A few things that happened in the past month or so

My blogging has been a little sparse lately, so here's a quick catch up...

I had some great chocolate pie on Thanksgiving

Then I went to the Clinton Library in Little Rock



Then school was over and we had a percussion party (with DDR, of course)


Then I went to Mississippi and met Justin's new kitten, Beatrix Kiddo

Then I went to my grandparents for Christmas Dinner


Then I had a lovely cup of tea at my parents house as a very creepy audio-animatronic Santa looked on

My mom gave Liana a giant Yoda Pez dispenser. (She was very excited)



Then on Christmas Day, I took a nap with Harry.


Oh, and I've been listening to Liana practice that new bass guitar!

First Bass

It is Christmas Day and the trip has gone well so far. A visit to Mississippi as well as numerous stops in Georgia.

Perhaps the most exciting news is Liana's gift. She will soon be rocking hard with her new Les Paul bass and Fender amp. This is a pic of her trying it out at the music store.

Over the River, etc....

I'm off to visit friends and family for a few days. I'll post from the road about the exciting adventures that take place. I'll be in Mississippi tonight and then on to Georgia.

B

Sony Blows It

A record company has once again decided to punish those that pay full price for their CDs. If you are a "music pirate" and want to "steal" the music, you'll know the simple workaround to accomplish your task. Law abiding citizens, however, will have their computer infected with a program that will allow "internet baddies" access to your computer (and limit your ability to listen to and legally copy the songs you paid for).

Seems like a bad idea, right?. For example, a few weeks ago I had heard a lot of good buzz about the new Neil Diamond CD 12 Songs. It also got a great review in Rolling Stone. So, I head out to buy it. I can't find it anywhere. I think to myself..."Wow, with such great buzz for the album, Sony really should have sent out more copies." Turns out that I should have been thinking..."Wow, the people that run Sony are idiots. If they hadn't had to recall all of those CDs, I would have dropped 16 bucks for it."

So, this buggy digital rights managemant software cost them sales, it cost them to recall the discs, cost them to reissue bug free copies, cost them the good will of their customers(and their artists), cost them to create fixes for already infected computers, etc. And, it didn't stop anyone who knew to hold down SHIFT key while they loaded the CD from doing whatever they wanted.

Neil Diamoind, with great reviews and currently on tour, must be incredibly upset about the whole thing. While I would have bought the CD that day, the delay has allowed my "Diamond Fever" to subside and also made me not that interested in buying anything from Sony for a while. (Note: I don't think that Mr. Diamond is upset about me specifically not buying his CD, but by the fact that this same scene played out time and again around the country. And, like any good artist, he's probably upset that his fans who bought the CD the minute it came out may have already had their computers compromised.)

SonyBMG made some interesting choices in what to "protect". That includes the Art Blakey CD Drum Suit and a Flatt and Scruggs CD called Foggy Mountain Jamboree. Is bluegrass piracy really a hige problem? Maybe it is...but it seems unlikely. And while it is unfortunate, there just aren't millions of college students on high speed networks trading Art Blakey sound files.

Here's a list of CD's that you shouldn't put in your computer. By the time it's over, the list will probably be much longer.The link is to a SonyBMG page. They aren't crazy about publicizing the flaw, so it could vanish at any time.
PSI & PARCELINK RETURNS ON THE WEB | Reason / Action

For a partial roundup of stories about this situation, visit this link at BoingBoing.net
Boing Boing: Sony Rootkit Roundup IV

Guitar Picker

If you like guitars (or just want to see something cool) check this link out. I found the link at http://musicthing.blogspot.net

Guitar Picker

Here's one for the percussionists out there

Hand Drums

"My head is empty and I long for another bite of baklava"

It's not exactly "breaking news" but I have recently discovered that the DVD box set for Chick Corea's 60th birthday concerts at the Blue Note is out. It's 90 bucks for the whole box. That seems like a lot, but it's only nine dollars per disc. The lineup includes the Akoustic Band with Weckl, the Three Quartet group with Gadd, the Now He Sings, Now he Sobs group with Roy Haynes, duets with Gary Burton and, of course, a lot of the other great players from CC's past and present (Bobby McFerrin, Miroslav Vitous, Joshua Redman, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride, John Patitucci, Avishai Cohen, Jeff Ballard, Steve Wilson, Steve Davis, Tim Garland, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Michael Brecker, Eddie Gomez).

You can watch the trailer for the box set here. It is not a very well edited trailer and the interview segments with Chick, his bandmates, and his audience members are pretty bad as well. But, occasionally they will make you laugh (I'm not trying to be mean, just honest). The first 3 minutes or so of the trailer are quite confusing and you may be tempted to stop watching. But...don't! The trailer does include a good bit of footage from the concerts and gives you a chance to see some of the amazing footage.

So, check it out. I'm lucky enough to have an amazon.com gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket (and I've got to spend it on something). If you're not so lucky, then get your school library, your local library, or your rich friend to buy it.

More pics from China

One of the pieces I performed while in China was Halim's Fantasia-Tahmeel for derabucca and strings. Here I am just before the performance started.



















The performance went very well. Here I am at the conclusion with the conductor.



















We also got to meet many musicians from all over China. Here is Liana backstage with a musician who played many different types of flutes.



















Here we are with the entire group of musicians and dancers.

After Thanksgiving Sales

We hit the sales on Friday morning. I have never done it before, but I finally felt that it was time to be a part of the insanity. We woke up at 3:00 and arrivd at the IHOP by 3:30. We thought this would be a perfect place to start the day. Well lit, friendly, smoke free, and open 24 hours.



The only problem was this sign on the other door...
Closed from 1pm to 6am.

So, we quickly regrouped. We had to be in line at Goody's by 4:30 for the 5:00 opening. The reason being that the first 300 people received 10 gift cards. We didn't want to miss that. Luckily, just across the street was a place that would never let us down like IHOP did....The WAFFLE HOUSE. Smoky, cramped, bright yellow but still quite dingy at the same time. To make it even better, a Celine Dion fan had apparantly pumped about $5 worth of quarters into the jukebox. Boy, was Liana glad to hear that!

We called our shopping pals CK and Gaby and told them IHOP was off and to meet us at the WH. They were a little sluggish, but they finally made it.

Here I am with my friend Gabi at about 3:55am

At around 4:00 in the morning, everyone is feeling a little crazy.


We left Waffle House and made it to Goody's by 4:30. There was only one other person there, so we were all set. We got in, got the card, got the stuff, got in line, and got out. We were done by 5:20, and despite some technical difficulties at the register, none of us paid over $3 total.

Then we headed toward the other side of town and Shoe Carnival, where the first 100 people got $10 gift cards. We made it in time for the cards, and met some people in line who had just come from braving the crowds at Wal-Mart. We shared our tales of derring-do as we jumped around in the cold, trying to stay warm. We ran in at 6:00, got the card and started looking for shoes. I am proud to say that the pair of Vans that I had my eye on started at 50 bucks, but with my gift card, my coupon, and a temporary Shoe Carnival "10 minute only" mark down (that was lucky), I got them for $16.

Then it was off to Belk for some gift shopping, Office Depot for a super cheap 1 GB flash drive, and then to Hastings for the super-duper "All Used CDs $3.99 Sale". Among other amazing used CDs (My Spanish Heart, Return to Forever Retrospective, Rufus Wainsright-Want Two, etc.) I picked up the much needed Paul Simon Concert in Central Park. Yes, even the two disc sets were $3.99.

By that time we had had enough. Back to the house for "lunch". It felt late and I was starving. It was only 9:30.

Fake Meat

While in China we went to a restaurant that specializes in recreating vegetarian and vegan versions of traditional Chinese dishes. The fake Peking Duck looked amazing, but seemed to cost more than a real duck, so instead, we went for the roasted "ham" in a pumpkin shell. On the left side of the table are imitation pork rinds made from tofu. And while the "Spiced Cucumber Salad" may sound exotic, it's really just Bread and Butter Pickles. We also had some delicious lemon apple juice.

By the way, the service was incredible.

"Self Portraits" from China

Here we are at the Forbidden City. The earpiece is an audio tour device. OUr guidebook said that the audio tour was narrated by Roger Moore (James Bond). I thought it would be funny to be guided through the Forbidden City by 007. Much to m disappointment, it has been recently revised and is now narrated by a nice Chinese woman who obviously has no License to Kill.


Here we are at the Temple of Heaven. ou can see it in the background. The view was not as spectacular as hoped because it is undergoing restoration for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.


Here I am backstage with Halim


Me and my friend Tuyen Tonnu. She is an incredible pianist.


Me with my friend David Badagnani. He is Halim's archivist.

They Might Be Giants

Here's a pic of us at the Forbidden City. It's not posed, I swear. The little boy ran up to us just as the picture was being taken. Funny!
Click to enlarge.

and the posts begin to flow

OK,
Over the next few days I will try to get caught up on the events of the past month or so. China, PASIC, Tennessee, etc...

I just got back from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. I played Cloud Forest and Anubis with the percussion ensemble there and had a lot of fun working with the students. I also played a little derabucca on the concert.

Before that we did our second percussion ensemble concert of the semester here at UCA on Thursday night. Music for Pieces of Wood, Stained Glass, Cloud Forest, Run! Pandas, and a few other things. Then on Friday, Will Rapp gave a great clinic about the cymbal techniques of Benjamin Podemski (of the Philadelphia Orchestra). Very interesting stuff!

More to come soon, including more China pics (and a few from PASIC)

Coming Soon

For those of you that are getting worried...thanks for the concern. I'm fine, just busy. I promise a new post or two soon about PASIC and China and so forth...

Corrected Cheese Post

It seems that I forgot to include the link for the previous post. Here it is.

Cheese Drumset

It's made of cheese.

I wish I could find a recording. But the pictures should keep you amazed for now.
It's made of cheese. - a photoset on Flickr

And back again

I'm back from the Payton MacDonald Ensemble concert in New Jersey. The concert was quite a success. We have started doing ensemble versions of Payton's SuperMarimba pieces, complete with looping pedals for the flute, violin and viola. We also made some demo recordings to help publicize the ensemble a little better. I'm lucky to be playing with such an amazing ensemble. Payton, John, Courtney and Jessica are incredibly talented and creative musicians, and playing with them always inspires me.

Still suffering from a little jetlag. It's a little after 2:00 in the morning and I am wide awake. I'm going to go watch a really boring infomercial and try to fall asleep.

I'll be busy this week teaching makeup lessons and practicing for the PASIC performance, but I'll try to get some China pictures up in the next day or two. Here's a self portrait of me at the Forbidden City to hold you over until then. Click to enlarge.


Looks like they're getting ready for a softball game. Yellow team vs. the Red and Blue team. I must have left before it started.

Back in the US

I'm back from Beijing and I leave again in a few hours for New Jersey. If you are close to William Patterson University on Saturday night, stop in for a little Payton MacDonald Ensemble magic.

Beijing was great. I'll post pics soon.

Blake

Beijing

I'm in Beijing. So far everything has been wonderful. The weather is perfect and the people are great. WE went to the Forbidden City on Sunday morning. I never realized just how big it was. The concert is tonight adn then tomorrow I am heading out for some shopping and a visit to the Temple of Heaven. Maybe some other things as well.

Back in the States on Thursday night. Then to New Jersey for a PME concert.

Blake

The Conway Symphony concert went well last night. The soloists all sounded wonderful and everone loved Pictures at an Exhibition. I just wish we had had an even bigger gong.

I play the Frank Sinatra, Jr. concert on Thursday night and then it's off to Beijing on Friday morning. Our visas arrived yesterday (finally) so we will actually be able to get into the country.

Only about 12,000 things to do before then.

Blake

Another week

Another busy week! The Percussion Ensemble concert on Thursday night went very well. There was a good crowd and the students did a great job. We premiered a new work by Andrew R. Stout and the crowd loved it. We'll do it one more time on our November 10th concert. I also did a preview performance of the piece I wrote for Spindrift Percussion. I was really happy with how it turned out. A few final touches and I think that it will be ready for the premiere.

The Conway Symphony is sounding great and the concert on Tuesday night should be excellent. Mozart and Pictures at an Exhibition.

I've also been trying to get ready for the China trip and the Payton MacDonald Ensemble concert the following weekend. It seems like there's always plenty of new (and old) music to practice.

I watched The Office "reunion special" last night. Like the original two seasons of the BBC episodes, it was amazing. Ricky Gervais is brilliant. Rent or buy both seasons and the special and watch them. Part II of the reunion is probably the best series finale I've ever seen (well, Newhart was great, but in a different way). Don't miss the special features on the reunion disc. Hilarious stuff.

Shining

Here's a link to a clip that should teach you to never trust a movie trailer again. It's The Shining being sold as a romantic comedy. Brilliant work!

The Shining trailer

Back in Business

After school started back I just wasn't able to keep things going on a regular basis with the blog. I think that I should be back to more regular postings at this point. Let's catch up.

Most recently, Liana and I gave a recital at UCA. We did four pieces together (Big Tooth Aspen by Halim El-Dabh, Hot Water Burn Baby by Roshanne Etezady, Kembang Suling by Gareth Farr and Intimacy by Halim El-Dabh) and we each did a solo piece (Liana did Air by Toru Takemitsu and I did Sonic No. 7 by Halim El-Dabh). We had a good crowd and as far as we could tell, things went well. A lot of people liked Intimacy. Many said it was their favorite piece. We were glad to hear that because it is such a difficult piece to pull off. Technically it is not that difficult, but the pacing of the work and the interaction between flute and marimba presented us with quite a musical challenge.We rehearsed that piece far more than any other piece on the concert.

We programmed more El-Dabh than we might usually play becuase we leave for China in about two weeks to perform an entire concert of his music at the Central Conservatory in Beijing. It is part of a symposium called "Asia Meets Africa". The entire website for the event is in chinese, but I'll find the link and post it soon.

A word of advice...if you are going to China apply for that visa early. I'm not sure why some countries have to make it so difficult to get in. Chinese visas have to be applied for in person at one of three locations in the country. If you can't go in person you have to hire someone to go for you. We had to send off visa applications, order forms, consulate and service fees and our passports to a company in Houston who will walk everything through and then express mail them back to us later this week. A real pain (and expensive). In China's defense, I think that in many countries it is much harder to get a US visa.

Things at UCA have been busy. I have 11 majors (including 3 grad students) and I'm teaching 6 non-majors as well. Plus 5 hours of percussion ensemble a week and Pedagogy and Rep classes. Add the practicing, composing and travel to the mix and things get pretty crazy. I did finish the new work for solo marimba/percussion and percussion trio. It still needs some minor adjustments, but I'll be doing a "preview performance" on October 6th. I also found out that two students at Rutgers University will be doing my piece Vertical River on their percussion ensemble concert on the 6th. Always exciting to hear in advance that someone is performing your piece. There have been a lot of performances of the work, but I usually don't find out about them until after they have happened.

Today I have a rehearsal all afternoon on Cloud Forest and Bob Becker's Prisoners of the Image Factory. I really like Bob's music a lot. Prisoners is great but I think that my favorite in Turning Point. I will probably program that one or Mudra for one of the spring concerts.

Also on the concert we'll be doing the world premiere of a new work by Andrew R. Stout caled The Lost. If you are close by UCA, come on out at 7:30 this Thursday and check it out.

Later,
Blake

Euphonium???

So Liana and I gave a recital tonight at UCA. We had a good crowd and it went really well. That's all beside the point because what I really wanted to get on the blog was this little gem...

Before the recital started, two guys walked past the open recital hall door. My 5-octave Malletech marimba was on stage. The first one looked in and said "Look, dude, it's a euphonium!" The other guy said "No, dude, it's a xylophone."

A euphonium???

Funny, but the second guy was technically correct. Remember...a marimba is a xylophone, but a xylophone is not a marimba.

Goodnight

Blake

James Brown...James Brown...James Brown...James Brown

I saw and heard James Brown in concert last night here at UCA. He's still got it. The moves, the voice, the super-tight band, it's all there. It was so exciting just to see him walk out on stage, but even more exciting to hear that he still sounded great. And while I was hoping for one "cape moment", there were actually three. The photo above shows the Godfather in a green cape.
Blake

South Africa Pics

Finally some pictures from the South Africa trip. For those of you hoping to see Lions, Elephants and the like, sorry. I never left Johannesburg. The pictures below are without comment right now. I'll organize and annotate VERY soon. Click the pics for a larger view.

Almost

It's been a while. I've been swamped with composing, rehearsing and teaching (and being a little sick). It looks like my new piece, Cloud Forest, is finally in good enough shape for a few test runs. The Percussion Ensemble concert on the 6th is coming tohether and the duo recital for next Tuesday is shaping up nicely as well. So, the next post will be a few pics from the South Africa trip.

Back

I'm back from South Africa. It was a great trip. I had to hit the ground running when I returned, but I'll put up a detailed post with plenty of pics this weekend.

Blake

Live from South Africa

I am here in Johannesburg at the University of Witwatersrand. It is a beautiful place and the Unyazi Festival is spectacular. I did a clinic/performance for the percussion and composition students here and had a blast. They have a traditional marimba ensemble that played for me. It was amazing. I was able to get a little video with my digicam so that I can share it with my friends back home. I gave a presentation on both derabucca and marimba. I am happy to report that they have a Malletech here so I felt right at home.

This morning we did a soundcheck for our concert tonight. It looks as if everything is set. The sound engineers are great and the equipment is top notch.

There is quite a lot to be amazed by at the festival, but I will have to save the details for my return. I am at an internet cafe right now and there are others waiting to use the computers.

Have a great day,
Blake

Press Release from HalimElDabh.com

If you happen to be in Cleveland this week you can check out the performance in South Africa from the street. Details below.

Internationally recognized composer, educator and
ethnomusicologist Halim El-Dabh will be featured at
Africa's first-ever electronic music festival in
Johannesburg, South Africa, and residents of Northeast
Ohio will have the opportunity to view his
performance. The performance, billed as an "almost
simulcast," will be broadcast at the McCrory
Department Store space on East 4th Street 6 p.m. on
September 3, 2005, as part of the Ingenuity Festival
in Cleveland, Ohio. The broadcast of El-Dabh's
performance will be free and open to the public.

El-Dabh, who is one of the pioneers of electronic
music internationally, and the father of electronic
music in Africa, will be attending the UNYAZI festival
and symposium in Johannesburg September 1-4, 2005. He
will perform his works live, and will also be actively
involved in the paper sessions, workshops and in
creating an awareness of electronic and
electroacoustic music among young composers.

El-Dabh's performance (which will take place in
Johannesburg on September 2 and be broadcast in
Cleveland on September 3), will consist of old and new
works for various electronic and electroacoustic
combinations, some involving live performers. El-Dabh
will collaborate with U.S. electronic music virtuoso
and trombonist George Lewis, South African traditional
instrument expert and composer Pops Mohamed, Egyptian
drum soloist Blake Tyson, and University of
Witwatersrand gymnastics/trampoline professor Tshepo
Mfebe.

UNYAZI, the Zulu word for "lightning," also
means "electricity." In addition to his concert, on
Septembe 1 El-Dabh will also present a paper, entitled
"Unyazi Born Within," which explores the sensitivity
toward sound inherent in the African village, which
El-Dabh experienced during his many research trips
throughout Africa.

The Ingenuity festival runs Sept. 1-4 and will feature
nearly 200 events showcasing Cleveland arts and
technology. The performances and displays, which range
from cutting-edge computer-based creations and
multimedia events to classical works and family fare,
will take place at venues in and around the Public
Square and lower Euclid Avenue areas. A one-day pass
to selected outdoor events is free; a one-day,
unlimited-access pass to all Ingenuity events is $10;
and an unlimited-access weekend pass is $25. Go to
http://www.IngenuityCleveland.org/ for more festival
information.

Ready to go...almost

A crazy day! I just got home and I am still getting ready for the trip to South Africa. I am so excited about meeting so many great musicians from all over Africa and the world. I wish I had time to tell you about some of them, but that will have to wait until my return. Just follow the link a few posts below to see the festival website with all of the details.

To my students...I will be in Tuesday (tomorrow) morning, but I will be out all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Keep on practicing! All the info you need about rehearsals and makle up lessons will be on my door. I'll see you again on the day after Labor Day. Have a good holiday! I know the steel band gig on Thursday will be great. Be sure to be ready for the Stained Glass rehearsal on Friday!

Maybe I can post from South Africa, but if not I'll be back to the blog next week.

Blake

Berio is Full of Surprises

Check out this NYT review of a new CD that features transcriptions by Luciano Berio. I had never heard of these before. It has a couple of mp3 files to listen to. I love the way he chose to end the Contrapuntus XIX.

John's Blog

I am proud to announce a new arrival at the Blogspot. My great friend John Parks is now blogging. I'm sure it will be incredible and much more interesting than my blog, so bookmark it now and watch it grow into an unstoppable force.
Heres' the link
John's Blog

Switched ON

It's been a while since any substantial posting has happened here. That is largely because of the beginning of the semester at UCA. Things are busy. I have more students than I have ever had and I've been trying to help get the drumline off to a running start. I've also been getting the music ready for our two percussion ensemble concerts this semester. Oh, and I leave for South Africa on Tuesday morning to perform at the Unyazi Electronic Music Festival. Missing most of the first full week of class isn't ideal, so I have been trying to get a plan together to keep things running smoothly. And...I'm still putting the new piece I've written for solo marimba and 3 percussion into the computer.

Robert Moog died last Sunday. It's hard to listen to the radio without hearing his influence, and I still remember the first time I heard Switched on Bach. I hit the used record stores immediatley in search of my own copy. Someday I hope to have my own Moog, but for now it's just a dream. The NYT has a few features about him and his work. Jump on these links fast becuase the NYT will put them in an archive and charge you money for them in the near future. They are free for now.

An Appreciation
Switched On and Ready to Rumble - New York Times
Just under the picture of Moog on the left is a link to a great multimedia story with sound clips.

The Obit
Robert Moog, Music Synthesizer Creator, Dies - New York Times


There is also an interesting story about a Ward Marston, who restores old recordings of everthing from jazz to classical to presidential speeches.
A Master of Making Old Tunes New Again - New York Times

Now it's time for a little chai latte. More later.

From a Studio in Arkansas, a Portrait of America - New York Times

The NYT has an article this morning about a photographer from Arkansas who has finally made it big. Too bad he died in 1959. His name was Mike Disfarmer. The few details of his life given in the story make me want to know more about him. He sounds like quite an interesting fellow. The article includes a slide show of some of his photographs.

From a Studio in Arkansas, a Portrait of America

Finally, more about the concert

We left Sunday morning on a four hour drive to Tulsa. Our pal Disco came along for the ride. We were very excited about the concert, but because it was outside we were a little worried about the predicted thunderstorms. We arrived at the park a little after 3:00 and were very happy to learn that the concert had been moved to an indoor venue. And not just any theatre, but the Brady theatre. It is said to be the last place that Enrico Caruso sang before he died. His ghost haunts the theatre to this day. It seems he "caught his death" during a carriage ride in Tulsa. I didn't notice him lurking about, but check out the piectures below. Maybe he snuck into one of them.

Here I am with LT waiting in line for the doors to open. We had a pretty good spot in line thanks to our early arrival. That was important due to the general admission seating.


Here's our view of the stage from our seats. The theatre only seats about 2,600 and it is very well designed. There really are no bad seats as far as I could tell. I had to use my cellphone cam for these pics. I didn't bring my good camera because I thought we were going to be outside in the rain.



Here's Ben Folds conducting the audience in a little three part harmony at the end of Not the Same. We also got to sing along on a tune by Dr. Dre (whose title I dare not mention here). This pic is from the Rufus Wainwright message board. Thanks to whoever got all hot and sweaty in the pit to take the photo.


And here's Rufus at the piano. It's also from the RW message board. I was absolutely amazed by Rufus. I think that he has to be one of the greatest musicians I have ever seen in performance. His phrasing, his timing, his songs...everything is incredible.


It's always great to see performers who are actually better in concert than on their recordings. These guys can't seem to write a bad song, which means they can't do all of their great songs on every concert. That means a few of the favorites have to be left out. Still, I'm sure no one was disappointed. If nothing else, everyone got to hear Ben and Rufus do a duet version of Careless Whisper. I hope that someone got it on tape. You won't believe how good it was until you hear it for yourself.

Ben Lee played a short (but wonderful) set to open the concert. I was only familiar with him through his collaboration with Ben Folds, but I'll be checking out some of his solo work now.

I was so pumped up after the concert that the drive home was no problem at all. We had about fifteen minutes of incredibly hard rain but after that things were mostly clear. We pulled in to Conway around 3:20 AM. I got a few hours sleep before getting up and going to work on the piece I've been writing, which, by the way, I finished today.

Blake