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
Thursday, October 27, 2011
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:
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 ArthurEncore:
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
Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss Cross Circulation (Cmin)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
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)
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)
Monday, October 24, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, October 21, 2011
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:
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 ArthurEncore:
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
Twinkles (Cmaj)
Spiral Zithers/Criss Cross Circulation (Cmin)
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
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…
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.
Monday, October 17, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
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:
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 ArthurEncore:
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
Spiral Zithers
Monday, October 10, 2011
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.
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.
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