And again..... Oscar Peterson Ladies and Gentleman

Not a Haiku

Practice…… Must practice more….. Need more hours in the day……. Practice

From the Eyese of Frederico Garcia Lorca

As the firelight flickers and ladies dance with grace
I sit in the corner and wrestle with my distaste
I have trouble believing what lies before my gaze
A room full of lushes in a sad but sweet daze
Someday I might know what it means to be so hearty
If I am not soon murdered by the Spanish Nationalist Party

Poem written- late for class

Bluster bluster says the day
But you still must go, there is no other way
Out from behind your wall of covers
To school you go with your sisters and brothers
Brew some tes and rub you eyes
The mornings a shock but it’s no surprise
Arise arise you will be late
Out the door, with school, a date

A Snopshire Odyssey

A For this project I choose to work with a group, and so one windy afternoon Austin Moore, Carl Hess, Erica Lambert and I embarked on the Snopshire Odyssey. Travis Buffington, Austin and Carl’s roommate, is a video production student at PCC and offered to help us film and edit. We decided upon a theme of a group of wandering minstrels who are approached by a magician who asks them if they are looking for work. They say they are, as musicians are always looking for work. The magician then takes them back in time to the Royal Court of Dopplebach. There the minstrels are asked to play for King Leotard, the King of Dopplebach.
We had trouble finding other actors to aid us in the filming of our story. I was able to con Will Bullock, a close friend, into being the magician but he only had one free hour on the day of filming so we could only capture a few shots. For the part of the king we searched for people but to no avail. We enlisted or faithful director for the part of the king which gave us all some chances to do some filming while we weren’t playing. For this odyssey we tried to find music encompassing all periods of music we studied this semester. We decided to use: “A Chantar” by Beatriz de Dia, Landini’s “Ecco La Primavera,” an English country dance from 1713 “Stropshire Lass,” a solo guitar pavan by William Byrd called “The Earl of Salisbury,” A Sonatina by Handel and lastly “Tipsy Gypsy” by David Grisman. The last number does not technically adhere to the assignment guidelines but we needed a way to get back to the present day.
We wanted to play the songs ourselves using our own instrumentation. Since we needed to do multiple angled shoots of us playing each song we decided to record the songs separately. Using my compute and some microphones borrowed from Jeff Leonard we spent two days doing recordings of the songs. Doing a mixture of live recording and multi tracking we were able to produce some surprisingly good recordings. I got a little too into multi tracking one night however and spent six hours on “Ecco La Primavera.” We originally recorded it with mandolin and violin playing only the melody and harmony parts. While I was doing mixing, however, I decided to put rhythm guitar, banjolin and another mandolin part on the song. Then I put a beer bottle whistle drone over the track and then promptly stopped when I realized it was four AM and I was delirious. I promptly deleted that track before going to sleep.
Mixing down all the separately recorded parts for “Ecco la Primavera” was really tough but it was extremely satisfying to hear the end product. For the other songs we did, on average, six takes for each song and then picked the best one. We were then able to mix them down to a final product, which we were all really pleased with.
However stressful, recording was worth it. It would have been impossible to do multiple takes of the songs on films and be able to edit them. Once we had the recordings we just needed a place to shoot. On filming day it was typically Portland, rainy and cold and not suitable for instruments being outside. Also our director was six hours late due to complications with the KGB.
We were able to get the beginning shots during a rain hiatus. We then tried to go to the Manor House but extremely inhospitable campus safety officers stood in our way. So we turned to the Chapel but had to wait until ten to start filming on account of events previously scheduled.
Once we had all the music and the film footage we began editing. Editing proved to be extremely time consuming. We had over two hours of footage that we needed to cut down to around fifteen minutes. Also we realized that none of us could act very well so we had to figure out how to minimize the dialogue. The hardest part about editing was synching the recorded music to the footage of us playing the music. While filming these scenes we had a boom box blasting the recorded music. This made synching the footage easier but because we are all musicians we were able to tell when every scene did not match up exactly. Eventually we did our best to closet our perfectionism.
I really enjoyed this process. Mostly because getting immersed in all the music from throughout history was ear opening and inspiring. I don’t have much else to say except that I will be remaining a musician and never moving into film.

A list

Top Five Albums Right Now

5. Strength in Numbers- Telluride Sessions
4. Tim O’Brien and Daryl Scott- Real time
3. The David Grisman Quintet- Self Titled
2. The Beatles- The White Album
1. Mike Marshall and Chris Thile- Into the Cauldron

Quiz on Guitar Gently Weeps Analysis

Most Important Exam Ever: “While my Guitar Gently Weeps”

1) The song begins in a minor and modulates to what key area?

A. C# Minor
B. F Major
C. Gbb Junior
D. A major
E. B minor

2) Who was the “The Quiet Beatle”?

A. Ned Rorem
B. George Harrison
C. Paul Simon
D. Ringo Star
E. Sarah Palin

3) The song was written after George Harrison read which book?

A.. The Dao de Ching
B. The Lotus Sutra
C. The I Ching
D. The Bible
E. Dianetics

4) Who recorded the guitar solo on this song?

A. George Harrison
B. Robert Johnson
C. Eric Calpton
D. Antonio Vivaldi
E. Sarah Palin

5) The “White Album” was recorded in what year?

A. 1969
B. 1968
C. 1966
D. January 27, 1756
E. 1972

6) The Carillon is the worst instrument ever invented

A. True
B. False

7) Please name one other song George Harrison wrote.

___________________________________________________________

While My Guitar Gently Weeps Analysis

It is easy to hate rock stars. They’re either not musical enough, too musical, too eccentric, not eccentric enough, whiny, egotistical or too depressed. Really we just like to hate rock stars because they are rich and famous and usually brilliant and we are not. Probably the most hated and also loved band in rock history, The Beatles, are certainly not exempt from any of the above superlatives. However, most of us who appreciate great music choose to ignore this and focus on the genius music that all four of the “fab four” produced during their illustrious careers. Mingling among the greatest of all Beatles songs, “While my Guitar Gently Weeps,” expresses the thoughts of, “The Quiet Beatle.” Judging by the lyrics of this epic lament, George was not exactly happy about his nickname.
For most of the existence of the Beatles George was allowed only one song per record and he was not allowed to do any solo recording on the side. By 1968 when the Beatles began recording for, “The White album,” George had had quite enough of this.
The second verse of the song clearly illustrates George’s frustration with the band and his lack of creative control.

"I don't know why nobody told you
how to unfold you love
I don't know how someone controlled you
they bought and sold you

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps"

While many people have criticized the Beatles for lack of musicality, “While my Guitar Gently Weeps” is one song amongst their musical catalogue, which indubitably remains exempt from this criticism. The song begins with a pulsing piano; guitar, drum and bass vamp in a minor. The verse structure reads as a double period with a minor i to V/iii to IV to V progression. The last section of the verse however starts in the same form but cadences in A Major, which is consequently the key of the bridge, which follows.
The bridge is in A major, however it still remains true to the minor feel of the song. Progressing from I to iii to vi to iii to ii to V. This progression inhibits the bridge, with a great deal of “word painting.” That is, the music mimics the mood of the words. The bridge begins major while the words sing about love but when the music shifts to minor the words also shift to illustrating the control that is being exerted on the band members by the record company and of course George’s guitar lying in the corner, silently unplayed.
Perhaps another ironic twist to the history of this song is that the incendiary guitar solo that occurs two minutes into the song was not actually recorded by George Harrison at all! As the story goes, after recording the song several times, none of the three other Beatles were pleased with the recording. Frustrated and hurt George called Eric Clapton down to the studio and after one take; they had a completed version of the song.
While this fact seems to annoy many die hard Beatles fans, inciting them to go as far as saying that the Clapton solo is not actually the one heard on “The White Album,” the fact remains that Clapton’s appearance in the studio during this tumultuous time helped ease rapidly escalating tensions within the band. The irony is apparent and even humorous to some. Mostly, however, this song just adds yet another gem to the Beatles vast collection, and yet another story to add to their lore.

Mother Nature's Ston

My favorite Beatles' song:

Born a poor young country boy--Mother Nature's son
All day long I'm sitting singing songs for everyone.

Sit beside a mountain stream--see her waters rise
Listen to the pretty sound of music as she flies.

Find me in my field of grass--Mother Nature's son
Swaying daises sing a lazy song beneath the sun.

Mother Nature's son.

Nora Beck Conducts Tan Dun

Youtube is putting together an orchestra.

http://www.youtube.com/symphony

Tan Dun wrote the music.
Nora Beck should conduct.