Overmarking

I have sat in front of my computer almost all day, tackling inputting chamber opera 2 into Sibelius.

First off, that's right! The original intent of the blog, to chronicle writing my first opera, has come back around for a second round! But there'll be more about that opportunity later.

For now, my head is in the score, getting all the details into this infernal software. They're all "nicely" laid out in my manuscript, but translating some things into notation in software isn't too easy. Sibelius 6 still doesn't treat Sprechstimme markings all that nicely (where's my shortcut for that on the keypad! C'mon!), and there are a fair share of note-head changes for different techniques.

Ah, so now you're thinking "Oh, he uses all these techniques, so he's gonna talk about what a pain that is" or maybe "Now he's gonna say 'there's a limit to putting dynamics on every note!' FERNEYHOUGH FOREVER!"

Well, we're not all Ferneyhough (but I kinda wish I was...dude's awesome, but that's a previous post). No, this is about something less...musical?

This is about the words. I'm in a second semester of playwriting, which makes me practically an expert. That's a joke. But one thing we've discussed several times in class is how much information should be put in stage directions. The professor, Frank Higgins (he's kinda kick ass. Check him out), likes to remind us "If the words dictate an action, you don't need stage directions." (paraphrased, of course). And, what about emotions, like "angrily." I remember, vaguely, Frank basically telling us at the beginning that this was pretty much a hands down "no."

And yet...it's a practice in operas. I've checked out a few scores and, there it is, right over the words. "Angrily" "with growing frustration" "Happily." In instrumental writing, I get it.

In the violin part to an opera, I get it

But right over the singers words, and just hers?

If I was a singer, which I'm most assuredly not (though my resume says I did it in amateur fashion many moons ago), I may take it in stride, and just do what I'm told.

Or I might get irritated.

Yeah, you're right, I'd get irritated. Who does this composer jackwad think he is, telling me exactly who I should feel. Maybe I feel like the character should be more peeved than angry. Maybe it's a jaunty happy not a blissful happy. I can add the character just fine, thank you.

If I sent out a script where lines were tagged as such, I'd be laughed at. So, why are we still doing it in music? I even started to do it in my own piece, when I realized "ya know, I don't REALLY have to tell the singer how to do this. If the words tell the action, and show the character, it doesn't matter." Heck, if it's written well enough, even things like irony and sarcasm would come across in the characters voice without me having to put "sarcastically."

So, maybe we should ease off a bit in the markings. Let musicians be musicians, singers be singers, and opera singers by OPERA singers...which intrinsically means actor/actress as well.

Enough complaining, back to the grind!

What to do during The Dark Night

No, not Batman movies.

In my playwriting class, we talked about "the life of the project." One step, sitting just past the center point, is:

The Dark Night of the SOUL!

Ah, such a fitting description. The steps, in order, were:

• This is the best idea ever.
• This is harder than I thought.
• This is gonna take some work.
• This sucks, and it's boring.
• DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
• It'll be good to finish because I'll learn something for next time.
• It's done and it sucks, but it's better than I thought.

It's a pretty good description of the life of a creative project. But what happens when you hit that DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL!

In a project, it can just die away. How many unfinished projects do you have laying around? Happily I don't have too many, but there are some, hiding in the corners of my room. But this stage hits more than just in a project.

What happens when it's your life?

It's that funk. It's the moment after you've been unable to get motivation beyond flipping on the TV or XBox, and sitting for a couple hours, before shrugging and just going to sleep. That moment when sleep won't come, laying in bed, lights off, wondering there's a bat in your room. No, not Batman, but a real bat.

And you start to think...what's the point?

That's the Dark Night of the Soul. Most of us have been there. Some of us live there for extremely long amounts of time. I'm one of those people. In life, and in creative projects.

So, how do I get out of it? If I stayed there all the time I'd either be dead or never leave my room. 

I start with setting a nearly unattainable goal. Say, re-orchestrate an entire piece in roughly 24 hours. Actually, it was closer to 36...from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday evening. This included not just the notes, but having a completely clean and wonderful score, ready to print and bind, and send off.

Then, I do it. To accomplish the task, I had to work. And I mean WORK. In those 36 hours, I spent about 25 of them working. Wednesday dinner and Thursday lunch I worked while eating. Thursday dinner I took off because I had all the notes in place, so I could take an hour off.

Ah, 25 hours of work in 36 hours. If we push it from 8am Wednesday to 12am Friday (40 hours), it would have been 29 hours of work, as I started after being in class and teaching on Wednesday.

Now, for some, that's not a huge amount of work. for others, used to a roughly 9-5 day without a family, it seems like a lot. For those with multiple kids and jobs, well...you're probably laughing at how much relaxation time I had during those times. And probably a bit envious that I had that much time to work on a single project.

But the point isn't to compare. The point is to say I stick with a single project in a near obsessive manner for a short period of time. And I accomplish that project.

If I don't, I stay in the Dark Night of the SOUL! If I do, it helps break up the funk. It's a job accomplished, not something sitting on my desk in the "to-do" pile.

The only way to break out is to complete something. anything. So, I do.

That score has been sent to June in Buffalo. Will it get in? I hope so, but this has been a year of losing in those matters...but that's a different matter. 

When did i start blogging about theater...

About the time I get sent blogs like this.

over at Bitter Gertrude a little post has gone viral: A Common Problem I See In Plays by Women Playwrights. It's Not What You Think.

And it really wasn't what I was expecting to read. Reactive female characters, women who were central characters but...not. And the parallel between reality. It's true. And in thinking through my catalogue of TV and Movie characters (which is far more exhaustive than Plays), I can see the trend throughout, notice immediately why certain female characters grabbed my attention. It's a great post, and one worth reading.

But, for me, it was the last little bit that got me.

"(PS to the men out there writing strong, compelling, active roles for women: Thank you. The women actors of the world also thank you. Don’t let anyone tell you that you don’t have the right to write stories for women because you don’t have “authenticity.” Jesus Timberlake Christ, do they really want there to be FEWER roles for women?)"

Once upon a time I did a little post talking about how I was somewhat timid to write female roles. The main recap is that I felt like I couldn't capture the essence of a strong female character. And, now I see at least one problem in some of the dialogue I've written for women. In attempting to make it seem "real," I've more or less created female characters that were amalgamations of women I know. They're never one particular person, a little bit from Friend A, a little from Friend B, etc. But, in doing so, I was watering down each person's attitude.

And making them more reactive than they should be.

So, I've still got quite a bit of work to do. I'm, at best, a novice writer in so many ways. But at least now I've been told, in writing, to get over the "authenticity" bit. Back to sketching a strong, less reactive, more central character for this opera

Vacation means...?

Writing 3 minutes of music of a commission for Trombone consort (still so much more to do)

Sending off a couple festivals apps

Going to Vegas and gambling a little (and thereby only losing a little). It was my bff's birthday, and we decided to do it in style. She'd never been to an expensive steak joint. Nor a joust. Both of these things were fixed.

Getting horribly ill (probably from Vegas or all the horrid flights.)

Mastering a CD (you'll find out more when it's released). Learned just how beautiful Waves plugins are. They were totally worth every single effing penny.

So that means I need to go back to composing--it is a commission after all. Plus that pesky semester has started.

Oh, and I made it past the first round of the Fulbright.

If I wasn't so horribly ill, I'd be all about celebrating.

Why all the angst?

This just makes me feel sad. I'm sorry Mr. Asia has such a narrow musical ear. I have a feeling he dislikes the minimalist, post-minimalist, and electronic movements as well.

We are all entitled to our opinions. And he is quite allowed to dislike Cage. However, I listened to the entirety of the Sonatas and Interludes yesterday. On loop. For three hours. And was never bored for a minute.

I just hope Mr. Asia doesn't take this extreme approach when teaching students, building up prejudices in students at an early age. Both Stravinsky and Cage are important. As is Schoenberg. And Carter, Reich, John Adams, Tania Leon, Morton Subotnick, Dennis Smalley, Terry Riley, John Corigliano, Rzewksi, Cornelius Cardew, Edgar Varese, Luc Ferrari, Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Boulez, Stockhausen, and many others from various formats. All have had profound effects on music. To discount them because you personally find one piece boring is a disservice.

Doubly so with students. How does he treat that situation? As a teacher, this attitude worries me.

There's tons of music I don't personally like. I find Mozart boring, to this day. I don't particularly like Jonty Harrison's music either. But I force students to study and listen to both, experience both, and come to their own decisions...and then talk about what each composer brings to the table and what can be learned.

I hope Mr. Asia has a much more open ear than he purports here. If he doesn't, I will never been submitting to anything where he is involved, as I know he will dislike my music. And he'll probably get blacklisted by many composers who write music like me anymore. This will lead to very narrow sounding concerts, no better than going to your average orchestra subscription concert. Pity, really, a living composer willing to bury a large segment of music.

Event 4- I'm kinda of a regular

Following the amazing eighth blackbird concert on Thursday (Nov 8th, 2012), I had two more engagements. I was a last minute add to the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance program Perceptions/Reality. As always I welcomed a chance to work with my friends at KcEMA. Now that I am less involved, it was nice; just walk in, sound check, and eat some wonderful Mexican food. The venue, La Esquina, is in the Crossroads district and on Southwest Boulevard by La Esquina is an abundance of fantastic Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants. My piece I Do Good at Grammar was performed by the esteemed Brad Van Wick. Brad isn't known as a vocalist, but the piece isn't exactly vocally demanding. On the contrary, it's much more about acting.

The performance was good, but not well attended. We were up against eighth blackbirds solo show at UMKC, so a fair bit of our regular crowd was gone. While the crowd was small, they were responsive, and were treated to the show being free. Too bad there wasn't a larger crowd, as the show was fantastic.

While the night was full of great music and great performances, including works by a new ensemble of old friends, The Ensemble of Irreproducible Outcomes, with David D. McIntire (head-hog at irritablehedgehog ), Brian Padavic, and Ryan Oldham; Teri Quinn and Eli Hougland, two former students of mine (Teri even premiered a piece started in my class. woo!); and great playing by Eric Honour. But, for me, the real winner was Joseph Post.

Post comes to KcEMA by way of the "popular" scene. And boy was it a breath of fresh air. Now, I love EA concert. Even more so when different mediums can be incorporated- the night had fixed media, video, interactive, and instrument plus fixed. And the styles were somewhat varied. But the world of house, dance, trance, dub, etc are never really represented. Alluded to, perhaps, but not represented.

Post brought that. He improvised over a set form, using software (i neglected to ask which. woops) running into a custom analog synth. Post pieced it together from synthesizers.com, and did a great job putting together a setup that creates great sounds for his music.

Things are faded a bit from my mind, but I was so freakin' happy to have something with a solid beat, nice timbres, and an eclectic form. So many nods to so many different styles of "popular" electronic music, from drumstep to ambient. Great to see him at a concert that, dare I say, can get a little too serious...of course, that's one reason I Do Good at Grammar exists. heh

And Post brought friends, that heard new music. And he heard the music, and enjoyed the night. So, hopefully, there can be more crossover between our not really different, but somehow "exclusive" clubs.

And then I had to go to a high roller party hosted by the Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music. Not my usual scene, but everyone was nice, had a couple good conversations, then quietly snuck out. It was nice to toast off the week with a few glasses of champagne.

Event 3- when the birds flew into town

I've done the production manager thing before. Contacted venues, gotten gear lists together, driven a 24' box truck, gone to rehearsals, heck i've even judged competitions before.

But nothing compared to when eighth blackbird came to town.

For those not in the know, check out the about on their page and catch the part where they've won a couple Grammy's (no. 73, a couple down the list, for 2012). They are the premier chamber ensemble in the nation, possibly world. Complete beasts.

I mean their playing. They're all delightful people. I had several great conversations with various members, including a fairly long one with Lisa Kaplan as I showed her cross campus.

Oh, the event! right. Through the Barr Institute at UMKC, eighth blackbird presented various masterclasses for the past year, a concert of music of their choice, and then one other project. The other project was put out as a submission to the conservatory at large. Groups, or individuals, could write proposals.

When eighth blackbird had come to town in April, I was talking to a local museum about hosting a series of concerts through the conservatory. We were in the final stages of putting together quite the idea- a commissioning project where each semester 5 students would be chosen to compose site specific pieces based upon art on display. And the goal was to have a "resident ensemble," maybe start with the university new music ensemble, Musica Nova, then see who would be game. Pretty frackin' cool right? Well, this idea got brought up during a large conversation with 8bb that somehow became them asking questions about what the composers organization on campus did. They loved the idea, the novel concept, the cultural link, and Matthew Duvall said "that's the kind of concert that if someone pitched it to us, we'd consider it." Being an opportunist, I said "Hey, so, we've got this concert we're planning in the fall, and I heard you'd be around..." It was a good laugh.

The this project proposal came around.

And I was flat out told "John, you have to submit that project. but spruce it up a bit." So I did. Instead of just 8bb playing the pieces, I pitched it as a "side-by-side" where UMKC student performers would get to work with 8bb, prepare brand new music submitted by composition students, and we'd hold a concert at the museum. Dance was even added in collaboration, so they get to say they've worked with 8bb (though I'm not sure how important that is to dance. Hopefully really important).

It was accepted. and I thought "woo! venue is already in! I won't have to do anything for this at all. Maybe they'll have me collect the scores or something."

Oh man...was I wrong.

So, long story made medium, the original venue had some issues. There was some turn over, all our efforts were lost in the shuffle, and come August, no venue. Well, shit. We were hell bent on the concert being off campus, so I set to work. Sadly, I couldn't find a "free" place, but I got a decent deal on a space for an all day rental (we had no idea at the time of booking how much time, so i said quote all day, we'll pay all day, and you'll prolly come out ahead. Fast way to get a yes). Alright, great...then came me being the middle man to get everything paid for. If you've never had to deal with that in a university (or other really large company) then I pray you never do. If it wasn't for great administrators, and certain higher ups covering my ass, I would have lost it

Ok, ok, we've got a venue! it's booked! Reception? uh uh uh...ok, held off as long as we could...No! We'll just go to a bar afterwards. we'll all be tired anyway, and we will need to get everything put away. Ok, great. Piano? SHIT, PIANO! WE NEED A PIANO!!!! WHY IS IT IN FOUR WEEKS AND I FORGOT TO EVEN GET A PIANO?!?!?!?!

To be fair, by this time about 5 people were involved in various fashions with ordering, coordinating, etc, and none of us remembered piano. Ok, no big deal, piano received. Great, how do we get equipment to the place? I suggested a 14' truck. Oh, good, someone else is driving...

Wait, what, he can't drive? Ok, fine, that's fine. OH, it's a 24' truck? well...shit...at least it's automatic. one less thing to worry about.

So here I am, night before, tired as balls, can't sleep. Have to be up at 7 to be at rehearsal (just in case, I was at almost all the rehearsals). Get there, drinking coffee, ok, I'll get the truck, load it...

And then the day went normally. Loaded a truck, drove it downtown, set-up stuff, drove truck back, got some lunch. The, uh, normal people in the venue complained about the noise...yeah, Stamos' piece is hella loud after all. But we did SAY from the beginning "rehearsals start at 2, show at 5:30." Guess that didn't make it throughout the company. Alright, fun. We're here, we paid, not much can be done.

Show is beyond packed. Standing room only, and we're in there like sardines. John Corigliano is in the audience, in town to begin his Barr Laureate status. And here I am, hopping up in front of everyone. Little sleep, only a couple weeks after comps, during which I was dealing with every pitfall possible in getting this concert to happen. I'm sure I looked like hell.

Then the concert happened. It was fantastic. 8bb and all the conservatory students played the hell out of the pieces.

In the aftermath, even more great news. Hey, remember that $4K you asked for, and proposed that since it's a project effecting at least 4 different student groups, that'd only be $1K a piece? Yeah, we decided it's really only for 1 group, and we're giving you a total of $1780. Oh, no no no, not for this one project...for the year. Yep, you're actually getting less than every other year. Have a great year!

But, ya know what? the concert was awesome. 8bb was awesome. The food afterwards was delicious

And, I learned I can still back a 24' box truck down a narrow alley without trying