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.