71 posts tagged “music”
Remember this?
IT'S HAPPENING, PEOPLE.
Joie is going to see Wicked in Los Angeles on Thursday, May 22nd.
...Excitement cannot be put into type. Except by saying, "OMFGZ I'M SO EXCITEEEEEDDDDD!!!11!1ONEONE!!!111!"
Courtesy o' my pal/brother from another mother Brian (the one that married my best friend, not the one I date). And really, courtesy of a Mister Ludwig van Beethoven:
My senior recital... was basically everything I hoped it would be. I can't even begin to describe it thoroughly or accurately. I went to my early classes, but skipped wind ensemble to go in pursuit of more pedal-appropriate shoes (the ones I had, though adorable, were a slight distraction to me given that they're about 4 inches tall and can make tricky pedaling a bigger challenge). I was expecting this trip to be a bit of a waste of time (although I recognized the important therapeutic benefits of going shoe shopping to calm oneself) when, after just 15 minutes at the shopping center, I walk into Belk, find the absolute perfect pair of shoes: black, strappy, cute, short and not-pointy heel, and OH BTW ON SALE FOR $20. They had two sizes left: 6 and 7 1/2; my size 8-8 1/2 feet slid in comfortably and though the heel bordered on the edge of the shoe, all was well in Toe Land and Comfortville. A SERENDIPITOUS SHOE EXPERIENCE, INDEED.
Okay, that part I can begin to describe thoroughly and accurately. What I can't describe is what it's like wondering if when you get out on stage, you'll forget how to play the piano altogether; what it's like standing slightly off-stage, listening to more and more people file in (we had 90 programs and apparently ran out); what it's like as the stage manager calls up to the whoever and gives the order to cut the house lights; what it's like to walk out onto a brightly lit stage with the most gorgeous piano you've ever laid eyes on while all of your college friends and a surprising number of your high school ones are clapping and waiting for you to play it. I can't describe well sitting down and the tremendous force of will it takes to make yourself just start (a problem vocalists or instrumentalists may not generally have, as they're just sort of shoved out of the airplane by their accompanist), or that truly magical feeling when you overcome your nerves, remember how much you love the music, and manage to start enjoying the experience. Dare I say it? I had a BLAST. Performance anxiety Joie, the girl whose lack of formal piano education up till college has given her some sort of inferiority complex, loved giving a piano half-recital.
And now, what I really can't describe: sitting backstage and listening to your amazingly talented peers play 30 minutes of music you composed. That's all I can say, because it was an experience to which words just don't do justice. There are few times in my entire life that I've been so happy. And may I just say, the second bow thing? Pretty much the coolest perk of a recital ever. "Look at me and clap! Continue clapping so that you may look at me again!" Magic, baby!
I had to get all that out. I'm so thankful for this amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity. I spent literally four years waiting for that day to come, and never thought it would get here. Now that it's over, I'm a mixture of sad and relieved... but I don't think I could've hoped for a better overall experience.
I am Joie's Raging Inability to Sleep. (And Joie, apparently, is still reading or at least thinking about reading Fight Club.)
For the past several weeks, I've been mostly unable to go back to sleep if I'm woken up after about 8 in the morning. (Okay, I realize lots of people need to be up before that time--I do, too, some days--but I'm a college student, and damn it all, I reserve my right to sleep until 3 in the afternoon whenever I feel like it.) It's... exceptionally annoying. But as soon as I wake up inadvertently or am woken up by someone/thing, my head starts going, making a list of what needs to be done, and any hope of remaining blissfully asleep is gone.
Apparently in the days leading up to my recital, this time has been pushed back to 5 in the freaking morning. No less, on a Sunday. I give you the big DOUBLE-YOU TEE EFF, brain. Brian (...a surprising juxtaposition of two words only a letter swap apart [holy shit I know how to use "juxtaposition" at 5 in the morning?!]) called me after returning home from his very late gig, and as soon as I got off the phone my brain started thinking, "You're really not comfortable enough with that Beethoven sonata yet. You should practice."
Ok, Brain, I thought back, we'll practice today. A lot.
"We should probably go through it, I dunno, a lot of times in a row," nagged Brain.
Yes, I agree. We'll get right on that today and do it every day until my recital, Brain. I proceeded to go back to sleep.
"...Joie?" pestered Brain. "I think Brian called you before this last time and you said something really stupid out of sleepiness. I can't remember what it was. What was it?"
~ a call to Brian to confirm I in fact, did not answer the first time he called and did not say anything stupid related to the dream I was having about Coda, Heather's new baby bunny ~
There, Brain. Nothing said. No bunnies mentioned. Good-night.
"You have to wear a dress and heels today."
Irrelevant information, Brain. Good-night.
"...You still have to name those three movements of the flute and marimba piece, you know. I wonder if anyone's at the practice rooms now?"
...Okay, I'm up.
This is the part where I assure you I'm not insane. But I think it was Nick who noted his affinity for my I-woke-up-ridiculously-early-and-can't-go-back-to-sleep-posts, and this one goes out to him.
Off I go to the music building. At 5:25. In the morning. On a Sunday.
Edited to Add: Ah, and if you didn't figure it out, I passed my piano jury. Much drama was involved, including my almost failing it after the first piece I played--a Bach prelude and fugue, bless the man--but after agreeing to drop that piece and recovering pretty well considering how upset I was, they passed me! I'm glad to be rid of it, honestly.
Edit #2: The only thing more annoying than waking up at 5 in the morning with an urge to practice is going to the music building at 5:30 in the morning and discovering one's security card apparently won't let you in that early. And that Captain McResponsible on the University Police has decided that maybe he'll go ahead and do his job this time and lock every door in the building. A grrr on everyone!!!
Have I talked about Randy Newman? Yes, no, maybe? Well, if not, it's time, my friends (four commas in one sentence?!). (And then four punctuation marks?!) (Edit: Um, aka 3 commas. I'm a freakin' music major, shut up.)
I love Randy Newman. Not like. Love. I would tell Randy Newman I am in love with him, it's that serious. I realize lots of people enjoy making fun o' the Newman--yes, yes, I understand, he has a silly voice--but his songs! His orchestration! His amazing talent!
Now here's why I suck: I honestly only have one Randy Newman album, and oh dear... it's a "Best Of," which of course makes me a giant poseur. It won't stop me from raving about him! Based on everything I've heard, I think Randy Newman is one of my favorite songwriters of all time. (A brief High Fidelity moment: My Top 3 Songwriters: Ben Folds, Randy Newman, Paul Simon. In no order.) I'm pretty positive I'm one of about maybe 14 people in their early twenties who enjoy Randy Newman, and I think that's a shame. I bring to you two songs I can't stop listening to, "Marie," and one whose premise is just amazing and whose execution is equally so, "Sail Away." (Furthermore, I freaking love the orchestration in the opening of Sail Away; nerd that I am, I plan on breaking it down soon and figuring out how to replicate that sound.)
My piece for two clarinets, "Clarin(du)et," will be played on this Tuesday's annual Avant-Garde Woodwind Recital! Hooray. The piece is actually in no way avant-garde, but hey, it's only a few months old and that should count for something, yes?
Dare I say that the semester is steadily improving?
I've put together a list of all the CDs that I've confirmed as gone from my car. When I first got my car, I was so excited--look at that glove compartment! I can fit a bajillion CDs in there! Oh, well. I'm surprised and delighted to find that they missed grabbing my Dissociatives CD, one that would've been tougher to replace. Here's the list so far:
Ben Folds Five--Ben Folds Five; Whatever and Ever Amen*
Jeff Buckley--Grace
The Beatles--Abbey Road; Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; Revolver (oomph, the Beatles collection took a hit)
Silverchair--Young Modern
Hotel Lights--Hotel Lights
Coldplay--Parachutes; A Rush of Blood to the Head; X&Y (explain to me why I had every Coldplay CD I own in my car?)
Built to Spill--There's Nothing Wrong with Love
Colin Hay--Going Somewhere
Harvey Danger--Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone; Little by Little...
Death Cab for Cutie--Plans
Random Piano CD from Wal-Mart
Guster--Lost and Gone Forever; Golfdfly?
The only things I foresee having difficulty replacing are the silverchair (I had an import special edition thing, and I know they've rereleased the album in the States; I want my original, but I'm too cheap to buy it again) and the Hotel Lights (only because you can't find it in stores). I lost my original version of Whatever and Ever Amen, but I do have a rerelease of that. I don't remember Goldfly being in my car, but it doesn't seem to be with my Guster CDs, either.
My only other challenge will be collecting all the Classical music that was on my iPod, stuff I'd gotten from about ten bajillion different sources. I shall overcome, dammit! Music will live again, now with 80GB of space to run around in!
I filed a police report yesterday. I tried to do so Friday, but the exceptionally nice girl I dealt with told me my parents, as the owners of my car, would have to be there. When I brought them Saturday, a less-than-friendly police dude told me that wasn't necessary. He seemed more than a little skeptical of my story, couldn't understand why I didn't file a report until Saturday, and just generally didn't try to listen very much. I could only think of five CDs that were definitely missing yesterday as I hadn't had time to really look for anything, so now I supposed I should call them back and note that it was actually 19 CDs--I'm just not sure it's worth it. I did what I wanted, which was to get my iPod's serial number into the system in the hopes that someday it'll turn up.
And these are the goings on in the life of me.
In doing research for this group project in my communications class, I came across this article in American Music Teacher, Jun/Jul 2005:
"Playing a Musical Instrument Found to Reverse Stress
A groundbreaking study recently published in the Medical Science Monitor shows for the first time that playing a musical instrument can reverse multiple components of the human stress response on the genetic level.
The study's principal investigator, Barry Bittman, M.D., of the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pennsylvania, says these finding shed new light on the value of active music participation and extend an understanding of individualized human biological stress responses on an unprecedented level.
The research team led by Bittman included researchers from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Applied Biosystems, the developer of the original technology that led to the successful mapping of the human genome, announced in June 2000.
The research shows that the stress-reduction impact was far greater for individuals participating in their first group keyboard lesson than for subjects who simply relaxed and read newspapers and magazines.
Our preliminary findings demonstrate that active participation in a group keyboard program was far more effective at reversing stress signatures than simply relaxing and reading newspapers and magazines," says Bittman. "This is intriguing from an integrative lifestyle perspective. With ongoing research, recreational music making could potentially serve as a rational stress-reduction activity, along with other lifestyle strategies that include healthy nutrition and exercise."
The study was supported by Yamaha Corporation of American and Applied Biosystems."
Cool stuff, yes?
Today I realized that no matter what, I've got my guitar. And I'm completely aware of how cheesy that may sound, but it's a pretty powerful comfort.
i <3 my guitar.
As has happened before, I napped earlier, still went to bed at a reasonable hour, and woke up remembering one of my own long-forgotten songs. Muscle memory is a miraculous thing; if I can get myself to think about what the song sounded like, then just clear my head and play, I can usually remember most of an old song, if not the entire thing.
Then I found this post under the tag of "songwriting" and thought, "What the hell? I have no memory of that song." After a few minutes I have some tiny memory of writing it, but cannot remember at all what it sounded like. Which is disappointing, as it was the only song I ever wrote on piano and liked.
Of course, all this thinking of old songs has me remembering songs--but not how to play them. They're not clear enough in my head for me to even try. Someday I'll be smart enough to actually WRITE THINGS DOWN. Preferably in a system of notation that will still make sense to me five years later.
Bla-diddy-bla.
