It’s Done!

I finished the new percussion piece last night. It’s completely finished — parts and score are printed and bound, and it’s in an envelope, ready to deliver tomorrow. As always, it’s a relief to finish a new piece. This was a difficult project. The past few pieces have felt really hard while I was working on them.

I’ve been trying to do something different with each of the past three pieces. “Under the Rug” was a parody of 1950s television music, “Wrong-Mountain Stomp” was an attempt at bluegrass, and the new piece, tentatively titled “Mass,” was my first real attempt at writing a minimal piece. I’ve tried writing in a minimal style several times before, but I usually give up after about 4 bars. It’s really difficult to build tension through repetition without letting the piece become boring.
I’ve created Mackey-Meets-Reich-lite. Very, very lite.

Now that the piece is done, I can catch up on a few other things. In addition to uploading the score and audio for “Mass,” I’ve just posted the audio from the premiere performance of “Under the Rug.”

Next agenda item : practice NCAA College Football 2005 on the PS2. It will be a busy weekend.

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abacus says

Congratulations.

I think we should create a math problem to determine what your next piece will be. Here goes:

If u=under the rug, w=wrong mountain stomp, and m=mass, predict the next item in the series: u,w,m...

So if we translate the letters to numbers according to their positions in the alphabet, that gives us a series of: 21, 23, 13...

And if we posit an alternating, repeating pattern, it could be -2, -10, -2, -10...

Which means the next item in the series is 11, or k.

And of course, k=kielbasa: a polka!

Spooky, isn't it?

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Shaking of Hands

I just delivered a CD to somebody at the New York State Theater. On my way back to work, I passed by Avery Fisher Hall, where John Kerry was speaking at a luncheon. A small crowd of 10-15 had gathered by the stage door, and I joined them, hoping for a glimpse of John Kerry.

Sure enough, moments later, John Kerry and Teresa walked out the stage door. Kerry smiled and waved to my group that was about 30 feet away. He and Teresa stood side by side with their arms around each other and posed for the cameras that were on the opposite side of the stage door. My little crowd clapped and waved again, and Kerry walked over to us to sign somebody’s autograph. He made a little joke that I couldn’t quite hear, and then he started working the line to shake hands. I’m pretty short, and I didn’t want to push my way towards him (there were two people right in front of me), but after he shook their hands, he waited a second for them to move, and then he shook my hand.

Yes, John Kerry shook my hand. I was giddy like a school girl.

And this will sound silly from that 5-second encounter, but he felt completely genuine. He looked like a sincerely good man, and somehow looked like he cared that I was there. There was a kind, unforced smile, direct eye contact, and a firm handshake.

And in those 5 seconds, the candidate whom I’ve wanted so desperately to feel connected with — he finally connected.

If only he could shake another 100 million hands in the next 6 weeks.

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Newman says

Rock the H*ll ON! Didn't even know he was in town.

Did you say anything?! "Good Luck, Sir", anything like that? I might have attempted some sort of garbled version of a "We're counting on you, Sir" but it probably would have sounded more like "Eescrembamulfavitch" and Secret Service Men would have eyed me suspiciously and all I would have taken away from the encounter would have been the heart-wrenching life-scarring embarassment...

abacus says

I'm very, very jealous.

Though I'm sure I'd have been incapable of speech and might have actually slobbered on the poor guy's hand in my excitement.

Wow.

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Rehearsal, take 2

Robert’s second rehearsal was last night. This was the first rehearsal that he actually used to choreograph (the first rehearsal was really an audition to choose the dancers), and by the end, he’d already choreographed over 2 minutes. I’m excited about what he has so far.

I had no idea what to expect from him for the beginning of the piece. It starts extremely slowly, and almost without any pulse, with just rolled marimba and bowed vibraphone. The slow tempo was a small issue for him yesterday, as the music is too slow to count traditionally. I figured he’d just have the dancers barely moving — to match the music — but he went against it. They’re moving quickly in small groups, forming complicated patterns throughout the space, and it works brilliantly. If they’re moving this quickly when the music is barely moving, and the music, by the mid-point, is fast and (hopefully) exhaustingly intense, what on earth does he have coming?

I had an exciting moment in rehearsal. It was one of those moments that I love in the process. The music is really just sustained tones for the first 90 seconds, and then, finally, there’s a traditional minor chord. I pointed it out to Robert — that to me, that isolated chord felt like a “moment” — and on the spot he rethought what he was originally intending for that measure and created an image that perfectly compliments that bar. (The dancers, spread around the stage, all move to the center and for a second, they look like a church choir.) It’s hard to explain, but it was amazing. All I did was say, “I like this measure, ’cause the music changes a tiny bit here, and it’s kinda pretty,” and Robert visualized something subtle but beautiful.

I’m lucky to work with him.

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abacus says

It's true, Robert is amazing. Of course, he is also lucky to work with you. Can't wait to see the piece.

Anonymous says

that's so exciting! That's what I love about working collaboratively rather than holing myself up in a room. All of these ideas bump up against eachother and everyone does something better than they would have done alone. I had my first experience like that when I saw the costumes for the first time next to a painted set of mine, and I saw how the costume designer had incorporate the colors and textures and patterns into her own design... it's always gratifying when the things you do affect others and vice versa.

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