Well, I'm back. The trip was a long one. Well, it was only three weeks but we did so much that it seemed longer. I'm too tired to write anything coherent, in fact I'm barely able to type. Jet lag is such a first world problem that I can't complain about it. Or at least I can't complain about it without feeling a twinge of guilt. The vast majority of humanity never gets farther than 50 miles from home in their whole life. Here I am, having just flown back from across the Atlantic having had the opportunity to explore another country and I'm going to whinge about being a little tired? OK, I am but...well...there's the twinge.
[The next morning]
Ah, that's better, nothing like a good sleep in your own bed.
So, on to the music. I spent some time considering the musical nature of transportation. Things in motion have a rhythm almost by default. But where is that rhythm in a plane? It's not like a train clacking over the tracks, the deep throb of a ship or even the swaying of a bus. All there is is a hiss. Very un-musical. But after too many hours in the air, bored of my book, uninterested in the movie and with the LUC asleep, I noticed something. That hiss had harmony.
It was composed of three distinct parts. One very high frequency hiss, another a bit lower, not more than an octave or two and a much lower frequency roar. I'm guessing that they were caused by, from top down, the plane's air pressurizing system forcing air into the cabin, the wind of our passage against the fuselage and the engine noise vibrating the whole plane. My ears aren't good enough to tell what the actual harmonic relationship was, but any two notes sounding at the same time is harmony regardless of their relationship.
The jet age, it's all about speed baby. It's certainly not about comfort or beauty. The clip clop of horse hooves brings a smile to most, it's almost restful. The clickity clack of trains is a well know sound of romance as are those made by big ships These are human sounds, despite their mechanical (or equine) sources. Their frequencies are within the range of human heart beats and that makes them comfortable. The noise of a plane is pure industrial. It's frequencies are so fast that it becomes a hiss and a roar. It's not on a human scale. Despite that, it is musical.
The harmony of an airliner is one unending chord. It speaks of speed and efficiency but it also speaks of life. The environment outside a plane at cruising altitude is deadly. If any of the three sounds were to stop you'd be in a world of trouble. Heartbreaking pictures on the nightly news kinda trouble.
In the end all sound is life, that's what the plane was whispering to me in it's un-aesthetic way. Everything we hear is created by life or in some way necessary for life. Coughs, snores and sniffles. Barks, howls and chirps. The neighbour's lawn mower, a passing car, a distant siren. These are all obvious sounds of life. But so too are storm winds tearing up trees and houses. It's the sound of the world's lungs at work. Thunder on a summer's night promises life giving rain. The roar of a forest fire is the sound of old growth giving way to new.
Life, it's everywhere and it won't shut up: music universal and unending.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Holidays
I'm on holidays, in fact I'm in Dublin. Great trip so far.
Musically, I've discovered that airplanes do indeed make music, albeit very monotonously and that an Irish crowd has a different sound than a Canadian one. Still haven't heard any live indigenous music, but then it all seems a little touristy when we find it.
Tah for now.
Musically, I've discovered that airplanes do indeed make music, albeit very monotonously and that an Irish crowd has a different sound than a Canadian one. Still haven't heard any live indigenous music, but then it all seems a little touristy when we find it.
Tah for now.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Falling
Last night I crashed my road bike. I made it through the entire winter commuting on my mountain bike only to crash on the driest, sunniest spring day we've had this year.
No serious damage although I am hobbling around with a huge bruise on my thigh. I did however hit my head. The LUC was quite concerned in that exasperated way women get when their menfolk do something asinine. You know, pronouncing your name with three distinct syllables even though it only has two.
To all 3 or so people a day who end up here: If you ride a bicycle, WEAR A HELMET.
I hit my head hard enough to see stars, if I hadn't been wearing a helmet I'd have been seriously injured. This is only the second time in around 20 years of bike commuting that I've hit my head hard. The first time I wasn't wearing a helmet and I lost consciousness for a minute or two. No fun, it ain't like the movies it takes a long time to recover. Since then I've probably spent $400 or so on helmets. The sound my head made when it hit made me realize that every penny spent was well worth it. I'm not even resenting the need to replace the helmet I only bought last fall.
No helmet=no brain it's a literal equation.
I really have been no-brained in general this last little while. I have been managing to practice a fair bit but that's about it. Yesterday, for the first time in months, I listened to the tune I've been working on. Man it sounded good. It might be the blow to the head or the pain-killers but I really thought I was on to something. So maybe the doldrums are over? Or maybe I'm about to expire from a concussion, either way things are changing.
No serious damage although I am hobbling around with a huge bruise on my thigh. I did however hit my head. The LUC was quite concerned in that exasperated way women get when their menfolk do something asinine. You know, pronouncing your name with three distinct syllables even though it only has two.
To all 3 or so people a day who end up here: If you ride a bicycle, WEAR A HELMET.
I hit my head hard enough to see stars, if I hadn't been wearing a helmet I'd have been seriously injured. This is only the second time in around 20 years of bike commuting that I've hit my head hard. The first time I wasn't wearing a helmet and I lost consciousness for a minute or two. No fun, it ain't like the movies it takes a long time to recover. Since then I've probably spent $400 or so on helmets. The sound my head made when it hit made me realize that every penny spent was well worth it. I'm not even resenting the need to replace the helmet I only bought last fall.
No helmet=no brain it's a literal equation.
I really have been no-brained in general this last little while. I have been managing to practice a fair bit but that's about it. Yesterday, for the first time in months, I listened to the tune I've been working on. Man it sounded good. It might be the blow to the head or the pain-killers but I really thought I was on to something. So maybe the doldrums are over? Or maybe I'm about to expire from a concussion, either way things are changing.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Hey you.
To the person who found this site by Googling "Is it too late to start classical guitar at 17?":
No it's not!
Yes it's easier to learn things when you're so young that everything you do is a learning experience, but that's not the whole story. Passion, enthusiasm and focus are easier at an older age. At 17 I suspect that passion, obsession even, is something you understand completely. Where a child might work at something because it captures their quicksilver interest for while or because Mom told them to, teenagers will focus to point of exclusion of everything else. And that's what it takes to become an expert.
Another thing to consider: while tiny guitars exist for very young students most people can't really learn to play until they've settled into the body they're going to have the rest of their life. At 17 you could still have a growing to do but you're closer to your final size than a 10 year old is.
If you read the bios of the Yngvie Malmsteens, Eddie Van Halens and Steve Vais of this world, (you know: guitar heroes) you'll find that most of them spent the better part of their teen years sitting in a bedroom practicing. There's no reason that this wouldn't work for classical too.
I think it's a shame that the Classical world focuses on prodigies so much. It creates an unrealistic impression of who can and can't play classical music. Just because you weren't playing Bach Suites at 3 months old doesn't mean you don't have something to offer. If more people who grew up outside of the Classical music world would take up playing it, then maybe we'd have more interesting interpretations of the repertoire. I'd love to hear someone who hung with Dad on the construction site as a wee tyke play Stravinski, or someone who's childhood passion was ice skating play Debussy.
Yet another thing to consider: Classical musicians can have careers that last until they die. The ageism that is so prevalent in pop and rock music simply doesn't exist. So why is there this emphasis on young prodigies? Craziness I say.
There we go, my 2¢ worth. [steps off soap box]
No it's not!
Yes it's easier to learn things when you're so young that everything you do is a learning experience, but that's not the whole story. Passion, enthusiasm and focus are easier at an older age. At 17 I suspect that passion, obsession even, is something you understand completely. Where a child might work at something because it captures their quicksilver interest for while or because Mom told them to, teenagers will focus to point of exclusion of everything else. And that's what it takes to become an expert.
Another thing to consider: while tiny guitars exist for very young students most people can't really learn to play until they've settled into the body they're going to have the rest of their life. At 17 you could still have a growing to do but you're closer to your final size than a 10 year old is.
If you read the bios of the Yngvie Malmsteens, Eddie Van Halens and Steve Vais of this world, (you know: guitar heroes) you'll find that most of them spent the better part of their teen years sitting in a bedroom practicing. There's no reason that this wouldn't work for classical too.
I think it's a shame that the Classical world focuses on prodigies so much. It creates an unrealistic impression of who can and can't play classical music. Just because you weren't playing Bach Suites at 3 months old doesn't mean you don't have something to offer. If more people who grew up outside of the Classical music world would take up playing it, then maybe we'd have more interesting interpretations of the repertoire. I'd love to hear someone who hung with Dad on the construction site as a wee tyke play Stravinski, or someone who's childhood passion was ice skating play Debussy.
Yet another thing to consider: Classical musicians can have careers that last until they die. The ageism that is so prevalent in pop and rock music simply doesn't exist. So why is there this emphasis on young prodigies? Craziness I say.
There we go, my 2¢ worth. [steps off soap box]
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Forks
Have you ever wondered "what if?" . What if I hadn't moved to another city? What if I hadn't sent that email? What if I said "No" rather than "Yes"? Almost everyone indulges in this game, we're speculative beasts by nature.
One of the things I like about music is that the "what if" game is played out on such a small scale. This is especially true in improvised music, but there are still plenty of places in composed stuff where you have to make choices. I love the way you get to try again in music. All it takes is "Hey, guys. My solo sucked, could we do that again?" and you get a do-over. Well, in rehersal anyway, gigs are another matter.
I wish life had that facility, the equivalent of band rehersal. A way of experimenting without reprecussions. Not that I'm dissatisfied with my life, I've got it pretty good. But I'm intensly curious and the "what-if's" drive me crazy.
Maybe my desire to make music stems from this? Maybe I need a microcosim where I get to safely explore possibilites? Maybe I'm a real-world coward. Hmmph, or maybe I'm just not getting enough sleep.
One of the things I like about music is that the "what if" game is played out on such a small scale. This is especially true in improvised music, but there are still plenty of places in composed stuff where you have to make choices. I love the way you get to try again in music. All it takes is "Hey, guys. My solo sucked, could we do that again?" and you get a do-over. Well, in rehersal anyway, gigs are another matter.
I wish life had that facility, the equivalent of band rehersal. A way of experimenting without reprecussions. Not that I'm dissatisfied with my life, I've got it pretty good. But I'm intensly curious and the "what-if's" drive me crazy.
Maybe my desire to make music stems from this? Maybe I need a microcosim where I get to safely explore possibilites? Maybe I'm a real-world coward. Hmmph, or maybe I'm just not getting enough sleep.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Still down*...
...in so many ways, but at least the home computer is working again. (He says, blogging at work)
So how do you stay motivated?** I haven't cared enough to work on anything in the last little while. Blogs, guitar, personal hygiene, it all seems so pointless. Never mind all the good reasons I've given for doing music, I'm in a slump and can't find my motivation.
*Another mild bout of depression, nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing even to be concerned about, just have to ride it out. Thank God for bad tv and good books: self medication at it's finest.
**This isn't intended to be a rhetorical question even though my recent absence from these here internets does kinda make it rhetorical. Maybe some mis-spelling living-fossil fish lovin' researcher will have the answer. So....do ya?
So how do you stay motivated?** I haven't cared enough to work on anything in the last little while. Blogs, guitar, personal hygiene, it all seems so pointless. Never mind all the good reasons I've given for doing music, I'm in a slump and can't find my motivation.
*Another mild bout of depression, nothing new, nothing interesting, nothing even to be concerned about, just have to ride it out. Thank God for bad tv and good books: self medication at it's finest.
**This isn't intended to be a rhetorical question even though my recent absence from these here internets does kinda make it rhetorical. Maybe some mis-spelling living-fossil fish lovin' researcher will have the answer. So....do ya?
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