tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191041280169417392024-02-06T19:07:22.887-08:00A World of SoundsA Hornists Journey into the Modern Horn Repertoire. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-69008727882631614012017-11-09T12:36:00.002-08:002017-11-09T12:36:50.529-08:00Check out my new websiteHey everyone,<br /><br />This post is a long time coming, as you can see I haven't been actively writing (though I hope this will change.) You can find my information, and a current contact form (though I do still get them from here) at the following site.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.mathewsjameshorn.com/" target="_blank">http://www.mathewsjameshorn.com</a><br /><br /><br />Thanks,<br />MatAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-60412627611461915242016-01-12T18:38:00.001-08:002016-01-12T20:36:15.145-08:00What if "strange" was cool?Let me start this post to let you know I am going to be launching a non blogger website hopefully in the next few weeks. Writing will very much encompass a great deal of what I do since it is something I enjoy, and something I believe is equally vital to the world as music, and performing. Now that last sentence starts to scratch the surface on this post, what is vital to the world? How are things that are strange different from things that are cool? Is it possible that the outcome of both these things could be the same? Lots of questions, and never enough time.<br />
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The first thing I should do is establish what the "outcome" is, at least in regards to this post, and currently in my mind. In the past I have talked about curating performances, and the tradition or expectations of concerts and cultural events. So let's create a hypothetical performance here, and the outcome of that performance is to leave the audience thinking about what they saw/heard. It doesn't mean the go online and start to research it, that they liked it, that they tweeted it just this: <b>reflecting, even momentarily on what they heard</b>.<br />
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So what does that mean, where does this put us, the audience, or performers in this hypothetical performance. We clearly need more information. Let's say you take a post-rock performer who will perform say a set of ambiant music, a new music ensemble that will perform works from the radical aesthetic, and a prog-rock group. Put them all on the same bill, throw it in an awesome basement bar with pool tables, beer on tap, conversations, people shouting, etc.. you know, a bar.<br />
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Alright, we have our "outcome". that is reflection. We have our, what could be seen as bizarre "hypothetical performance", now we just need an audience. Concerts always have a "target audience", corporations spend tons of money developing their metadata to know exactly who and how to target. So for this show why don't we just say each group will bring their own individual audience. So we have it.. Reflection, genre madness, a bar, and a smorgasbord of an audience who's paths.. honestly may never cross in a cultural sense.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxOD3ZqQb2IpjGy1eI1ppy6XsVAmno-TSqaqxAEN5WXaWKFBoSMaKKpmCx2yXUPUpRu39hlqNTu3thh7Rl20jMv106GvBn0YZYjzaLvsY2eTitaUvg-Yi0bP1cmhmVQHABd-koaVo5hw/s1600/emmet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTxOD3ZqQb2IpjGy1eI1ppy6XsVAmno-TSqaqxAEN5WXaWKFBoSMaKKpmCx2yXUPUpRu39hlqNTu3thh7Rl20jMv106GvBn0YZYjzaLvsY2eTitaUvg-Yi0bP1cmhmVQHABd-koaVo5hw/s200/emmet.jpg" width="150" /></a>So we should ask ourselves, how could something this strange ever create a harmonious outcome, since that seems to be the real barrier of this concert. We have radically different musical aesthetics, and radically different audiences in age, taste, etc. One of the groups is WAY outside their conventional performance space performing music that is WAY outside the usual fair for the venue. I think at this point we have to take a step back and look for a common ground, or similarity that can be shared with the audiences and groups.<br />
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Have you ever gotten a gift, or acquired an item you were really confident you knew how it worked, or how to assemble it. Its like building a Lego kit, at the end the project looks complete but you are left with one extra piece... what is your response. Hopefully not to eat it... maybe you wonder why is this piece here, did you miss something, is it extra, do you have some cool limited edition set with a magical extra piece that will give you unlimited access to a power you can't possibly comprehend? I think, in a strange way I am trying to steer you towards an answer, that answer is curiosity. Something I hold near and dear to myself, it motivates me as an artist, as a human. So maybe that is what links all of these pieces together, these audiences that have not a heck of a lot in common. They can become curious, curious of sounds they never knew existed, hearing music function in a way they didn't know it could.<br />
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Now what if I told you this hypothetical concert actually happened. There was an artist from a post-rock band doing an ambiance set named Bryan Buss, a new music ensemble named Timepoint who laid down three pieces, one of them being Peter Ablinger's Black Series, finally, a prog-rock band called Diatessaron launching their newest album. All under the roof of Dicken's Pub in Calgary. The funny thing about music is we are passionate about it. We tend to attach part of ourselves to it, to identify to it. It's an unspoken bond, see someone in the street in a Black Flag T-shirt the same day you wear yours that person is suddenly like kin. When we sit in concert halls hearing our symphonies the same can happen. What was magical to me that night was that these three radically different groups managed to reach outside of the conventional ways we present music to create a night that was described to me after the show as "raw and exciting" "unlike anything I experienced before". At the same time people asked me about Ablinger, who were there for Diatssaron. Someone told me "they had no idea what they head, but it blew my mind".<br />
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There is nothing inherently wrong with the "normal way we do things. but wouldn't it be something really unique if these "strange" events became cool?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-8665184257571728152015-11-02T11:10:00.000-08:002015-11-02T11:10:29.688-08:00Timepont Ensemble and an idea I am tossing aroundFirst I want to actively shout out to a new ensemble I helped found in Calgary called Timepoint Ensemble, we are going to be performing tons and tons of stuff, music of the late 20th and 21st century focusing on live composers. So keep an ear for that and send your eyes to follow us on facebook and twitter. @Enstimepoint and <span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.facebook.com/timepointensemble.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second I am excited that I have </span>received<span style="font-family: inherit;"> the first version of the work being composed for me by Pierre-Henri Wicomb, so I can </span>guarantee<span style="font-family: inherit;"> there will be some posts in regards to </span>techniques<span style="font-family: inherit;"> coming from that. Sorry again for the lack of posts but, got this Saskatoon Symphony gig, Timepoint ensemble, teaching, and more. So time is valuable and just not ample. I will be throwing up a few exercises in the next weeks as well.<br /><br />Hit that +1, drop a comment.<br /><br />Talk soon.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-74130734340287103892015-10-18T12:26:00.000-07:002015-10-18T12:26:03.840-07:00Some big newsSo the Blog has been dormant and I apologize, but that is because there is some big news to share.<br /><br />I am excited to announce the launch of Calgary's newest New Music Ensemble, we are flying under the name "Timepoint ensemble" (one of everyone's favorite max objects.) Our first concert is this month! October 27th at the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, 7:30PM, $10 at the door. So check it out, also slap a like on our facebook page.<br /><br />https://www.facebook.com/timepointensemble?fref=tsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-43475388137024456042015-10-01T18:35:00.001-07:002015-10-01T18:35:14.698-07:00BackHey everyone<br /><br />So briefly since I have been absent so long I recently won a job with the Saskatoon Symphony and moved back to Calgary. In addition I am currently working with some great people and founding a new ensemble in Calgary, so time has been sparse for writing with time spent teaching, working, and planning.<br /><br />I am back though, not sure how heavily I will post and to what end. Watch for a post in the coming weeks until then. Play some scales and make some strange sounds.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-57084152881679824232015-08-17T15:44:00.004-07:002015-08-17T15:44:56.517-07:00Dear blog worldHello blog world.<br /><br />Life happens, and it happens fast. Major changes have been happening which led to my lengthy time away from writing here. I will be back in September. Until then thanks for your patience and I will be back soon.<div>
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Mathew</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-89898666967460634252015-06-12T12:35:00.002-07:002015-06-12T12:35:57.399-07:00Things in the works!Exciting things coming up, I am currently working on the Pendercki Sextet, this should be a blast. Collaborating with players I worked with recently on the Koetsier piece for Wagner tuba and string quartet, check out a recording of that performance <a href="https://soundcloud.com/mathewsjames/skurrile-elgie-auf-richard-w-op862-composed-by-jan-koetsier">here</a>.<br /><br />As well I am super excited to be performing Terry Riley's "in C" with <a href="http://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com/news/terry-rileys-in-c/">Third Coast Percussion</a> in Chicago at Millennium Park, details on that can be found <a href="http://www.thirdcoastpercussion.com/event-schedule/downtown-sound-in-c-in-millennium-park/">here</a>.<br /><br />Aside from that have some writing coming out soon.<br /><br />Check out my recent recordings @<a href="https://soundcloud.com/mathewsjames"> Soundcloud</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gT_8Gj0i_7o&list=PL_TVkyEPKI2xfCiN8u0ak-5ysjNTHJvwD&index=2">Youtube</a>.<br /><br />Chat again soon!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-57063144621072205572015-06-03T17:06:00.000-07:002015-06-03T17:06:23.894-07:00New Video UpHey again,<br />
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So today I am super super excited to announce the release of the premiere performance of "a cold surrogate, a penance play" by Jordan Kusel. This was a wild work to learn, took a great amount of time and willingness to learn this piece. Pieces like this that circumvent the traditions have always fascinated me. More on that later, here is the video.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gT_8Gj0i_7o" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Yup that's what I got to say today, if you watch this and it makes you feel things, good, bad, strange, scary, uncomfortable, whatever let me know drop a comment.<br /><br />Check out this related posts:<br /><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-art-of-practising-extended-technique.html">Practising extended technique</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-importance-of-phrase-in-complex.html">The importance of phrase in complex music.</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2015/01/meeting-demands.html">Meeting the demands</a></li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-72763863626313608452015-06-02T13:33:00.000-07:002015-06-02T13:33:06.009-07:00New recordingsHello loyal readers<br />
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I am going to be uploading recordings over the next month or so from this year. I will post them all here, and on other social media outlets. Here is the first!<br />
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<iframe frameborder="no" height="20" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?
url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/208270612&color=ff5500&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true" width="100%"></iframe>
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This was a great piece to get to work on and perform, <a href="http://www.tianleilei.org/">Leilei Tian's</a> music is super interesting I could go on about it but, hey, let's let it speak for itself.<br /><br />Leave a comment, hit the +1, subscribe,<br />
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Let me know you are out there.<br /><br />Happy sound making!<br /><br /><br />
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Check out some related posts!<br /><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-horn-in-mix-of-new-world.html">Horn in the mix of the new world</a></li>
</ul>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-73962123423858525522015-05-25T17:43:00.000-07:002015-05-25T17:43:17.197-07:00Addendum to article in the horn callHello faithful readers... reader...silence?<br />
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If you may have noticed I had an article appear in the Horn Call, the journal of the international horn society. There is mention of some "examples" that seem to not be in the printed publication so, I submit for the approval of the midnight society, those said examples.<br /><br />I should also be releasing soon a recording of the premiere performance of the work by Jordan Kusel that is spoken about in the article soon.<br /><br />
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Example 1</div>
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<br /><span style="text-align: start;">Example 2</span></div>
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So.. there ya go. if you have any questions fire them off, I had even more hours to stare at the score and come up with ideas for this particular work. So ask away, hit the +1, throw a share.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-20667494291263497842015-05-19T06:33:00.000-07:002015-05-19T06:40:24.637-07:00Thoughts on curating a performance <span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Back when I started this blog, one of the first posts I wrote about was in regards to my thoughts surrounding the programming of new music. You can fine those by following the links below.<br /><br /><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-is-in-performance-part-1.html">What is in a performance Part 1</a></span><br />
<a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-is-in-performance-part-2.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is in a performance Part 2</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So I went back and read these, one thing I have expressed in the past, and have impressed upon me heavily by one of mentors and a conductor I am fortunate to work with <a href="http://www.michaellewanski.com/">Michael Lewanski </a>is this concept that as artists we form opinions, these are opinions we feel strong about and try to express them in our art. Those opinions should continue to change and evolve even if it means changing your mind. So in that spirit I am going to pull a few key points from the earlier posts and highlight them here, though if you have time, have a read and build an opinion, especially if it is contradictory, then we can talk about that.</span><br />
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<li><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I always strive to have some kind of internal consistency that help pull things together, OR helps progress the concert from work to work in a way that you can go from Gabrieli to Globokar.</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The more radical a program becomes the more I am aware of this since people (me included) can only take so much.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I try to avoid programming works that are very similar, if I do I need to find a way to give the listener time to digest things</span></span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Audience is the king, they buy tickets, they tell their friends, they literally feed us, both in food and in the ability to acquire more food. That being said, Everything starts from what WE want to present. We then find a way to balance things so that the audience walks away and remembers what they say.</span></span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We will stick to these four points.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's funny remember when I said we can change our minds, wow do I ever feel that way. That is a big reason I decided to come back to this idea. So before we dig into past Mat's mind I want to start with a few key thoughts. These thoughts stretch beyond new music in my mind and are just things that I feel are important.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">First and this is something I have really been thinking about these past few months is the difference between programming a concert, and </span><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">curating</span><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> a performance. I think these are very different processes that have a big impact on what we present and how an audience responds to them. First though let's set some terms straight here. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Below are three definitions of curating from the Institute of Cultural Practices:</span></span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Definition 1</strong><span style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px;">“Curating is the process by which a physical or virtual space is designed and formulated to include a collated, selected, interpreted and intended concept, which can be articulated through a variety of media”</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Definition 2</strong><span style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px;">“The organisation, discussion and presentation of information including objects, facts and opinions, in order to create value and meaning to be understood by the public”</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><strong style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Definition 3</strong><span style="line-height: 17.3999996185303px;">“Curating is examining, researching and documenting a collection with the aim of making it accessible to the public. This is done through careful interpretation of the objects, space and text to curate an informative exhibition”</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So first of all we see that this idea of curating is more complex then Merriam-Webster would have one believe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Where does this leave us in regards to programming vs curating? Here is a scenario for you, our example performer really enjoys playing Strauss and has been waiting to tackle the Second horn Concerto. They also need an unaccompanied work so they stick with a well known work like the Malcolm Arnold fantasy. They also program the Mozart horn quintet and the Gliere Valse Triste as they are both really nice works they enjoy that they want to perform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The above is how "programming" tends to happen, at least in my experience. For the sake of today we are talking solo recital. Curating a concert around Strauss' second Horn Concerto would be a very different process. For me it would begin with asking a series of questions to myself. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />1. What other pieces would I like to perform (this is the same as above except we are going deeper)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2. Do the pieces work together. The answer to this is not a simple yes or no, we have to consider many different variables.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3. Why do these pieces matter, and why would the audience care. Pieces may matter in other situations, but not when in a set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4. If the pieces do in fact work together what is the element that connects them. There is a good chance that it is something you never considered. It could be a formal consistency, or formal inconsistency, how we listen, etc. There needs to be, in my opinion some kind of connection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5. Start looking for new pieces, since your greatest hits won't work. So this step is here since the hard reality that a program comprised of our favourites is very much a mix-tape made for yourself. It can be cold, impersonal, and very disconnected as many recitals tend to be. Think about when you made a mix tape back in the 90s for someone, you slaved for hours to make it perfect, to let songs flow into one-another or clash in conflict. That is the kind of thing we are after, we understand that for there to be meaning to others it takes a complicated effort.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">6. Keep repeating steps 2 - 5 until you have a program with a purpose, something unique we cant just stream online.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So that is my process now. It has evolved from where I was before. So let us go back to those 4 points and pull them apart for the present.</span></div>
<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"></span><br />
<ul><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">
<li><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I always strive to have some kind of internal consistency that help pull things together, OR helps progress the concert from work to work in a way that you can go from Gabrieli to Globokar.</span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On the surface this is something I still believe in. I would probably never write the sentance that way now, but that is another thing. This idea really relates back to my curating process, but it was still in it's infancy and lacked complexity and depth.</span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The more radical a program becomes the more I am aware of this since people (me included) can only take so much.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well I can put this one out to pasture as I don't really believe in it anymore. In some way I think this idea existed because of a lack of the third point in my curating process. Which is to say I was still making a mix-tape for myself. The next two points are in ways byproducts of this idea, so I will save the big finish until the end.</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I try to avoid programming works that are very similar, if I do I need to find a way to give the listener time to digest things</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">If an audience needs time to "digest things" you, or me, as a </span><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">curator</span><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> have not done your job. It i one thing to feel overwhelmed as a listener but to require time is the byproduct of our good old fashioned mix-tape. There obviously are exceptions, if you have never heard an electronic piece before and the first thing you hear is something incredibly dense and complex you may blow your mental CPU, but that is the listeners job to address. We, as serious performers have no job pandering to the listener, or to underestimate the intelligence of them.</span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Audience is the king, they buy tickets, they tell their friends, they literally feed us, both in food and in the ability to acquire more food. That being said, Everything starts from what WE want to present. We then find a way to balance things so that the audience walks away and remembers what they say.</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">The audience is NOT in charge. End of story, it is the performer, the composer, the conflict between the live performer interpreting ink that is important and relationships that exist. I programmed a recital this year I was REALLY worried may have been "too far" for the circumstances. It turns out the time spent painstakingly curating the program paid off. I performed 5 works, and in the process explored the possibilities of 14 total works, some are on a list to be played later, some I moved on from. What I have learned, which </span><a href="http://www.tomvarnermusic.com/index.htm" style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Tom Varner </a><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">express in a </span><a href="http://stevekornphoto.com/talking-pictures/14132361" style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">great way</a><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> is that:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Your audience is</span><span style="line-height: 19.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"> usually happy to go on a ride that they </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.2000007629395px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">have not been on before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left;">In the end I believe we owe it to our audience to treat them intelligently, yes they are there to support us, or music, but they can also be looking for something new, something they never thought of.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Just a thought.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-12700658259081736632015-04-18T18:05:00.002-07:002015-04-18T18:05:53.624-07:00Busy, not goneSo I realized how long it has been since my last post. I thought it could be advantageous to check in with a few things. First, on the 7th of April I excitedly got to give the American premiere to Leilia Tian's <i>Om </i>for horn and electronics, as well as the world premiere of Jordan Kusel's <i>"a cold surrogate, a penance play" </i>for amplified horn, max/msp, electronics, and video. ON THE SAME PROGRAM! Which was a great experience all in all. Those pieces shared the bill with Jan Koetsier's <i>Skurrile Elgie for R. Wagner </i>for Wagner Tuba and string quartet, Madelien Isakkson's <i>Tjarnoga - O Bla</i>, and Serge Acuri's <i>Lueres</i> for horn, percussion, and tape. Was a good night recordings will come soon.<br /><br />In addition I am starting to use my youtube channel again, check that out here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpjkzjhH1N3VRxd-07tI2dA">My Channel </a><br /><br />I am currently working on a set of etudes (composing that is) for horn and electronics. They will explore various aspects of working with electronics, yet will be accessible and hopefully help facilitate strategies that can be applied to larger more complex works. So if you want to be a guinea pig, let me know in the comments below! Would love some feedback etc.<br />
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Hit that +1, share. Drop a line below! More details, recordings, etc. coming soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-75578875071795904092015-03-14T10:21:00.003-07:002015-04-20T10:12:56.178-07:00The art of "practising" extended techniquesSo this post is to address a question I have had asked to me several times in the past weeks in regards to working on extended technique. I thought this would be a useful post to write since for me, it is not cut and dry. I think there is this idea out there that people who are involved in new music spend all our time in our dark dusty corners, surrounded by electronics, and bizarre contraptions always in search of new ways to make sounds. Obviously I can only answer for myself, but this is pretty far from the truth. What I have found with those who perform lots of new music, and myself would be included in this group, is that there tends to be a great deal of time spent on the fundamentals of sound production, articulation, flexibility... you know the meat an potatoes of playing. The more time I have spent with new music the more focused my basic work becomes.<br />
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Why?<br />
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I think that this is a necessary reality when we are dealing with lots of extended technique, we need to invest a great deal of time and energy to our simplest aspects of playing, since there is a good chance you may not make a conventional sound, in a conventional way in your two hours of rehearsal today. As well, having wicked technique and flexibility is a must for new music, or at least it is the pipe dream.<br />
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<b>But all those sounds... how?</b><br />
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There it is, the elephant in the room, and that is we need to be able to meet the demands of the music when it comes to extended technique. There are two groups I lump things into.<br />
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<b>1.</b> "Normal" extended technique.<br />
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<b>2</b>. Unorthodox technique.<br />
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In group 1, this is where I put things like, flutter tongue, growling, multiphonics, stopped and echo horn, microtones, etc. Things you encounter all the time and are drawn on constantly. Some people may not include stopped horn in here, but one thing I have learned is that you need a killer right hand for new music, fast, nimble, and accurate.<br />
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So with all of the things listed in group 1, the only thing I routinely do in my practising is flutter tongue and stopped horn work. These are worked on for other reasons, flutter scales for air, stopped horn for.. well... being able to do it well.<br />
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Group 2 has techniques like, slap tonguing, hammer tonguing, different air sounds, multiphonics in contrary motion (this is, for me at least, an INSANELY hard thing to do, kind of works against how my brain works), combining flutter and growl together, and the list goes on. These are things that you encounter less often, or are unique to a singular work.<br />
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If you are still here we have arrived to the part about working on these techniques... so set phasers to fun! So the two groups we are important to this next part. When something falls into group 1, our "normal" group, these are things that are a byproduct of good base technique and mechanics. So if your nuts and bolts are in the right place they tend to just happen. For microtones, if you understand how they work, can hear them, and have a fingering for them they pop out since that is the harmonic series at play. Flutter tongue of course some of us have to learn to do it, I was one of those individuals that can't, and still can not, roll my R's. Had to learn to flutter, but now it works. So again group 1 is all about just being able to play horn in general.<br />
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Group 2, now here is the trickier part. There is always a trade off when learning these things, some people are unwilling to, complain it's "not idiomatic" and write it off. Others sit down and figure it out. That is what I'm going to talk about, my process of figuring it out. The best thing you can do is shop-talk with someone who knows the drill, assuming you don't have this luxury here is what I would do, even if you do have someone to shop-talk with, you still need to do the work... sorry?<br />
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<b>First: </b>Make a decision about what the technique is, what sound EXACTLY are you going to make. With no decision, you cant conceptualize how to make it work.<br />
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<b>Second:</b> Experiment, this is the big steps, start trying things, it could be vowel shapes for air sound, tongue positioning, anything. Leave no stone un-turned.<br />
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<b>Third: </b>Deconstruct it to it's elements and master them individually, then put them back together.<br />
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<b>Fourth:</b> Implement it back into the piece. Though, do so with no tempo, rhythm, dynamics, etc... The gaol is to place it around the other sounds and start to make sense of it sonically, and structurally. The same way we workout tricky licks in any kind of music, we are building relationships now.<br />
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<b>Fifth:</b> Add either the rhythm, or the dynamics, not both. I do this because I am trying to not overload the system. We are close to getting what we want, not just "something".<br />
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<b>Sixth - infinity:</b> Add the remaining elements one at a time. So depending on what we are dealing with it could be range, tempo, dynamics, etc. Keep this slow approach going, again we want to get what we conceptualized.<br />
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So the above method is slow... and can be tedious depending on who you are, and how you like to get your work done, but, it works. Remember we are not <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_236251760"></span>faking it<span id="goog_236251761"></span></a>. We need to figure these things out or what is the point. The take away here is that one needs to be really focused on their basic elements of playing to make things work, The more unorthodox a technique is, the more focused time we need to put into it to make it work, since in the end we don't want to get in the way of what we do naturally. I'm not a supporter of sitting down and working on my microscales daily, or anything like that, BUT when these techniques are called on I work them out AWAY from my "morning routine". Good habits, and a strong base will get anything to work.<br />
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Be sure to check out the <a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/p/downloads.html">download</a> section for ideas and exercisesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-20752607443554624842015-02-21T10:17:00.001-08:002015-03-11T23:38:49.282-07:00The importance of the phrase in complex music.So I keep kicking the can down the street here holding off on a video post about the new piece I am working on. SO! On with another kick, on the plus this punt was in fact inspired by the new work.<br />
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So, imagine if you would getting a new shiny piece of music, something with no recording so there you are finding things outs from the beginning. This just happens to be one of my favorite situations, it's a rare treat to find, or get a piece that you have no preconceived idea of how it is going to go. This could be Mozart, Bach, or anything, face it, it's exciting and a chance to really flex those interpertational muscles. I think this is something I have written about before... maybe... if not here is my quick 101.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Everything you know is contextual. That being said if you are looking at Beethoven 3 you should come at it from his earlier string and piano music, and his first two symphonies. This is something I believe, we have performance tradition, and performance practices and they are different things. The best performances capture the composer not the period, what I mean by that is when we look at Mozart we tend to do so as a figure in time that somehow transcends an era of music and not the actual linear output of his work. </li>
</ul>
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<ul>
<li>Make decisions, and know why. For me saying well so and so does it this way so I am, is not a real answer, it's uninformed and parroting. If you like something someone does and you can dissect and understand why they made that decision and in turn you yourself agree with that, then power to you.</li>
</ul>
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<li>Always think big picture, and try to figure out how everything relates, Find internal consistencies. Internal consistencies is a phrase I use a great deal, because I think it is a big thing, especially with music from the new complexity and things that are not as intuitive to the western ear of music. </li>
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<li>If you don't understand it, the audience never will. This is another big things that I learned, it was focused on form for me. The lesson was if you play a Sonata, or a piece in any form. If you have not made the formal decisions and taken time to understand it there will be no way to convey it. </li>
</ul>
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I realize these are not "unique" to new music, and for all purposes for myself I found these strategies in music from the standard canon. The challenge that appears in more complex music, especially for music that falls further outside the standard canon is that we get can get in a highly technical mindset and need to actively step back and see the big picture beyond the technical demands.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-62608233962418439042015-02-03T12:00:00.000-08:002015-02-03T12:00:03.375-08:00A lesson learned from none standard notation.Whenever I get a piece of new music there is always the initial "shock" of notation. Over the years I have become less phased by it but there is always a period where you have to sit down and really look over the part and digest what is going on. What are the techniques, what are the effects/affects, where are the internal consistencies, etc. At the same time there is this instant focus to what is the architecture of the piece, or my part with in the score (which I want to get ASAP, to see how I interact). With the score we are looking at pitch relationships (microtonal etc, should that be unison?) am I emulating other instrumental effects (remember that internal consistency I just mentioned) for example am I trying to create the illusion of over-pressured bowing on the horn, or should it sound different. With new music these are decisions we have to make really quick since if we don't we will never get past step one of the process.<br />
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This leads me back to my post title, a lesson learned. Is this kind of process something I undertake when I receive any other more "conventional" or "idiomatic" piece. Should I? Should I do it more? All of those are questions I am reevaluating, I have my process when I get a new work, get a score, get the part, etc. But maybe I have been missing an opportunity to dig deeper into it,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-5399886186251080642015-01-30T08:10:00.000-08:002015-01-30T08:10:07.952-08:00Meeting the demandsSo some quick housekeeping. I have started working on Jordan's piece for horn, electronics and video and it is going to be a wild ride. So watch for posts, and video entries about that.<br />
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FIRST!<br />
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I was inspired to write this post in light of a conversation I saw on the facebook horn page about playing new music, and how it can be "damaging" to our chops. This is a multifaceted thing that I could pull apart but am really going to focus on one thing which was a great piece of advice I have had passed to me by two fantastic teachers, and that is about meeting the physical demands of music. This seems to be a topic that is always hammered (unfairly) onto new music but trust me it applies everywhere. So I want to break it down into a few parts, some new music specific, and the others just a nice warm blanket of good advice I received. We will start with that.<br />
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1) You need to adjust in the large scale to the playing demands you face.<br />
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Okay, sounds obvious but in practice it is overlooked a lot. Example, we get a piece maybe some wild new composition or a really delicate Mozart octet that hammers at your upper range leaving you to exist in a fourth for 30 minutes. You need to adapt your big picture to meet those demands. In this instance I would be spending more time daily addressing my low range and other playing that just isn't being met in the rest of the day. I like to think I have a pretty heavy morning of playing where I grind away at my fundamentals, knowing that there are days you just need to mix it up to allow yourself to make it to Sunday and a whole new week of challenges. </div>
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2) Get past the technique and see the big picture</div>
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My teacher said a great thing to me (of many great things). "Sometimes you need to take a step back to see the blue sky". So in this context this idea applies to "getting stuck" technically. It could be a fluttertongue, some rapid hammertongue stuff, a complex string of timberal changes, microtonal melodies etc. Whatever it is the more you get on the phrase, or the big idea the more the positive physical and mental habits we build daily take over. If you get to "THE PAGE" and are like.. okay... only 36 high Ds left and a whole bunch of fluttered stopped pedal Es, You are about to have a really long day.<br /></div>
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Also, at least this is something I always tell myself is that these challenges, things that seem illogical or dare I say unidiomatic (which I think is an synonym for awesome) are what keep audiences, and performers thinking. Also, I have never met a successful person who hates a challenge.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-36126468637390678812015-01-03T12:53:00.000-08:002015-04-20T10:13:27.147-07:00Looking backSo a little over a year ago I started this blog. My plans were to keep track of my ideas and kind of talk things out, but since it would be public I would have to hold myself to a high standard and justify my thoughts, as well. It as to help me highlight my process on working on modern works and leaving a paper trail to look back on. So I thought.. hey, I have been away, not from practising... no rest for the wicked over there. But haven't had time to keep my regular posting up so here is a look back at the most viewed posts, and my favorite ones as well.<br />
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So first up. The 5 most viewed<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/03/faking-it.html">Faking it </a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/06/dealing-with-big-scores-and-parts.html">Dealing with BIG scores and parts</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/06/exercise.html">Exercise</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/04/solfege-and-how-it-saved-me.html">Solfege and how it saved me</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-horn-in-mix-of-new-world.html">The horn in the mix of the new world</a></li>
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Two posts I am proud of come from work I did in my masters degree.</div>
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The first is "The horn in the mix of the new world" (linked above)</div>
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Second is <a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/09/contact-dermatitis-and-brass-playing.html">"That's irritating"</a> a post on contact dermatitis and brass playing.</div>
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There is also the post in regards to a few surveys I conducted that I am turning into a full article. <a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/12/survey-results-and-some-interpretation.html">This link,</a></div>
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These are links to much longer articles but, they are interesting, in my opinion at least.</div>
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Finally here are my top 3 that didn't make the top 5 most viewed.</div>
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-strange-weird-wonderful.html">The strange the weird and the wonderful</a> - if you want to hear a reed on a horn just go there. Or a glass mute.</li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-overlooked-things-make-big-impact.html">The overlooked things make a big impact</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://mathewsjames.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-little-things-make-all-difference.html">The little things make all the difference</a> - This is a microtone post, see it is punny.</li>
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So that's it, there could have been more. BUT! That's is for you to decide, I guess. I have some posts coming that are sitting around since I am trying to figure out my opinion still on them so, until then, go forth and harmonize.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-73527942845059206492014-12-03T11:37:00.000-08:002014-12-05T07:57:05.443-08:00Survey results and some interpretation and thoughts So, I am back again. I thought I would take this chance to share the results from both the initial, and the follow up survey with everyone. It should be noted I won't share the actual comments people made since I don't have permission to do such, but I will give a brief summary of the results.<br />
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First here are the results to the initial survey,<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucA2DFCkBf0Q7I6h4z3SHDsqg46qDTHCMjpHp-iOPIQfmqaT2kMIT16DNK0GDqn9YgfQlMXJo1BLCsROcrbNLhBdGH3jlB0OHbD5qz2DZFmAJg1HKLfF-KrWhjO1AVer60QxmJbpU6ys/s1600/Horn+and+Electronics+-+Google+Forms+-+Survey+1+responses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucA2DFCkBf0Q7I6h4z3SHDsqg46qDTHCMjpHp-iOPIQfmqaT2kMIT16DNK0GDqn9YgfQlMXJo1BLCsROcrbNLhBdGH3jlB0OHbD5qz2DZFmAJg1HKLfF-KrWhjO1AVer60QxmJbpU6ys/s1600/Horn+and+Electronics+-+Google+Forms+-+Survey+1+responses.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is noted below that the results do not "add up" this is explained and corrected below.</td></tr>
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For those keeping track the second survey began to explore the topic a bit more in depth. It should be noted as all data was collected anonymously it is not possible to know if respondents were consistent between the two. In hind sight this may have been something to consider, but, at the time since no controllable database was used, and anonymity was sought after this was the route that I had to follow. Here are the results to the second survey:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgP0RCJQOEhmsKEOeYxrkG0N4aU12xBlIAHjyKoqr4iyZVVHu3_Mznk_KF8DH89_WEqwO9M-9KPAsKFfCVH0g_2mjqFUEPzv4dTVk081GCb0JVDdbnAu2jMSmBQnP558-PV5lwy5MP8ak/s1600/Horn+and+electronics+-+Follow+up+survey+-+Google+Forms_Page_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgP0RCJQOEhmsKEOeYxrkG0N4aU12xBlIAHjyKoqr4iyZVVHu3_Mznk_KF8DH89_WEqwO9M-9KPAsKFfCVH0g_2mjqFUEPzv4dTVk081GCb0JVDdbnAu2jMSmBQnP558-PV5lwy5MP8ak/s1600/Horn+and+electronics+-+Follow+up+survey+-+Google+Forms_Page_1.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNG_qCsoPMGXa9a3LEQ56MHecHo-E7UsUxspsAUgGNS9Ml6647oB_MVio0HgV4ajZ1E5p_wm5jPm_T5dgJw_0tqcHxW0kEmWW0UPR1JeSQiKYm7gdhf-f-7aEJLeEJm9scHomdo03AjA/s1600/Horn+and+electronics+-+Follow+up+survey+-+Google+Forms_Page_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNG_qCsoPMGXa9a3LEQ56MHecHo-E7UsUxspsAUgGNS9Ml6647oB_MVio0HgV4ajZ1E5p_wm5jPm_T5dgJw_0tqcHxW0kEmWW0UPR1JeSQiKYm7gdhf-f-7aEJLeEJm9scHomdo03AjA/s1600/Horn+and+electronics+-+Follow+up+survey+-+Google+Forms_Page_2.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a><br />
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So where does this put us? First I would have liked to get a larger sample size, but that is not really in my control, that being said I will open up a form that will be linked below if you want to anonymously leave your thoughts on the subject matter. If you want to comment directly feel free to comment here, or e-mail me your thoughts. OR GUEST BLOG. These things are very important when developing an article in my opinion, since often in music we rely on the objective comments of the author to express an idea. I would like a great blend of objective and subjectivity towards the overall product.<br />
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Second, If we look at the totals there is an error in the initial survey, there were 55 logged respondents, but of that 55, 5 submitted a form with no data, so the adjusted percentages are as follows:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Have performed: 40%</b></li>
<li><b>Studied/would like to: 8%</b></li>
<li><b>Interested: 32%</b></li>
<li><b>No interest: 20%</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Now an initial comparison of the data provides some points of interest. The first area, which could be very coincidental is that 20% of people have no interest in this style of music, and 18% have never seen a work like this. We can go one step further to consider that of the 14% of respondents (second survey) 80% of them (or 11% of overall) have no interest in exploring this kind, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened with a larger sample source. Though, there are some consistencies, though they are hard to infer from a small sample.</div>
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Looking again at the responses in the second survey we can observe that the OVERALL negative impression that would lead to not wanting to explore this music is a total of 25% (11% have not seen chart, 14% have seen). This is again close to the results (+5%) of the original survey. Both of these are positive as the initial survey had no inquiry in to exposure beyond personal performance.</div>
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Now a few key points of the written responses are as follows:</div>
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<ul>
<li>The success of the music seen appears to rely heavily on a few key points,</li>
<ul>
<li>First, the actual composition itself, is it effective and is there an inherit purpose to the piece.</li>
<li>Level of the performer, there seems, based on responses, a lot less room for "faking" as the inherent style of the music requires a very active performer. </li>
<ul>
<li>Not full of melodies, something needs to be there.</li>
</ul>
<li>Is it cohesive (compositionally and as a performance) unless the goal is to be not. Clarity in architecture.</li>
<li>How well are the electronics used. The multimedia, when well done is full of virtuosity, not an afterthought, or perceived therein to be one.</li>
</ul>
<li>Equipment used NEEDS to be high quality, and all bugs sorted out.</li>
<li>Audience involvement, not necessarily in a cheesy educational way, but tools are needed to engage the listeners, especially those who are new, and could feel overwhelmed.</li>
</ul>
<div>
These highlight reoccurring themes in the survey responses, there are many other ideas, and thoughts that are all appreciated and will have great use. What struck me the most is the complexity of reception of this music. This is something I myself am trying to figure out as much as I can so it is good to see it is an active element of the environment that surrounds the field.</div>
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So, more will come as I interpret data, if you want to add anything feel free as I said to do it in the comments, or e-mail. If you want it to be anonymous, follow the link below.<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1811NsIivuMF7wObyyKc6HOdjIg4jl_mxirWYJ85clSk/viewform?usp=send_form">Link to form</a><br />
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Again, thank you to all those who took time to fill these out they are serving me greatly towards constructing an article that should hopefully apply to the interests of many and not be self serving ;)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-21688429835758048482014-11-20T11:07:00.001-08:002014-11-20T11:07:10.818-08:00Please take this quick survey, and a mute projectHey everyone,<br />
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As readers know I am working on an article, part of it involves some kind of ground work research mainly to help with the focus of the article, I am on the second phase of the survey, If anyone can take this quick survey it would greatly help. Just follow the link.<br /><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hUVekDwj1FxMACnvOVluctYj2f1aEaiHq2cxrzM6ic0/viewform?usp=send_form">Link to Survey</a><br />
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As well, I have started building my mute that will be used for live electronics, the first phase is really a proof of concept I will throw some photos out now and follow up a bit later. The idea here is to get a high quality audio signal for processing since the silent brass and ebrass mute sound far to 1940 phonograph for use live.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzLfKn8pJQPAs1n95pI1fe0zL-a14gmS0R58s-KA2_jXJG1xXsbriDbYEwLO4aW5h5KI9seh01vuN3ArbbdtmlqCH8MqEoaJrvPyfBh95MiW6IAi2ipRbxqCObeQe81TJ1TAjgSkLCKI/s1600/P1050003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPzLfKn8pJQPAs1n95pI1fe0zL-a14gmS0R58s-KA2_jXJG1xXsbriDbYEwLO4aW5h5KI9seh01vuN3ArbbdtmlqCH8MqEoaJrvPyfBh95MiW6IAi2ipRbxqCObeQe81TJ1TAjgSkLCKI/s1600/P1050003.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Cork and base removed. Tuning sleeve removed and trimmed for maximum internal space for condenser microphone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7toYMYq4f80vHTNZ1zFSSpY20yOxZkHMr1xjRT_jPPwdH7sYT1hT9hpR_IPI48xmgs4sf1HInKeQfg-AIZIxmZB_Z967E4Ynkq-gLnhJ938wS5aEnh6gHgdn8qMysExrk-akGB-bcl4/s1600/P1050004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv7toYMYq4f80vHTNZ1zFSSpY20yOxZkHMr1xjRT_jPPwdH7sYT1hT9hpR_IPI48xmgs4sf1HInKeQfg-AIZIxmZB_Z967E4Ynkq-gLnhJ938wS5aEnh6gHgdn8qMysExrk-akGB-bcl4/s1600/P1050004.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
Cork drying on.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEYnylgLeM7M6vOnWiN0Unob74TuJ3-55FQiM2SeZEvwatEttLrGayJsuvj12fqCqh66P5RAq88szP2qFzY9zRHv0k_-jFVfsEWokBG27G_Y2jwbAg4qyvTTusVWixe-fku26ockCWFI/s1600/P1050006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEYnylgLeM7M6vOnWiN0Unob74TuJ3-55FQiM2SeZEvwatEttLrGayJsuvj12fqCqh66P5RAq88szP2qFzY9zRHv0k_-jFVfsEWokBG27G_Y2jwbAg4qyvTTusVWixe-fku26ockCWFI/s1600/P1050006.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Hole cut for microphone. Again compared to the silent brass/ebrass microphone I will be using the same set up I would use for regular amplification. The goal is a high quality signal.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiOFoiiapiyiajyKl4gHZmQrS_hM0nGb-sOnd1osMRukhNYMlk5u2_K_afaxqbm0csHDI5Lq6yyYsJ8wVpwuFXENjD9ypboIioixiK4IgdvfS_XlePeX5ZZ2IBn_fEznhWhO81Jt0y9o/s1600/P1050008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAiOFoiiapiyiajyKl4gHZmQrS_hM0nGb-sOnd1osMRukhNYMlk5u2_K_afaxqbm0csHDI5Lq6yyYsJ8wVpwuFXENjD9ypboIioixiK4IgdvfS_XlePeX5ZZ2IBn_fEznhWhO81Jt0y9o/s1600/P1050008.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
Hole covered and access maintained, three different bonds in place to keep rubber wall in place. Thank to bike commuting in Chicago so I have lots of old tubes that are no longer road worthy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqHmFgL2EUZt3pEa4fMrEVI6-ewASsXDOpZ1kR2gYBqifigbOla79GHNZA_0TI8IXLEITMrUaP922G6fFxzranE3kXu-_JbBq_yPz7WGoTYJ95dsECoKOb89uDXxo4iQ2-L_p-ZX7b5Y/s1600/P1050009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihqHmFgL2EUZt3pEa4fMrEVI6-ewASsXDOpZ1kR2gYBqifigbOla79GHNZA_0TI8IXLEITMrUaP922G6fFxzranE3kXu-_JbBq_yPz7WGoTYJ95dsECoKOb89uDXxo4iQ2-L_p-ZX7b5Y/s1600/P1050009.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
You get the idea.<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-51810750327369094522014-11-17T13:24:00.001-08:002014-11-17T13:24:27.923-08:00Another collaboration!I am excited to post that I will be working with composer <a href="http://errantnewmusic.org/jordan-kusel/">Jordan Kusel</a> on a work for amplified horn, live electronics, and reactive video. Should be a blast, coming to Chicago near you in 2015!<br /><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-34652162506810380362014-11-09T11:13:00.001-08:002014-11-09T11:13:45.167-08:00New exercise: One for the earsOne thing that I like to do is scale work with drones and a metronome. This past year I started working on scales that fall outside regular scales. For this post let us call Major, minor, chromatic, pentatonic, and whole tone our regular scales. They are mine, so for the next few moments that is how it shall be.<br /><br />Now I started working more regularly on other scales to keep working out my ears and working new patterns into my practice routine, So I want to share them with everyone, I have found they are great for the ears, a nice change of pace, and is a great mental workout. Do things from many different starting pitches, transpose them around, and put them in different octaves. The goal for me was to get these into my bones so they are as comfortable to me as my regular scales. In addition to really working on my ears<br />
<br />So here is a rundown of the drill:<br />
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The scales are based around a few things, Symmetry, pitch sets, variations of pentatonic patterns from other musical styles, and finally my favorite, the enigmatic scale. Enigmatic scales are the powerhouse of building up the ears as you lose your perfect intervals and sense of tonic are not near by.<br />
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While doing this try them with drones, without drones, with a tuner, and without. An example of a way I use the tuner when working on these would be establishing my first pitch, then without using the tuner slowly playing the scale making sure to pay close attention to the integrity of the intervals. Then, when reaching the octave, establish the pitch then check into my tuner to see how the octave fared.<br /><br />So here is a link.<br /><br /><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rpRpa-gD7tc3VKT1hxUVA0RDQ/view?usp=sharing">Click me for scale fun!</a><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-35953807630096817362014-10-19T13:47:00.002-07:002014-10-19T14:27:43.383-07:00The horn in the mix of a new worldSo I have been busy working on many projects, lots of writing and other such things so this post comes courtesy of the collection on writings I have done before, which is for such occasions as this. A quick little insight into this to decide if you want to read any of it, the goal of this paper was to give some context to the horn in modern aesthetics in particular to modern music. As well as providing some historic information on it. My be up your alley, or may not be. If you think it is follow the link below. If not, off to the wide world of internet memes, cats, and trolls.<br />
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rpRpa-gD7tWFpXZjBhekk3RHc/view?usp=sharing">New place, same sounds: The horns emergence into modern aesthetic.</a><br />
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Drop me a comment, hit the +1 to let me know you were here.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-49545425565788232782014-10-12T10:29:00.002-07:002014-10-12T13:20:42.356-07:00The strange, the weird, the wonderful.As the title of this post hints at, this one is going to be jumping into some strange and wonderful places. Some quick background before I start to give context to the oddities that will be here.<br />
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I am currently working on a work by Vinko Globokar for a concert. As with Globokar's music there is always an element of improvisation and a fantastic chance for colours. As time has been spent on the work the other three brass players and I have arrived with some great, complex colours and sounds.<br />
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Through the looking glass we go. All the techniques we used are common enough to not be totally obscure. That being said, a few of them are more common in music that deals with saturation or of music that shares in that aesthetic. So if you are a stranger to that realm this may seem pretty strange. Though this work is not a work in the style of saturation we decided based on the requests in the score that Globokar has made that some of these techniques would accomplish them. I'm going to have audio as well of the techniques in isolation. Now, I was back and forth on this as many of this techniques are part of what we can additive sound in that the interaction of them with other sounds is what creates the affect of the gesture. But, in the end I decide to hermetically isolate them here for your ears and interest... perhaps enjoyment?<br />
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So here is number one. Using a reed in the horn. This is more common than you may imagine, though the level of its success varies greatly. As I said this is more common than one may imagine, especially if you are dealing with composers who do compose in saturation.<br />
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Now.., I keep mentioning this word, saturation. So let me let me just put this here.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/-FNg9EcgmUU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Alright so back to the reed in the horn thing. As you can see from the start of the video there was an oboe reed in play. The recordings I am posting are using a bassoon reed, you do get a different effect later this coming week I will follow up with an oboe reed for comparison, cause that's just the kind of thing I do.<br />
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Bassoon reed in horn:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/U4mrSeILHYc" width="180"></iframe>
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The next technique I am using is one that as far as I know was pioneered by my friend, composer and hornist Max. Imagine now if you would a CD, you know those cool shiny circles from the 90s? Well what you do with that is by gently resting it in the bell you can create various buzzes and rattles. There is a similarity to stopped horn with it as well as playing into a snare drum but it is full of irregularities. You can alter it in many ways such as: pressure, amount of air allowed past the CD, amount of contact points, etc. Another similar procedure would be the use of a buzz mute. (Aluminum foil, and a straight mute...) This application, being the CD mute I use during a very loud section of the work, the idea behind it was to transition from the sound of amplified buzzing (using instruments or stopping mutes) back to the sound of unaltered horns. So we were looking for a sound that had both buzz and tone melded together.<br />
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Cd Mute:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vZUgdFrL_CI" width="180"></iframe><br />
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The final one I want to put out here is a glass mute. There is already a great article out there by the Oil Valley hornist, but I will quickly touch on this. The glass mute, to my ear is similar to a straight mute with most of the resonance cut out. Though the kind of bottle used, thickness and quality of glass will ultimately effect the sound in the end. Glass mutes do get called for every so often, though usually they are not really optimized. Now what I mean by that is that the colour and timbre is very subtle so if the texture around it is thick, or... well there at all you are better off using something else. Now, Globokar presented a great opportunity to use this mute. One of the movements starts off with just me, on a pitch of my choice (from several options) and the indication "foggy" so I spent some time playing with registers, notes, mutes, techniques and it just hit me.. WAIT THE GLASS MUTE. The mute I used for the recording is a beer bottle, I also have a coke bottle (which I use in the Glookar deadens the sound even more) a few different beer bottles, and a champagne bottle.<br />
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Glass Mute:<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/xrKa7KfH1tE" width="180"></iframe>
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So in the end what does this all mean? Why does it matter? These kind of questions are ones I ask myself constantly. For this moment these decisions, these sounds represent in my mind and through creative collaboration with my colleagues a means to best capture an idea and that create meaningful contributions to the overall work.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-40905767889128439322014-09-22T09:00:00.000-07:002014-09-22T11:12:13.393-07:00Contact Dermatitis and Brass PlayingQuick background here, About a year and a half ago I conducted some basic data collection and did a great deal of research to complete a research paper in my Masters degree which was based on Contact Dermatitis in brass playing. I was able to get a small survey done as well as collect some valuable insight from players willing to share their expereiences. Myself, I have mild ACD (Allergic Contact Dermatitis) so I wanted to know more, and invesitage the experience of others. It is later now, but I am going to release this paper for others to share, I had some time to let is sit, and reflect and ultimately decided I was happy with it and its content and would share it with others.<br />
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Click the link below to read it. It will also be found in the downloads tab.<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rpRpa-gD7tdWVLSjVKOVhoclE/edit?usp=sharing">Allergic Contact Dermatitis - That's Irritating </a><br />
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Happy Horning.<br />
One more thing, I am writing an article at the moment and am still trying to get more survey results to have a meaningful sample. It is one simple question, found <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1a_nC6xoGuj0MNigBOlUHao8rXcwubp2soeLNztyAiM4/viewform?usp=send_form">here</a>. As well please if you have opinions etc, please contact me with themAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19104128016941739.post-14475657671004586052014-09-17T09:35:00.000-07:002014-09-17T09:35:45.558-07:00Survey help neededHi everyone!<br />
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So, as part of the repertoire project, an eventual outcome of it is to have a publishable article so I am trying to collect some simple data to help supplement the research. If anyone out there reading this finds this it would be great if you could take a few moments (literally seconds of your time) to fill this out.<br />
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<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1a_nC6xoGuj0MNigBOlUHao8rXcwubp2soeLNztyAiM4/viewform?embedded=true" width="560" height="500" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">Loading...</iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12781873290642060589noreply@blogger.com0