A Tuning the Air Journal
Wednesday, November 30, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 12
A quintet this afternoon: Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, Jaxie and Curt.
We began with “five-five-FIVE”. For me, this is one that needs regular rehearsal, as I am still working on my command of the part. We ramped up from a modest tempo, eventually getting up to our blazing target 198bpm. Interestingly, we found some of the interim tempos more difficult than the faster target.
As it is the opener on Thursday, Jaxie suggested we run “Slow Burn”. With missing parts, this was particularly challenging, especially the cascade arpeggios in the middle. We returned to that middle part several times to clear up some details.
“Connecticut Yankee” was up next. Tempo has been an issue with this one; we generally play it on the slow side. We ran it a number of times, also ramping up the metronome. After a number of passes, we determined that the target tempo we set some time ago is a bit too frantic, and so notched that back a bit. As I bring this in, it will be up to me to do some personal practice with the metronome, to ensure that I introduce the bass line at the right tempo.
A 5/9 version of the Bach “B Minor Prelude”. Always interesting and entertaining to rehearse circulated pieces with parts missing – in this case, almost half of the parts missing. We have sufficient command of the piece now that even these loping renditions are doable, coherent and even musical. We joked that we should perform it like this some day.
Ended with some detail work on “Larks’ Tongues”, looking at the parts the Tony had added when he was performing with us. These parts fall to Carl. Tony had showed them to him, in a rush at the end of our last rehearsal together, so we needed to do some reconstruction. We even tried to get Tony on skype, but he was unavailable. In the end we worked it out. A number of passes through the affected sections was necessary to get it right.
Chris had to leave. The remaining 4 of us ran a 4/9 version of the B Minor Fugue. Carl and Jaxie carry the heaviest load on this piece, and wanted as many opportunities to play through it as possible. For Mary Beth and myself, it is all about counting, to ensure that we make our entrances at the right place. We are going to meet again on Friday to continue this. Saturday’s rehearsal will be focused on this piece for the entire group.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 28, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Back from the Thanksgiving break, with all hands on deck. Travis a little under the weather. The rest of us also a little slow getting back up to speed.
The first hour focused on the B Minor Fugue. The closer we get, the farther away it seems. Some very challenging elements to this arrangement, not the least of which is long tacits that require diligent counting if there is any hope for entrances in the right places. No room for even a moment of lapsed attention. On the upside, we are able to hold it together well enough that we can each finally hear our own parts in the context of the whole piece, and that helps us to identify musical cues that are necessary. Moving from playing parts to playing music. It is not in the set for this week, but Saturday’s rehearsal will be entirely dedicated to this piece, so a debut on the 8th is definitely in the realm of possibility; and given that there are only two more opportunities to perform it, perhaps even in the realm of probability.
Short break and then on to this week’s set. Chris has stirred things up a bit. No new repertoire for this week, but changing up the order. He read through the set, and then we ran it. We played as many pieces as time would allow – very necessary since we are a little rusty from the holiday – and tested all of the transitions, even on the pieces we didn’t play. Reviewed the zithers for the spiral circulation; Tony was in the performance team for the last couple of shows, so we needed to revert to the arrangement we used before that. The new opening segment seems to be very strong. One on-the-fly change to the second segment presented itself, and is a clear improvement.
A short discussion of practicalities for the final three shows, focusing on the anticipation of increased audiences. Invitations have gone out to everyone who has ever been part of the Tuning the Air company to be our guests for the final show.
Monday November 28, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Back from the Thanksgiving break, with all hands on deck. Travis a little under the weather. The rest of us also a little slow getting back up to speed.
The first hour focused on the B Minor Fugue. The closer we get, the farther away it seems. Some very challenging elements to this arrangement, not the least of which is long tacits that require diligent counting if there is any hope for entrances in the right places. No room for even a moment of lapsed attention. On the upside, we are able to hold it together well enough that we can each finally hear our own parts in the context of the whole piece, and that helps us to identify musical cues that are necessary. Moving from playing parts to playing music. It is not in the set for this week, but Saturday’s rehearsal will be entirely dedicated to this piece, so a debut on the 8th is definitely in the realm of possibility; and given that there are only two more opportunities to perform it, perhaps even in the realm of probability.
Short break and then on to this week’s set. Chris has stirred things up a bit. No new repertoire for this week, but changing up the order. He read through the set, and then we ran it. We played as many pieces as time would allow – very necessary since we are a little rusty from the holiday – and tested all of the transitions, even on the pieces we didn’t play. Reviewed the zithers for the spiral circulation; Tony was in the performance team for the last couple of shows, so we needed to revert to the arrangement we used before that. The new opening segment seems to be very strong. One on-the-fly change to the second segment presented itself, and is a clear improvement.
A short discussion of practicalities for the final three shows, focusing on the anticipation of increased audiences. Invitations have gone out to everyone who has ever been part of the Tuning the Air company to be our guests for the final show.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Tuning the Air #222
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 17, 2011 – Tuning the Air #222
Tuning the Air #222
November 17, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA
Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer
The set:
Thursday November 17, 2011 – Tuning the Air #222
Tuning the Air #222
November 17, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA
Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer
The set:
A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King ArthurEncore:
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
Tango Apasionato
Tico-Tico no Fubá
Vashon Ferry
Chanson de Mardi Gras
I Will
five-five-FIVE
Gnossienne
I Am The Walrus
Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II
Twinkles (Cmaj)Second Encore:
Spiral Zithers/Criss-Cross Circulation (Cmin)
Eye of the Needle
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Extracurricular group workout 11
A Tuning the Air Journal
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 11
Seven on hand this afternoon: Curt, Greg, Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, Jaxie, and Tony.
“five-five-Five” is on the setlist for tomorrow’s show, so this was our opportunity to get it up to speed, as it were. “Speed”, in this case is still about 85% or our eventual target tempo, but still fast enough to achieve escape velocity. We began by running it at about 80% of that, listening and exploring the relationships between the parts, and identifying points of timing, picking technique and phrasing that need to be clearly articulated as we take the tempo up. We worked up to the target working tempo, with and without the metronome. When an area of concern appeared, we slowed it back down and focused on that until we had cleared it up, and then pushed ahead.
We moved on to several runs through “Tango Apasionato”, looking a details of phrasing and tempo.
Just before the break, Jaxie and I ran through the newly rearranged “I Will” several times. Some discussion among the group about matters of phrasing, and a general consensus that the changes are a definite improvement.
Greg departed, and we reconvened with a runthrough of “I Am The Walrus” with metronome. Tony has been improving through the outro, but Jaxie saw a part that he could take on, which doubles Bob’s part, and we worked a bit on that.
On a lark, we took a shot at the first half of the B Minor Fugue. Jaxie and Carl hold down the largest parts of this section, and had spent part of the morning rehearsing it together, so they were well warmed up. With the staggered entrances, simply keeping track of long tacits may in the end be the biggest challenge of this piece. With a little help from Tony counting bars, this came off remarkably well, even with 3 parts missing.
Tony requested a runthrough of “Fallout”, as he is still working at mastering the melody, and its rather idiosyncratic timing. We went through the entire piece once, and then looped the main section a few additional times so that he could get some time in on that melody in context.
One more “five-five-FIVE” and we called it a day.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 11
Seven on hand this afternoon: Curt, Greg, Chris, Mary Beth, Carl, Jaxie, and Tony.
“five-five-Five” is on the setlist for tomorrow’s show, so this was our opportunity to get it up to speed, as it were. “Speed”, in this case is still about 85% or our eventual target tempo, but still fast enough to achieve escape velocity. We began by running it at about 80% of that, listening and exploring the relationships between the parts, and identifying points of timing, picking technique and phrasing that need to be clearly articulated as we take the tempo up. We worked up to the target working tempo, with and without the metronome. When an area of concern appeared, we slowed it back down and focused on that until we had cleared it up, and then pushed ahead.
We moved on to several runs through “Tango Apasionato”, looking a details of phrasing and tempo.
Just before the break, Jaxie and I ran through the newly rearranged “I Will” several times. Some discussion among the group about matters of phrasing, and a general consensus that the changes are a definite improvement.
Greg departed, and we reconvened with a runthrough of “I Am The Walrus” with metronome. Tony has been improving through the outro, but Jaxie saw a part that he could take on, which doubles Bob’s part, and we worked a bit on that.
On a lark, we took a shot at the first half of the B Minor Fugue. Jaxie and Carl hold down the largest parts of this section, and had spent part of the morning rehearsing it together, so they were well warmed up. With the staggered entrances, simply keeping track of long tacits may in the end be the biggest challenge of this piece. With a little help from Tony counting bars, this came off remarkably well, even with 3 parts missing.
Tony requested a runthrough of “Fallout”, as he is still working at mastering the melody, and its rather idiosyncratic timing. We went through the entire piece once, and then looped the main section a few additional times so that he could get some time in on that melody in context.
One more “five-five-FIVE” and we called it a day.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday November 14, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Full team on board, including Tony and Darlene.
The first hour was entirely dedicated to the B Minor Fugue from Book One of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This is different from anything we have ever played in this project, and since it involves staggered entrances of statements, playing it from anywhere but the beginning is a bit of a chore, with people grabbing for their scores to be sure about what bar we are talking about. The overall feel of this part of the rehearsal was an odd combination of feeling helpless in front of the challenge, and the growing sense that in spite of everything, it is really possible. We never achieved a flawless runthrough, but several were good enough that the potential of the piece was clearly evident. We did once through the Prelude and then into the Fugue in order to get a taste of how that will flow.
A break that included cupcakes (courtesy of Tony) in celebration of Mary Beth and Taylor’s second wedding anniversary. A number of us reminiscing about the endlessly modulating rendition of “Brasil” that we played at the wedding, as the guests moved from the ceremony to the bar and their dinner tables. One of their wedding gifts was a box of 3 bottles of champaign, each tagged to be consumed at 1-year intervals on November 14. We popped open the one marked 2011. Fortunately, with so many of us present, this meant only a sip for everyone, and the rest of the rehearsal was not too adversely affected.
For the balance of rehearsal, we looked at assorted details. Work on the middle section of “Slow Burn”, which continues to be blissful when it works, but a little labored when it doesn’t. Discovered several little changes that make the transitions to and from this section much stronger, and discovered a bit of attitude that enlivens the section itself.
Talked through the middle set, which features small group pieces. Chris had a slight reordering that will keep things moving a bit. A final “in or out” decision made about “I Will” came out “in”. The trio discussed one clear change in the arrangement, and will look for an opportunity to rehearse before Thursday. “five-five-FIVE” is in the set for Thursday. We touched on it briefly, and made plans to make it the focus of Wednesday afternoon’s extracurricular rehearsal.
Monday November 14, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
Full team on board, including Tony and Darlene.
The first hour was entirely dedicated to the B Minor Fugue from Book One of the Well-Tempered Clavier. This is different from anything we have ever played in this project, and since it involves staggered entrances of statements, playing it from anywhere but the beginning is a bit of a chore, with people grabbing for their scores to be sure about what bar we are talking about. The overall feel of this part of the rehearsal was an odd combination of feeling helpless in front of the challenge, and the growing sense that in spite of everything, it is really possible. We never achieved a flawless runthrough, but several were good enough that the potential of the piece was clearly evident. We did once through the Prelude and then into the Fugue in order to get a taste of how that will flow.
A break that included cupcakes (courtesy of Tony) in celebration of Mary Beth and Taylor’s second wedding anniversary. A number of us reminiscing about the endlessly modulating rendition of “Brasil” that we played at the wedding, as the guests moved from the ceremony to the bar and their dinner tables. One of their wedding gifts was a box of 3 bottles of champaign, each tagged to be consumed at 1-year intervals on November 14. We popped open the one marked 2011. Fortunately, with so many of us present, this meant only a sip for everyone, and the rest of the rehearsal was not too adversely affected.
For the balance of rehearsal, we looked at assorted details. Work on the middle section of “Slow Burn”, which continues to be blissful when it works, but a little labored when it doesn’t. Discovered several little changes that make the transitions to and from this section much stronger, and discovered a bit of attitude that enlivens the section itself.
Talked through the middle set, which features small group pieces. Chris had a slight reordering that will keep things moving a bit. A final “in or out” decision made about “I Will” came out “in”. The trio discussed one clear change in the arrangement, and will look for an opportunity to rehearse before Thursday. “five-five-FIVE” is in the set for Thursday. We touched on it briefly, and made plans to make it the focus of Wednesday afternoon’s extracurricular rehearsal.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Saturday November 12, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
B Minor Fugue day. This is a major undertaking. In some ways, a little silly in light of the fact that there are only 4 more shows. But we are not interested in cruising into home plate, so we are turning up the heat. This was a hard session of piecing together a very complex composition. There is a very clear and followable logic to Bob’s arrangement, but it will take a while for us to be able to discharge the parts accurately enough to really follow the arrangement, so for now it mostly involves a lot of counting. Tony, who does not have a part in this arrangement, became the designated measure counter, which was very useful. It is going to take a while, but “a while” is something we don’t really have, so we need to push. Agreed to have the first half memorized and playable for Monday night’s rehearsal.
Primarily work on matters of detail on several pieces that Bill had observations on. Specifically “Slow Burn”, “Tango Apasionato” and “I Will”. We managed a lot of detail work on the first two, clearing up the areas that were weak; largely matters of tempo and feel, rather than execution of parts. This is a time-consuming process, but in the end a very fruitful one.
We needed to move on to “five-five-FIVE”, so there was not time to properly look into “I Will”. Bill took a few minutes to articulate his observations, which included more than one bitter pill. Without decision, we agreed to come back to this on Monday.
“five-five-FIVE” was next. It is a twisty little beast. Chris is determined to have this up and running for Thursday’s show. A bit of dissention about picking approaches and tempo, but by the end the piece had a shape. More of this on Monday, and setting Wednesday’s afternoon rehearsal aside to dig in as deeply as possible.
Saturday November 12, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
B Minor Fugue day. This is a major undertaking. In some ways, a little silly in light of the fact that there are only 4 more shows. But we are not interested in cruising into home plate, so we are turning up the heat. This was a hard session of piecing together a very complex composition. There is a very clear and followable logic to Bob’s arrangement, but it will take a while for us to be able to discharge the parts accurately enough to really follow the arrangement, so for now it mostly involves a lot of counting. Tony, who does not have a part in this arrangement, became the designated measure counter, which was very useful. It is going to take a while, but “a while” is something we don’t really have, so we need to push. Agreed to have the first half memorized and playable for Monday night’s rehearsal.
Primarily work on matters of detail on several pieces that Bill had observations on. Specifically “Slow Burn”, “Tango Apasionato” and “I Will”. We managed a lot of detail work on the first two, clearing up the areas that were weak; largely matters of tempo and feel, rather than execution of parts. This is a time-consuming process, but in the end a very fruitful one.
We needed to move on to “five-five-FIVE”, so there was not time to properly look into “I Will”. Bill took a few minutes to articulate his observations, which included more than one bitter pill. Without decision, we agreed to come back to this on Monday.
“five-five-FIVE” was next. It is a twisty little beast. Chris is determined to have this up and running for Thursday’s show. A bit of dissention about picking approaches and tempo, but by the end the piece had a shape. More of this on Monday, and setting Wednesday’s afternoon rehearsal aside to dig in as deeply as possible.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuning the Air #221
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 10, 2011 – Tuning the Air #221
Tuning the Air #221
November 10, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA
Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer
The set:
Thursday November 10, 2011 – Tuning the Air #221
Tuning the Air #221
November 10, 2011
Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Seattle WA
Tuning the Space – Joel Palmer
The set:
A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King ArthurEncore:
Little Red Truck
Circulation in A Minor
Space Circus Part I
B Minor Prelude
Tango Apasionato
Tico Tico
I Will
Vashon Ferry
Chanson de Mardi Gras
Gnossienne
I Am The Walrus
Slow Burn
Mad World
Fallout
Larks’ Tongues In Aspic, Part II
Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss-Cross Circulation (Cmin)
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Extracurricular group workout 10
A Tuning the Air Journal
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 10
Chris called in sick, so today it was a sextet: Curt, Jaxie, Mary Beth, Carl, Greg, and Tony. We primarily worked on pieces that Tony will be playing, giving him a little extra work on details.
We began with “Mad World”, focusing on the timing of the hocketed melody. I was paying particular attention to this, to make sure the score I put together for the Contemporary Guitar Ensemble is accurate.
Next up, “Tango Apasionato”. This is new to all of us, so we took the time to run it several times, looking at details of phrasing, dynamics, feel, fingering, and timing.
On to “Fallout”. Tony has taken on the wiggly melody part, so we gave him some space to work with Jaxie on matters of timing and phrasing. I got a bit of a calisthenic workout in the bargain, which was actually much needed.
We pulled out a quintet version of the B Minor Prelude which somehow managed to be remarkably coherent, although I suppose I’ve been playing the piece long enough that I am getting better at filling in the missing bits.
Tony fully Tonyized “Larks’ Tongues”. It is going to be a bit of fun while he is here (2 performances!)
We ran “Walrus” once, with available players and the metronome.
One final “Tango” and we called it a day.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011 – Extracurricular group workout 10
Chris called in sick, so today it was a sextet: Curt, Jaxie, Mary Beth, Carl, Greg, and Tony. We primarily worked on pieces that Tony will be playing, giving him a little extra work on details.
We began with “Mad World”, focusing on the timing of the hocketed melody. I was paying particular attention to this, to make sure the score I put together for the Contemporary Guitar Ensemble is accurate.
Next up, “Tango Apasionato”. This is new to all of us, so we took the time to run it several times, looking at details of phrasing, dynamics, feel, fingering, and timing.
On to “Fallout”. Tony has taken on the wiggly melody part, so we gave him some space to work with Jaxie on matters of timing and phrasing. I got a bit of a calisthenic workout in the bargain, which was actually much needed.
We pulled out a quintet version of the B Minor Prelude which somehow managed to be remarkably coherent, although I suppose I’ve been playing the piece long enough that I am getting better at filling in the missing bits.
Tony fully Tonyized “Larks’ Tongues”. It is going to be a bit of fun while he is here (2 performances!)
We ran “Walrus” once, with available players and the metronome.
One final “Tango” and we called it a day.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Performance Team Rehearsal
A Tuning the Air Journal
Monday, November 7, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
First rehearsal on the heels of last week’s retreat with Contemporary Guitar Ensemble. Everyone in attendance.
We began with a review of the pieces we learned from CGE, discussing how much work each piece would require to make them performance-ready. One piece will require some time dedicated to learning parts, and that was postponed to some combination of the Wednesday and Saturday rehearsals. The Piazzolla piece, “Tango Apasionado” seemed to be closest, and so we focused on that. Travis had missed the session with CGE where we learned this one, so he listened at first to determine which part would most benefit from another player. We worked through the piece, clarifying details, and Travis ultimately began learning the melody part. Several runs, and the piece came together. It is on the setlist for Thursday. We touched on the transition from the piece it will follow, to general enthusiasm.
Most of the rest of the rehearsal was centered on getting Tony up to speed on pieces he will be playing while he is here the next 2 weeks.
“Fallout” was first. He has taken on the melody part, which is more than a little tricky (“twisted” would better describe it). He had it substantially in his hands, but needed a bit of detail work on the phrasing and arrangement.
A little detail work on “Mad World”. Tony is bolstering the “off-the-beat” part of the melody, with Taylor. We ran it several times. I was paying particular attention to the melody, as I have been getting the score together to send to CGE, and needed to get a couple of details straight.
We did one runthrough of “Connecticut Yankee”, experimenting with a slightly quicker tempo, which we ultimately decided to adopt.
“Larks’ Tongues” next. This is a piece that Tony has a lot of familiarity with, so plugging him in was not a great effort. Just a little work on the middle section, giving Jaxie and Darlene the opportunity to stretch out a bit on their parts.
Last up was the B Minor Prelude. Several runs, with a small last-minute side trip into a particular passage that seemed to me to be missing a note. Tempo is really the most critical issue for the piece. It is not fast, but the motion of the parts is crisp. Finding and maintaining the right tempo continues to be a challenge, and we looked at a number of ways to address this.
The Wednesday afternoon free-for-all rehearsal is on, so we will look at this further.
Monday, November 7, 2011 – Performance Team Rehearsal
First rehearsal on the heels of last week’s retreat with Contemporary Guitar Ensemble. Everyone in attendance.
We began with a review of the pieces we learned from CGE, discussing how much work each piece would require to make them performance-ready. One piece will require some time dedicated to learning parts, and that was postponed to some combination of the Wednesday and Saturday rehearsals. The Piazzolla piece, “Tango Apasionado” seemed to be closest, and so we focused on that. Travis had missed the session with CGE where we learned this one, so he listened at first to determine which part would most benefit from another player. We worked through the piece, clarifying details, and Travis ultimately began learning the melody part. Several runs, and the piece came together. It is on the setlist for Thursday. We touched on the transition from the piece it will follow, to general enthusiasm.
Most of the rest of the rehearsal was centered on getting Tony up to speed on pieces he will be playing while he is here the next 2 weeks.
“Fallout” was first. He has taken on the melody part, which is more than a little tricky (“twisted” would better describe it). He had it substantially in his hands, but needed a bit of detail work on the phrasing and arrangement.
A little detail work on “Mad World”. Tony is bolstering the “off-the-beat” part of the melody, with Taylor. We ran it several times. I was paying particular attention to the melody, as I have been getting the score together to send to CGE, and needed to get a couple of details straight.
We did one runthrough of “Connecticut Yankee”, experimenting with a slightly quicker tempo, which we ultimately decided to adopt.
“Larks’ Tongues” next. This is a piece that Tony has a lot of familiarity with, so plugging him in was not a great effort. Just a little work on the middle section, giving Jaxie and Darlene the opportunity to stretch out a bit on their parts.
Last up was the B Minor Prelude. Several runs, with a small last-minute side trip into a particular passage that seemed to me to be missing a note. Tempo is really the most critical issue for the piece. It is not fast, but the motion of the parts is crisp. Finding and maintaining the right tempo continues to be a challenge, and we looked at a number of ways to address this.
The Wednesday afternoon free-for-all rehearsal is on, so we will look at this further.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tuning the Air #220
A Tuning the Air Journal
Thursday November 3, 2011 – Tuning the Air #220
Tuning the Air #220
w/Contemporary Guitar Ensemble
Thursday November 3, 2011
Tuning the Space - Joel Palmer
The set
Thursday November 3, 2011 – Tuning the Air #220
Tuning the Air #220
w/Contemporary Guitar Ensemble
Thursday November 3, 2011
Tuning the Space - Joel Palmer
The set
Opening CirculationEncore #1:
Crosstown Traffic (CGE)
Slow Burn (TTA)
B Minor Prelude (TTA)
Tango Apasionado (CGE)
555 (CGE)
"When Ready, Begin"
Circulation in A Minor
Gnossienne (TTA)
Knight Rider (CGE)
Love Maniac (CGE)
Little Red Truck
Mad World (TTA)
Fallout (TTA)
Mulholland Drive (CGE)
I Am The Walrus (TTA)
Dark Secret
Eye of the NeedleEncore #2:
Thrak
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