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.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
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”.
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”.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
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:
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.
Monday, September 26, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
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”.
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”.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
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
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
Monday, September 12, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
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”.
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”.
Monday, September 5, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Saturday Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday, September 3, 2011 – Saturday Rehearsal
Performance team rehearsal once again at Curt’s place, from 9:30 to 12:30. Chris, Curt, Carl, Mary Beth, Taylor, and Greg; Travis, Bob and Jaxie out of town this weekend.
As we sat down, Carl’s “Little Red Truck” was clearly in the air, having been worked on at a recent Sgt Bones rehearsal, so that is where we began. We reviewed the form. This time Chris picked up the melody, and I moved to the chords. Once the skeleton of the form was in place and reliable, we began playing with additional bits; possible bass lines, places for improvisation, etc. This piece is now substantially in the group’s collective hands and ready for real rehearsal and refinement.
A little time dedicated to staying on top of “Larks II”. This is very solid, but needs to be played as often as possible. Carl and Taylor both observed that one particular transition seemed very weak – we play it well, so it was not an execution issue, but somehow it was harmonically unsatisfying and seemed to lose some steam at that moment. Looking closer, we realized that there was one wrong note being played in one of the guitar parts at that spot. Once that was corrected, things fell quickly into place.
We also ran “Space Circus I” several times. It is also substantially in our command. Keeping the tempo up and the overall feel light and dancing is the primary challenge. We continue to work with the metronome, in order to internalize the tempo.
From Chick Corea on to “Mad World”. Carl, Mary Beth and Taylor are on the melody, and they had done some work this week on both humanizing and standardizing the phrasing. Much improved from last week. Without Bob and Jaxie, I was again covering the arpeggio, so we have not heard the full effect yet. We excised a couple of bars from the first verse, to move the piece along a bit; repeated melodies are always an issue when arranging instrumental versions of vocal pieces – where the lyrics move the piece forward, but there is nothing changing in the melody.
Reviewed “Gnossienne”. This piece is also substantially in our pocket. A bit of discussion on how to articulate the grace notes; looking for the middle way between simple slurs and becoming “sing songy”. Work yet to do on Satie’s indications. We took note of these today, and discovered one or two things, but did not press the matter, electing to wait until we are a full group for that. Mary Beth identified one error in the way one of the melody lines was being played, and that was corrected.
Chris gave us a quick taste of a psycho-surf piece he is working on, entitled “Fallout”. He gave us some bits to play in order to hear it for himself, primarily.
Finally, a first stab at the “Cantina Band Song”. Very funny and silly. Fun to play. Needs to be cranked up a notch or two, tempo-wise, to really work. I began to work on some comping chords to fill out the Sgt Bones arrangement a bit.
In preparation for work we’ll be doing with Nigel next week, those of us who know parts did a very rough runthrough of “Connecticut Yankee”. Taylor has an old score that he will share.
Next rehearsal, Monday evening.
Saturday, September 3, 2011 – Saturday Rehearsal
Performance team rehearsal once again at Curt’s place, from 9:30 to 12:30. Chris, Curt, Carl, Mary Beth, Taylor, and Greg; Travis, Bob and Jaxie out of town this weekend.
As we sat down, Carl’s “Little Red Truck” was clearly in the air, having been worked on at a recent Sgt Bones rehearsal, so that is where we began. We reviewed the form. This time Chris picked up the melody, and I moved to the chords. Once the skeleton of the form was in place and reliable, we began playing with additional bits; possible bass lines, places for improvisation, etc. This piece is now substantially in the group’s collective hands and ready for real rehearsal and refinement.
A little time dedicated to staying on top of “Larks II”. This is very solid, but needs to be played as often as possible. Carl and Taylor both observed that one particular transition seemed very weak – we play it well, so it was not an execution issue, but somehow it was harmonically unsatisfying and seemed to lose some steam at that moment. Looking closer, we realized that there was one wrong note being played in one of the guitar parts at that spot. Once that was corrected, things fell quickly into place.
We also ran “Space Circus I” several times. It is also substantially in our command. Keeping the tempo up and the overall feel light and dancing is the primary challenge. We continue to work with the metronome, in order to internalize the tempo.
From Chick Corea on to “Mad World”. Carl, Mary Beth and Taylor are on the melody, and they had done some work this week on both humanizing and standardizing the phrasing. Much improved from last week. Without Bob and Jaxie, I was again covering the arpeggio, so we have not heard the full effect yet. We excised a couple of bars from the first verse, to move the piece along a bit; repeated melodies are always an issue when arranging instrumental versions of vocal pieces – where the lyrics move the piece forward, but there is nothing changing in the melody.
Reviewed “Gnossienne”. This piece is also substantially in our pocket. A bit of discussion on how to articulate the grace notes; looking for the middle way between simple slurs and becoming “sing songy”. Work yet to do on Satie’s indications. We took note of these today, and discovered one or two things, but did not press the matter, electing to wait until we are a full group for that. Mary Beth identified one error in the way one of the melody lines was being played, and that was corrected.
Chris gave us a quick taste of a psycho-surf piece he is working on, entitled “Fallout”. He gave us some bits to play in order to hear it for himself, primarily.
Finally, a first stab at the “Cantina Band Song”. Very funny and silly. Fun to play. Needs to be cranked up a notch or two, tempo-wise, to really work. I began to work on some comping chords to fill out the Sgt Bones arrangement a bit.
In preparation for work we’ll be doing with Nigel next week, those of us who know parts did a very rough runthrough of “Connecticut Yankee”. Taylor has an old score that he will share.
Next rehearsal, Monday evening.
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