Winston plays sleepy/new-agey piano music that I can tolerate for maybe 2-3 tunes, but after that it just makes me tired. I was responsible for setting up microphones and running sound reinforcement for the show. I met briefly with his manager prior to the performance to ensure that things were set to his specifications. I’ll never forget the look in his face when he assured me that, “George will play an encore.”

Winston played for somewhere between 70 and 90 minutes, it all ran together. The audience was in for maybe the first third of the show, but then from my vantage point, I could see people shifting in their seats, looking around and yawning. When he finished the last tune, there was a collective leap to their feet as the audience started streaming for the doors.

About 10 seconds after finishing the last tune, George ran back out to the stage with a guitar to play an encore of slack-key hawaiian-influenced music. It was so uncomfortable to watch him starting to play while people were actively leaving. About 60 seconds into the tune, the exit doors were covered by ushers who where trying to get people to return back to their seats. Not exactly leaving the audience wanting for more.

I’ve been a fan of Mr. Lovett for a number of years. His album “Joshua Judges Ruth” is still one of my favorites. Tremendous song writing and an amazing group of musicians. This staff and group were exactly what I expected, totally professional and ready to go. They set up full lights, sound and instruments like navy seals. When the show was ready, Lyle stepped off the bus, hot lady on his arm, both dressed like they were going to an opera.

The show was great and tear down was exactly like the setup. Everyone knew what they were going and it felt almost effortless. The staff and musicians were cool and confident and worked well together. The experience with Mr. Yoakam was the complete opposite.

Once Dwight’s stage was set, they began the sound check. Apparently they had just released a new project, but no one could remember the the single. They had to scrape up a copy of the CD to play over the PA in order to relearn the tune. The poor front-of-house tech had to play the track at least a dozen times in order for the band to memorize the chord changes. Mr. Yoakam had the safety of a teleprompter for the lyrics, but even he was struggling with the music.

The show that night went equally as bad. There was nearly constant feedback from the monitors, and I’m positive that was the last night the monitor guy was employed by the Yoakum organization. The band was adequate and Dwight was a decent showman, but there was nothing professional about it. The musicians were agitated and the roadies looked beat up and worn down.

I learned a lot that summer about how I want to work. I want to have the experience and confidence that I know my job and will execute as expected, even when things don’t go as expected.

For some reason, his thoughts on how series music need not appeal to the general public didn’t seem to register with many composer that I met in school. They were often embittered at how little acclaim they received for their efforts and were unyielding in their need for approval while rarely giving the audience worthy material.

I was very fond of the idea of smaller, concentrated groups performing whatever arts they enjoyed to those who also enjoyed it. This allows those who wish such activities to continue to do so without cluttering or reducing their work for easier consumption. The great thing about any art is how the finest ideas eventually leak through and those willing to listen/absorb or consume, will discover them on their own time. But

==

“Admittedly, if this music is not supported, the whistling repertory of the man in the street will be little affected, the concert-going activity of the conspicuous consumer of musical culture will be little disturbed.

But music will cease to evolve, and, in that important sense, will cease to live.”

– M. Babbitt

In 1959, Sonny Rollins took a break from music. Although he was one of the finest sax players at the time, he felt pressure from other musicians such as John Coltrane (who emerged from working with Thelonius Monk and a second stint with Miles Davis a reinvented musician) and Ornette Colman who were changing jazz in significant ways.

For three years, Sonny Rollins walked to the Williamsburg Bridge to practice. He was living in a small apartment with neighbors surrounding him so he took to the bridge to rehearse. The traffic noise forced him to develop his breathing strength to be heard and he spent hours there, occasionally working with Jackie McLean. He emerged with a new command of his instrument and formed a new quartet that recorded ‘The Bridge’.

The only thing I miss about being a grad student, was having the time (and not being able to afford any distractions) to focus. One of my favorite times in school was the summer I spent living my myself on ~$450/month. I paid rent, utilities, gas and put $20-40/wk aside for food. The rest went into the bank. I spent all my time at the library or the studio and ramped up my work for nearly three months.

This was the first time I spend the cash and starting adding live instruments to the recordings.

Tech Notes
Software: Logic 9, Komplete 7, Reason (only for the track Recessed), Axon, Tattoo, ValhallaShimmer
Hardware: Pod X3, Shure Beta 58, Gretsch Electromatic G5120, Taylor 114ce, Ovation Celebrity, Kamouraska Concert, Oxygen 49

Since I’ve been doing so much heavy work, I’m going to start off the year with a couple months of high-rep, low-weight work with an emphasis on getting my heart rate up.

Reading
51 books this year, not all of them winners, but as I get older I’m getting better at cutting out the garbage quicker. It’s easy to tell the time of year based on what I’m reading, more serious work during the start/end of the year and light stuff over the summer.

Top Ten Books:

1. Everything Matters – Ron Currie, Jr.
2. Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace – David Lipsky
3. After the Workshop – John McNally
4. Switch – Chip & Dan Heath
5. Drive – Daniel Pink
6. Listen to This – Alex Ross
7. The Creative Writers Survival Guide – John McNally
8. The Big Short – Michael Lewis
9. Where Good Ideas Come From – Steven Johnson
10. A Guide to the Good Life – William Irvin

Music: Listening

Music stuff that last.fm says that I listened to this year(mostly at work):

Other music stuff I remember listening to a whole bunch to in 2010:

• Jónsi – Go
• Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
• Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
• The Bad Plus – Never Stop
• The National – High Violet
• Raphael Saadiq – The Way I See It
• John Legend & The Roots – Wake Up!
• Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
• Christian Scott- Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
• Black Dub – S/T

Music: Written
I put out three EPs and one full project of music this year, (about 108 minutes of sound). I’m pretty happy with the output and I see a lot of change and progress.

Next Year:
I already have a reading list about 15 items deep. For music I want to get back into Max/MSP and build more interactive processing in Reaktor. I also have a pile of Abersold jazz books that I should spend more time with. The older I get the more I feel a need to dig deeper into harmony.

faithless

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat