Here are links to the etudes I created this semester for Computer Music. My learning curve was pretty steep, so there are definitely some moments in these that are outrageously clumsy. Also, the focus of the class was on mixing and editing techniques as opposed to creating an original aesthetic or composition. Do consider that when listening.
*Created in Audacity, SoundHack, Spear, GarageBand and iMovie with found, recorded and commercial recordings for educational purposes only.
Below is my proposed itinerary from my summer (2008) in Germany. The actual itinerary differed a bit due to travel difficulties–for example, I didn’t make it to Prague–but I think it’s worth preserving a copy of the master plan.
I had previously listed this information under the itinerary tab in the toolbar above. Since the information would live better in my archives at this point in time, I have moved it to this post.
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Note: Updates will be added regularly as plans change.
Here goes nothing….
June 13th Arrive in Munich, Germany
June 16th Leipzig Bach Festival, Germany: Catone in Utica (opera seria)
This past Thursday my friends and I put on a house concert & holiday party, and we chose a theme that was suitably weird yet related to the season: The Zodiac. Actually, we chose the piece–Stockhausen’s Tierkreis–and insisted that it was the perfect excuse for a holiday party. After all, it is the week of winter solstice.
Composer Ryan Krause hosted in his party pad (hence the event name Tier-Krause), and a bevy of musicians participated, i.e. performed and drank, with aplomb. Here’s an audio sample of what we do:
Libra: John Mallia, Electronics
Scorpio: Ceceilia Allwein, Soprano, & Ryan Krause, Keyboard Stylings
“I used to want to change the world, now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.” - Lotus Weinstock, as quoted in Shortbus
I’ve been having fun on the intertubes of late trying to find so-called high art in ridiculous places. For example, I found this lovely little performance art piece on Yoko Ono’s Twitter Feed:
Draw a line with your body. See how it effects you, see how it effects where you are drawing the line. See how it effects the whole world.
This semester I’m taking a class in computer music, and I’ve decided to share some of my work in this space. I can absolutely promise technical glitches and daft handling of software as I learn the ropes. However, there are a few projects in here toward which I feel a real sense of compositional pride–even if there’s a click (or two) and the cross-fades a bit rocky. Enjoy!
It’s very true that artists earn very little. It’s also true that any artist who will be financially and/or commercially successful must view their work, time, resources, strengths/weaknesses, and GROWTH as if it were a business in order to reap financial reward at all.
In order to view one’s work through this lens though, an artist must grasp the value of what they create. It takes exceptional time and energy to produce art that has significant value, and yet most artists treat their work–here synonymous with career, education and ongoing development–like it’s of little worth or value. Even reduced to a simple question of supply and demand, artists produce works more often than not in very small quantities and demand for good art will almost always outweigh the available supply. Thus, the value of these artworks goes up.
Seth Godin wrote these insightful posts lately–
The first article is one of the best arguments I’ve ever read for spending money on individualized training that will make YOUR art differentiable from competitors. While $130/hr for a private teacher or $40K/year for conservatory tuition may seem like an awfully steep price to front for a career that has a very low, lifetime income potential (especially in relationship to the overhead), it makes total sense as a business model within a luxury market.
The second article by Godin provides some great question(s) needed to fuel the quest to 1) find a compelling artistic voice and 2) to generate audiences. How is my art different than nothing? What is it about what I will offer on stage/canvas/paper/my body that is better than the old armchair and SNL? This is especially applicable for arts that people decry as “in decline” or “of a former generation,” say, for example, opera. Many people have never really experienced opera and have lived happy, cultured, expansive lives without it. There is no competition.
Do people find their lives enriched at the simulcast of an opera compared to the armchair full of nothing that they have at home? Or is it just another chair of nothing? And what about slashed ticket prices? Does it do anything to generate audiences that are willing–regardless of their financial status or class–to pay the real value of a luxury product? If going to the opera is better for my life than nothing, wouldn’t I be willing to shell out the extra cash?
L’Enfant et les Sortilèges by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) premiered in 1926 at the Monte Carlo Opera under the baton of Victor de Sabata. The French writer Colette wrote the libretto, and the opera was accompanied by choreography by a very young Balanchine. Ravel began composing the opera in 1918 soon after he received the libretto from Colette. The work counts among Ravel’s post-war compositions that emphasize bolder harmonic formulation, exoticism of the natural world, and fantasy. The public favorably received the opera, and it was soon performed to packed houses in Paris, London and much of Europe. Despite its overwhelming European popularity, L’Enfant et les Sortilèges did not receive its American debut until 1981 at the Metropolitan Opera. Ravel scored the opera for full orchestra, however, he also made multiple chamber reductions. The full score calls for two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two B flat clarinets, E flat clarinet, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contra-bassoon, sarrusophone, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, timpani in D, triangle, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, slapstick, ratchet, cheese grater, wood block, wind machine, crotales, side whistle, xylophone, two harps, celesta, piano and strings. The most commonly performed reduction calls for two pianos, flute, cello, and percussion.
Given at Convocation for the opening of the Fall semester at New England Conservatory on September 3,2009 in Jordan Hall. My cohort in crime was my ever-lovely, provocative, hairy, and insightful best friend, Brandon Cordeiro. Incidently, he’s looking for a husband and soul-mate. Know anyone? We gots to hook a brother up!!
Without further ado…
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Ceceilia: Well, where did we leave off last time?? Oh, right, WELCOME TO COLLEGE! You made it. You’re here. You’ve been oriented to this huge campus, an overwhelming class size, and that behemoth of a football stadium looming a mile away from your dorm. All of you, new and returning, know the buildings, your agenda is in your hand and you’ve staked out the practice rooms with air-conditioning. Now that you know this campus inside and out, ask yourself… does this campus know me? Do I know me? What does that even mean?
I’ve decided to keep up this blog, turning it into a space to document my volunteering, school, professional, etc. activities. There might even be a twinge of over-confessional blogging mixed in, but I’ll try to keep it to a minimum… emphasis on “try”.
