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[09 Sep 2007|09:22am] |
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Posting via blackberry TESTING
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[22 Jun 2007|02:07am] |
I just forgot that my LJ imports directly into my FaceBook.
The Creative Zen Vision:M is a much better player than the Apple iPod.
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| YouTube |
[22 Jun 2007|02:03am] |
YouTube is amazing...and horrifying.
Watching Jessica Simpson sing the National Anthem was one of the worst experiences of my adult life.
I have arranging duties again!
sad faces all around
jessica's howling should have her sent to the pound.
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| queering the pitch |
[14 Feb 2007|11:07pm] |
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I need to write in LJ more often. Oh well.
Let's see...
This weekend, Aaron and I compete in the Norfolk Flute Faire at 9.12 AM...which means we have to leave Richmond VERY early. We are playing Liebermann Piccolo, so I know it will go well.
My conversations with him always lead to interesting topics, so I would like to hear the opinions of my friends and colleagues.
TECHNIQUE IS ONLY A MEANS TO MUSICAL EXPRESSION
For me, this is entirely true. Even if your musical intent is to impress the masses with your technical facility, then you are still (hopefully) pursuing a musical goal. Granted, your musical ideas may not be as lofty as Brahms' Sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, but the musician should always have a musical idea in mind. I have no interest in hearing any musician play a "clean" performance. If I wanted to hear a perfect, unemotional performance (my apologies to the creators of Finale Human Playback and the Garritan Personal Orchestra), I would simply plug the piece in question into Finale and sit back and enjoy. It is not enough to just play the notes. If ideas are not being portrayed, then it is not worth listening to. Obviously, if you cannot play the notated requirements for the works due to technical problems, then it REALLY needs work. Don't be satisfied with just "getting through the piece".
DAWN UPSHAW IS THE BEST LIVING CLASSICAL VOCALIST
Before I heard Mrs Upshaw, I was disenchanted with the vocal community. Vocalists tend to be enchanted with the intrinsic beauty of the voice, but are largely unconcerned with the technical facility or note/pitch accuracy. Ms. Upshaw has single-handedly raised the bar for vocal performers worldwide by commissioning works and aligning herself with leaders in contemporary music such as John Harbison, Peter Sellars, and James Levine. Mrs. Upshaw is the only vocalist I have encountered who is equally brilliant at every facet of vocal performance. She has an astounding command of languages, and she takes great care to sing every pitch in her works to the best of her ability (which often translates to perfection). From Bach to Mozart (her Susanna and Cherubino are both unmatched) to Debussy to Messiaen (her performance of the Angel in Messiaen's "St. Francis of Assisi" was unparalleled), Mrs. Upshaw is a beacon of hope for aspiring musicians whose principal instrument is the voice.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know.
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| Current Listenings (Albums) |
[11 Dec 2006|04:58pm] |
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music |
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Steve Reich - Ehmore M'Aht, V'Ahsay Harbay (Say Little And Do Much) |
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Steve Reich - "You Are Variations"
John Adams - "El Nino", "Nixon in China", "Death of Klinghoffer"
Pat Metheny - "Still Life (Talking)", "The Road to You (Live)"
Dawn Upshaw - "Simple Daylight", "Knoxville of 1915"
Richards/Richardson - "VCU Music Premieres"
Hurel/Couvert - "Flute et Piano"
if any of this sounds interesting to anyone, I will be happy to burn/upload for you to sample.
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| It's Just Talk... |
[11 Dec 2006|03:06pm] |
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music |
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Pat Metheny - It's Just Talk |
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Life is kind of odd right now. Good, but odd. I only have one real exam, and my jury (which is never really a concern). I am fairly happy with the current direction that my life is taking. This semester, I decided to really dig in and pick a path for my flute playing, instead of just following the examples of the flutists around me or just blindly following my private instruction. My teacher has always recommended that I listen to as many recordings and read as many books as I could possibly get my hands on. In my exploration, I have come across some sounds that are offensive (clarinets: think Thea King) and some sounds that I did not expect to like as much as I did. Thus, my playing has changed quite a bit this semester, and I am very happy with it. The biggest change is in my thoughts towards vibrato. I always had problems changing my vibrato speed (my teacher's vibrato is quite slow and I wanted to have a very fast vibrato at my fingertips, and so I made it so. One of my major discoveries from my research in the the flute and pedagogy in gerneral is that undergraduate teaching may be the most difficult of all. Undergraduate music students are just beginning to develop thiemselves as musicians, and the professor is in a very unique position that requires a lot of self restraint and nonpartisan thought. For example, one of our voice teachers is very fond of large, vibrant female voices. Unfortunately, not all of his student are destined for operatic careers, and even if they are, the majority of them will not follow in the legacy of Jessye Norman or Leontyne Price. So (imho), his main focus should be the instruction of basic vocal technique, and not the micro-management of the product that his students are creating. I understand that the teacher is only trying to save the student some trouble by telling them "shortcuts", or discoveried that they made with their own voices, but the professor must be careful not to damage the instrument in the process. (On the other hand, I am quite sure that we have a voice teacher here who is intentionally mis-placing peoples voices because of her own struggles with her voice [and life]). Anyway, my point is that undergraduate students must go out and forage for information on their own. Take lessons with (other) professional musicians. No teacher will ever be able to provide you with all that you need, and no good teacher would try. Listen to recordings and read books on your chosen intrument. Even if you completely disagree with the ideals of a certain school of playing, you should be able to explain why it is utter nonsense.
/music rant over
On a related note, I realized that my categorizations of people are harder to break than I first imagined. For example, if I decide that someone is a "bad" player, then it is nearly impossible for me to change my mind, even if I have heard them play better than they did before. I have a very select group of muscians that I respect and think should continue applied study in their instrument of choice. Unfortunately, I find it impossible to encourage people to "follow their dreams" (laugh their way to an early grave) if they have little to no chance of success. This problem does not seem to effect my colleages, who pour encouragement on individuals with great ease. My greatest fear is that I will go to graduate school and be a laughingstock because I was lied to in undergraduate. Honestly, this is not a huge concern of mine anymore, as I trust my ears and the faculty here (and I have competed with favorable results). I don't know. I have to find some way to dull the razor-sharp edge of my opinion with out softening my actual stances on music performance/instruction. Suggestions?
On yet ANOTHER related note, I am 99% sure that I have tendonitis in my right shoulder due to tension and the tremendously unhealthy inherent body postion required when playing the flute and piccolo. Even as I type, the pain is so bad that I want to cry. I must make an appointment with my chiropractor soon. :-/
In other aspect of my life, I will have to quit my job at Harrison Music at the beginning of next semester because it is a direct time conflict with Rapid Fire rehearsals next year. Bah. Just when I find I job that I like, I can't keep it. Hopefully, Lisa will be nice and allow me to work on different days of the week.
bye.
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[01 Nov 2006|04:11am] |
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tired
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| gross |
[30 Oct 2006|12:13am] |
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mood |
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 tired |
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music |
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none |
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i feel gross. my car is falling to pieces (I have been riding on a spare tire [not full size] for a week now, and I currently don't have enough gas to get home AND I locked my keys in my car). Also, the banking system hates me so I can't get this damn student loan check cashed (if I could get this check cashed, then there would be no problems). Also, I don't get paid from the Cathedral for another like 3 weeks. gross. on the brighter side of things, I got hired at Harrison Music as a standard retail employee (technically I was hired a while ago but now I really start working). also, i get to play in an emsemble with Dr. West (genius clarinetist) and Dr. Shteinburg (genius pianist) in a 20th century work by Trimble. Basically, life/school are going fairly well except that I have no money. gross. gross. gross.
oh yeah and teddy came into town. it was very good to see him, even if his trip came amidst drama in the midlothian crew.
sor some reason, i just had the tremendous urge to cry (which i HATE doing), so I am going to resist and go to sleep and work out the banking thing tomorrow. hopefully.
aaron thacker is the best friend ever (he offered to take me home to get my spare key and is just amazing bah)
Actually, this entry kinda helped me put things into perspective. Thanks, LJ!
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[20 Oct 2006|08:27am] |
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I am giving a recital with my flute teacher in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on Monday, October 23rd. You should all come.
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[11 Oct 2006|04:37am] |
thanks to mr. deck, i now own WOW.
goodbye sleep!
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| hey FaceBook! |
[06 Sep 2006|09:30am] |
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mood |
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 happy |
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music |
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El Nino - John Adams |
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So FaceBook has gotten a facelift. Personally, I like it because it enables me to automatically import my LJ entries as "Notes" to FaceBook. Thrilling. Honestly, all this favcelift does is take our stalker tendencies to the next level. I mean, its not like we don't all check alll of these things every day anyway. Thoughts?
Time for practice.
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| look how it sows its seeds, as it hums and flies... |
[02 Sep 2006|04:54pm] |
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mood |
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 blah |
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music |
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libararians (rightfully) complaining about thier jobs |
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wow
people who actually live without computers have a really hard time.
I am at Bon Air AGAIN to do some mundane tasks like check my email and all that fun. This makes me want to scream. I guess if I wasn't such a freak, I could go more than one day without email communication. Oh well.
So far, school has been fun. I plan to make it the best semester EVER through various means. The two things that are killing me so far are:
-Currently, I am commuting from Midlothian because I will not be able to move into my apartment until September 14th. This makes the HUGe gaps of time in my schedule almost completely unmanageable.
-My cell phone is unable to make calls. For some reason, I can receive them, but making them is a herculean effort that my local T-Mobile tower dare not attempt. If this is not fixed soon, I will not make it. Also, I realized that most of my social contact is self-initiated. This is depressing (why doesn't anyone want to call me? Why do I always have to be the one to make the call?).
-I currently still do not have a functioning computer. Tonight, I plan to wage a full-out war on my poor dead laptop, with the hopes of reviving it somehow. I plan to buy a Black MacBook when the funds become available. AHHHHH.
Anyway, someone call me tonight because it is depressing without contact.
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[02 Sep 2006|01:21pm] |
i can't make outgoing calls for some reason, but i can recieve incoming calls.
so call me
now.
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[01 Sep 2006|09:01am] |
I am going to VCU this semester.
WHEE.
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[31 Aug 2006|06:52pm] |
Then again, maybe not.
As of right now, I AM attending VCU. Ai-yi-yi.
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[31 Aug 2006|11:01am] |
Also, if the group of people beside me is reading this, STOP IT!
god i hate public computers.
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[26 Aug 2006|01:21pm] |
I am using a public computer at Bon Air Library. Blech.
For the past two weeks, I have been fulfilling my duties as Assistant Director of Percussion (read - Front Line Tech), and it has been mostly enjoyable.
/EMO/
ugh SADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSADSAD life is very stressful right now and then emotions come into play and you want to speak your mind and your heart but you can't because of all the ties and existing relationship forms AND because your brain is convinced that it would be a horrible idea to begin with because you are both horribly unstable.
end /EMO/
School is here. Currently, we have 6 practice rooms. For the entire department of music. There will be dead vocalists/anyone who gets in my way.
i am tired. i love monster energy drink (khaos)
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[19 Aug 2006|09:26pm] |
my computer is completely dead.
If you need/want to reach me, call me.
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piccoloist's journal
