Woke up feeling lousy. It's grey and rainy out. Not really up for hitting the gym today, I instead grab my laptop, and head downtown to the coffee shop. Coffee shops are wonderful. Not only do they give you live-sustaining coffee, many of them offer free WIFI.
This coffee shop (locally owned, BTW) is very music-positive. Promoting the local music scene is part of their operation. This includes piped in music, and as I was browsing around my usual Interweb-haunts, over the speakers come a cover version of the English band Electric Light Orchestra's Mr. Blue Sky. Instant smile! I'm not sure what the band was that was covering the tune, but the original song was released in 1978 on ELO's seventh studio album, Out of the Blue. The song was written by ELO's frontman Jeff Lynne, and according to him, it was directly inspired by a glorious brightening of the weather while he was holed up in a Swiss chalet trying to write the follow up album to A New World Record.
What makes this song so interesting is all of the stuff that's going on. In addition to the traditional form of a pop song, with mostly traditional instrumentation, there is the famous "talking piano" part. Actually, it's a vocoder that we hear "singing" the lyric Mr. Blue Sky. A vocoder is an analysis and synthesis system that is used to record, manipulate, and reproduce the human voice. It is a technology that is used mostly for voice scrambling, encryption, and voice pagers, among other things.
Throughout the song, usually just at the end of a verse, you can also hear what sounds like a brake drum: four beats, signalling in the next verse. Clang, clang, clang, clang! As much fun as the song is, the really cool part comes at the end, when the mood changes, and the orchestration takes over. An orchestra and real or synthesized choir (Can't tell which. Could be sampled, I suppose. Anyone out there know?) brings the song to new high. It really sounds like the clouds parting and sunlight pouring in. I guess if that kind of thing had a sound, that is. Brilliant composition, nevertheless, and one of a few truly uplifting rock songs! Also, if you listen to the very end, you can hear the vocoder again, saying what sounds like "Mr. Blue Sky-ee", but is actually saying "Please turn me over." When the song was released, it was on vinyl records, which had to be turned over to hear the rest of the album.
Other musicians have noticed the usefulness of the vocoder. For example: Styx used it in Mr. Roboto to create the sound of a robot talking, and Pink Floyd used it with the sound of a barking dog in their Animals album.
Now, if only the weather would take the hint and get less gloomy. Monday's are rough enough.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
ACTION!!
I'm currently playing in the pit of a musical called Parade. The plot dramatizes real life events that took place in Atlanta, GA, in the year 1913. Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager, is wrongly accused of the rape and murder of a 13 year old employee. He's thrown into jail, declared guilty at trial, and sentenced to death. After several attempts at appeal, his sentence is reduced to life in prison. However, some citizens felt that justice had not been upheld and Leo is abducted in the middle of the night. The musical ends with Leo's lynching.
Brutal stuff, right? The musical deals with a lot of heavy issues: anti-semitism, prejudice, the justice system, and the influence of the media. Once you get around all that though, the music is wonderful, if not just a bit difficult to coordinate. The book was written by Alfred Urhy and the music is by Jason Robert Brown. The show was first produced on Broadway in December of 1998 and in 1999, it won two Tony Awards for best book and best original score.
Historically speaking, it was never made clear who actually killed the girl, the trial was sensationalized, with the frightened citizens and government looking for someone-anyone-to blame, but the musical leads us to believe that the murderer was Jim Conley, the janitor at Leo's factory.
Brutal stuff, right? The musical deals with a lot of heavy issues: anti-semitism, prejudice, the justice system, and the influence of the media. Once you get around all that though, the music is wonderful, if not just a bit difficult to coordinate. The book was written by Alfred Urhy and the music is by Jason Robert Brown. The show was first produced on Broadway in December of 1998 and in 1999, it won two Tony Awards for best book and best original score.
Historically speaking, it was never made clear who actually killed the girl, the trial was sensationalized, with the frightened citizens and government looking for someone-anyone-to blame, but the musical leads us to believe that the murderer was Jim Conley, the janitor at Leo's factory.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
LIGHTS!!
I have a quick tidbit today. Not strictly music, but I thought it was interesting...
Have you ever heard the phrase "in the limelight"? Have you ever wondered what it means? The spot light isn't lime coloured. The phrase comes from the mid-1800s, when a British engineer and inventor, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, put into the practical use the phenomenon of burning hunks of lime. Lime is a calcium based material, formally called calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. Anyway, when you get a really hot flame, fueled by alcohol and oxygen, you can burn a small piece of lime. The result is an intense, white light.
The light source was used, predictably, in lighthouses, but also, because the beam could be narrowed and focused, in theaters. Hence, if you were in the limelight, you were some sort of star, worthy of being lit up by a bright beam. Unfortunately, burning lime is also hazardous, as it caused a lot of fires. According to a report published in 1899, nearly ten thousand people were killed in theater fires in Britain in the nineteenth century.
Much thanks to Bill Bryson and his wonderful new book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, for shining the light (ahem) on this fascinating nibble.
Have you ever heard the phrase "in the limelight"? Have you ever wondered what it means? The spot light isn't lime coloured. The phrase comes from the mid-1800s, when a British engineer and inventor, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, put into the practical use the phenomenon of burning hunks of lime. Lime is a calcium based material, formally called calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. Anyway, when you get a really hot flame, fueled by alcohol and oxygen, you can burn a small piece of lime. The result is an intense, white light.
The light source was used, predictably, in lighthouses, but also, because the beam could be narrowed and focused, in theaters. Hence, if you were in the limelight, you were some sort of star, worthy of being lit up by a bright beam. Unfortunately, burning lime is also hazardous, as it caused a lot of fires. According to a report published in 1899, nearly ten thousand people were killed in theater fires in Britain in the nineteenth century.
Much thanks to Bill Bryson and his wonderful new book, At Home: A Short History of Private Life, for shining the light (ahem) on this fascinating nibble.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Like notes on the staff...
...these are the tales of music publishing. Reading about the histories of some music publishers (and several other music trade entities) is like reading the storyline for a daytime TV drama. A lot of switching of partners, spiteful actions, petty disagreements, betrayal, love, lust. Well, maybe less of the last two.
Boosey & Hawkes, for example, was formed in 1930, as a result of a merger of two established British music publishers. Music publishers are like the middlemen between the artist and the adoring fans. Composers sell the rights of their music to a publisher, who produces and sells the intellectual property (the sheet music). This has a side effect of stirring up copyright issues. As I've mentioned, copyright law is full of twists, turns, and traps (watch out!), that can all result in some fairly serious fines. But let's not discuss law right now.
Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes were rival music company owners. Rather than fight against one another, they decided to join forces. Thus, Boosey & Hawkes. To make a long, convoluted story short, the two men had different interests. Boosey was interested in not just publishing, but in instrument manufacturing. Hawkes thought instrument making was dull, and actually wanted to buy out the publishing side of the business and manage it from New York. Ralph Hawkes died in 1950, however, and his portion of the company was taken over by his rather irresponsible brother, Geoffrey. Geoffrey spent most of his money on mouth organs and ovens, both of which failed. Geoffrey died of leukemia in 1961.
The surviving Boosey (ha ha, that sounds funny!) had support throughout these difficult years from his managing director, Ernst Roth. Allegedly, the composer Benjamin Britten had a hand in tearing apart the two businessmen. In the early 1960s, Roth forced Boosey's sons out of the company, and barred his youngest son from joining. Boosey, to his credit, realized Britten's value and agreed to divide the company into two parts, publishing and instrument manufacture. Unfortunately, Britten prevented Boosey from being chairperson of the music publishing board that was formed at Britten's request. This was humiliating for Boosey.
Britten later got Boosey & Hawkes to hire Donald Mitchell to scout out new talent. This made Roth angry, who felt that Britten had too much control over Boosey. Roth fired Mitchell. Mitchell later went to the Faber and Faber book publishing company and set up Faber Music, with the help of Britten.
Boosey & Hawkes claims to be the largest classical music publishing house world-wide. Its catalog includes major 20-century composers, including Stravinsky, Copland, Bartok, Britten, Strauss, Prokofieff, and Rachmaninoff.
And you thought a story about a publishing company would be boring.
Boosey & Hawkes, for example, was formed in 1930, as a result of a merger of two established British music publishers. Music publishers are like the middlemen between the artist and the adoring fans. Composers sell the rights of their music to a publisher, who produces and sells the intellectual property (the sheet music). This has a side effect of stirring up copyright issues. As I've mentioned, copyright law is full of twists, turns, and traps (watch out!), that can all result in some fairly serious fines. But let's not discuss law right now.
Leslie Boosey and Ralph Hawkes were rival music company owners. Rather than fight against one another, they decided to join forces. Thus, Boosey & Hawkes. To make a long, convoluted story short, the two men had different interests. Boosey was interested in not just publishing, but in instrument manufacturing. Hawkes thought instrument making was dull, and actually wanted to buy out the publishing side of the business and manage it from New York. Ralph Hawkes died in 1950, however, and his portion of the company was taken over by his rather irresponsible brother, Geoffrey. Geoffrey spent most of his money on mouth organs and ovens, both of which failed. Geoffrey died of leukemia in 1961.
The surviving Boosey (ha ha, that sounds funny!) had support throughout these difficult years from his managing director, Ernst Roth. Allegedly, the composer Benjamin Britten had a hand in tearing apart the two businessmen. In the early 1960s, Roth forced Boosey's sons out of the company, and barred his youngest son from joining. Boosey, to his credit, realized Britten's value and agreed to divide the company into two parts, publishing and instrument manufacture. Unfortunately, Britten prevented Boosey from being chairperson of the music publishing board that was formed at Britten's request. This was humiliating for Boosey.
Britten later got Boosey & Hawkes to hire Donald Mitchell to scout out new talent. This made Roth angry, who felt that Britten had too much control over Boosey. Roth fired Mitchell. Mitchell later went to the Faber and Faber book publishing company and set up Faber Music, with the help of Britten.
Boosey & Hawkes claims to be the largest classical music publishing house world-wide. Its catalog includes major 20-century composers, including Stravinsky, Copland, Bartok, Britten, Strauss, Prokofieff, and Rachmaninoff.
And you thought a story about a publishing company would be boring.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Aulochrome
There is a new instrument amidst the woodwinds. Its creator is Belgian instrument maker Francois Louis, and the instrument is called an "aulochrome," from the Greek, aulos (an ancient Greek instrument) and chrome (many colours). It was designed recently, and made its debut in 2002, with a performance by saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol.
It kind of looks like two soprano saxophones smushed together. From listening to demonstrations on You Tube, I think it kind of sounds like soprano saxophones smushed together, too. There is a slight mis-tuning between the components, done intentionally, that creates beats. The player can manipulate the beats to create rhythms. Looking at the key diagrams of this new beast is a bit mind-boggling. From what I can tell, the right and left hand mechanisms are split between the two bodies. There are two mouthpieces, and, I'm assuming, two reeds.
Joe Lovano has done a lot to help promote the new horn, giving demonstrations and concerts.
It kind of looks like two soprano saxophones smushed together. From listening to demonstrations on You Tube, I think it kind of sounds like soprano saxophones smushed together, too. There is a slight mis-tuning between the components, done intentionally, that creates beats. The player can manipulate the beats to create rhythms. Looking at the key diagrams of this new beast is a bit mind-boggling. From what I can tell, the right and left hand mechanisms are split between the two bodies. There are two mouthpieces, and, I'm assuming, two reeds.
Joe Lovano has done a lot to help promote the new horn, giving demonstrations and concerts.
Friday, April 6, 2012
King Conn
So much stuff, this may ramble a bit. Reading up on the Conn Instruments company. Based in Elkhart, IN, the company was founded by Charles Gerard Conn, a cornet player, in 1850. In 1888, the Conn factory started making its first saxophones. The success of the Conn saxophones led to a subsequent deluge of saxes from other makers, including Martin, King, and Beuscher (and eventually Selmer). The growth of the school band movement at the turn of the century can in many ways be attributed to the resourceful and fiery Conn. The initial method was a sort of Harold Hill way of conducting business: swing into a small town, pluck a kid out of the gathered crowd, teach her to play a song or two within minutes (usually on a saxophone), then sell horns (or rent them cheaply) to the amazed parents, then blow out of town again.
The Conn Company began as a bakery and grocery business, but after Conn met Frenchman Eugene Dupont in 1876, the two went into the instrument building business. Dupont was an instrument maker, Conn had originally set out to make some improvements to brass mouthpieces. The resulting saxophones (it is unclear to me, as of yet, as to why he went from cornet to sax building. It is perhaps due to the rise in the saxophone's popularity-that you will recall was beginning to explode about this time). Of course, Conn made other brass horns too, but his early M series saxes were particularly popular, and are collectible today.
[Personal aside: I've never felt the need to own or play a vintage horn. The way I see it, technology and design has improved the saxophone to much greater degrees of precision and sound. It is akin to a clarinetist who will only play clarinets built at, or shortly after, the time of the clarinet's inception and development (about 350 years ago). Intonation would be disastrous, some keys may be absent, and the ergonomics may just not be comfortable. For these reasons, I will always try to find and play on modern instruments. But, as with many things, to each his own.]
Part of the M series was the famous "Naked Lady" saxophones. Engravings are etched into the finished instrument by real, live engravers (still done this way now). The engravings were all done freehand, and often at whatever whim the engraver chose. This resulted in a variety of engraved images, including a half-naked woman. Because the images were done at the engravers' caprice, none of them were identical.
In 2000, the Conn company merged with Selmer, creating Conn-Selmer (the Leblanc company is buried in there, too), a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments. Everyone owns everyone.
The Conn Company began as a bakery and grocery business, but after Conn met Frenchman Eugene Dupont in 1876, the two went into the instrument building business. Dupont was an instrument maker, Conn had originally set out to make some improvements to brass mouthpieces. The resulting saxophones (it is unclear to me, as of yet, as to why he went from cornet to sax building. It is perhaps due to the rise in the saxophone's popularity-that you will recall was beginning to explode about this time). Of course, Conn made other brass horns too, but his early M series saxes were particularly popular, and are collectible today.
[Personal aside: I've never felt the need to own or play a vintage horn. The way I see it, technology and design has improved the saxophone to much greater degrees of precision and sound. It is akin to a clarinetist who will only play clarinets built at, or shortly after, the time of the clarinet's inception and development (about 350 years ago). Intonation would be disastrous, some keys may be absent, and the ergonomics may just not be comfortable. For these reasons, I will always try to find and play on modern instruments. But, as with many things, to each his own.]
Part of the M series was the famous "Naked Lady" saxophones. Engravings are etched into the finished instrument by real, live engravers (still done this way now). The engravings were all done freehand, and often at whatever whim the engraver chose. This resulted in a variety of engraved images, including a half-naked woman. Because the images were done at the engravers' caprice, none of them were identical.
In 2000, the Conn company merged with Selmer, creating Conn-Selmer (the Leblanc company is buried in there, too), a subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments. Everyone owns everyone.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Infomercial
Hi. I'm Hyacinth Throttlebottom. I'm here today to talk to you about pronunciation. Specifically, how to properly pronounce composer's names.
Do you feel inadequate in symphonic situations? Does your inability to pronounce composer's names cause you undue embarrassment? Do you ever wish that you could feel confident and knowledgeable with other concertgoers? Does it seem like you are the only one mispronouncing Brahms, Handel and Liszt? Well, stop worrying! I'm here to help. With my five week at home course, you will gain all of the experience needed to speak intelligently and confidently with the orchestral population.
In week one you will learn that not all composers were American or English. Many of them were from other countries, and therefore, their language tells us how to pronounce their names. For example, Richard Strauss was German, so we can't just call him Rich, he's 'Reeckart Schtrouss'. Similarly, the French composers Frederick Chopin and Claude Debussy require some French pronunciation. Hence: 'Freederick Showpan' and 'Clawd Dubyusseee'. To make matters worse, even English or American composers have names that are often descended from the Old World, making them at times a bit confusing. I mean, really! Who hasn't been ashamed at their lack of pronunciation power when talking about the music of John Corigliano? ('Core-lee-ahno')
This is why Hukt on Fonix doesn't work! The word phonetic isn't, and dialect and language have specific and contrasting rules!
In the subsequent weeks of the 5 week course, we go on a tour of world, composer style. We will see why Mozart is pronounced 'Moat-zart', Beethoven is 'Bait-oh-ven', Richard Wagner is 'Reeckart Vahgner', Hector Berlioz is 'Hektor Bear-lee-ohz' and the always baffling Antonin Dvorak is 'Antonin DVOR-zhahk'.
But that's not all! Call now and I'll include your very own "Guide to Pronouncing the Great Works of Art by the Great Sometimes-Hard-to Properly-Pronounce Composers"! This invaluable resource will take you through many great works, including Verdi's Aida, an enormous operatic masterpiece with a short name: 'Eye-EE-Duh'.
Call now and I'll throw in this adorable plush Igor Stravinsky (Eegore Strawveenski)! He's
just "Rite for Spring"!! HAHAHA!!! Don't delay, call today!!
Do you feel inadequate in symphonic situations? Does your inability to pronounce composer's names cause you undue embarrassment? Do you ever wish that you could feel confident and knowledgeable with other concertgoers? Does it seem like you are the only one mispronouncing Brahms, Handel and Liszt? Well, stop worrying! I'm here to help. With my five week at home course, you will gain all of the experience needed to speak intelligently and confidently with the orchestral population.
In week one you will learn that not all composers were American or English. Many of them were from other countries, and therefore, their language tells us how to pronounce their names. For example, Richard Strauss was German, so we can't just call him Rich, he's 'Reeckart Schtrouss'. Similarly, the French composers Frederick Chopin and Claude Debussy require some French pronunciation. Hence: 'Freederick Showpan' and 'Clawd Dubyusseee'. To make matters worse, even English or American composers have names that are often descended from the Old World, making them at times a bit confusing. I mean, really! Who hasn't been ashamed at their lack of pronunciation power when talking about the music of John Corigliano? ('Core-lee-ahno')
This is why Hukt on Fonix doesn't work! The word phonetic isn't, and dialect and language have specific and contrasting rules!
In the subsequent weeks of the 5 week course, we go on a tour of world, composer style. We will see why Mozart is pronounced 'Moat-zart', Beethoven is 'Bait-oh-ven', Richard Wagner is 'Reeckart Vahgner', Hector Berlioz is 'Hektor Bear-lee-ohz' and the always baffling Antonin Dvorak is 'Antonin DVOR-zhahk'.
But that's not all! Call now and I'll include your very own "Guide to Pronouncing the Great Works of Art by the Great Sometimes-Hard-to Properly-Pronounce Composers"! This invaluable resource will take you through many great works, including Verdi's Aida, an enormous operatic masterpiece with a short name: 'Eye-EE-Duh'.
Call now and I'll throw in this adorable plush Igor Stravinsky (Eegore Strawveenski)! He's
just "Rite for Spring"!! HAHAHA!!! Don't delay, call today!!
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