“Unofficial Leningrad”

I saw a concert this week that was a recreation of a concert that occurred in Leningrad, USSR in 1961, which featured music of Volkonsky, Stravinsky, Lutoslawski, and Bartok. It would have been an interesting experience considering that the arts had loosened up from the tight control that Stalin had maintained during his time in power… with a little more space, works such as Volkonsky’s “Musica Stricta for Piano Solo” could be presented.

The program for this concert was preserved from the original:

“Musica Stricta for Piano Solo” – Andrew Volkonsky

“Sonata for Two Pianos” – Igor Stravinsky

“Variations on a Theme of Paganini for Two Pianos” – Witold Lutoslawski

“Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion” – Bela Bartok

Cage’s “As Slow As Possible”

If you are unfamiliar with John Cage’s organ work, “As Slow As Possible,” then I recommend the following NY Times article. It outlines the performance of the eight movement work, which will take around 600 years to perform (each movement lasts about 70 years, and at least one movement must be repeated).  Click here for the article.

-Colton

Film Scoring

One of the areas in music that has always interested me has been film scoring, mainly because after watching Star Wars, it didn’t seem like it could be the same film without John WIlliams’ music. Danny Elfman has become another favourite of mine, after growing up hearing his music in Batman cartoons. Now to watch Tim Burton movies that are scored by Elfman… the two of them work well together concerning what everything should sound like in the end.

I also found a post on the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra Blog with a video from last fall’s performance of Glen Branca’s “Hallucination City”… aka, the Symphony for 100 Guitars.  The performance also contained Zappa and Varese works, and featured guitar virtuosos Steve Mackey and John Patitucci.  See the post and video here. 

-Colton

Symphony Magazine’s “All Together Now”

I was reading a fascinating article from Symphony Magazine’s (July/August 2008 Issue) recently about the tensions between the world of classical music and the world of rock/pop music. The article addressed the times over the past several decades when the two would have confrontations to times when they would try to work together. Recently, though, a number of indie rockers have been working small chamber ensembles or, in some cases, full orchestras into performances with great success. Symphony orchestras have been stepping out of the box, too.

The article addresses the blurring lines between the rock/pop and classical worlds citing such instances as Sufjan Steven’s work The BQE and the score for There Will Be Blood, composed by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. One of the definitive quotes in the article came from indie musician Sufjan Stevens: “I think some of these artists…who perform with orchestras are only doing what’s natural and within their creative scope…It probably has less to do with reconciling genres than with satisfying a creative vision. Their endeavors with the classical world are not a diplomatic move, but a creative impulse.”

I recommend the article as a fun, but not too lengthy read: 

http://www.americanorchestras.org/july_august_2008/all_together_now.html

 

-Colton

Behold: The Computer!!!!

Check out this new music project at YouTube.com (link at end of post)!  Its dubbed “The YouTube Symphony Orchestra.”  Musicians record and post video of their parts and then the videos will be meshed together to form an ensemble.  THEN… the best performers will be invited to perform at Carnegie Hall.  The amazing part is that the internet factor allows this to be a global project.

The internet has really brought a fascinating new aspect to the music industry.  My uncle gave me some old music magazine’s recently, specifically around electronic music.  These magazines come from the early 90’s, and feature the top of the line equipment and methods from the time.  Many of them looked to the future asking questions of the role of the computer in music.  

Cover story’s often involve recording technology and the advancement of computer.  But more often than not, the questions raised by the articles are not even sure WHETHER the computer would become an essential tool in music.  Naturally, looking back it seems that the PC and musicians where destined to cross paths in big ways, but at the time it had to be a killer question.

Unpredictablity and instability in technology meant that it couldn’t always be counted upon to work right every time (for the record, we still can’t count on the equipment to work every time, but it is far more reliable then it used to be).  So the questions asked were very valid questions.

The involvement of computers in music, and now the internet, has allowed for incredible communication between musicians… or even between musicians and their audiences. 

Computers and the internet have allowed many things in music.  Below I have listed some of my top picks:

        For the musician:

            Ability to market and promote online

            Ability to get material and promotion outside of a record label

            Ability to create a fanbase

            Ability to record and produce material from your basement

            Ability to score music and sequence demo recordings

                 with programs and a MIDI keyboard.

        For the audience:

            Performance and tour dates can be found online

            Tickets can be purchased online

            Music can be purchased and downloaded online

            The internet is conducive to discovering new music and artists

-Colton

Link to the YouTube Symphony Orchestra.

Shumpei Ishige’s “Den Lille Havfrue”

Tonight I’m playing in a senior composition recital.  Shumpei Ishige has composed a symphonic suite following the story of The Little Mermaid.  The work is titled “Den Lille Havfue.”  Its a great composition, and I’m really happy to be playing in it.

Monday night is the Webster University Wind Ensemble concert.  The Wind Ensemble is a modular group, which will either play as a whole or in its four components: saxophone, brass, woodwinds, and percussion.  Monday will be a concert in the four sections.  The percussion ensemble is presenting pieces mainly dealing with hand percussion: bata, tambourine, and clapping (as opposed to our last concert where we needed a large array of percussion instruments).

My elbows are also almost repaired from playing timpani in Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony (”From the New World”).

Random News and Happenings

Apparently, the new Guns ‘n Roses album is coming out by the end of the year which means FREE DR. PEPPER!!  As I mentioned in an early post, Dr. Pepper said at the beginning of 2008 that a free Dr. Pepper would be in order for all in America if the long awaited (13-years) album would be released this year.  Check out the details on how to get your free Dr. Pepper here.

Thanks to Neil Peart’s writings on his website, I was introduced to a new website for drummer’s: drumchannel.com.  Pioneered by Don Lombardi, one of the masterminds behind Drum Workshop, drumchannel.com is designed to be a internet haven for drummers, allowing for interaction, entertainment content, and lessons from the pros.

I tried Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches this past week and really liked it.

I’m very excited to be playing timpani for Dvořák’s 9th Symphony (New World Symphony) in the upcoming Webster University Symphony Orchestra concert.

I’m enjoying learning atonality in music theory.

Time for some iced tea.

-Colton

Terry Bozzio Clinic

Last night, drummer/percussionist Terry Bozzio gave a drum clinic here in St. Louis.  Sponsored by Sabian Cymbals, among other companies, Drum Headquarters presented this amazing sell-out event.  If you are familiar with a range of artists from Frank Zappa to Korn, you may have heard Terry Bozzio.  Bozzio got his first major gig as a drummer for Frank Zappa’s band, and went on to co-found the popular band Missing Persons, as well as play with artists such as Jeff Beck, U.K., and Korn.  He is known for Zappa’s piece “The Black Page,” a piece known for its rhythmic complexities.

He plays a massive set up now:  a large number of bass drums, as well as toms and cymbals.  His setup is tuned as well… that’s right: tuned.  The toms on one side are all tuned chromatically, and the toms on the other side are tuned diatonically.  The bass drums are also tuned to various notes, allowing bass lines.  Also, Terry’s kit uses VLT shells: an invention of John Good at Drum Workshop.  This shell construction makes a drum have a much lower sound for its size: this proves very advantageous for Bozzio’s set up by allowing the use of smaller drums all over the kit, while maintaining the sound of larger drums.  Here is the kit (pictures I took last night):

Terry Bozzio's current Set Up

Terry uses Drum Workshop VLT technology so more drums can be fit into a smaller space.

Bozzio writes pieces for this drum kit: melodic compositions.  He uses the different bass drums for bass notes and then the toms and the cymbals for melody/harmony.  He played for about and hour and a half straight, and then gave a mini-lecture on his kit and how it fits in with with his playing.  He also answered questions, before playing some more to close the evening.

I’ve posted a couple more pictures below from the clinic last night.  Also, check out an example of Bozzio’s playing in a video from the Zappa plays Zappa tour: an excerpt of the “The Black Page #2.”

-Colton

Terry plays one of his mind bending ostinatos.

Terry Bozzio steps out from behind the kit to talk and answer questions.

Who Doesn’t love New York? They have jazz there…

I wish could go to New York, New York this weekend.  Neil Peart, drummer for the band Rush, has put together another Buddy Rich tribute concert which will feature an assortment of drummers and The Buddy Rich Big Band… but I read that the concert will be recorded for DVD release, so I guess that will have to do!  Peart produced a recordings with a number of famous drummers joining the Buddy Rich Big Band several years ago.  They’re great explorations considering that not all the drummers in the project are jazz drummers.  

In other music news, it is rumored that a release date for Guns ‘n Roses long awaited (13 years) album has been given to Billboard.  The Dr. Pepper company said earlier this year that if the album would actually come out this year they would give everyone in America a Dr. Pepper.  Maybe Axl Rose likes Dr. Pepper…

Midterms this week and fall break next week!!!

-Colton

New York Times Article, Webster University Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Carter, Chair of the Department of Music, emailed me a link to a New York Times article from this weekend about Caleb Burhans, a graduate from the Eastman School of Music who a very talented musician with skill in many areas… and he is pursuing all of them.  Its a great article and I recommend reading it.  It addresses the growing trend by younger musicians to not pick just one specific area to specialize in, but to be versed in a number of areas.  You can read the article here.

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Here are a couple pictures from the Webster University Symphony Orchestra’s first rehearsal for the upcoming performance of Mozart’s 41st Symphony and Brahms’ Piano Concert No. 2 on Oct. 19th.   Just like in the professional world, there are a limited number of rehearsals for a performance… in fact there are only four rehearsals for each Symphony concert: one for the string sections and three as an entire orchestra. 

-Colton

Daniel Schene, pianist on Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2

Dr. Allen Larson conducts Piano Concerto No. 2