In The Flesh

Greetings, my loyal reader. I won't insult you with an apology for not writing. I write tonight because I finally feel inspired to write again. A bunch of things have happened to me in my musical universe that should be shared, and my opinions are blossoming into fertile flower beds of statements that don't really matter, nor will anyone really care about, but this comes with the territory of having a blog.

So, some major things have changed in my life. I have lost a significant amount of weight. I know in the manifesto of this blog I said I would never mention personal life issues, but this has affected me musically. Mainly, my trumpet playing, I feel, has improved dramatically. I have less resistance and my upper register doesn't sound so strained. My endurance has increased as well. I have dropped 135 pounds of weight off my lungs, torso and upper body. Before, holding the trumpet up was enough of a stress. This has led me to successful performances of Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony, a long production of "The Secret Garden" and currently great rehearsals of Shostakovich's 5th symphony.

The weight loss has also made attending concerts and performances much more bearable. I was able to attend my first Broadway show. Melanie and I saw "The Addams Family" starring Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth, and Kevin Chamberlin. All three we spectacular, and although catchy, the musical was a bit cliche. With such a great and flexible and outlandish medium as the Addams Family, I thought it could have been a bit more "out there".

Also, with comfortable seating, Melanie and I (noticing a theme? She has become quite the little concert goer herself) attended two symphonic multimedia concerts. First, we saw "Planet Earth Live". The Baltimore Symphony partnered up with George Fenton, who composed the soundtrack to the amazing documentary series, to present clips of the show, with their accompaniment played live. Mr. Fenton conducted and narrated the program, explaining how he was moved by certain footage to inspire the music that he composed. We definitely enjoyed the polar bear segment. His music at times would make you laugh, or just well up with tears. The second multimedia symphonic concert we attended was "Star Wars: In Concert". This concert we straight up didn't like. Narrated by Anthony Daniels of C3PO fame, this concert didn't really teach you anything of the inspirations for the soundtrack but merely retold the story of all 6 movies with a series of movie trailer footage mash-ups and selected medleys from the soundtrack. It would have been much better if they took direct full scenes from the films and played the soundtrack to that scene. We only became interested at the end when they began showing behind the scenes footage from making the films, such as artist sketches for different character concepts. Frankly, the subway ride with Boba Fett and Obi-Wan was more fun. Also, I was pretty amused by the line that had a solid 200 people in it, just to get an autograph from "Darth Vader".

Now, also during this time off from the blog, I attended concerts of previously two of my favorite live bands to see: AC/DC and Iron Maiden. We revisited AC/DC on their second stop to the Verizon Center in Washington, DC simply because I had the money and Ticketmaster offered me seats up close, almost floor level. They are a totally different experience up close, as opposed to in the rafters. Melanie and I of course donned the flashing red devil horns and screamed our heads off. AC/DC this time sounded a bit more fresh, and played more classics and less from their new album, which was definitely welcomed. Sadly, though, when seeing Iron Maiden this past time, they did the exact opposite. I barely recognized anything from their setlist. They perfomed songs from their new album, which at the time hadn't been released. Dream Theater opened for them. Little did I know that it would be the last time to see Dream Theater play with Mike Portnoy for quite awhile as he has now left the band. The saving grace of this show was my weight loss, as the Wicker Man Iron Maiden tour shirt I purchased fits me.

Just a few weeks ago, I had an experience that really refreshed my musical spirit. I participated in the Rusty Musicians program with the Baltimore Symphony. I won't make this sound impressive, as all I had to do was be one of the first like 30 trumpet players to e-mail the symphony, but I will say that it was immensely rewarding. I got to have 40 minutes on stage in a rehearsal atmosphere with two trumpet players of the BSO, and conductor Marin Alsop leading a group rehearsal of Brahm's "Academic Overture". The only way I can explain this experience to non-musicians is that imagine your boss at work acted as if they were a partner and was in the situation with you, but also could clearly in one sentence, tell you exactly what they want you to do, how to do it, and make you feel like you're the office hero for doing it. It was so rewarding, and I got a nice compliment from one of the pro's to "play louder". In trumpet speak that's a compliment. It invigorated me to want to play more, and for a second made me think I could actually play in a symphony orchestra of that level. Again, without the weight loss, I would have never even taken the initiative to send the e-mail to get to have this amazing chance.

Melanie has also gotten me to loosen up about pop music as I have now become an official fan of Lady gaga and Florence + the Machine after watching the Video Music Awards on MTV a few weeks ago. I have to admit Lady Gaga's character, plus catchy hooks could make her a big landmark on American music if she can keep the creativity up. Though, I do still hate Auto-Tune. I'm looking at you Justin Bieber. And as a quick note, thanks to Melanie, I have began listening to the Beatles after a 18 year hiatus. Happy Steve?

To wrap up this very lengthy, and self gratifying blog entry, I predict that this weekend I will see a concert that will change my life. This weekend, Melanie and I are seeing Roger Waters' "The Wall: Live" concert at the Verizon Center. This is as close as Mel and I will ever get to see Pink Floyd. Though, I am sad that him and David Gilmour couldn't have buried the hatchet for this tour, my wallet thanks them for not doing so, because I'm sure the ticket price would have been double. "The Wall" is my favorite album by my favorite band. The tension between the band mates rings through in the album as the album deals with the band's inability to handle fame, yet also has a deeper message with hatred and war. This show should be unbelievable as they construct the wall.

This blog entry itself has been about me tearing down my wall of sorts and shedding the barrier that has been keeping me from enjoying life and music for so long. I have my regrets of not doing this in college when I was still competitive in my music and could have gone to grad school. But at the same time, it took help to tear it down. I needed the accomplice to help break a hole in the wall so I could escape the prison my own thoughts and weight had formed. A few years ago, I was saying Good Bye Cruel World, and that I was Comfortably Numb. But now, after The Trial, I'm Outside the Wall.

Explorations

Hello friend(s). I write to you with fond greetings and a grasp at being entertained.

In my quest to find myself entertained, I took a journey to the local Super Walmart which just opened its doors to my Baltimore suburb. It is a bittersweet thing. As much as I despise walmart for censoring song lyrics on albums, thus making me go to a local record store to get my new copy of the Avenged Sevenfold CD. But they did happen to have, set up in demo mode, "Rock Band".

"Rock Band" is a new game coming out from the original designers of Guitar Hero, that not only allows you to play guitar, but drums, bass, and even be a vocalist! I played this demo for an hour, mot of it with a complete stranger on guitar. We became an amazing band. It will be coming out for PS2 on December 11, so I have started saving my pennies already. I may even...trade in....Guitar Hero III to help pay for it.

As I mentioned above about having to go to a local record store to pick up a CD. Thanks to the Walmart policy of censoring, it helped me rediscover the coolness of the "Record and Tape Traders" store in Catonsville. A whole section dedicated to metal. I'm in heaven. While picking up Avenged Sevenfold's new CD, which is incredible, as they continue what they did last album with amazing arrangements, and great vocals, with wonderful lyrics. Its a must buy. Back on topic though, I was able to also pick up another Dream Theater album, and an actual album by Dragonforce. This store not only had the albums I wanted and uncensored, but the CDs were a dollar cheaper. I spent 45 minutes in this little store just browsing. I was never bothered nor did I get odd looks for browsing metal, or buying the groups I was buying. It was a great shopping experience. Not to mention that the CDs I bought, all three of them, stellar.

Well my friends, I hope you find your drum heads tuned and your fills even and intriguing.

Amazing Multimedia

So today I found myself home from work due to back issues and a lovely panic attack. So I took an afternoon solace in some arranging. Todays targets were Frosty the Snowman and Silent Night. I have to admit that I love Christmas music so arranging these songs brings me comfort. Some people find peace in a special place, a special food, favorite tv show. For me, its music, especially Christmas music. It reminds me of Tubachristmas, friendly people, crowded malls, and get-togethers with friends.

Anyways, I know for most of you its too early to talk Christmas and its meanings for you, so its cool. I understand. Its just been a hard year and I find my peace in that season, and its music. Like I said last entry, musicians start now and sometimes I have had to start back on July5th.

But back to the topic I started with, Frosty the Snowman and Silent Night. Frosty the Snowman is not very tricky of a carol, which is what makes it hard. I know thats hard to follow, but really think of the song we all know and love about the rotund snow person. Its either a march or an extremely cheesy swing tune. I have to admit I'm not a fan of swinging, jazzy chamber music, it doesn't sound natural, since theres no rhythm section. But I remembered back on some of my fond Christmas memories, which always included a trip to Hershey Park a week or so before Christmas. Cold, sometimes snowy, and running from store to store. Every dash outside though, the main sound you could hear was the orchestron on the historic Hershey Park carousel. My favorite song the out of tune automatronic (yes I made the word up, it sounds so...Vaudevillian...) orchestra would play was Frosty the Snowman. I would stand out in the 10 degree weather and start singing along and doing a jolly little fat dance. Sometimes people would join in singing, but most were bah-humbug and would laugh. Anyways, back tot he brass arrangement. So for this arrangement, I put the trumpets in almost non-stop thirds with the main melody. The tuba is of course...oom-pa'ing away. The horn has the awkward harmonic after beats to sound like that calliope on the carousel painfully a tad sharp from the bitter cold. Trombone is on every down beat with awkward harmony with the tuba. It should be interesting to hear on the actual instruments. I'm excited about it. All its missing the fire bell ringing to let you know the ride is starting/ending.

Silent night is difficult. No if, ands, or buts about it. The melody stretches across an octave and a half causing some serious voicing issues. It forces melody to stay on trumpet, because on french horn, where it sounds the prettiest, it goes either too high or into trombone range and gets muddy. This arrangement I wanted to make it sound not so straight forward, wanted a little modern, while preserving its old, peaceful feeling. So it opens stretching its basic chord progression to the limit with appoggiature, and moving over stationary chords. I then stripped it down, to just single trumpet, trombone, and tuba. No counterpoint, just straight harmony, while still stretching the harmonies a little. The second verse, I put it into 4 part harmonies with full counterpoint, then at the appropriate time, bring tuba back in for a 5 part harmony, and a full, 3 octave spread, and settle it back in on a calm I chord.

This weekend, I sat down and watched the Dream Theater live from Radio City Music Hall DVD. 3 hours of just kicking ass. Amazing group, amazing concert. It confirmed for me though, their keyboardist, Jordan Rudess actually reads sheet music during their shows. That blows my mind, with how intricate their playing is that hes reading notation for it. Wow. I plan to watch the DVD on the Killers I bought at the same time. I don't think it will be as interesting but I love The Killers and it will be neat to know their backgrounds.

I leave you this week with a tubachristmas warm up

Opening Remarks...

Hello. First of all, thanks for traveling to my little hole on the net for the discussion of my journey through life as a musician with insomnia. I'm 27 and from Baltimore, Maryland. I plan to keep this blog free of political discussion of any views. This is not a forum for it. This blog will be for you to track my growth as a musician and I feel this time is right to start the journal.

I am a trumpet player and with that, a perfectionist, which means I think I suck. Others disagree but its not up for discussion. I was just able to hold on to the principal chair of the local community symphony after a conductor change. I am a member of a brass quintet called the Usual Suspects. They consider me their resident arranger because on those nights of not sleeping, I sit staring at scores in Sibelius. My friend and I also have just finished recording an album (I do not play trumpet on the album, I am the main lyricist and vocalist) that we have applied for copyright on, so we can then order our first copies to send to companies and give to friends, and sell to our few local fans. I work for Baltimore County Public Library. I am on a committee called "Non-print Evaluation". Its fancy for I help pick out CDs for the library system to carry. They placed me in charge of jazz and new age. I also play a lot of community theater productions. I think this has set the tone of me.

I felt this was a good time to start this blog because of some major musical things happening in my life. I have now, within two weeks attended my first two large scale rock concerts. I saw Dreamtheater on August 14. I am a fan of theres. Their technical skill and compositional skills are a great attraction to me. This was my first metal concert and it blew me away. I went without earplugs, and gladly paid for the physical "pain". I could feel my hair vibrating, it was glorious. Their setlist was quite remarkable, but I'm bad with song names, just, lets say, lots of Petrucci guitar solos, and some fantastic keyboard solos by Jordan Rudess, and solid playing by Mike Portnoy and John Myung. I am not a fan of Labries' singing. He was solid at the concert though, and I must say, it was life changing for me.

Yesterday, August 29 was a big day. Early in afternoon I scored a win with buying a flugelhorn. Its a nice solid sounding horn with a great response and a nice full tone, and has great intonation. It was a real steal at $400. I know...$400 for a great horn. The thing is, the chinese and Japanese have done a clever thing and started releasing horns made exactly like the big name companies of Bach, Courtois, LeBlanc, Buffett, and Stomvi, and producing them to such accuracy that the parts are interchangable. They are also selling them for 1/3 of the price. I already own a regular B flat by a company called Ryton, that plays just like a Bach Strad 37, that I paid $350 for. My friends can't tell the difference. This flugel is made by JZ. I never heard of them, but this horn feels and sounds like the Courtois flugel I had been dreaming to buy for years, which had recently gone off the market in the US. That is why I say this was a score.

Later that day, I met with some of my lovely coworkers and went to the Ratt/Poison concert at Pier Six Pavilion. After a couple beers at the Hard Rock and Hooters, we rocked out to some of the best glam rock from the 80's. Hell yes. It was nothing but a good time! I was not a huge fan of either band, and I'm still not, but you can't ignore the general awesomeness of a group of people getting together for a party with some fun ass music blasting. Its an amazing feeling. I have always been kind of uptight about my music tastes and it has just been recently that I have let the guard down so to speak.

I will post more. Peace to you all