. We then ran the entire piece, at tempo with the metronome.

Jaxie suggested “Slow Burn” next. A simple runthrough, with metronome, followed by a short discussion of some “feel” matters and how we can bring it together.

“Tango Apasionato” was up. Specifically, the final verse where Chris is improvising a counter-melody. We looped that verse for a while, giving Chris the opportunity to explore the possibilities. A full runthrough with metronome.

“Prelude and Fugue”, without metronome, not to mention without 4/9 of the players. Each piece presents its own set of challenges, and the missing players their own set of holes and gaps. It is a very useful exercise, though not necessarily a very fun one.

With the metronome: “Eye of the Needle”, “Mad World”, “I Am The Walrus” and “Larks’ Tongues”, and "Chanson de Mardi Gras" (with impromptu improvised percussion accompaniment).

We ended with several more runs through the Bach pieces, this time on our feet. A couple of segments were highlighted and worked for clarity.

Tomorrow, Performance Number 225; the final performance of Tuning the Air.

Final Performance Team Rehearsal (with an asterisk)

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday December 12, 2011 – Final Performance Team Rehearsal (with an asterisk)

The asterisk is that this was technically the final “full team” rehearsal. The full performance team, including Igor, Joel, Darlene, and Bill, together in rehearsal for the last time. There remains one more Wednesday afternoon extracurricular workout for those available.

We ran the Prelude and Fugue first, cold. Just to see how we were.

Then, following on from the detail work we did with Bill on Saturday, we simply walked through the set. With every piece we identified the various things that we wanted to pay attention to, and with those in mind played through the piece, in many cases with the metronome. Except to test an idea that Bill had for “Slow Burn”, we really didn’t “work” anything. We simply acknowledged the challenges and aims for each piece, played it, and if necessary made observations afterward.

Everything is very solid. On Wednesday afternoon some of us have the extracurricular rehearsal to hammer out any details we would like to touch on, but essentially, it is personal practice, and on to Thursday.

Happy Birthday Tuning the Air

December 12, 2011

Happy Birthday Tuning the Air

Seven years ago today, up on the third floor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Ballard, a weekend workshop was wrapping up. The finale was a feast for about 25 people. Jaxie, Bob, Travis, Taylor and I were among those taking part, and from time to time the workshop director would call upon us to play some music. We would get our guitars, go out in the hallway to strategize what our set would be - 2 or 3 pieces. We entered, took our place up near the head of the table, and performed.

The third and final time we were called upon, we chose for our final selection “Eye of the Needle”, which is also known as “Guitar Craft Theme III”, and is within the repertoire of anyone who has been involved with Guitar Craft for a period of time. We entered, and performed our first selection. When it came time for “Eye of the Needle”, we spread out and surrounded the audience – to the extent that 5 players can “surround” a banquet table set up for 25 diners. The effect was immediate and profound. Of course, the composition has that quality and effect for anyone who can enter in to it, but there was something in this presentation that seemed to bring the music to life in a very particular way. Collecting ourselves outside of the room after the performance, we had the clear sense that something momentous had just occurred.

At the table, and so in the audience that night were, among others: Frank Sheldon, Jan Jarvis, Hugh Elliot, George Bennett and Michael Fredrick.

This Thursday night, what was set in motion that night reaches its completion.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday December 10, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Our final Saturday rehearsal at Fremont Abbey. Everything this week is the “final this” or the “final that”.

Bill joined us, and offered notes from last Thursday’s performance. We walked through the set, identifying issues and working out details.

Quote of the day: “Occupy the up beat.”

Tuning the Air #224

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday December 8, 2011 – Tuning the Air #224

Tuning the Air #224
December 8, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur (Gavin)
Little Red Truck (Germaine)
Prelude in B Minor (JS Bach)
Fugue in B Minor (JS Bach)
Tango Apasionato (Piazzolla)

Tico-Tico no Fubá (Abreu)
Gnossienne (Satie)
Vashon Ferry (Metcalf/Abuladze)
Chanson de Mardi Gras (Trad)
Circulation in A Minor (TTA)
Space Circus Part I (Corea)
five-five-FIVE (Zappa)
I Am The Walrus (Lennon/McCartney)

Slow Burn (Williams/Binder/et al)
Mad World (Orabal, arr Andrews)
Fallout (Gibson/Williams)
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II (Fripp)

Encore:

Eye of the Needle (Fripp)
Spiral (Cmaj/min) (TTA)

Extracurricular group workout 13

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, December 6, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 13

A rolling quartet assembled this afternoon. Curt, Jaxie, Carl and Mary Beth began. For a bit of fun, we ran the Bach Prelude with only 4/5 of the circulated parts. These little excursions are amusing at the very least, but always educational to be sure. From there we went directly on to the Fugue, which will be debuted on Thursday. Jaxie and Carl have the most extensive parts, and we took the opportunity to run their parts as many times as possible. For Mary Beth and me it was largely a matter of counting, in order to make our entrances at the right times. Identifying some problem areas, we focused on these and then expanded the selections until we were back to running the entire piece. We ended the first hour with several passes using Garage Band to fill in the missing parts.

Carl had to depart for a job, and as he was leaving Greg arrived.

Jax, Curt and MB needed a break from Bach, so we looked at a number of other pieces from the setlist, largely working with the metronome, identifying areas of concern and addressing them. “Connecticut Yankee”, “Slow Burn”, “Fallout” and “Tango Apasionato”. We were considering a run through “Walrus”, but realized that time was running short. Greg needed at least a couple of runs through the Fugue, so we moved to that. Some final discussion of fingering options for some particularly dodgy passages, and then we called it a day.

Tomorrow, by hook of crook, it gets performed.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday December 5, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

All hands on deck for our penultimate Monday night rehearsal.

The Bach Fugue was the order of the evening. We spent the first 30 minutes focused on the piece. It is in the set. We could easily have spent the entire rehearsal on it, but we do have a gig on Thursday. Chris outlined the revamped setlist for this week, and it was decided that we would run whatever piece anyone felt needed attention, and in between each piece we would run the Fugue. This worked pretty well. We worked on “I Am The Walrus”, “Slow Burn”, “Tango Apasionato”, “Mad World”, “Tico Tico”, “Eye of the Needle” and “Thrak”. In between each, we ran the Fugue, for better or worse, occasionally appending the Prelude.

During the break, Jaxie provided, hot from the oven, butterscotch bread pudding, from the recipe that was such a hit at the Raft Island retreat. A winner once again.

Extra Extracurricular group workout

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, December 5, 2011 – Extra Extracurricular group workout

Jaxie, Carl, Greg and Curt got together for 90 minutes to drill through the B Minor Fugue. Very useful. Personally, I feel that I have developed a relationship with this piece beyond the (daunting) task of simply playing the right notes at the right time. This makes it all feel possible to me, which is a good thing since I have no doubt that it will be in the setlist this Thursday.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday December 3, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Fugue No. 24 in B minor, BWV 869, from the Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1

…for 3 hours.

I suspect there are lot of guitarists taking afternoon naps.

Tuning the Air #223

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday December 1, 2011 – Tuning the Air #223

Tuning the Air #223
December 1, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

Tuning the Air in F Major (TTA)
Slow Burn (Binder/Williams/et al)
Little Red Truck (Germain)
A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur (Gavin)
B Minor Prelude (JS Bach)
Tango Apasionato (Piazzolla)

Tico-Tico no Fubá (Abreu)
Gnossienne (Satie)
Vashon Ferry (Metcalf/Abuladze)
Chanson de Mardi Gras (Trad)
Circulation in A Minor (TTA)
Space Circus Part I (Corea)
five-five-FIVE (Zappa)
I Will (Lennon/McCartney)

I Am The Walrus (Lennon/McCartney)
Mad World (Orabal, arr Andrews)
Fallout (Gibson/Williams)
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II (Fripp)

Encore:

Eye of the Needle (Fripp)
Spiral (Cmaj/min) (TTA)

Extracurricular group workout 12

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 12

A quintet this afternoon: Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, Jaxie and Curt.

We began with “five-five-FIVE”. For me, this is one that needs regular rehearsal, as I am still working on my command of the part. We ramped up from a modest tempo, eventually getting up to our blazing target 198bpm. Interestingly, we found some of the interim tempos more difficult than the faster target.

As it is the opener on Thursday, Jaxie suggested we run “Slow Burn”. With missing parts, this was particularly challenging, especially the cascade arpeggios in the middle. We returned to that middle part several times to clear up some details.

“Connecticut Yankee” was up next. Tempo has been an issue with this one; we generally play it on the slow side. We ran it a number of times, also ramping up the metronome. After a number of passes, we determined that the target tempo we set some time ago is a bit too frantic, and so notched that back a bit. As I bring this in, it will be up to me to do some personal practice with the metronome, to ensure that I introduce the bass line at the right tempo.

A 5/9 version of the Bach “B Minor Prelude”. Always interesting and entertaining to rehearse circulated pieces with parts missing – in this case, almost half of the parts missing. We have sufficient command of the piece now that even these loping renditions are doable, coherent and even musical. We joked that we should perform it like this some day.

Ended with some detail work on “Larks’ Tongues”, looking at the parts the Tony had added when he was performing with us. These parts fall to Carl. Tony had showed them to him, in a rush at the end of our last rehearsal together, so we needed to do some reconstruction. We even tried to get Tony on skype, but he was unavailable. In the end we worked it out. A number of passes through the affected sections was necessary to get it right.

Chris had to leave. The remaining 4 of us ran a 4/9 version of the B Minor Fugue. Carl and Jaxie carry the heaviest load on this piece, and wanted as many opportunities to play through it as possible. For Mary Beth and myself, it is all about counting, to ensure that we make our entrances at the right place. We are going to meet again on Friday to continue this. Saturday’s rehearsal will be focused on this piece for the entire group.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday November 28, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Back from the Thanksgiving break, with all hands on deck. Travis a little under the weather. The rest of us also a little slow getting back up to speed.

The first hour focused on the B Minor Fugue. The closer we get, the farther away it seems. Some very challenging elements to this arrangement, not the least of which is long tacits that require diligent counting if there is any hope for entrances in the right places. No room for even a moment of lapsed attention. On the upside, we are able to hold it together well enough that we can each finally hear our own parts in the context of the whole piece, and that helps us to identify musical cues that are necessary. Moving from playing parts to playing music. It is not in the set for this week, but Saturday’s rehearsal will be entirely dedicated to this piece, so a debut on the 8th is definitely in the realm of possibility; and given that there are only two more opportunities to perform it, perhaps even in the realm of probability.

Short break and then on to this week’s set. Chris has stirred things up a bit. No new repertoire for this week, but changing up the order. He read through the set, and then we ran it. We played as many pieces as time would allow – very necessary since we are a little rusty from the holiday – and tested all of the transitions, even on the pieces we didn’t play. Reviewed the zithers for the spiral circulation; Tony was in the performance team for the last couple of shows, so we needed to revert to the arrangement we used before that. The new opening segment seems to be very strong. One on-the-fly change to the second segment presented itself, and is a clear improvement.

A short discussion of practicalities for the final three shows, focusing on the anticipation of increased audiences. Invitations have gone out to everyone who has ever been part of the Tuning the Air company to be our guests for the final show.

Tuning the Air #222

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday November 17, 2011 – Tuning the Air #222

Tuning the Air #222
November 17, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
Tango Apasionato

Tico-Tico no Fubá
Vashon Ferry
Chanson de Mardi Gras
I Will
five-five-FIVE
Gnossienne
I Am The Walrus

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss-Cross Circulation (Cmin)

Second Encore:

Eye of the Needle

Extracurricular group workout 11

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 11

Seven on hand this afternoon: Curt, Greg, Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, Jaxie, and Tony.

“five-five-Five” is on the setlist for tomorrow’s show, so this was our opportunity to get it up to speed, as it were. “Speed”, in this case is still about 85% or our eventual target tempo, but still fast enough to achieve escape velocity. We began by running it at about 80% of that, listening and exploring the relationships between the parts, and identifying points of timing, picking technique and phrasing that need to be clearly articulated as we take the tempo up. We worked up to the target working tempo, with and without the metronome. When an area of concern appeared, we slowed it back down and focused on that until we had cleared it up, and then pushed ahead.

We moved on to several runs through “Tango Apasionato”, looking a details of phrasing and tempo.

Just before the break, Jaxie and I ran through the newly rearranged “I Will” several times. Some discussion among the group about matters of phrasing, and a general consensus that the changes are a definite improvement.

Greg departed, and we reconvened with a runthrough of “I Am The Walrus” with metronome. Tony has been improving through the outro, but Jaxie saw a part that he could take on, which doubles Bob’s part, and we worked a bit on that.

On a lark, we took a shot at the first half of the B Minor Fugue. Jaxie and Carl hold down the largest parts of this section, and had spent part of the morning rehearsing it together, so they were well warmed up. With the staggered entrances, simply keeping track of long tacits may in the end be the biggest challenge of this piece. With a little help from Tony counting bars, this came off remarkably well, even with 3 parts missing.

Tony requested a runthrough of “Fallout”, as he is still working at mastering the melody, and its rather idiosyncratic timing. We went through the entire piece once, and then looped the main section a few additional times so that he could get some time in on that melody in context.

One more “five-five-FIVE” and we called it a day.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday November 14, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Full team on board, including Tony and Darlene.

The first hour was entirely dedicated to the B Minor Fugue from Book One of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This is different from anything we have ever played in this project, and since it involves staggered entrances of statements, playing it from anywhere but the beginning is a bit of a chore, with people grabbing for their scores to be sure about what bar we are talking about. The overall feel of this part of the rehearsal was an odd combination of feeling helpless in front of the challenge, and the growing sense that in spite of everything, it is really possible. We never achieved a flawless runthrough, but several were good enough that the potential of the piece was clearly evident. We did once through the Prelude and then into the Fugue in order to get a taste of how that will flow.

A break that included cupcakes (courtesy of Tony) in celebration of Mary Beth and Taylor’s second wedding anniversary. A number of us reminiscing about the endlessly modulating rendition of “Brasil” that we played at the wedding, as the guests moved from the ceremony to the bar and their dinner tables. One of their wedding gifts was a box of 3 bottles of champaign, each tagged to be consumed at 1-year intervals on November 14. We popped open the one marked 2011. Fortunately, with so many of us present, this meant only a sip for everyone, and the rest of the rehearsal was not too adversely affected.

For the balance of rehearsal, we looked at assorted details. Work on the middle section of “Slow Burn”, which continues to be blissful when it works, but a little labored when it doesn’t. Discovered several little changes that make the transitions to and from this section much stronger, and discovered a bit of attitude that enlivens the section itself.

Talked through the middle set, which features small group pieces. Chris had a slight reordering that will keep things moving a bit. A final “in or out” decision made about “I Will” came out “in”. The trio discussed one clear change in the arrangement, and will look for an opportunity to rehearse before Thursday. “five-five-FIVE” is in the set for Thursday. We touched on it briefly, and made plans to make it the focus of Wednesday afternoon’s extracurricular rehearsal.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday November 12, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

B Minor Fugue day. This is a major undertaking. In some ways, a little silly in light of the fact that there are only 4 more shows. But we are not interested in cruising into home plate, so we are turning up the heat. This was a hard session of piecing together a very complex composition. There is a very clear and followable logic to Bob’s arrangement, but it will take a while for us to be able to discharge the parts accurately enough to really follow the arrangement, so for now it mostly involves a lot of counting. Tony, who does not have a part in this arrangement, became the designated measure counter, which was very useful. It is going to take a while, but “a while” is something we don’t really have, so we need to push. Agreed to have the first half memorized and playable for Monday night’s rehearsal.

Primarily work on matters of detail on several pieces that Bill had observations on. Specifically “Slow Burn”, “Tango Apasionato” and “I Will”. We managed a lot of detail work on the first two, clearing up the areas that were weak; largely matters of tempo and feel, rather than execution of parts. This is a time-consuming process, but in the end a very fruitful one.

We needed to move on to “five-five-FIVE”, so there was not time to properly look into “I Will”. Bill took a few minutes to articulate his observations, which included more than one bitter pill. Without decision, we agreed to come back to this on Monday.

“five-five-FIVE” was next. It is a twisty little beast. Chris is determined to have this up and running for Thursday’s show. A bit of dissention about picking approaches and tempo, but by the end the piece had a shape. More of this on Monday, and setting Wednesday’s afternoon rehearsal aside to dig in as deeply as possible.

Tuning the Air #221

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday November 10, 2011 – Tuning the Air #221

Tuning the Air #221
November 10, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
Tango Apasionato

Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Chanson de Mardi Gras
Gnossienne
I Am The Walrus

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss-Cross Circulation (Cmin)

Extracurricular group workout 10

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, November 9, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 10

Chris called in sick, so today it was a sextet: Curt, Jaxie, Mary Beth, Carl, Greg, and Tony. We primarily worked on pieces that Tony will be playing, giving him a little extra work on details.

We began with “Mad World”, focusing on the timing of the hocketed melody. I was paying particular attention to this, to make sure the score I put together for the Contemporary Guitar Ensemble is accurate.

Next up, “Tango Apasionato”. This is new to all of us, so we took the time to run it several times, looking at details of phrasing, dynamics, feel, fingering, and timing.

On to “Fallout”. Tony has taken on the wiggly melody part, so we gave him some space to work with Jaxie on matters of timing and phrasing. I got a bit of a calisthenic workout in the bargain, which was actually much needed.

We pulled out a quintet version of the B Minor Prelude which somehow managed to be remarkably coherent, although I suppose I’ve been playing the piece long enough that I am getting better at filling in the missing bits.

Tony fully Tonyized “Larks’ Tongues”. It is going to be a bit of fun while he is here (2 performances!)

We ran “Walrus” once, with available players and the metronome.

One final “Tango” and we called it a day.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, November 7, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

First rehearsal on the heels of last week’s retreat with Contemporary Guitar Ensemble. Everyone in attendance.

We began with a review of the pieces we learned from CGE, discussing how much work each piece would require to make them performance-ready. One piece will require some time dedicated to learning parts, and that was postponed to some combination of the Wednesday and Saturday rehearsals. The Piazzolla piece, “Tango Apasionado” seemed to be closest, and so we focused on that. Travis had missed the session with CGE where we learned this one, so he listened at first to determine which part would most benefit from another player. We worked through the piece, clarifying details, and Travis ultimately began learning the melody part. Several runs, and the piece came together. It is on the setlist for Thursday. We touched on the transition from the piece it will follow, to general enthusiasm.

Most of the rest of the rehearsal was centered on getting Tony up to speed on pieces he will be playing while he is here the next 2 weeks.

“Fallout” was first. He has taken on the melody part, which is more than a little tricky (“twisted” would better describe it). He had it substantially in his hands, but needed a bit of detail work on the phrasing and arrangement.

A little detail work on “Mad World”. Tony is bolstering the “off-the-beat” part of the melody, with Taylor. We ran it several times. I was paying particular attention to the melody, as I have been getting the score together to send to CGE, and needed to get a couple of details straight.

We did one runthrough of “Connecticut Yankee”, experimenting with a slightly quicker tempo, which we ultimately decided to adopt.

“Larks’ Tongues” next. This is a piece that Tony has a lot of familiarity with, so plugging him in was not a great effort. Just a little work on the middle section, giving Jaxie and Darlene the opportunity to stretch out a bit on their parts.

Last up was the B Minor Prelude. Several runs, with a small last-minute side trip into a particular passage that seemed to me to be missing a note. Tempo is really the most critical issue for the piece. It is not fast, but the motion of the parts is crisp. Finding and maintaining the right tempo continues to be a challenge, and we looked at a number of ways to address this.

The Wednesday afternoon free-for-all rehearsal is on, so we will look at this further.

Tuning the Air #220

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday November 3, 2011 – Tuning the Air #220


Tuning the Air #220
w/Contemporary Guitar Ensemble
Thursday November 3, 2011

Tuning the Space - Joel Palmer

The set

Opening Circulation
Crosstown Traffic (CGE)
Slow Burn (TTA)
B Minor Prelude (TTA)
Tango Apasionado (CGE)
555 (CGE)
"When Ready, Begin"
Circulation in A Minor
Gnossienne (TTA)
Knight Rider (CGE)
Love Maniac (CGE)
Little Red Truck
Mad World (TTA)
Fallout (TTA)
Mulholland Drive (CGE)
I Am The Walrus (TTA)
Dark Secret

Encore #1:

Eye of the Needle

Encore #2:

Thrak

Tuning the Air #219

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday October 27, 2011 – Tuning the Air #219


Tuning the Air #219
October 27, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude

Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Odd Socks
Gnossienne
I Am The Walrus

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss Cross Circulation (Cmin)

Extracurricular group workout 9

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 9

Jaxie in the house for the first time! Thanks to the demolition of the viaduct (or, more accurately, the traffic looking for alternative routes), we got off to a dribbling start. Jaxie, Mary Beth and I were just sitting down when Greg arrived. We began beginning when Carl arrived. We were running “Mad World” with the metronome when Chris arrived.

No particular agenda other than to put in time on anything that seemed it might benefit. A new quintet version of the B Minor Prelude. Very strange, but an indication that we are becoming comfortable with the piece and our parts, and can manage quite well even when 1, 2, 3, or in this case, 4 parts are missing. The beginning of a discussion of blending our articulation and phrasing for more continuity.

A look at “Connecticut Yankee”, reviewing and refining the dynamics, as well as some detailed work on the feel of the bass part.

“Little Red Truck” was next. A couple of simple runthroughs with the metronome, focusing on transitions. Small group work included a couple passes at “Chanson de Mardi Gras”, a duo version of “Tico Tico”, and a bass and vocal rendition of “I Will”.

“I Am The Walrus” in several breakouts, including a vocal and string version, as well as the transition from “Gnossienne”. This led to a full runthrough of “Gnossiene”.

A bit more detail work on “Fallout”, and a runthrough of “Slow Burn”.

On to performance #219 (3x73)

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, October 24, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Short one player, as Travis was called away on family business.

We began with an extended circulation in C Minor. Work with listening and responding, phrasing, cadences and continuity.

On to continued work with the B Minor Prelude. We did some work with the isolated right hand melodies. Travis sits in a pivotal seat for one of these melodies, and so it was a little difficult to hear. Nevertheless, an illuminating exercise, and I found that when afterward we ran the full arrangement, I was hearing the piece with slightly more discerning ears. The Music Director asked the Arranger if the Fugue was ready to present. Parts will be forthcoming this week. Never a dull moment.

“Connecticut Yankee”, with the metronome, focusing on incorporating the dynamic indications we discussed on Saturday.

Darlene was present, so we ran “Gnossienne”, with the metronome.

We discussed the slightly amended set order. “Odd Socks” will be replaced by “Chanson de Mardi Gras” in the Sgt Bones slot. And “I Am The Walrus” will be placed a little later in the set. Several runs through “Walrus” without and then with the metronome. Our tendency is to speed up a bit through the piece – not extreme, just a couple bpm, and rather organic. We decided not to obsess on this, but to continue practicing and rehearsing with the metronome at the prescribed tempo so that it might settle in for us a bit more. We tightened up some of the parts and arrangement issues, and looked at how the piece will transition in the performance.

A couple of runs through “Fallout”, with the metronome; the final time with the metronome up a couple of notches to the composer’s target tempo. We are not quite able to pull it off at that tempo without the piece sounding frantic, but it seemed not as far away as we might have thought.

“Larks’ Tongues” with the metronome, giving the violinist and oboist an opportunity to work through their parts.

One pass at “Tico Tico” without metronome, and “Mad World” with the metronome, and it was time to call it a night.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, October 22, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

All present and accounted for today.

The first hour was detail work on the B Minor Prelude. We worked it section by section. We are at the point with this piece where we can really begin to hear the individual lines within the piece, even as we have our attention on our own parts. At the very least, this means that dropping out or missing notes is no longer a cause for panic. At best it means that we can really begin to connect with the flow of the lines, which is where we need to be. The work in rehearsal on this can be grueling, and sometimes involves long side trips into the minutia of such things as the articulation of individual notes, but the results are tangible as the Music emerges.

On to “Connecticut Yankee”, again focusing on detail work and musical matters. For this piece, that primarily boiled down to 2 areas: 1) dynamics, and 2) the techniques employed to get the sounds out of the guitars that the intro demands. The first of these is pretty straightforward. Nigel had been pretty explicit about dynamics, and now that we have a command of the parts we just needed to readdress these and make sure that we are all following the same score.

“Larks’ Tongues” on the table. This was primarily about tempo. We have been performing it a little slowly, even though there is a sense of pushing ahead in some parts. We looked at some of the technicalities surrounding this, including details like clarity in the count off, and sharpness in the articulation of the Stravinsky chords. Several runthroughs with the metronome. Precision, with no sense of urgency, is the quality we aim for in this piece.

“I Am The Walrus”, again largely work with the metronome, aimed at clear articulation and coordination of the parts, and the spirit of the piece. This piece has been a highlight and source of much audience feedback at our first 3 shows, and there is the sense that there is yet another level awaiting us. A bit of discussion of ways to play a cello part on the guitar; picks are not bows, and there is no way to pretend they are, so the question is how to play a guitar part that honors the writing for cello. Details, details.

“Fallout”, again with the metronome, and again digging deeper into matters of dynamics and phrasing.

Ended with a mini-set of “Little Red Truck” – “A Minor Circulation” – “Space Circus”, largely without comment. Our circulations on Thursday were much improved, although we still haven’t quite captured the spooky esp that is characteristic of our circulating when we are really on our game.

Ended a little early in order to have a “practicalities” meeting for the Tuning the Air retreat that takes place beginning next week.

Tuning the Air #218

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday October 20, 2011 – Tuning the Air #218


Tuning the Air #218
October 20, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
I Am The Walrus

Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Odd Socks
Gnossienne

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss Cross Circulation (Cmin)

Extracurricular group workout 8

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 8

Back in the groove after last week’s break. Greg, Chris, Curt, Carl and Mary Beth in attendance. We made sure that Greg was up to date on the arrangement changes that were made at Monday’s rehearsal, and worked with the metronome on everything. Pieces we touched on…

• “Mad World” run at the new tempo, with the 4 bars dropped from the middle section.
  
• Several runs through “Fallout”, at tempo with the metronome.
  
• A 5-player rendition of the B Minor prelude, with the metronome, which was remarkably coherent.
  
• Several passes through “Connecticut Yankee”, clarifying a couple of technical bits, and looking in detail at dynamics that might help to kick the piece up to the next level.
  
• “Lark’s Tongues” with the extended middle section. We ran the new section several times, and then the whole piece. With Jaxie on violin, Chris had noticed the absence of her guitar part in a couple of places, and is working on a hybrid part for himself that will fill in the gaps. We also observed that we have been playing it somewhat slower than the target tempo.
  
• “Space Circus” also with the metronome, which indicated that we have been performing it a little on the slow side.
  
• After Greg left, one runthrough of “Gnossienne” with Chris and Mary Beth playing the entire melody in unison (except for the couple of minutes when Chris had to run out to move his car so that Greg could get out).
  
• A sloppy-but-getting-there trio version of “Bicycling to Afghanistan”, and then we called it a day.

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, October 17, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

Continued detail work on the more complex material.

We began with a circulation in A minor, which is on the setlist as the set up for “Space Circus”. We had noted on Saturday that we are not circulating enough in rehearsal, and that our live circulations are suffering a little for that. So we are now making time at every rehearsal for this. It is not a skill issue. And A minor is certainly as close to a harmonic no-brainer as they come. But circulation is really about the connections between players. Although most of us have been playing together for many years, this is something that needs to be constantly exercised and renewed.

Carl was back, but Greg out of town, so once again we went to work on a slightly limping session with the B Minor Prelude. Practicing circulated compositions with missing players is actually a very enlightening exercise. The very absence of a particular part serves to highlight their role and function. We, as players, become a bit more discerning about the individual components and how they relate to our own part. Still, there are a couple of things we would like to be able to explore that really require the full team, and Saturday will likely be our first opportunity, if everyone can stay healthy and in town.

Some detail work on “Mad World”, beginning with a discussion of the target tempo. It has been inconsistent, and was pretty fast in the last performance. With a bit of trial and error we settled on a tempo a bit faster than our original target, but slower than I’ve been counting it. This was followed by some refinement work on the melody, and one minor change to the arrangement involving dropping 4 bars in the middle chorus which tightened the piece up considerably.

A couple of runthroughs of “Fallout”, with focus on the transitions.

During the break, Darlene arrived, and so the second half of the rehearsal focused on pieces with the oboe. First we continued work of “Gnossienne”, with the aim of consistency and continuity in the melody as it is passed from player to player.

A short discussion of the two candidates for the Sgt Bones slot in the set, settling on Odd Socks for this week, as it features the oboe.

Then to “Larks’ Tongues”. The plan is to have both violin and oboe in the heavy rock section. After listening to a run or two, the idea was floated and adopted to extend that section by 4 phrases. We ran the new section several times to ensure our sense of the new length, and then ran the whole piece.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, October 15, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

A number of us had worked on the crew for the Elan Sicroff/Katharina Paul concert of de Hartmann music on Friday night, and we concluded that rather than try to fit ourselves into the performance space for today’s rehearsal, it would be better to just move to my apartment. Carl was under the weather and elected not to infect his band mates. Bill was on hand to lend his ear and observations.

Today was the day for digging in deep. We have learned the new material, and have successfully performed the material, so two hurtles crossed. With what we have learned from these performances, we began looking in detail at ways to deepen our connection to the music.

We began with the B Minor Prelude. The plan was to circulate just the left hand, in order to hear the independent lines more clearly. With Carl absent, this was a challenge, in particular because he is holding the downbeat. Running composed circulations with missing players, in our experience, can actually be a very useful exercise. After some time, however, we felt that we were not getting what we needed from this. We went on to working the entire piece, breaking it up into phrases, and this was much more productive – the missing player was not quite such a distraction. We will continue this on Monday.

“I Am The Walrus” next. Bill had some very good observations to share about the character of this piece, and the Beatles approach to it, and we began to craft the piece and how we approach our individual parts. We looked at details of phrasing for the cello and string players, as well as articulation on the various “sound effects” that are used in the arrangement.

On to “Mad World”, again exploring and refining the ensemble play, as well as making and adjustment to the working tempo.

A great deal of attention then put on the melody of “Gnossienne” – how to connect the phrases played by different players, and maintain a musical through-line.

More on all of this, Monday.

Tuning the Air #217

Tuning the Air #217
October 13, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – the return of the boombox extravaganza

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
I Am The Walrus

Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Cajun Song
Gnossienne

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

Spiral Zithers

Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, October 10, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal

All guitarists present and accounted for. The oboist is out this week.

The first segment was dedicated to the B Minor prelude. We worked with analyzing the form and identified 5 statements/phrases/sections, ranging from 7-16 bars, so that we can isolate and focus on them as necessary in practice. We looked at each phrase in detail, with the metronome, and connected them back into the whole.

“I Am The Walrus” was next. It had occurred to me after the last rehearsal that we had somehow overlooked the “Ho Ho Ho Hee Hee Hee Ha Ha Ha” in the third verse, so we began with coming up with a way to incorporate that. The string/horn section is back to slide this week (without sufficient prep time, that had been dropped last week), so we worked all of the sections to give them a workout. A lot of focus on the various sound effects, in particular the second interlude (“sitting in an English garden…”) and the final “Egg Man” section through the Outro. Several runthroughs with and without the metronome.

For the rest of the rehearsal, we touched on details. Sgt Bones presented a possible substitute for “Odd Socks”, which needs Darlene’s oboe, for this week’s performance. We did some tightening up on the intro and cascade sections of “Slow Burn” and then ran the piece. We reviewed the zithers for the encore, and tested some variations. I also presented a zither to be used in the opening of “Vashon Ferry”. And, an interesting new twist for “Larks” was explored, and approved.

It is going to be an interesting show.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, October 8, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Full performance team at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, except Darlene who has other professional commitments this week and will be sorely missed.

It was out day to dig deep into the more complex arrangements. The first hour entirely given to “I Am The Walrus”, which is moving from the encore into the set next week. We worked section by section, giving the cello/string players the time needed to work out their collective phrasing, and to learn how their parts sit and interact with each other, the rhythm section, and the melodies. The cello part, played by Bob and Jaxie, runs all the way through the piece. Greg, Taylor and Mary Beth are covering the violins, brass, and a plethora of assorted sound effects, many involving the use of the slide.

After a break, we moved on to the B Minor Prelude. At Greg’s suggestion, we played it a number of times. Each performer took a turn directing how it would go for a few minutes. This involved everything from getting on our feet and moving around in the Great Hall, to sitting down and methodically breaking down passages that consistently give us difficulty. All of the exercises were in one way or another designed to get us individually and collectively up and out of our notes, and into the music and the connection with the group.

Another short break, and we took a look at the new encore for next week. This involves a fair amount of blocking, not to mention geometry.

The final half-hour was a planning meeting for the 1-week retreat we will be going out on at the end of the month.

Next rehearsal, Monday.

Opening Night

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday October 6, 2011 – Opening Night

Up at 6:30am, which at this point is still night time out, for the morning sitting with the Sgt Bones team. Afterward, Mary Beth and Carl and I installed the Tonight! posters in the a-frames, drove over to Fremont Abbey Arts Center to set them out, as well as to hang the banner on the north wall. Home to largely personal work for the morning and early afternoon. One lesson late in the afternoon, just before I headed out to the gig. Throughout the day I went through all of the repertoire, focusing on the most difficult bits as necessary. Which meant I played the B Minor prelude a dozen times or more – for the most part, I simply played through it cold, noted where I had made mistakes and looked into them to make sure I knew what was supposed to happen, and then moved on to other material, waiting at least 10 minutes to come back and again run the prelude cold. No train wrecks. A couple of mysterious blanks. It remains a terrifying endeavor. Only when I hear the group cooking on it do I remember why I’m putting myself through this.

The Music Director’s schedule for the day:

4:00 Gig day begins. Where ever we are we pause to acknowledge this.
5:00 Set Up Arrival
6:30 Sound Check!
7:45 Doors Open
8:00 Were on!

Notice the early set up for opening night.

At 4:45 I was out the door and on my way to Fremont Abbey. My guitar, the spare guitar, a gig bag with stands, DI’s and cables for both guitars.

Set up was uneventful. A little tweaking to do on the sound system, but only minor glitches that were easily rectified. Since we began a little early this week, as a precaution, there was even time for us to find a quiet corner to warm up, and for small groups of us to run pieces.

At 6:30, a full soundcheck; very quick. And then we went through the set, touching on every piece, and running a number of the ones that are newest and most in need of continued regular attention. A bit of work with blocking and lighting, and before we knew it, it was time for the doors to open.

We were quite shorthanded, so I worked the front of house with Jim and only joined the team when it was time to go on; a necessary choice that I’d prefer not to have to repeat, as it wasn’t until about 1/3 of the way through the show that I actually arrived in the performance team.

On the technical/practical side, a generally good performance, with only one actual train wreck. The B Minor Prelude crashed and burned. So badly that at the end I heard my voice call out, “let’s try that again.” Which we did, and this time it worked. Everything else was good. Plenty of clams, and all kinds of information about what we need to look at in this week’s rehearsals. But the show itself was quite good. We dropped programmed “speaking moments” in the set in favor of more spontaneous speaking as the spirit moved. This works very well for us. The feel and content of the speaking much less formal and formulaic, and more like a conversation with friends than a speech. This, I think, helps to include the audience in the process, and as a consequence there was a lot of support and help coming our way.

Still a long way to go, but a very good first show. Nine more, and then…?

Tuning the Air #216
October 6, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA

Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer

The set:

A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude

Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Odd Socks
Gnossienne

Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II

Encore:

I Am the Walrus

Extracurricular group workout 7

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, October 5, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 7

The final Wednesday afternoon extra workout before opening night. Chris, Greg, Mary Beth, Carl and myself, with Travis playing hooky from work long enough to join us for the first hour.

In the first hour we worked through some transitions and details of timing and ensemble work on “Little Red Truck”. On “Fallout” some work through the sections, giving us a chance to look closely at the new melody and how it relates to the rhythm section. Tightening up the timing and feel.

After Travis had to depart, the remaining players worked through “I Am The Walrus”. I taught Chris and Carl the rhythm of the “juba juba” chants at the end of the piece, and Greg the “umpa umpa stick it up the umpa” rhythm. We ran the final Eggman chorus into the Outro a number of times, incorporating these additions. Then, through the piece, giving Greg and Mary Beth some time to work on their new parts, covering some string and brass sections. Lot’s of detail work.

A quick review of the bass part from the B Section of “Slow Burn”, and our time was up. The Wednesday work group had been organized as a way to get a little more work in as we prepared for the season. Chris asked if we would like to continue once the season begins, and the consensus was “yes”.

Final Performance Team Rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, October 3, 2011 – Final Performance Team Rehearsal

Our final full team rehearsal before Thursday’s opening night. All performers present and accounted for, including Joel who was hearing the new material for the first time, and Darlene who is performing on (at least) two pieces in the set.

For the first part of the rehearsal we focused on the B Minor Prelude and “I Am The Walrus”; the most complex arrangements we have in the set. This took most of our time. We took a look at a number of passages, sections, and transitions from other pieces; detail work to bring the repertoire together.

After a break we sat down to run the set, basically the same as Saturday, with the addition of the Bach prelude. Other than a couple of false starts, and some quick discussion of practical details, we simply went through it as if it was a performance. For all of us, information gathered in terms of the personal work we need to do before Thursday, as well as some section work we can do at the Wednesday afternoon mini-rehearsal.

Here we go!

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, October 1, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Full performance team in the house at Fremont Abbey. Our resident ears, on a couple of days break between the Humans’ east coast tour and their upcoming UK tour, came to lend his attention and feedback.

The first hour was entirely dedicated to “I Am The Walrus”. We walked through the form, one section at a time. Travis and I on guitar/piano are pretty solid. Chris and Carl were fine-tuning the phrasing and inflections of the vocal lines. Bob and Jaxie have been working on the cello part for the past week, but this was their first opportunity to run it in context. Mary Beth, Taylor and Greg are taking on the rest of the string and horn parts, as well as some of the ancillary sound effects and bits, and this was the first time they were presented with their parts. Time consuming, but necessary. For some in the group, this is pretty new material. At one point I found myself laughing about how young my bandmates are (a strategy for avoiding the alternative: thinking about how old I am), when the question came up about what album this is on.

Several runthroughs. Not ready for primetime, but the form and arrangement are beginning to gel. Over the break, Bill suggested a few things to fill out the arrangement, including arming a couple of guitarists with slides.

Second segment began with the Bach B Minor Prelude. Still shaky, but better than Thursday’s debacle. To tighten things up, we began working from the final bar backwards, which revealed a number of things, including a few blind spots in people’s parts. By the end of the session, we were making it through the piece – not quite art, but the elements begin to emerge.

We ran “Fallout”, giving the lead players a little more time with the new melody line, in the context of the rhythm section. Also, giving the rhythm section a little more time staying on track while the lead players are whipping this twisted melody line.

For the final segment, Bill took a place in the center of the circle and we ran the set. A few revealing moments in terms of what still needs to be tightened up, but an honorable performance. The middle section of “Slow Burn” went remarkably well, which was a pleasant surprise since we only just got it on its feet on Thursday. When we are "on it", it is a stunningly beautiful sequence of passages.

Chris asked us to do our best and run “Walrus”, but I lobbied heavily for Bach first, and he relented. The team responded with the best performance to date – far from flawless, but remarkable in every way. Bill, along with Darlene who was also sitting in the center of the circle, both observed that this needs to be in the set. This was exactly the thought that was passing through my mind. Protests from players, but after a couple of moments the Music Director made the call: “it’s in the set.” Woo hoo.

We then went ahead and ran a best-shot, as-is “Walrus” and called it a day. The small group performing “Vashon Ferry” hung behind and we cleared up some matters of arrangement, and formalized the part I have thus far been improvising, so that I know what to practice for Monday night’s runthrough.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday, September 29, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Chris, Jaxie, Travis and I met about 30 minutes before rehearsal in order to begin working out logistics for next month’s Tuning the Air Retreat. We’ll be heading out for a week of working together with another circle, comparing what we’ve learned from our experiences with our ongoing performance projects, sharing repertoire, and perhaps coming up something new.

The team arrived, and we switched to rehearsal mode. Our big challenge for the week was to come prepared with the entire B Minor Prelude.

Taylor called to say he was stuck in traffic on the bridge, so we began by taking the next steps on “Fallout”. Travis, Jaxie and Bob moved to the other room for section work on the new melody, while the rest of us ran the form at tempo with the metronome, tightening up parts and cleaning up transitions. Taylor arrived and joined us. The other three rejoined the group, and we went through the piece section by section, for the first time with all of the parts in place. Several times through with the metronome, with bits of detail work in between. The piece is up and running.

On to Bach! We just jumped in (sans metronome) to see what would happen. The opening section which we had worked on at length last week, went remarkably smoothly. The new material faltered, but nevertheless it was encouraging. Several passes, each time managing to go off the rails. Once or twice we managed to limp to the end. Chris suggested we go back to the woodshed, working individually to gain command of the parts, and make sure we play it at each rehearsal until it is ready to be unveiled.

“Slow Burn” was the other major item on the table for the evening. The two parts in need of attention were the intro and the cascades in the middle section. The piece had emerged at the very end of last season, and Bill was sitting in for the injured Travis at that time. He had been instrumental in the Intro, so it was something we needed to re-write/arrange. Chris got his part going, and Travis found the necessary counterpart. Bob and Carl took a few minutes to recreate their “fairy finger” parts, and in rather short order the intro came together. For the cascades, we began with the metronome down about 10bpm from performance tempo, and simply drilled the section. After a few passes, the tempo was notched up. A few more passes and we were up to performance tempo. Several full passes on the piece. The intro began to gain life. The middle section was generally journeyman-like, but functional.

We ran each of the remaining full-group pieces, with the metronome at tempo. Notes made about details to be addressed, but we didn’t stop to work on anything.

Next, Saturday at Fremont Abbey.

Extracurricular group workout 6

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 6

Five of us in the house for the afternoon workout: Chris, Greg, Mary Beth, Carl and myself.

Took on 3 pieces today. “Little Red Truck” was first. Primarily, Carl and Chris wanted to get some time in on the outro, which involves them in improvisation through an interesting set of changes. In the process, an idea for the final pass that will involve something composed for them (and possibly a different composed passage every week…?). We also took a close look at several transitions that have been weak in our runthroughs. Carl worked with a range of tempos and eventually settled on 84bpm for our working pace.

On to “Walrus”. We ran it several times. I played the rhythm guitar part, as that is a more solid base. Chris and Carl compared phrasing notes on the melody. We took a detailed look at the Outro and worked with the cello and other parts. I had a thought about a way to incorporate an instrumental interpretation of the rhythmic vocal parts that run through the ending. This will require a little research/transcription work on my part in my copious free time this afternoon, so that it can be presented at tomorrow night’s rehearsal.

Finally, Mary Beth began presenting the parts to her composition, “Constellations”. Sgt Bones is about 1 day ahead of the rest of us on this piece, so Chris and I were playing catch-up. More to follow, to be sure.

Full group tomorrow night. Bach’s B Minor Prelude is at the top of the list, as well as the circulated cascades from the middle section of “Slow Burn” and the cello and horn parts for “Walrus”.

Tuning the Air History – Foreshadowing

Tuning the Air History – Foreshadowing

On December 11-12, 2004, a weekend workshop took place at Seattle Circle’s studio, located on the third floor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Ballard. It was not a music-related seminar, but a number of members of the Seattle Guitar Circle were taking part.

The workshop culminated on Sunday night with a feast. Food for 20 people was cooked at my apartment and shuttled over. From time to time during the meal, the seminar director would call for music. That was our cue. Jaxie Binder, Taylor Sherman, Travis Metcalf, Bob Williams and I would rise, leave the room, collect our guitars, briefly discuss and come up with a 2 or 3 piece “setlist”. We entered the room, took our place and played. This happened 3 times during the evening.

The third time we were called upon to play, we chose for our final selection “Eye of the Needle”, which is also known as “Guitar Craft Theme III”, and is within the repertoire of anyone who has been involved with Guitar Craft for a period of time.

We entered, and performed our first selection. When it came time for “Eye of the Needle”, we spread out and surrounded the audience – to the extent that 5 players can “surround” a banquet table set up for 20 diners. The effect was immediate and profound. Of course, the composition has that quality and effect for anyone who can enter in to it, but there was something in this presentation that seemed to bring the music alive in a very particular way. Collecting ourselves outside of the room after the performance, we had the very clear sense that something momentous had just occurred.

It had been a busy weekend, and my computer had been off as part of the seminar. My journal for that weekend, very brief and written in the wee hours of Monday morning, reflects a recognition of the significance of the moment:

I will also never forget looking up as five of us “surrounded” an audience of 15 people and saying to myself, “hey look! A Guitar Craft Circle!” It was just for a moment, but it was as real as real can be.

Writing about it nearly 7 years after the fact, I honestly cannot recall whose idea it was to present EotN in this way; and that seems just as well. I also don’t remember whether we made the decision out in the hall before the performance, or if it was a spontaneous impulse that came up in the moment. It set in motion a line of exploration and inquiry that brought 10 players together in February of 2005 to test the viability of formal performance in this format, and in the following April Tuning the Air was debuted.

Tech rehearsal at Fremont Abbey Arts Center

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, September 26, 2011 – Tech rehearsal at Fremont Abbey Arts Center

Tech rehearsal. We arrived at Fremont Abbey at 8pm. The samba class that preceded us was just wrapping up. A lot of energy in the room. We took a moment to look at what needed to be accomplished – primarily to set up the gear to ensure it was in working order. We decided not to set up chairs for the audience – we are not changing anything about how the room is arranged for this season, and so it was not a critical item. Plus, given the challenges of the material we are preparing, the more time we could spend with guitars strapped on, the better.

Setup was smooth. No technical difficulties, and with everyone pitching in we were up and ready to soundcheck in 30 minutes. Travis did some basic work on setting up each channel for the particular players, and working out the balance. He then turned control of the board over to Joel and joined the circle.

Chris outlined the working setlist. His plan was to simply run the pieces in whatever form or stage they might be, and to get a rough running time. This would give us the opportunity the become reacquainted with the acoustic characteristics and peculiarities of the room and to begin to make the necessary adjustments. As always, some of what we heard was a surprise. A few of the pieces, “Space Circus” in particular, immediately sing in this environment. Other pieces, primarily the more rocking and rhythmically intricate numbers, require a certain care so that they do not become muddy and imprecise.

For Meleah, this was the first time she was hearing most of the material, and she needed to begin to formulate her strategies for each piece, while the players got a taste of what it will be like to perform with the changing lights. We made sure she got whatever time she needed, and feedback on what we need as well – in particular, “Gnossienne” needs to be well enough lit that players can make unambiguous contact with one another, even from across the circle, as the melody is passed from one to another as the spirit moves.

After a break, Darlene arrived and we re-ran the pieces she will be performing on. A new Sgt Bones piece was a nice surprise, and of course the oboe really sings in this room. We also re-ran “Larks” and did a down and dirty as-is run through “Walrus”.

A little after 10, we began our tear-down and by 10:30 the space was restored and we were out the door.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, September 24, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

We met at my apartment, as Fremont Abbey was booked for a memorial service. Bob is out of town this weekend, so we were not quite a full team.

A good, redemptive rehearsal, after Thursday’s sobering experience.

The Music Director walked us through the entire working full-group repertoire, skipping the circulated pieces – holding off on that until we are all together. We played each piece at least 2 or 3 times, generally with the metronome until the final runthrough. We identified areas in need of detail work or clarification and did what we could as we went, setting sections that need personal work or further investigation aside. In the end, a much better sense of where the pieces are, and some very definite arrangement improvements.

Particular attention paid to several pieces. An in-depth look at phrasing of Satie’s “Gnossienne” was very useful. Darlene’s experience with classical music is extremely enlightening to a bunch of guitarists. But it was one particular and simple musical insight into the nature of grace notes that she shared that brought everything together for us. The furry beast of the house showed a singular interest in the oboe, which added some levity to the day.

Chris brought along the first draft of the cello part for “Walrus” to give to Jaxie. The rhythm section plus Carl on Lennon-voice ran the piece with Chris demonstrating the part (with Jaxie on page turning). The potential of the piece is beginning to reveal itself. So is the amount of work in front of us.

Monday night: tech rehearsal at the Abbey.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday, September 22, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

The inevitable night of crushing and inconsolable despair, when the knowledge of just how close we are to opening night crashes head-on into the awareness of just how far from ready we are. There is no avoiding it. In every rehearsal period of every season, this rehearsal is going to happen, and there is no way to stop it. And yet, knowing that is somehow no consolation.

We began with the next 12 bars of the Bach Prelude. It wasn’t pretty – okay, the music isn’t just pretty, it’s gorgeous; our competence at playing it, however, was another story. The absence of one player (Mary Beth is out of town) doesn’t help when working on a composed circulation, but we have done it before – in some ways it can be quite educational, although that is generally more effective when we are already a little competent with the piece. We did what we could, and then looked at what our strategy for the next week will be to get this up to standards. Our work is clearly cut out for us.

Next was work on “Slow Burn”; specifically the cascade section. The hiccup of the missing player again a difficulty, but progress made. We ran the entire piece for the first time. Much work to do.

From there we moved through the entire current repertoire list, not dwelling on any one piece for very long, but simply identifying issues to be addressed.

A rhythm section and melody rendition of “Walrus”. Interpreting vocal inflections for the guitar was discussed; when to be literal vs finding our own phrasing? The big challenge moving forward is the arrangement of the cello and horn parts. Chris will begin presenting this on Saturday – it is a big challenge.

“Larks” runthrough. This is substantially there. Some discussion of the pros and cons of various potential edits looked at, but the current sense is that it goes in its current form. I had transcribed some specific bass passages for the end section, to pump up the build a little, but did not execute them very well, and there was no time for extra rehearsal and so we moved on.

A quick review of some of the small group work. Began with what, for me, was the highlight of the night and the best cause for optimism – the Wilson Trio presentation of “Tico Tico”. Just a splendid little romp, humorous but not frivolous, and very well played. “I Will” with added bass part was not quite so inspiring – still work to do there. “Vashon Ferry” was good; the key players have been working on it for some time. I was improving the bass part for now, but dearly need some actual rehearsal time with this one before it is presentable.

“Space Circus” was quite nice. “Mad World” shaky, but not a train wreck. “Little Red Truck” continues to evolve, but isn’t played with enough confidence to sound complete yet. “Fallout” is still in the R&D phase – the form and all of the parts are written, but there is much work yet to be done before it is playable. “Gnossienne”, with the new arrangement (and finally giving Darlene a chance to get her oboe out) remains a work in progress.

A rough night. Saturday will be better.

Extracurricular group workout 5

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, September 21, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 5

Regulars Mary Beth and Greg were unavailable today. However, Travis was successfully tempted into playing hooky for an extra long lunch and sit in with us for the first half of the session.

Travis and I are, effectively, the rhythm section for “I Am The Walrus”, and Chris and Carl the melody/vocals section. So we worked our way through the piece section by section. Travis and I came up with ways to blend our parts – he is covering the guitar and bass while I do the piano. Chris and Carl began to organize their phrasing. We made it through the piece several times and even came up with a bit of inspiration for how it might fit in the set.

On to a piece borrowed from the Solaris Project repertoire, “Vashon Ferry”. Travis, Carl, Bob and Chris have already put some work in on it (Bob and Travis play an electric arrangement in Third Law). Travis, Chris and Carl worked a bit on the parts. Travis’ thought was that there was a bass part necessary, at least in one particular section, and that will fall to me. We touched on it, but did not take rehearsal time to work out the details. I will spend some time on this before tomorrow night’s performance team rehearsal.

On to “Little Red Truck”. Travis’ part has not been fully established, so we focused our work on fleshing it out. Several good bits arrived that will add a lot to the arrangement.

Travis departed.

The three of us remaining dove into “Bicycling to Afghanistan”. Although it hasn’t appeared on any “official” lists of repertoire for the season, it seems to keep popping up. Carl has been working on Lead I, and I of course have the Bass Part ever at the ready. Chris has played Lead II, but it is the least familiar part for him, so we spent some time breaking it down, looking at the details, and running sections. By the end of the rehearsal we were managing rather raggedy but recognizable full runthroughs, so there is hope.

One or two more passes at “Walrus” before we called it a day.

After the team departed, I began posting the official announcements that this will be the final season of Tuning the Air.

[later that evening]

I was updating the Tuning the Air repertoire history document, and realized that "Bicycling to Afghanistan" has never been performed in a Tuning the Air show. A little surprising.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, September 19, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Circulation night.

The assignment for tonight, along with everything else we need to stay on top of, was to have bars 1-17 of the B Minor Prelude ready to go. This is a circulated arrangement, so learning and practicing an individual part is a singularly academic exercise. Many of us have been practicing along with a recording by Glenn Gould, which at least gives the work some context. But it was clear from the moment we began to run the piece that none of us had actually heard it before. Our first attempt derailed pretty quickly, but for a moment the power of the arrangement was crystal clear. We took up the practical process of breaking down each statement of the theme and playing it until we could here our own parts within the whole. Then putting phrases together until we were able to reliably execute 17 bars of music. Stunning. My experience was that while the learning of a part like this is draining, physically and mentally, playing it with a group such as this (is there any other group such as this?) is energizing in the extreme.

During the break, Travis, Chris and Bob worked a bit on their arrangement of “Vashon Ferry”. I noticed that a section that could use a bass line, and Travis observed that he had the same thought. More on that in upcoming days.

The missing details for “Slow Burn” were next. The intro is yet to be rearranged, and we elected to skip over it for tonight. I had reconstructed the bass part, so as we ran the piece I was calling out changes to Greg. Then, on to the cascades for the middle section. Bob had come up with a harmonic scheme, which, on Jaxie’s suggestion, he had tweaked to create a rhythmically compelling set of arpeggios. We were each assigned our parts, consisting of 5-6 chord voicing per guitarist, to be played in an expanding “cascade”. We are familiar with the way the part works, but the particular voicings and the number of players is the new element. One interesting and challenging surprise was the way the circulation wraps around at the repeats, so that 3 of us are scrambling a bit. Doable. Not easy, but doable.

We ran the new arrangement of “Gnossienne” a number of times. For several passes I called out the Satie indications at the appropriate sections. The arrangement itself is challenging – no room for anything but full attention. The qualities that Satie ascribes help to move the overall arc of the piece in a much clearer flow.

Just before calling it a night, the Wilson Trio (Bob, Jaxie and Carl) wowed us with a stupendous rendition of “Tico Tico”.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, September 17, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Full performance team on hand for rehearsal in the performance space in the Great Hall at Fremont Abbey. The Music Director reiterated the list of pieces he would like up and running at opening night. Today was detail work on several pieces.

Most notably, “Gnossienne” turned a big corner. It began with some discussion about what the music was asking of us and how better to respond. A range of ideas. Travis made a suggestion that seemed to resonate; at least as a worthwhile experiment. A risky idea, but one that ensures that players are on their toes. Several passes through the arrangement, with minor modifications, and it was clear to all present that a new vibrancy had come into the piece. This may not be the final arrangement, if it isn’t, it is clearly a major step along the way.

Chris presented “Fallout” to the entire team. Those of us from the Wednesday group already had the skeleton and a number of parts. For part of the rehearsal, Chris and Bob worked out some of the lead parts that haven’t yet been written, filling in a number of gaps and sending Bob home with some material to work with in order to complete the rest. The form and general arrangement of the piece are in place, and we are on our way to taking it to the next stage.

Preliminary work on bringing “Slow Burn” back to readiness. It was debuted last season, but only performed in the last two shows, and so, along with “Hanging Gardens, Hanging Man”, has a special dispensation with respect to the “all new material” plan for the upcoming season. Most of the piece came back quickly. I will need to reconstruct my bass part for the “B” section, as it was not immediately in my hands. The biggest task is the reconstruction of the cascades in the middle. With the changes in personnel this part needs to be completely re-written. We took a stab at creating it within the circle, but it became apparent that this was going to be cumbersome and slow, so yet more homework for Bob, who volunteered to arrange it.

For the final half hour we ran a mini-set of the pieces currently up and running. It was smooth enough to be encouraging, and rough enough to remind us that we have our work cut out for us.

Next rehearsal, Monday evening. We are charged with being off-book on the first 17 bars of the Bach B Minor Prelude.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Thursday, September 15, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Turning up the heat. Thursday rehearsals added between now and opening night. And tonight the full performance team was available, for the first time since our inaugural meeting on August 22, which seems like a very long time ago, somehow.

We walked through the entire working repertoire, to make sure everyone was up to speed. “Space Circus”, “Connecticut Yankee”, “Larks’ II”, “Mad World”. We ran each piece a number of times, generally with the metronome, focusing on details: what is the target tempo?, who is counting it in?, who are we looking to for cues?, as well as final bits of arrangement, part assignment and such.

We took a little time to present the works in progress: “Fallout”, “I Am The Walrus”. Some discussion on what the pieces need and how to move forward with them. “Tico Tico” was mentioned, but not presented tonight. “Little Red Truck” was presented. It is in its working form, with only a few part and arrangement details to be finalized.

We ended the evening with “Gnossienne”, finally putting a very patient oboist to work. We ran the piece and talked a bit about arrangement possibilities. We ran it a second time, with Mary Beth in the role of “narrator”; that is, calling out Satie’s musical indications. Mindfulness, alone, of these directions changed the quality of the ensemble work considerably. The idea of a voice calling out instructions, or someone holding up placards, or even projections within the performance itself was discussed, and not entirely unseriously. From there we moved on to a scheme in which groups of guitarists and the oboist exchanged the various phrases in a kind of call and response. The particular arrangement we tries was a little arbitrary, but the general sense emerged that this was the right direction to go. A couple of very powerful combinations were discovered and identified. More work is needed to find the rest, but a very significant step forward.

On Saturday we are once again (hooray) all back together, at Fremont Abbey. And for Monday’s rehearsal the Music Director asked us to all have the first 17 bars of Bob’s arrangement of the Bach B Minor Prelude ready to go.

Extracurricular group workout 4

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 4

Once again, Greg, Chris, Mary Beth, Carl and Curt in the house for a couple hours of work on current and new repertoire.

We began with “Connecticut Yankee”, as Chris had not been able to be at Monday night’s rehearsal. Continuing to clarify and embody the parts. Some discussion of the various arrangement choices on the available recordings, and which ones we might adopt. We ran the piece several times, with and without the metronome.

We moved on “Little Red Truck”, which has not yet appeared in the full performance team rehearsals. Continued establishment of parts, as well as further refinements. This will probably be presented on Thursday.

“Larks’ Tongues” was next, at Greg’s request, just keeping it fresh. We took a little time to look at the cross-faded section, and a way come out of it with clarity and definition. Also, a decision about who to look to for the various cued entrances.

Curt suggested Chris’ new psycho-surf composition, “Fallout”, next. We had done some test runs on various sections last Wednesday, and with that information Chris had gone back to the drawing board. This week, although still in skeletal form, the shape and basic elements of the piece were in place. Chris reminded us of the parts that had survived the edits, and taught us the new parts. Through this process, a number of ideas flew by, and by the time we were done a working arrangement was beginning to emerge. Several big holes yet to be filled, and details to be decided, but the piece has clearly moved from sketch-of-an-idea to work-in-progress.

We touched, once again, on the intro to “I Am The Walrus” and ran it several times. Chris and I then did a rough-and-ready runthrough of the piece, as far as we could on the fly; Chris on the vocal line and myself on the guitar part.

With only a few minutes before Chris and Greg needed to leave, we ran “Gnossienne”, with a little discussion of the performance we did of it for Nigel on Saturday, and the next steps necessary to arrive at the right arrangement.

As Greg packed up his guitar, Carl, Chris and I to a stab at “Bicycling to Afghanistan” at a brisk but manageable tempo. Crashed and burned at F#. Personal work to do on this one.

Carl, Mary Beth and I spent another 20 minutes firming up the parts we had learned for “Fallout”, and running the coda to “Little Red Truck”, and then called it a day.

Full group rehearsal Thursday even

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, September 12, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Eight of us in the house. Chris had to work, and asked me to drive the rehearsal for this evening.

Travis is finally back from 2 weeks abroad on family business, so tonight’s rehearsal was largely dedicated to getting him up to speed on the material we have been working on in his absence.

We began with “Connecticut Yankee”. We learned this in a (relative) hurry on Saturday, and wanted to make sure that all of the parts, bits and pieces were solidly in hand. We began with some section work. I took the team playing the bass part off to another room, and we reviewed the parts, while the others cranked through the twisty chromaticism of the melodies. We regathered and ran the various sections for clarity, and then the entire piece. Tempo was a question. We worked at an intentionally slow tempo for this work, but the target tempo was in question. I settled on a fairly relaxed tempo to adopt for the time being. Later review of the various recorded versions indicate that it is traditionally performed at a much brisker pace. The trick to pulling it off has to do with playing relaxed – there is a certain frantic quality to the composition, but frantic-ness as a quality of the playing is guaranteed to kill the fun of the piece. Nigel is nothing if not completely at ease in his delivery of even the most complex passages, and this is the quality to aspire to as we move forward on this.

We moved on to “Mad World”. Travis’ part in this is not difficult, and he had it well in hand. A new part for Bob and Jaxie took a little time to work out. This was developed over a few runthroughs, largely with the metronome.

After a short break, we moved on to “Space Circus”. This was largely review for Travis, as we had worked on it with him before his departure. Several times through with the metronome.

To “Larks’ Tongues”. Travis had put in the work on his part for this over the summer, but had not yet played it together with the group. After a couple of times through, it all came back to him. We focused on several sections, moving toward clarity of parts, consensus on dynamics and feel, and simply working out the difficult bits.

As time ran out, we took one last shot at “Connecticut Yankee”… not quite there yet, but all of the elements intact.

Another extracurricular group workout on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday rehearsals begin this week. This will be the first time this season, since our opening meeting, that the entire performance team has been in the room at the same time.

Project practicalities lie ahead… house team, we still need a sound person, and there is a significant public announcement coming shortly.

Performance team work with Nigel Gavin

A Tuning the Air Journal

Saturday, September 10, 2011 – Performance team work with Nigel Gavin

The performance team met this morning at Fremont Abbey. It was our first time back in the performance space since the end of last season, and it felt good to get back home. Nigel Gavin, in town for a number of gigs, worked with us for then entire rehearsal.

When it was learned that Nigel would be in town and available, the first words out of the Music Director’s mouth were “Connecticut Yankee!”, and that was the focus of our work for the day.

We opened with a bit of circulation in C Major. Refreshing.

Nigel then began by performing a solo arrangement of the piece on his 7-string OST guitar. Very entertaining, and for those of us who are familiar with the ensemble arrangement as it was performed by the League in the early 90’s, there were a number of wonderful little turns and jokes in this arrangement that were delightful.

Nigel switched to the NST guitar, and we got down to the business of working through the piece section by section. A transcription of the piece – incomplete, but a useful beginning point – has been floating around, so many of the team were already familiar with the basic form at least, as well as some of the bits and pieces. I played the piece with the League, and with a little homework this week my part had reassembled itself, and I was able to lay down a reliable bass part as we learned the twisty chromatic melody bits. Many points of clarification in terms of fingerings, harmonies, and details of dynamics. Particularly fun was to watch and hear as Darlene, whose background is NOT in the “oral tradition” of learning music, managed to pick up these melodies on the oboe.

Once we had the first section up and running we took a short break. When we reconvened, Nigel asked us to play something for him. “Space Circus” and “Larks’ Tongues”. Nice to have a little verification that these pieces are now reliably performable.

On to the next part of “Yankee” – the marching arpeggios. This was pretty fast work. The final section – comprised of a kind of cascading polyrhythms – was the part we had the least understanding of going in. As is often the case, it is really quite simple; just not obvious. With that, the sense was that all of the bits and parts were residing somewhere in the collective knowledge of the group, and that we would be able to reconstruct everything in upcoming rehearsals. We ran the piece several times.

Another short break. Nigel performed one more piece for us. Chris asked him if he had any other material to present, and he brought out a harmonic sketch that he thought we might be able to take and develop into something. Referred to as “Spiral Up”, it is a set of modulating triads that, after 4 sequences, comes back to the beginning; a kind of harmonic ouroboros. We looked at a number of possibilities for variations, improvisations and development. At the end, he handed the handwritten sketch to the Music Director, who will scan and distribute it.

We closed the day’s work with a bit of circulation in F Minor.

A number of us are performing at a House Concert with Nigel this evening. Travis returns this weekend and will be onboard for Monday’s rehearsal. I’ll be sitting in directing the work that night, as the Music Director has to work, and I suspect that in addition to reviewing “Connecticut Yankee” to make sure that everything is in place, we will largely work with getting Travis up to speed on the work we’ve been doing in his absence.

Extracurricular group workout 3

A Tuning the Air Journal

Wednesday, September 6, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 3

“Guinea Pig” day at the extracurricular group workout. Curt, Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, and Greg (just arrived back from Colorado this morning) in place for an afternoon largely of experimentation with new material.

Chris and I had been discussing the possibilities of “I Am The Walrus”. He had an arrangement in place for the intro, ready to hear in the circle. I spent some time yesterday and this morning looking at the voicings of the piano chords and adapting them for the guitar (in NST, that is no mean task). We were able to cobble together a working quintet arrangement of the intro and the first verse. Overall, although this is clearly not the final arrangement, we came away from the work with the clear sense that this is doable. Chris will begin to score the string sections and I am going to dive into the piano, guitar and bass parts. Since we have a special project set for Saturday’s rehearsal, and Chris is out for Monday’s rehearsal, it will probably be next Thursday before we get down to business in earnest, although we will have the next Wednesday extracurricular workout to test arrangements further.

After a short break, we came back together and took a look at a new section of Chris’ work in progress, “Fallout”; a twisted little bit of polyrhythm in a psycho-surf setting.

We ran Carl’s “Little Red Truck”, with Carl demonstrating the new “Bob and Jaxie” part for Greg and Chris to hear. Carl noticed a clash in one place between the new part and the melody, and took a moment to devise a solution. Chris and Carl looked at some improv options for the coda section, and I experimented with some coloration. Definite forward movement.

We ran “Larks’ Tongues” with the metronome several times, just because we really need to play this every time we get together. It is gelling very nicely.

Greg needed to depart. Before he left, we ran “Gnossienne”, once without the metronome and again with it. Some refinement among the melody players regarding phrasing.

We completed the session as a quartet. On to “Mad World”. Carl covered the “Bob and Jaxie part”, and I the chord accompaniment. On Monday I was left with a sense that something was missing in the arrangement, particularly during the verse. This morning I had the idea of Bob and Jaxie improvising a circulation using only chord tomes through the changes, during both the verses and the interludes. Chris and Carl took on the challenge of this circulation, while Mary Beth held down the melody and I the chords. For my ear, it sounded as though we had found the missing link. On Monday the piece felt like a lovely but slightly bright idea to me; today, a viable piece of repertoire.

We ended the day with several passes on “Space Circus”, with the metronome (this piece needs to be played with the metronome every time, for quite some time to come.)

As folks were packing their gear to go, we listened to “Space Circus Part II”, and a lively discussion ensued of the relative qualities of Bill Connors vs Al DiMeola.

Tomorrow, Nigel Gavin’s performance at Good Shepherd. Saturday, we work with Nigel on “Connecticut Yankee”.

Performance team rehearsal

A Tuning the Air Journal

Monday, September 5, 2011 – Performance team rehearsal

Seven onboard for a Labor Day rehearsal tonight. Travis and Greg out of town.

First up was “Little Red Truck”. Jaxie and Bob had not played it yet, so Carl outlined the form and details. The chord accompaniment is a kind of chugging, pulsing part, and there was concern that it would be muddy with too many people on it. We tried several strategies for addressing this. A new part for Bob and Jaxie emerged from this; a twisty little arpeggiated figure in the middle register that adds some depth harmonically and opens the piece up rhythmically. A few other minor additions; a bass line for me on the bridge, some higher register rhythmic improvised bits for Chris, all pointing to the potential for a bit of fun.

After a short break, we touched on the rest of the pieces currently in process. I brought Bob up to date on some refinements to the bass part in “Larks Tongues”. We looked at some dynamics possibilities, as well as the closing fanfare. Ran the piece several times with and without the metronome. “Space Circus” reviewed, refinements added, and work with the metronome. Both of these pieces are very close to ready.

On to “Mad World”. With Greg and Travis out, I covered the chord accompaniment, leaving Chris alone on the cello part. Bob and Jaxie had worked out a lovely set of fingerings for the hocketed arpeggio, allowing for the maximum amount of notes to ring. Very effective. With all parts present, we ran the piece several times. Some discussion of the fingering and articulation on the melody, with the aim of consistency amongst the players in order to tighten up the ensemble playing, as well as maximizing the lyricism of the melody. My sense was that we are up and ready on the arrangement as it was presented, but that there might be some tweaks yet to be discovered that will bring the piece together. Carl noted a wonderful symbiosis between the bass notes of the chord part and the cello. I also noticed a lovely rhythmic conversation between the arpeggio and the melody.

One runthrough of “Gnossienne” followed by a little conversation about next steps, and we called in a night.

On Thursday evening we have Nigel Gavin in town, performing at Good Shepherd. On Saturday Nigel with join us for our rehearsal. “A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur” is in the plan for that, along with anything else Nigel might care to share.