Author: steven

I’ve long enjoyed the music of Erasure and have long respected Vince Clark’s synthesis work. Listening to Erasure’s new album Nightbird on Rhapsody today, I found it their first album in a while that I really had something of a spark in it. Something I always loved about Erasure’s music was that it was all very synthetic but also very organic, the blending of electronic timbres very well done(at least, to my taste), and altogether very warm. Perhaps I’ll go home and dig through all of my old synthpop CD’s tonight… ^_^

I have been exploring the Bohlen-Pierce scale for the past month, sketching out ideas for a new piece, getting my ear attuned to its character, trying out different chords and colors, exploring that sound world. Last night, after working up a sketch to a size where I felt I was getting a taste for that palette of sound I found that I couldn’t quite get the colors I wanted, and so I think I will move on from exploring this scale for now. It’s strange how I initially found the scale quite warm, but later found that the ideas I was working on feel muted in color. Sometimes it just takes time to explore things before getting familiar.

The work on the sketches has been good though as I’ve collected together a number of timbres which are working very well together. Tonight I think I’ll do some work to restructure the project file and will continue on in exploring…

Being home for the holidays in Georgia has been so very nice, seeing many of my old friends whom I’m fortunate to be able to see (other friends of mine not from Georgia tell me most of their friends from their hometowns have moved away, or themselves no longer have any root in the towns they grew up in). This morning I woke up after a long night of sleeping (two good sessions of six hours each) and after some warmups and a round of t’ai-chi, drove myself to a coffee shop to sit with a coffee and some reading.

I started my reading today with the latest issue of T’ai-Chi magazine, something which I always look forward to getting a copy of and digesting. The article on Wang Peisheng was really inspiring for me to read and once again makes me marvel at martial arts and t’ai-chi. It’s amazing to me that after three years of study that the fascination with the art has only grown, and as time has gone by the form seems neverending in its depth and details. This is an art I am sure I will be studying and practicing for the rest of my life.

Following the article I started into Barry Lopez’s Desert Notes, reading the first two entries of incredibly contemplative observations. After reading the two entries I stood outside the coffee shop and looked out at the branches swaying in the wind and found myself too observing what was around me, my eyes seemingly truly open for the first time in quite some time.

Driving back home, listening to choral music on the local NPR station (the classical music stations in San Francisco are sadly disappointing in comparison to the one here in Georgia) I found myself connecting very much with the piece, quietly thinking to myself musical ideas to try out when returning home, and looking out around me at a seemingly fresh and beautiful world. The sky a lovely blue, the light a rich tone of white, I found myself remembering older days when driving around Georgia in a car, doing much of the same as what I was doing, listening to music, quietly thinking to myself, and simply observing what was around me.

This morning I feel as if a haze has lifted from my mind, a sense of clarity restored, and a fascination with the world strengthened. Now only the early afternoon, my only commitment today to have dinner this evening with friends, I look forward to exploring, through words, through sounds…

This past week and a half has been incredibly rich and satisfying musically:

Lutoslawski – Symphony No.3
A week ago from Friday, I attended the University of Berkeley Symphony’s concert, a performance of Lutoslawski’s Symphony No. 3 (I had to leave at intermission and did not check out Beethoven’s third symphony). I had my reservations about the performance before attending as I thought the piece might be difficult to pull off, but conductor David Milnes and the orchestra gave a very satisfying performance.

(I was fortunate enough to see the New York Philharmonic perform the piece a few years ago and had an incredible experience at that performance. I feel very lucky to have been able to hear this piece live twice now. =) )

Eugene Onegin
A week ago Sunday, I attended the San Francisco Opera’s final performance of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Lisa had been doing the pre-opera talks for this opera and I had helped put together the tape of audio examples she used, but besides the discussions I had with her and the audio examples, I had not listened to the opera in entirety or seen it before. The performance was absolutely satisfying, both for getting to hear and see this wonderful piece, as well as the wonderful performance of it by the fine cast. The performer who sung Lensky, Piotr Beczala, really stood out amongst that ensemble for me, just an absolutely fantastic voice. The rest of the ensemble were all very talented and there wasn’t a single performer that didn’t do their part justice I felt. The on-stage interaction between the performers was really the best I had seen and really drew me into the production. (I was quite glad Lisa had the score to the piece that she had used for her opera talks as I was able to take a look at the score later… =) )

(I wasn’t very much into opera until Lisa and I were dating, and when we first went to the opera I thought it was fun but wasn’t quite what I was looking for in a musical experience. Over time, though, I’ve found myself enjoying opera quite a bit, and although it still isn’t what I am looking for in creating my own music, I find it a very enjoyable experience.)

Wendy Carlos – Secrets of Synthesis
I’ve become quite a fan of Wendy Carlos lately, and although we have very different paths and goals in music, I find that there’s something very wonderful about the sound of her music. I hadn’t known about this CD as I hadn’t seen it in the stores before, but once I read about it online I was able to order it from Amazon.

What a neat CD! Listening to it is what I’d imagine a lecture by her would be like: she talks about her techniques of her music-making as well as the ideas behind it, intersperses that with many musical examples to illustrate her points, and weaves in many personal stories and experiences with the technologies she used. I enjoyed listening the CD very much and found it bubbling up ideas in my mind.

Jason Thomas mentioned on the Csound mailing list an interview with Wendy Carlos on the American Mavericks website, a site that I guess was made a couple of years ago but one I had not known about. The interview there is really fantastic, and there’s a quite a lot of other interviews and resources on many of the composers which I enjoy.

Morton Feldman – Violin and String Quartet
Along with the Wendy Carlos CD I had purchased a recording of Morton Feldman’s Violin and String Quartet. My friend Will and I were chatting over AIM about Feldman and were going through Amazon at the time and I had noticed this piece which I had never heard and had not heard much about. Unable to find it at Tower Records, I ended up ordering it online.

Gorgeous.

The recording quality could be a bit better (I found the levels a bit low), but that’s fine as the piece is absolutely beautiful and played wonderfully. I think I’ll need many more listenings to this recording before I can really get to know the piece, but I’m looking forward to it. =)

Anne Sofie von Otter – Home for Christmas Concert
This past Thursday Lisa and I attended a performance by Anne Sofie von Otter at Herbst Theatre, a concert entitled “Home For Christmas”. I’ve been quite a fan of Anne Sofie von Otter from her recordings and was looking very forward to hearing her live.

The concert was of many different Christmas songs from different traditions, with her singing in English, Swedish, Dutch, and German. She was accompanied by a band of performers (I think that would adequately describe the group) who were all quite good. It was my first time hearing a nykelharpa live (I have samples on an early music sample cd I purchased) and was quite impressed with both the instrument and the performer.

The mood of the concert was light and rather joyous, the dialog between pieces humorous, and overall a very fun concert. Anne Sofie von Otter’s voice was quite amazing, and the many different types of music she performed–from classical, to folk, to popular–really demonstrated the versatility of her singing. (What a lovely voice!)

During the performance I often thought about how enjoyable it is to perform with other people, viewing the performers on stage as just a group of friends who got together to create music and enjoy themselves and share with the audience their music-making.

Bohlen-Pierce Scale
I’ve gotten quite into tuning systems lately, something that I have been wanting to study for quite some time but was always put on the side as other interests were made priorities. The past few weeks, after the excitement of finishing On the Sensations of Tone, I found myself deeply drawn to studying scales and exploring them. The study of these scales has been enjoyable, and though compositionally I haven’t created anything in that time, I feel like these scale studies will become very much a part of where I am going musically.

Of the scales I’ve gotten to experiment with so far, I’ve found that the Bohlen-Pierce Scale to be very appealing to me right now, and the one I’ve been working with most. I find it’s got a lovely sound and rich harmony and very much in line with the warmer character of music I’ve been interested in creating. I will probably spend most of today working on getting to know the scale better as well as sketching out ideas for a new piece.

^_^

I saw this article today about a new game for the Nintendo DS called “Band Brothers”. The video absolutely delighted me, and the idea is incredibly refreshing. (Reading the part about “whistling a tune and sending it over to a friend, using the built in pitch-to-midi converter” is astounding.)

It’s interesting this came along as I had been thinking about the live improvisations we’ve been doing at the Bay Area Csound Users Group meetings, how much I’ve absolutely enjoy the experience of getting together with friends and making music. I’ve felt that it’s a really healthy thing to do, and of course being fortunate enough to be able to play with very accomplished musicians at the meetings has been great.

I wrote some four or five years ago in my journal at the time about an idea of making music as easily as playing a video game and about how people would be able to get together and play music with each other. It’s really amazing to see that something like this has really come to life. =)

December is my favorite month of the year, a particularly contemplative time for me, a time when winter begins to emerge and quieter days ensue. Perhaps it’s that my birthday is in this month, or that I often have time off to visit family and friends, but it is a month I always celebrate, even if it’s just with a smile.

^_^

This past weekend I went to Seattle with my girlfriend who was there for the AMS/SMT joint conference. I wasn’t there for the conference myself–though I did attend a few papers–but rather to just spend time experiencing Seattle and to see some extended family whom I haven’t seen in quite some time.

We left very early in the morning Thursday and arrived in Seattle around 9:00AM, welcomed with an absolutely gorgeous day. With some time to spare before the conference began, we were able to spend a little time at the Pike Street Market and walking around the city before Lisa headed off to the conference and I to the hotel.

The next three days were overcast and gray, so I guess we were par for the course with one day beautifully sunny and the rest beautifully gray.

A busy few days, the hilights of my trip were:

The First Day
The first day was gorgeous and really left quite an impression on me, how wonderful a town Seattle is. It was nice being able to spend time with Lisa on our own to take in the city and quietly walk around the town.

The Public Library
An absolutely wonderful building, the exterior only a hint at the marvel of space held within. I managed to go through twice, taking wonderful walks from the top of the building down the spiral floors, exploring, marvelling at the colors and structures.

Vivace Coffee
At the recommendation of Tom Hart, I took a bit of a walk from downtown to Capitol Hill and after a bit of searching I found this amazing coffee shop. The cafe had a wonderful spacious feel, a view of trees to the rear, and fantastic coffee drinks. I sat with a cappucino and my laptop, completely relaxed in this wonderful environment, and worked away with blue and lilypond, completely satisfied.

Seeing My Family
It had been some 12 or 14 years since I had seen my Aunt and cousins and it was an absolutely joy to see them after so much time and to catch up. Seeing family is always great and I really hope to be able to spend more time with them in the future.

All in all, I found Seattle to be quite a beautiful town. I hope to be able to go back sometime soon and to explore the city and perhaps some of the gorgeus natural settings that surround it.

My new piece On the Sensations of Tone will be premiering in Athens, GA at the Alumni Electronic Concert on November 10th. The performance will be at 8:00pm in the Dancz Center for New Music.

Many thanks to Dr. Leonard V. Ball for inviting me to be a part of this concert, as well as for being a great teacher and friend.

Unfortunately I will not be able to attend this premiere as I will be in Seattle, November 11th-14th, for the AMS (American Musicological Society) and SMT’s (Society for Music Theory) conference. (I am not attending the conference but will be accompanying my girlfriend there. If you happen to be in Seattle during those dates and would like to meet, please contact me and perhaps we can arrange to meet up.) If you are able to attend the concert in Athens, please do let me know what you think!

I will be releasing audio recordings of On the Sensations of Tone on November 11th. The site will be updated at that time to include this new work and make it available for download.

Sunday night, I stayed up until 5:30AM to work on finishing a piece I have been working on the past four or so months for an alumni concert I was invited to be a part of by my old professor, Dr. Leonard V. Ball. I had been putting in a lot of hours over the past months to work on this piece, a lot of time contemplating, listening to it over and over, trying to understand the character of the piece, seeing what I wanted in it and where it wanted to go. (A couple times there were three week stretches between when I was able to move forward with the piece, and all that time was spent just listening and wondering what was to come next…) The past week the work on the piece really started to pick up as I began to have a better idea of it as a whole. This past weekend I set aside all of my free time for the piece, with Sunday night all of it really coming together.

The long night, accompanied with coffee and tea, reminded me of my times when composing in college, staying up in to the early hours of the morning, listening, contemplating, exhausted, focused. That type of exhaustion, when you don’t have the energy to entertain stray thoughts, I find can lead to certain level of focus. Working at that time of night that the rest of the world seems to be asleep always has a wonderful sense of peacefulness to it, a sense of there being all the time in the world to work and to allow things to happen rather than to force it due to time constraints. The experience of that time was wonderful, and the morning, though exhausted, I was exhilarated.

It’s been a long time since the last piece I wrote and this one… At times it’s been frustrating not to be working on music as much as I’d like, and then even when working on one to lose focus or interest. I think a lot of that has to do with exploring musical ideas that ultimately really weren’t me, but also just learning to balance out all of the responsibilities of the day. I’ve found the past months working on this composition though to be very different than the other years between, much more focused, and sense of connection again with the music I’m working on.

This new piece marks the beginning of a new period of actively composing in my life. The years that have passed between the last finished piece and this one were filled with many musical explorations as well as many life experiences. The time spent establishing a career as a programmer, experiencing the world’s events, and simply living life has been rich and rewarding. The exploration of musical ideas has provided many lessons from which I feel I am only now beginning to understand within the context of my own music.

It’s been an amazing journey to arrive at this piece, and I am looking forward to the music to come.

The new piece, entitled “On the Sensations of Tone”, will be released shortly. Please check back later for an announcement of it’s release.