02 Oct

In the deep end

Posted by Jeff in Huntsville Master Chorale, life events/news, music

I said in my previous post on the subject that I would keep everyone posted as the Huntsville Master Chorale's season progressed. I think I've been holding my breath a bit on posting the next installment for much the same reason as the first: I just wasn't sure how well I was going to do. :)

In that first post, I said that I had jumped into the deep end, and I wasn't kidding. It took me approximately half a practice to realize just how much talent I was in the midst of. The Chorale is chock full of music teachers and ministers of music. One of them is our excellent piano accompanist. Another directed our men-only piece for this concert. One gentleman served as our authority on Hebrew pronunciation, because it's only one of several languages he has studied. Another member (if I remember correctly) actually did graduate level research on black gospel music, so Tom tagged out with him on the appropriate piece. Then there are the voices. I think Tom had fun this time finding as many solos as he could, because he has so many excellent voices to choose from.

I haven't even started talking about the literature yet. About half of our program for this concert was Jewish in origin. Several of the pieces were liturgical. Those and more required us to learn to pronounce Hebrew. It was transliterated, thank goodness, but still an additional challenge. As for the music itself, it was definitely the most difficult I've ever had to sing. So, it wasn't much of a comfort to me to hear that the music had been specifically chosen to be not very difficult (since we only had 9 rehearsals before the concert). I distinctly remember leaving the second practice feeling like I was barely keeping my head above water. I was certain that everyone around me could tell just how much I was struggling (and I'm still not sure I was wrong about that feeling).

I kept plugging, though, and the long-disused "musical muscles" started flexing again. It had been so long that I had forgotten just how automatic (and how subconscious) music memory is for me. Little by little I started being able to feel my way through the pieces. It gradually got less and less about remembering how to get from one note to the next and more and more about learning and remembering the nuance and style required for every piece. By the last couple of practices, I was really beginning to have fun with it.

In the interest of making sure that I get something posted tonight, I'm going to stop there and continue in the next post. :)

17 Sep

Friends who do cool things

Posted by Jeff in geekiness

Been meaning to post this quickie since last week. I figure this one will get me geek cred with my console gamer friends...

I work in the same lab with the guy who wrote this book.

How cool is that? :)

07 Aug

My new outlet for music

Posted by Jeff in Huntsville Master Chorale, life events/news, music

I've been totally sitting on this one for over a week. I wanted to make sure it was going to work out before I announced it, and as of tonight it's official. I'm now a baritone in the Huntsville Master Chorale.

Way back in May, the Chorale had a free concert in the main library. Wendy and Morgan (new friends met through Amy at work) are members of the Chorale, and the combination of supporting friends, good choral music, and... well... free was too much to resist. Amy and I went and thoroughly enjoyed it. The literature performed was quite a varied mix, and it included more than one challenging piece. In the process, I spotted in the group a woman named Linda who is a regular at the local contra dance. After the concert, I walked up and spoke to the folks that I knew, and Linda asked if I sing and read music. When I answered "yes" to both she brightened visibly and said that I should join up. Once Wendy found out I was interested, she started encouraging me as well, and she tipped me off that the fall season started tonight, so I contacted Tom (the director). That was over a week ago. After my email and our brief phone conversation, Tom seemed quite sure that I would fit right in. I was a bit nervous, though. My voice is a bit rusty from lack of use, and I've never been in a formal choir/chorus/chorale or had any formal vocal training.

To shorten the story up a bit, tonight was my audition. Tom seemed very pleased at my abilities. So, I went immediately from my audition straight into the group's first fall practice. :) The music is certainly more challenging than anything I've ever sung before (some of it will involve learning how to pronounce Hebrew, for instance), but that's a good thing! The other members were quite friendly, and I can already tell that Tom is going to be loads of fun as a director.

So, I finally have an outlet for singing. :) I'm very excited. I'll post more details as the season progresses, but I'll go ahead and mention that our first performance this fall will be at Temple B'nai Sholom at 4 PM on Sunday, September 30 (I've chucked myself into the deep end! *grin*)

11 Jul

Com-Pak Music Theater: The Wonder Twins

Posted by Jeff in Com-Pak Music Theater, memories, music

Tonight's edition of Com-Pak Music Theater brings you more cheese and lots more hair. :)

Family legacies in pop music performance have always been fascinating to me (I'm going to post about Wilson Phillips one of these days), and I just recently learned that the duo behind (in front of?) tonight's band are "double-legacy." This family apparently made the Guinness Book for being the first one to produce #1 hits in three successive generations. When your grandparents are former radio, TV, and music stars, and your father is a former teen rock idol... Well, I won't say "what else can you do?" (plenty), but it was certainly in their blood.

Welcome tonight's guests: Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, best known for fronting the band that bears their family name. I'm not gonna go into a big thing about why I still like the music. *shrug* I just do. :) Anyway, as is typical for me, I'm just now catching up on 17 year-old music videos, and I'm more here to talk about the video. What just tickles me about this one is just how much attention someone paid to detail and little bits of humor in what is, essentially, a throwaway pop video. They dubbed the fully-reverbed-and-chorused vocals from the album over the first vocal line in the video ("Here she comes."), and the funny part is to watch Matthew in the video look up and around to see where all the reverb came from. I laugh at that every time I see it. :) There's little touches like the "VAGUE" cover (watch for the model to pop back up later).

What amazes me, though, is how much work they put into things. They're pulling the trick where the video speeds up and slows down, but watch Gunnar and Matthew closely: their lip-syncing and strumming [mostly] stay with the 1x-speed music. That had to be tough to do (probably involved some really silly-sounding fast and slow music on the set). There are sections where they do the video backwards (especially at the end) and still lip-sync forwards. None of this is rocket science, but it's just a lot more work than I would have expected for a video like this.

Nelson: (Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection (1990)

Also, the guitar melody (with that little trill) is one of my favorite musical elements in the song, and it was neat to hear them play it with the acoustics (especially with that 12-string Matthew is using).

On that subject, I gotta throw one more at you. The video itself is not all that exciting for me (especially the over-done heavy-handed "Don't listen. You can do anything you want." message). However, once you get past that, they take the video as a chance to splice on a musical intro that sounds like something they might use at a concert. It's a little thing and easily done, but it added another facet to music that I already really enjoyed. By the way... I would so hang that poster up here in the computer room if I could get my hands on one. :)

Nelson: After The Rain (1990)

Oh, and I think all the hair-tossing is just absolutely hilarious specifically because of how cliché it looks now. :)

10 Jul

"I love them, but the stories just aren't that big."

Posted by Jeff in geekiness

Oh. Holy. Crap.

I've gotta learn to be careful what I wish for.

I so didn't see that coming. Any of it. Brilliance. Sheer brilliance. The bit with the jelly babies was a bit on-the-nose, but bravo nonetheless. Russell Davies is a genius.

Once you've seen it (and it has aired here in the US), come back here and tell me I'm wrong. I dare you. :)