Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Hack

Persistant cough. Ick...Hack...Rehearsals are fine for me since I can block it from my own brain. I'm sure everyone around me is ready to throw a shoe, though. My only saving grace may end up being that everyone in all of my recent ensembles seems to be getting sick. Perhaps they're coughing too and I'm just not noticing due to my normal extreme self-regard.

Regardless, I'm about to head out on the road again. I'm really starting to enjoy these little mini-tours of mine. Of course, after more than a week on the road, I'm always ready to go into a coma. I do love the fact that I always seem to visit places where I have friends, though. Nothing like mixing music and friends. I'm working on some small projects to make this even more common next season.

Maybe some tea will help with this hack.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Carter Esprit Axed

Due to unforseen circumstances, we've had to pull the Carter from this May 6th's concert. Never fear, though...We're looking at the possibility of placing on a SICPP concert in June. If that happens, I'll post it. In the meantime, I've got tons of rep to learn and significantly few pounds of time. Please forgive my brusqueness.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

My Homework

Since I had the time tonight, I began to aurally revisit some of my upcoming repertoire through some cds.

Carter's Esprit rude/Esprit doux II with the Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne
Mozart's Piano Concerto 23, k.488 with Vladimir Ashkenazy (forgot the orchestra)

The former was not very good. Sketchy ensemble and even sketchier rhythm. The flutter tongues were not convincing and sounded as if they learned to do it last week.

The latter recording was glorious. That Vlad, he's the real thing. The orchestra was, I believe British, so their winds had quite a bit different sound than I'm used to. Still, wonderful music making. Absolutely uniform unison phrasing, wonderful intonation...Technically, the recording was fantastically played. Musically, it was also lovely. Such long lines and lovely cadences.

That's it folks...I've lost whatever "edge" New Music performers are supposed to have. I used the word "lovely" and meant it. The bell tolls for me.

Holy crap, I reread the note and realized that I used the word twice and meant it. I'll leave it in as a sign to those who know me that I've really gone off the deep end.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Pain is -Not- My Style

Pain occasionally happens to the best of us. There are several different kinds of pain for musicians. Dull aches, sharp/shooting pains, etc...Although I am not a doctor and make no pretense at being one, I am deathly afraid of shooting pains in musicians' bodies.

A note: athletes frequently experiences aches. They tend to ice them down and understand that they are part of the game, though this isn't always true. When shooting pains happen to athletes, though, they go directly to doctors. Shooting pains are a direct, obvious sign that something is wildly wrong.

Do not "play through the pain" and go to rehearsal. This afternoon, I packed up my clarinets and went home when I found out that a musician was going to try to play through sharp, shooting pains. I decided that I didn't want any part of injuring a player. I sent her home and told her that she should take herself to a spa for the afternoon. She has a concert tonight, but was going to run herself into the ground before it. What about the rest of the week's concerts?

This kind of crap worries me. We've got to teach musicians how to stop everything and take care of themselves. It's not babying a musician to prevent possibly devastating injuries.

David Ortiz of the Clarinet

This week, I'll be hitting for the cycle as far as clarinets go. When I entered Conservatory, I was told by my teacher to learn all of the utility clarinets (Eb, Bass, alto, etc.) so as to make myself more attractive for gigs. What did I do? I learned them all. I did manage to have some serious problems learning to play bass at the start, but I eventually learned how to play the thing. Now, I love playing it and the other utils. This week, I'll be playing (in rehearsal or concert) the standard Bb/A combination, the Eb, the Bass, and the Paper Clip. Wha? Yup, I'll be playing what a conductor once referred to as the radiator. This is the contrabass clarinets. I've never played a contra that was well-adjusted, so it's always a constant battle against keys flying off and pads sneaking away from their cups.

Of course, I just heard a colleague play this same instrument a couple of weeks ago. She played it virtuosically, which means that I have no excuse for not playing wonderfully. Oh well...
On a more contraversial note: A percussionist told be yesterday in rehearsal that many percussionist take up the instruments out of laziness, essentially. He said that many were fairly good instrumentalists in other sections, but took up percussion because it was easier and they wanted to stay in music at a high level. Is this true? Is the percussion section the UPN of the music world?

Oh yeah...Go Marathon and stuff...Run and run...And get me the remote.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Blech...

I have a cold. I managed to NOT have a cold for the entire cold and flu season. At first, I though that it was just my annual Spring allergy attack, but it seems as if it is an actual cold.

To everyone that heard me play today while I was hopped up on Sudafed Allegery/Sinus, I thank you for your compassion. Thank you for not throwing anything at me or my person when you realized that I was completely incompetent. Thank you for not saying I was incompetent. Of course, you could have said it, but I didn't notice in my haze.

I'm now going to take some Nighttime Cold/Flu stuff and hibernate. I do hope that I will feel a bit more like getting work done tomorrow afternoon.

I saw my old teacher today and even he commented on my health. You know that it's not good when you even look sick. Tomorrow I intend to keep feeding this cold and my belly. Packin on the pounds.

Off Topic, But Tasty

Occasionally, we here at "I Should Be Practicing" stray from music and mention something else. (By "we" I am including the voices in my head.)

Today's Off-Topic: Weight...I'm looking for some. I've been informed that I need to pack on a few pounds in the next week or so. Yum...That means that I get to eat. As many of you know, I tend to snarf quite a lot of Korean food. Seen many fat Koreans? That's right...It's time to hit the American Comfort Food, Italian Food, and anything else. Anyone have suggestions? I'm relying on you, my friends who also eat food, to help me bloat a little. Who's up for binging? (No purging.)

Yes, folks that means that I'll go off of my patented diet plan: Dunkies Med. Coffee (milk and sugar) and a couple o' donuts (at least one is always a Boston Creme). I'm telling you, the more I eat of that meal, the faster I lose weight.

Oh yes, the weight does not need to be muscle this week, but in a few weeks, I may need to do this again with an ideal substance being muscle rather than lard. For now, bring on the lard! Crisco! My grandmother's fried chicken! Hell, anything my grandmother ever made would be fantastic.

Another "Oh yes": Just so this is briefly on-topic, today I practiced...alot. The only word that could be used to describe the work I got done begins with "awesome" and ends with "ification." Loves me some practicifyin.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Updated Profile redux

Oh yes...The AIM handle in the Profile has been updated and is now correct. Feel free to scream at me in all CAPS.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

How's Your Practicing?

A newish friend asked me "How's your practicing going?" and my brain short circuited. As I just never seem to get when someone is resorting to small talk, I assume that these questions should be answered. "Fine" would have been the easy answer, but the real one's coming forth in the next paragraph. If the questioner happens upon this blog, perhaps you'll get why I got "a look" on my face in response.

What do you do when you're sure that what you're practicing is wrong? I'm extraordinarily opinionated and I know the way these pieces should go. Of course, I also know for whom and with whom I'm going to be playing these pieces. I'm positive....stark, raving positive of how they, the check signers, will want these pieces played. Of course, I'm also quite sure that my way is better, and closer to the composers' intents. Yup, I'm selling out. Musical honesty? Nope...Rent is a necessity. I've gotta be able to get the callback.

If I play these pieces as they should be played, I will spend the next two weeks fighting for my realization of the composers' wishes. Of course, I won't win. Even if the groups were democratic, I'd lose a vote. Especially if they're democratic, I'd lose the vote. There's a good chance I'd not get a shot at paying my rent through those groups again.

So how do you answer "How's your practicing?" when that's all you can think as you pervert perfectly good music in a practice session? Here's how that conversation should have gone, although I'm positive that it would have been just as confusing for the questioner:

Q: How's your practicing going?
A: I feel like a whore.

Monday, April 10, 2006

A love letter...

Okay, so I'll say it.

eigth blackbird is a good thing. It's always a good thing to have an ensemble out there playing the music about which they feel passionately for an audience that enjoys it.

Hmm...Now, about that music. Much of it is just trash. The only thing that made several of the pieces sufferable was the fact that they were running around stage like some damned circus performers. Guys, I understand that you're trying to connect an audience to what's going on compositionally with the piece. Why don't you just pick better repertoire and make sure the take care of that highlighting sonically? If the piece isn't good enough without your choreography, it isn't good enough.

And about one piece in particular: Frederic Rzewski's Les Moutons des Panurge. Oh dear...What were you thinking? I, being an uppity clarinet player myself, was confounded by the manner in which you played this. Why bother to credit Rzewski at all? The storytelling was great, but your explanation of the performance directions were pure BS. The piece, as originally intended, was a disentigration of the unison based on the mistakes of the players that night in that performance. Orchestrating how everyone gets off the main tune and then composing a central section is just nonsense. While you're at it, take a look at the tempo marking for the start and the steady accelerando throughout the entire piece. That would be much harder than just playing it fast. Of course, that would require more adherence to the composer than to your own whims.

Yes, I understand that Rzewski essentially gives carte blanche to performers in a later note for the piece. That, however, does NOT okay the artistic fraud that you perpetrated on this Cambridge audience. You should be ashamed of yourself.

The highlight of the program for me: Thierry De Mey's "Musique de Tables" (1987). This particular pieces deserves to be played/performed and often. It's consistently interesting/lovely/amusing and I hadn't even heard of it before. Thank you for performing it and performing it very convincingly.

The Higdon "Zango Bandango" (2002) gave the kids an opportunity to flex their technique, but it's a shame the piece is not worth the effort. I'm speaking as a great lover of cheese when it comes to music, but this wasn't even good fluff. Just a waste of time. They played with quite a bit of precision, though.

The bottom line: These guys perpetrate their act very well, but it's an act that seems specifically designed to obscure mediocre talent playing mostly throwaway tunes. Spend more time choosing your repertoire and then spend more time in the practice room. Just bringing a damned saw onstage isn't going to endear you to my heart.

Profile Email Update

Slowly, but surely I am making this blog a somewhat competent endeavor. After Lawrence Dillon let me know of his inability to contact me via my profile, I got around to making myself less distant. The email link in the profile is now certainly current, if a little strange. Once upon a time, these strange email addresses used to block certain kinds of spam dictionary programs. Of course, that was a LONG time ago. Now it's just weird. For those of you who have my other address, that will still, of course, work. I funnel the emails down to a central account in the end, anyway.

Upon the suggestion of someone more intelligent than me, I'll be looking into getting some audio tracks up soon.

Of course, I also said that I'd get up a review of 8th Black-beard too. (Take that, commenters.)

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Hodgepodge O' Rambling

Gotta load a crap to say tonight...Wade through it if you must. Some good, some Yanni. (Yanni is means something along the lines of "not good.")

I spent 14 hours in the same damned building today. That's entirely too much time in one place. I went just long enough to eat a little lunch and be thoroughly befuddled while analyzing Carter. Otherwise, I spent the majority of the day attending performances and practicing.

First, the performances: a cello recital and a piano recital. In both, there was some truly beautiful playing. In the cello recital, I never once thought about the technique involved with playing that wonderful instrument. That's what I want. I don't want to wonder if they're going to hit a note or finish the upbow too early. Instead, I got a damned fine concert. Sadly, I felt the day and resisted consuming libations with the well-deserved performer. I'm sure that he'll partake in my portion.

My Own Practicing: How can the clarinet feel like a foreign object one day and okay the day before? Accountants don't go to their ledgers and find that the numbers don't feel like adding up today. What the hell is that? (My Italian friends tell me that a good accountant is truly an artist, especially if he paints the IRS out of the picture.) Does Lance Armstrong forget how to ride a bike some days? Is it disturbing that I equate these different professions with our art?

On another note: What the hell is wrong with us clarinet players? How come I think about almost nothing but technique in clarinet recitals? It's pretty much the same with most of the orchestral wind section. Where are the colors? Where's the damned music with us wind players?Everyone I know is so damned worried about getting a job and learning those orchestral excerpts. I'm worried about keeping up with those excerpts. How many fantastic cellists do you know that worry all day about excerpts? Would they have managed to become fantastic musicians had they bothered so much with these 12 bar excerpts?

God, I hate excerpts. Can you tell?...I'm pretty sure that the audition system as it exists now is the best available, but it's not about being a great musician until the final rounds. Gotta be a good little, unremarkable (don't want to offend anyone) robot until then.

Comments, folks? I'm actively encouraging people to leave notes. In fact, someone who lives very close to me visited last night via Comcast. The interwebonets not quite anonymous anymore, is it?

Sometimes people forget my last name. It's days like this that I actively encourage conspiracy theories.

Friday, April 07, 2006

The Villagers Are Getting Restless

It seems that I never get around to practicing the Eb clarinet until the evening time. I always save it for last since I tend to tire out very easily while playing it. I can ruin a day's practice by blowing my lips right off by spending a couple of morning hours playing the little devil.

What's wrong with playing the Eb in the evening? (That could almost sound romantic if you didn't know what a demon-summoning tool the Eb clarinet is.) Well, if I'd like to be able to continue renting my apartment, it would moronic of me to practice it in the house. I'm pretty sure that my neighbors are just barely tolerating my practice time (hours and hours of the same stuff) as it is, but jack that practice material up an octave and twice the volume...No contest...I'm pretty sure that pitchforks would magically appear.

So, since I'd prefer to be able to live...and live in this apartment for a while longer, I take my after 9pm Eb practicing downtown and blow my brains out in a practice room. (This evening, I'm pretty sure I annoyed a saxophonist into leaving the room next to mine. My apologies.) I'm trying to make this Shostakovich part sound like a musician is playing it. I'm quite used to hearing Eb players sound like drunken leprechauns, so I'd like to avoid that in this Russian behemoth of a piece.

Remember, I've already warned you once to bring Kevlar to this concert. I'm not kidding. Maybe a flask would help too. I keep seeing "FF" for dynamic levels under many ledger lines. Good luck.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Get Thee to a Nunnery...Or to These Concerts...They're Both Religious Experiences

Well, the next few weeks have a few gigs, but I can only really tell you about two of them (the others are not for public consumption):

Saturday, May 6
Theodore Parker Church
1859 Centre Street, West Roxbury, MA
8pm

I'll performing in Elliot Carter's "Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux II" with flutist Jessi Rosinski, and marimbist Jeff Means. Now, the first ER/ED is pretty popular for Clarinetists and Flutists, but I had not even heard of this one before it was suggested to me. It was written by Carter for Boulez's 70th birthday and it's quite a little gem. I can promise that we'll give a good performance. I'll let you know if we need to upgrade that to "earthshattering" later. Gotta get further into rehearsals.

Now, strangely enough, I have no idea what's on the rest of this chamber program. I'll certainly put a proper notice up with the complete program as soon as I hear, but I'm not on the rest of the program. Why? I've got a busy week. The next day I have:

May 7 4pm Glens Falls Symphony
Glens Falls, NY (www.glensfallssymphony.org)

Shostakovich Symphony No 5
Mozart Piano Concerto 23 A Maj - Ursela Oppens, piano soloist

As I'm the Principal Clarinetist in this orchestra, I have a couple of small perks. One is that I can occasionally mix my section up. During the Shostakovich, I'll be playing Eb clarinet. Yup...I'm taking that one all for myself. If you haven't heard an Eb or heard me play Eb, you might want to wear some Kevlar for this gig.

Of course, I wouldn't miss playing Principal in the Mozart. I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to be on the same stage as Ms. Oppens. She's simply awesome, but I've never heard her play Mozart. This should be a treat. I hope that, with my schedule of bouncing around like a madman, I still have time to chat with her. I hear that she's quite the approachable musician.

As always, please let me know if you're interested in attending any of these programs.

Oh yes: Go out and buy Kyle Gann's "Music Downtown" as soon as you get a chance. Or, go to the library and read 10 years of the Village Voice. Either way, it's a great read. I certainly do not agree with everything Mr. Gann has to say, but he's putting a special music front and center.

I just wish he didn't seem to dislike "Uptown" so much.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Studio Openings for Students

That's right folks, I have a few openings for students in my studio these days. If you know someone or are someone who needs a clarinet or sax instructor, please feel free to give a yell. Please leave a comment here with a way to contact you and I'll get right on it. I do love to teach, so I like to fill a good bit of my free time with teaching willing students. If you have any questions, also feel free to leave a comment with a way to contact you.

More info soon on upcoming performances...soon=whenever I get around to it.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Pop Goes the Tawaineasel

So I took a break from practicing and went to see another performance out in Wellesley this evening. My friend Jeff Chang, a fellow NEC alumnus, an excellent musician, great sax player, and all-around good guy, was in town to play some gigs with his Taiwanese Pop band. Now, I've seen Jeff play with his Vietnamese pop band and it was simply astounding. This time, the band didn't wear matching shiny shirts, but they were just as entertaining. Jeff was a frontman for several of the tunes.

Why the hell can't our gigs be this engaging? Even the damned drummer was smiling when Jeff was performing. Yup, that's right, performing. He didn't just give a cookie-cutter sing-through of the tune. He made it freakin' fun to watch and hear. Don't get me wrong about the playing, though. This band was tight. They know the tunes and would probably require an earthquake and a flash/bang grenade to get them to slip out of synch. (Note: Both are required. It seems like they might just shake off one. Both would be a minimum at having a chance.)

I've decided that Jeff Chang should be the new frontman for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Who's with me? (We need to find a gig for the drummer too, for obvious reasons.)

I'm hoping to catch them reprise these sets on Sunday if I can manage my schedule well enough. This time, though, I might bring along a few friends so they can join the asian pop cult.