in response to...

This post is in response to 2 things, a review by my friend Chris Robinson on David Gibson's latest CD (read here) and the resulting discussion on tromboneforum.org, read here

An open letter to Chris Robinson:

You got some names going on that forum man. When Doug Elliott chimes in, you know things got real. Man, i was gonna buy a Doug Elliott mouthpiece...

Anyway, I couldn't agree more. Like i said before, one of my grump points is trombone players attempting to sound like J.J. Johnson. Smooth beyond all smooth, thin and bright tone. part of it is the instrument itself. straight horns tend to be a bit brighter, and it's easy to get a laser tone when trying to play out on them. on my horn, when i play loudly, it has a huge amount of edge to it (actually, mine is too far the opposite direction. anything above about a mf starts getting nasty...a little TOO soon. lol). On straight horns played in the higher registers, it just bets bright and thin to the point of being like a wailing baby. That's one of the biggest problems with the instrument- in a solo situation trying to play over everyone, we'll push it and we've killed 7 people in the crowd with a laser shooting from our horn.

It's one reason i have recently shied away from using my straight horn. i HAVE a jazz straight horn. It sits in the corner, comes out at least once a year, gets cleaned, then put back. I HATE my orchestral horn for various reasons, but one thing i like about it, is i can't get a laser tone out of it. Even in the high registers, it leans towards nasty and gritty. I might keep it around just to play jazz, just because of that nasty quality...and i can pump out mid to mid-low and make it sound like a bass trombones tone when they're really pumping the low stuff.

The best compliment i've gotten on my playing actually happened yesterday. I was just trying to play some high stuff while everyone was chatting, and Stanton Kessler stopped and said "what was that?" and i turned and said "me." his answer "that sounded like a French Horn." that, to me, is a great compliment. It means I was able to, in the high range where on all instruments it can get a little thin, keep a nice full, round, dark tone...the sort of tone that when you push it gets that brassy edge a French Horn has, not a baby killing laser beam.

I also completely agree with Doug Elliott when he says "What "we" are missing is quality, in a lot of ways. I'll probably get flamed for this, but as I see it, trombonists in general have accepted mediocrity as the norm."

couldn't agree more. We're a lazy bunch. Seriously. I am NO exception, either. My practice habits this summer went to 2-3 hours daily to an hour daily to an hour every few days. and that's me concentrating on practicing! i dunno how many trombone friends i've had who would rather get drunk, sit at a piano, and sing Billy Joel than practice trombone. and we've accepted it.

We've got this complex. We'll listen to (for classical) Alessi, Christian Lindberg, Mark Lawrence and say "eh, i'll never play like that. why bother?" We'll hear those classic jazz solos, J.J., Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton, Jiggs Wigham, and Kai Winding and say "we'll never solo like that, why bother." I'll admit that i don't spend my time learning changes or practicing my soloing like i spend my time learning avant-garde modern trombone solos...and that means it gets little to no time.

It's a double-edged sword. i complain, as a trombone player, that there isn't much good music being written for the trombone. the parts are lame, the solos are few and far between (in classical lit and jazz improv), and no one is even asking if i would like a piece written for me these days...why?

We don't put ourselves out there. I think partly the greats got overshadowed- J.J.'s biggest years of success were in the Bop era, and then into the Time of Miles (as i like to call it...). even though he was playing actively, put out records, and had great press...We all remember Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, we remember Miles and Trane...the giants lived on, and the ogres just got overshadowed (same reason we remember Wagner over Meyerbeer...even though Meyerbeer had much more play time during his lifetime.).

The only answer is to get out there and change the perception. So, yeah, I agree with you in a million ways. And believe, as Doug Elliott inferred, the stigma is our own creation. Somehow, as trombone players, we get lazy. We reach a certain level of proficiency and call it good. we get a gig and call it a day. there are obvious exceptions, Ryan Heinlein and myself are both at least trying to break the mold a bit, i'd say...he's more active than me in the Jazz scene, but i'm trying to do the same type of thing in the classical scene (where the same problems exist...). Maybe our generation will fix it. maybe, maybe not. Who knows, but it is a problem that needs addressed. And, maybe, now that I'm older, i can do my part to break the cycle, rather than perpetuate it.

so easy...

to forget why we started this journey.

Last night threw an amazing party. Made Siracha Curry Burgers and other grilled meats. Made potato salad. All the food was well received. There was drinking.

Everyone in attendance last night is a composer.

We held a score burning. It was amazing that the other composers were more reticent to burn their scores.

I burned the conductors score used in the first performance of Dance of Disillusionment and Despair as well as the first editing copy.

They're both useless now, as I revised it again before sending it off for competitions.

Woke up late, haven't done anything today. Saw my good friend Scott Blasco had posted a video to his piece Four Songs from the Caucasian Chalk Circle. (you can view it here.) It is a fantastic piece.

Listening to Scott's music reminds me of why I got started down this crazy path. not the bit from undergrad where I was kinda writing, met Carlos, and he showed me the path in composition. not my Masters where i really put it together.

Not even HS, when i had to decide what college I wanted to attend and what major I would be.

Nope, back further. Back watching Der Ring des Nibelungen for the first time with my dad. Sitting at the piano struggling with simple etudes, just wanting to play from the different random volumes of piano pieces we had laying around.

Neither of my parents were "professional" musicians. My mom had piano lessons through HS and flute lessons through college. Almost had a music minor, but really just wanted to play for fun, so didn't do all the theory work needed. My dad was a guitarist and bass player for various bands, though none ever got past being much of a bar band.

I didn't take it seriously till halfway through college. But i've always loved music. Not passively in the "i want to just sit around listening," but i wanted to create music. First, as a player, now as a composer (and sometimes a performer.).

Scott's music is simple and beautiful. Not to say it doesn't have it's complexities and doesn't hold my attention. Far from it. However, there isn't a "hidden agenda" one must first learn before enjoying his music. I don't have to listen and realize "Oh, this is an inverted double mensuration canon!" to get joy from a piece. (Sorry Jeff. I know your love of the inverted double mensuration canon. I love it too. but it is in no way simple and straight forward. lol)

It's something I miss, that simple beauty of a piece. You lay 4 of your 5 cards on the table and it looks like you have 2 pair. That's a good enough hand to win many a game. For those that pay attention, saw how the game unfolded, and catch that wry smile on your face, they know you've got another Jack in your hand, and it's a full house.

That's Scott's music. everyone can see the two pair. If you pay attention, you realize he's got a full-house.

My music is like playing Texas Hold'em and waiting for the river to pull out a winning hand. And no one ever sees what i'm holding till the end...

Sometimes I forget why I got into this whole mess..."Rainbow Connection" on an inexpensive upright, the fun and difficulty of memorizing 10 pieces for a competition, sitting in my bedroom with a cheap Casio keyboard writing short songs with their various patches and recording them with the little two track record function and recording it to a cheap tape deck.

I'm too complicated now. Not sure that'll ever change. I'm jealous of my friends that have success in singer/song-writer style work (guys like Greg Gagnon and his folk/country/blues persona Graham Gregory.).

I think it's time to get back to those roots. remember why I got into this mess. Thank you, Scott Blasco, for reminding me again.

Notational issues

I just finished getting all the notes put into Sibelius on my latest piece, K.A.H!. It was quite a session toward the end, to try and work it out.

the biggest issue is just how many techniques used in the piece.* The issue became "How do i notate these things quickly?"

Without having Stuart Dempster's book from the 70s on trombone (which i've yet to see. I know it exists. maybe UMKC has it in the library. haven't checked here.) I came up with my ways to tell the trombone player what to do.

The piece goes through several different techniques, standard playing, multiphonics (and some singing), playing on the mouthpiece, free buzzing, non-pitched vocal techniques, use of trigger positions to change timbre, etc. Some of the techniques are more standardly notated- multiphonics are often done as diamond notes for the sung pitches. But how about the others techniques?

Well, no one seems to like the trombone, cause there isn't much about how to write these things. When I look at certain scores that use the techniques, most are aleatoric in nature or just write out every single little thing. words words words, so many words...when you're moving around quarter equals 132, words aren't going to cut it.

so, what's eloquent? Different noteheads, of course! How else would one do it? i took some standard- like diamonds for multiphonics- and then used squares, triangles, arrows, Xs, anything I had lying around.

It makes the score quite pretty actually, all these different noteheads strewn around. And, as a performer, seeing the initial notehead with a definition along with it in a legend at the beginning is perfectly acceptable. Seeing words everywhere just clutters up the page.

Also, why does my hand smell so funny? i really have no idea, just does. I blame the enchiladas

by an by, Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas with Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout? Quite a tasty way to end a Saturday

Crazy kinda year

Oh man, what a crazy kinda year.

I've had some good performances and worked my ace off. Helped plan and run a successful (if i don't say so myself) small festival over 2 days. we had 4 concerts, i teched all of them. The final piece on the final concert was the premier of "most of" Dance of Disillusionment and Despair. It was performed wonderfully by the group here in KC.

On May 1st, 7pm, Baruch College, I'll have the premier of the entire work. I've been working with Whitney George and Sarah E. Fox and a host of players in NYC, most of whom I actually know (crazy, right?). I'm excited to hear the whole work, even if it is using a 4 1/3 octave marimba and not a 5 octave. Oh well, that's how the cookie crumbles.

I also made my KC debut with It Was Raining, sponsored on a concert by KcEMA, and performed by Bonnie Lander. We had almost no rehearsal time, but had quite the performance. I actually should have the recording fixed up nicely in the first part of the summer.

Made my KC conducting debut as well. Andrew Cole didn't make it easy on me, but i owned up to the challenge. The piece, Three Dances for the Digital Era, is unrelenting to say the least. Think i lost 10lbs just that evening.

All in all, it's been one crazy year. But i think the work is paying off. People are starting to take some notice. Hear the music, see me around. I've gotten a couple people asking for pieces.

like I said at the end of conducting Andrew's piece "I'll take that...great work"

EMCC

2 days, 4 concerts

one concert down, so if you're just seeing this, my bad

Come join the FUN! EMCC, hosted this year by University of Missouri Kansas City, 3 concerts today, all free, all in White Recital Hall, PAC, 4949 Cherry Street, KC, MO

http://emccomposers.org

Come hear a large work by moi on concert IV, 7:30pm.

Selections from Dance of Disillusionment and Despair.

What's in a bio?

First off, before i get this discussion rolling, this is not an attack on the program office involved. They are a very traditional establishment and i accept that. They produce quite nice programs that are edited quite well. This is just a difference of opinion on what makes a biography, not any sort of attack. Just so happens my view is quite different.

So, i know i've discussed my views on bios before on this blog. Today, i received an "edited" version of a bio i sent to a festival. This is what I sent:

John Chittum drinks water, but could probably stand to do so with more frequency. He is a composer, multi-media artist, sound engineer, and occasionally plays trombone. He has had works performed all over the universe, including EM-NY's IEAMF, DePauw Univeristy's Chamber Orchestra's 2006 West Coast Tour, and the anthem to Rigel 7's "Intermorphic Games 2009 (Earth Year)." His music has been described as “microtonal post-neo-litho-mini- Max/Msp-moderno-anticonservative-primitavisitic concert music and film scores.” When not writing music, John enjoys wrapping speakers in foil so the government (any and all) cannot steal his music, staring at blank walls, and working with UMKC's Composer's in the School program, and teaching at KCKCC (CCKCCKCKCCC), and UMKC (CCKCCCKC), helping to teach the next generation of poor starving artists. He has a fine leather bound degree from DePauw University in a box somewhere, an MM from Brooklyn College in an envelope on his desk, and is attempting one more "because i couldn't get a real job" at University of Missouri Kansas City. John also has a sense of humor, laughs a great deal, and refuses to take life too seriously. He’s known for being “the kind of guy who will watch 8 hours of Futurama and read Proust at the same time.”

and yes, that final quote is a quote. It's actually from Russel Thorpe who authored an amazing bio about me for the Black House Improvisors' Collective. Absolutely amazing.

I expected edits. Oh yes, indeed i did. The program office here is very traditional. They've been known to edit professor's bios if they mention things that are too "out there." If you read this blog, you've probably noticed i'm not exactly a strict tradition guy. Well, this is the bio that came out of this...

"John Chittum is a composer, multimedia artist, sound engineer and occasional trombonist. His works have been performed at EM-NY’s International Electro-Acoustic Music festivals and the 2006 West Coast Tour of DePauw University’s Chamber Orchestra. When not writing music, Chittum enjoys working with UMKC’s Composers in the School program and teaching at the Kansas City Kansas Community College and UMKC. He holds degrees from DePauw University and Brooklyn College and is currently a doctoral student at UMKC."

well then, that took all the fun out of it...and it became just a meaningless list of accomplishments. Yep...pretty boring. and it says nothing about me. nothing

This bio, when i read it, tells me nothing. So, he's had performances and he teaches, has a couple degrees, and does all sorts of shit. Who cares? That doesn't mean anything. The bio i sent really tells you who I am. You read that, you know EXACTLY who John Chittum is. The edited version has absolutely no life to it at all. I definitely would have preferred they just say "this is unacceptable. Please write something more traditional."

In light of the massive edits that sucked the soul out of the bio and left only factoids, i wrote a new bio to send them. i hope this revision goes in

"John Chittum (1984) is a composer, educator, multi-media artist, trombonist, and audio engineer. As a composer he has had pieces performed across the US with groups such as Remarkable Theater Brigade, DePauw University Chamber Orchestra, and in association with KcEMA. As an educator, John has taught audio engineering courses at Kansas City Kansas Community College and University of Missouri-Kansas City, music appreciation at Brooklyn College, music appreciation through the S.T.A.R. program associated with Brooklyn College, and as a Composers-In-The-Schools fellow at UMKC. John still actively performs on trombone, most recently playing with Black House Improvisors' Collective and is planning a trombone and electronics concert for 2012. Working mostly as a monitor engineer for Concert Quality Sound, John has enjoyed experiences with L.L. Cool J, The Trammps, The Blue Notes, Chubby Checker, and Tony Orlando. In the electro-acoustic scene, John has worked as a lead engineer and system technician for the International Electroacoustic Music Festival (IEAMF), KcEMA, The Composers Guild at UMKC, and Musica Nova. While John has many varied musical experiences that have influenced his work, his non-musical experiences, such as driving a large delivery truck in Philadelphia, traversing long distances in his 1995 Jeep Cherokee without a stereo, his regular trips to the Atlantic City and Ocean City, NJ beaches, and his forays into culinary experimentation, are of equal importance in his musical development."

At least that one still has some of the whimsey, and, let's face, if you want me to LIST ACCOMPLISHMENTS, BRING IT ON! I've got a few. I'll name drop, i'll put down professional credit, whatever. However, it's the final sentence, now couched in more formal writing, that still says more than anything...

and, knowing the office, there's a chance it gets cut.

So, here's the question: what are people's takes on bios? should they stick to tradition or break the mold? What says more about a person; a list of accomplishments or a something really composed in their own style? For those that know me (and read this blog), which of the three really does tell you about John Chittum?

This is NOT a knock on this office. I know they are traditionalists and i took a chance sending the zany bio. I do wish they had just asked for another rather than editing it though. I am capable of writing a traditional bio, just dislike to use it unless I am required. But, they do mean well and produce fantastic looking programs

which reminds me, i need to send them a program for the Guild concert in April.

K.A.H!

First off, i've hit 1000 views. doesn't seem like that large a number, but when i started this back in...um...whenever i started it, i never thought that'd happen. or that i'd start averaging over 100 views a month. thanks all. i do wonder how many of you really exist. lol

The trombone concerto has been tabled for the moment. Got a phone call from a buddy of mine demanding i finally finish SOMETHING for him by May. he preferred it be an unaccompanied piece. Aight, i can do that. bye bye concerto which has given me acid reflux. Hello unaccompanied trombone solo!

It's title is K.A.H! I don't normally hit titles first, but this was a must. I'm also a huge fan of acronym names. This one is a double homage- first, to the greatest robot ever fictionally created; Bender. secondly, written in solidarity with everyone else getting royally screwed by the government in the US. Solidarity with Wisconsin in their fight to actually be able to collectively bargain their whole contract, not just their wage (i'm sure they'll lose all benefits soon "to save money." Austerity is BS.). Written in solidarity with those in Michigan that face the possibility of losing local government entirely ("oh, a 3rd party firm decides your town is in a crisis? I (the governor) shall appoint a person in charge of said town, dissolve the government, and give this person totalitarian rule of your town till the 'financial crisis' is over. Bye bye local government, voting, and all public workers!" I do hope they keep one cop around, maybe a fire engine...maybe...).

You can decipher what K.A.H! stands for. I've given a large hint

Later i'll post on content. It led to quite the disagreement. The suggestion was made that i use material from this in my concerto. my answer "that's not really going to work..." this led to about a 15 minute discussion that seriously just went in circles. I hold to my opinion, as it also stems from how i feel about large ensembles (unwieldy cumbersome beasts with coordination issues.). when your theme/basic material is so hard that an elite soloist has difficulty then transferring that to a large ensemble seems...well, pretty damn hard.

especially when you open with multiphonics through a harmon mute. lol