I recently went to two very very different entirely acoustic performances. It’s amazing to me how rare this is these days. Read On »
Spam v. Joyce
We get a lot of spam comments, and, at least currently, they all seem to be about nymphets – i don’t really know why.
This morning however I awoke to the most interesting spam comment for its sheer length and scattershot, stream-of-conciousness contents. “transderm immunosuppression still couldn was sauce lace panties hanging over sounds below” or “press release was huddled does not passed your waving her ohn down pcp air guns” spring to mind – of course it’s littered with links to god knows what.
But I’m posting the entire surreal text, Without the links, after the Jump »
A Massive Study in Time, Motion and Preparedness.
I’m finally back in New York after a month in my home state of Massachusetts, including two non-stop weeks in North Adams working for Nick Brooke as lead audio tech, sound designer and live mix engineer for his residency at Mass MoCA. I wish I could say I’ll have some time to relax, but I wont. While I do have some free time, though, I thought I’d share some thoughts of the last few weeks.
(more…)
Friday Afternoon Links: IX-xxvi-2008
This week’s links are minimal: it’s raining and I am exhausted – plus my bank has been seized.
Nick Brooke’s performance this weekend in Boston – Avant Media principal artist Mike Rugnetta is doing sound design and other sonic things for this performance. If you’re in the Boston area definitely go and see it.
Crimson Drizzle : Minimalism in the Rain
Part II: The Performer’s Perspective
I don’t think I need to say “Crimson Grail is an ambitious piece of music.” I knew going into the recently failed attempt of performing Rhys Chatham’s magnum opus at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center that the sheer practicalities of it were going to be something to witness. And that they most certainly were. The whole production crew was not only skilled, but adept at handling the needs of 200 guitar players and their heaps of gear. By my calculations they were responsible for the care, feeding and shelter of half a million dollars in gear, probably more; I saw some Marshall Stacks and a vintage SG.
Rehearsals were an enjoyable process considering how mind numbingly boring they were. The first two days went by with little to report. Turns out some folks didn’t know how to read music. Those who did were surprised. Each camp half snickered about the other – one was taking it way too seriously, the other was shocked the organizers invited non-professional guitar players, but it was all in good fun. The rehearsals served mostly to give everyone a chance to meet their section and buddy buddy with some guys (and here I will pause to mention: 10 ladies were a part of 200 performers) who share similar interests if not hair-dos, weight classes and taste in vintage wrestling t-shirts. There were some good ones, trust me.
The caliber of people involved in all aspects of this piece was stellar. Crimson Grail NYC was cast with the friendliest group of 190 dudes and 10 ladies with guitars I have ever met. This fact made the rehearsals worth going to, because no matter how long we practiced extended tremolos or talked about the Soprano transition to Section G in part 2A, we were never, ever going to play that piece the way it is written.
There. I said it.
And here is why. (more…)
Minimalism in the Rain
Part 1 – The Audience Perspective
On friday night, I attended the huge 800 years of minimalism event at Lincoln Center. Mostly because Mike was going to be playing one of 200 electric guitars in Rhys Chatham’s “A Crimson Grail” which is a truly spectactular piece.
It rained.
Torrentially.
This is precisely why I don’t like outdoor concerts. (more…)
“Anger” Music Rehearsals
The first four-hour music rehearsals for Anger finished today at The Dairy Center for The Arts in Boulder, Colorado with the Violinist Drew Blumberg and Soprano Karie Kerner as well as Randy Gibson on piano. These rehearsals were meant to discover any changes that must be made to the construction of the piece. This was the first time the three had rehearsed together with the computer program. Things went very well, with some minor changes being made. Mr. Blumberg will stay on as the violinist, but Ms. Kerner will be replaced with a different singer, citing time constraints and a stylistic shift in the music.
