So since I basically waste hours away on YouTube, I decided I should start uploading stuff so as to at least seem like I'm being productive.
That being said, I just made a video for that piece "Regreso". It's over 10 minutes so I had to split it up into two videos.
Here are the links!
Part 1
Part 2
Enjoy!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
theatre prevails and I'm on youtube now!
so. this summer has kind of sucked a lot, but things are beginning to pick up. I think.
anywho, I've been eating pretty well and going to the gym (I may or may not have lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the summer? I dunno), doing some driving here and there (including a trip on the highway...oooooo...), and while I did not secure a job (I'll be honest, it was sucking and then I didn't get a job I thought I had in the bag and it's now the middle of the summer so I kind of gave up), I have been making lots of music!
today I met up with a friend of a friend to discuss a collaboration on a musical he's working on. at the very least I'd just be working on some songwriting for the show which I'm pretty stoked about. it'll be a fun exercise in a controlled medium and also to collaborate, particularly with someone I only sort of know. guidelines are awesome for me and the incredible potential for performance is very encouraging.
additionally, I did NOT get suckered into playing for CSTF (Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival...the bane of my existence. just think of theatre moms and then think of a million of them and them trying to get you to PAY for playing for their musical that you're only doing as a favor, plus a bunch of other shenanigans.). BUT I am going to be doing some orchestrations for their show this year which is actually a revue of various songs from the past shows they've done plus the opener - "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks - and the closer - the opening song from "Songs for a New World". Arranging and orchestrating is something I've always wanted to try, and this stuff is definitely going to be performed, so that is also super exciting. No pay, but think of my resumé!
personally, I've been doing some composin' and stuff. notable is a return to my guitar and my sort of "pop" songwriting. the tumultuous events of this summer resulted in an admittedly emo song, but one with much more metaphor and more complex chords than my juvenalia. and it's on YouTube! I'd definitely like to write some more stuff and if I do I will certainly post about it.
I've begun work on the second spanish poem I had intended as a companion to "Regreso" (the work I wrote and had performed this past semester). it's definitely a departure from stuff that I've written before, and I think it's a good counter to the other setting. my only worry is it might end up too short or that perhaps it's too incongruent with the other setting. oh well! there's also some other stuff in the works, including a fanfare for brass quintet and some choral settings ("do not go gentle into that good night" and "charm me asleep"). I had some intention of submitting one of my choral pieces into a competition held by this community choir that a friend of mine is the conductor of, but I haven't finished anything appropriate for it yet and it has to be postmarked by the 30th of this month. maybe something'll be ready? maybe. I'll probably post samples of the stuff I've been working on soon.
not very high brow, but I'm currently obsessed with this song. a friend pointed out it's only made up of I and IV chords and the IV chord is particularly pleasing to Western ears, but I think it's just because it's really fucking catchy.
anywho, I've been eating pretty well and going to the gym (I may or may not have lost 10 pounds since the beginning of the summer? I dunno), doing some driving here and there (including a trip on the highway...oooooo...), and while I did not secure a job (I'll be honest, it was sucking and then I didn't get a job I thought I had in the bag and it's now the middle of the summer so I kind of gave up), I have been making lots of music!
today I met up with a friend of a friend to discuss a collaboration on a musical he's working on. at the very least I'd just be working on some songwriting for the show which I'm pretty stoked about. it'll be a fun exercise in a controlled medium and also to collaborate, particularly with someone I only sort of know. guidelines are awesome for me and the incredible potential for performance is very encouraging.
additionally, I did NOT get suckered into playing for CSTF (Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival...the bane of my existence. just think of theatre moms and then think of a million of them and them trying to get you to PAY for playing for their musical that you're only doing as a favor, plus a bunch of other shenanigans.). BUT I am going to be doing some orchestrations for their show this year which is actually a revue of various songs from the past shows they've done plus the opener - "Try to Remember" from The Fantasticks - and the closer - the opening song from "Songs for a New World". Arranging and orchestrating is something I've always wanted to try, and this stuff is definitely going to be performed, so that is also super exciting. No pay, but think of my resumé!
personally, I've been doing some composin' and stuff. notable is a return to my guitar and my sort of "pop" songwriting. the tumultuous events of this summer resulted in an admittedly emo song, but one with much more metaphor and more complex chords than my juvenalia. and it's on YouTube! I'd definitely like to write some more stuff and if I do I will certainly post about it.
I've begun work on the second spanish poem I had intended as a companion to "Regreso" (the work I wrote and had performed this past semester). it's definitely a departure from stuff that I've written before, and I think it's a good counter to the other setting. my only worry is it might end up too short or that perhaps it's too incongruent with the other setting. oh well! there's also some other stuff in the works, including a fanfare for brass quintet and some choral settings ("do not go gentle into that good night" and "charm me asleep"). I had some intention of submitting one of my choral pieces into a competition held by this community choir that a friend of mine is the conductor of, but I haven't finished anything appropriate for it yet and it has to be postmarked by the 30th of this month. maybe something'll be ready? maybe. I'll probably post samples of the stuff I've been working on soon.
not very high brow, but I'm currently obsessed with this song. a friend pointed out it's only made up of I and IV chords and the IV chord is particularly pleasing to Western ears, but I think it's just because it's really fucking catchy.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
it's been a while...
So since I last posted, I changed my major to composition and completed a very great and dramatic sophomore.
I finished a second Emily Dickinson setting (which in the future will be a set of songs for women's choir), which I actually submitted to a small choral composition competition in my school and won! (Tied for first, but whatever...) That means it'll be performed this fall at one of the choral concerts which is pretty awesome to say the least.
In addition, I wrote half of what will be two spanish poems for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, cello, vibes and piano) and premiered it at a class recital in April to much acclaim (the real reason why I decided to change my major). The other half is sort of coming along...
I also sang in my first opera, as Mr. Splinters, the mailman in a full staged production of The Tenderland. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do so. This next year I'll be in an opera scene -- the quintet from Carmen -- and I'm pretty nervous as I'm supposed to know the music by the beginning of the semester cold and I don't know french diction. Oh well!
Lots of other things, musical and otherwise occurred, but I'm not in the right mindset or mood to explain them. Perhaps I'll upload some of my composition-related things soon, just for shits and giggles. And maybe if anyone actually reads this you can give me some audience feedback!
I finished a second Emily Dickinson setting (which in the future will be a set of songs for women's choir), which I actually submitted to a small choral composition competition in my school and won! (Tied for first, but whatever...) That means it'll be performed this fall at one of the choral concerts which is pretty awesome to say the least.
In addition, I wrote half of what will be two spanish poems for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, cello, vibes and piano) and premiered it at a class recital in April to much acclaim (the real reason why I decided to change my major). The other half is sort of coming along...
I also sang in my first opera, as Mr. Splinters, the mailman in a full staged production of The Tenderland. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do so. This next year I'll be in an opera scene -- the quintet from Carmen -- and I'm pretty nervous as I'm supposed to know the music by the beginning of the semester cold and I don't know french diction. Oh well!
Lots of other things, musical and otherwise occurred, but I'm not in the right mindset or mood to explain them. Perhaps I'll upload some of my composition-related things soon, just for shits and giggles. And maybe if anyone actually reads this you can give me some audience feedback!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
A return, and with goodies!
Obviously I haven't posted in a while. The summer was long and mosty amusical. Of late, I've been pretty annoyed by music education and don't know I still want to continue with it as my major. However, I've also been much more into conducting and composition (I've spoken with the head of composition at school and I now own TWO batons. classy, right?).
Now, the reason for this post is the fact that I've actually completed a piece for once! And it's a setting for women's choir no less!
Here's a preview of the first page:
page1.jpg)
As you can tell, it's a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem, "I felt a funeral in my brain". The text illustrates her growing discomfort with losing her sanity, and I think my setting does it justice. It's both lyrical and atonal, and musically parallels the unwinding and breaking down of the text.
I'm pretty proud of it, not just because I finished something, but I feel that I finished something real -- for once I think it's mostly me speaking through it all and that I really did justice to the text. I'd love to hear it performed! (Although I'll admit, in trying to sing the parts myself I realized it's a bitch to sing.)
Click here if you feel so inclined to listen to the midi recording and see the full score!
Now, the reason for this post is the fact that I've actually completed a piece for once! And it's a setting for women's choir no less!
Here's a preview of the first page:
page1.jpg)
As you can tell, it's a setting of an Emily Dickinson poem, "I felt a funeral in my brain". The text illustrates her growing discomfort with losing her sanity, and I think my setting does it justice. It's both lyrical and atonal, and musically parallels the unwinding and breaking down of the text.
I'm pretty proud of it, not just because I finished something, but I feel that I finished something real -- for once I think it's mostly me speaking through it all and that I really did justice to the text. I'd love to hear it performed! (Although I'll admit, in trying to sing the parts myself I realized it's a bitch to sing.)
Click here if you feel so inclined to listen to the midi recording and see the full score!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
ha.
in the comments on a video of Purcell's "Hear my prayer":
tricofilms: Wow, no major picady third in the cadence! I loved this one. What other pieces end the same minor key?
aarandir: Purcell is a good honest British composer; no false hope in the form of a tierce de picardie with him. Oh no, pure British cynicism in its raw form.
tricofilms: Wow, no major picady third in the cadence! I loved this one. What other pieces end the same minor key?
aarandir: Purcell is a good honest British composer; no false hope in the form of a tierce de picardie with him. Oh no, pure British cynicism in its raw form.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
need to be fair about it
symphonic band from same high school as the previous orchestra post.
probably the best performance of the Enigma Variations transcription I've heard. very round, balanced sound and GREAT horns.
Nimrod isn't life-affirming, but at least it's legato, which is something most bands fail to do.
probably the best performance of the Enigma Variations transcription I've heard. very round, balanced sound and GREAT horns.
Nimrod isn't life-affirming, but at least it's legato, which is something most bands fail to do.
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