Design by Committee: Music

"Spontaneous Reflections" Podcast Launched!

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 13:51:15 GMT

Today I'm launching my new musical podcast of short piano or keyboard improvisations. I call it Spontaneous Reflections, and am planning to update it approximately weekly. It's available free in the iTunes store or you can subscribe directly here.

For those of you who don't know, I started my career in music school and playing keyboard in the showrooms of Reno, but found the vocational aspects much less exciting than I hoped, and switched over to a more intellectually and financially rewarding career in computer software.

After a long period of playing primarily pipe organ, a couple of years ago I returned to piano and keyboard and though I don't have my 20-year old chops (and pipe organ tends to ruin your sense of rhythm) I am exploring some new directions in my improvisation, really trying to dig into the instrument as a percussion instrument.

Live music is a funny thing though - each note goes out into the Ether and dissolves, gone forever except as ghosts in memory. And I find that playing is quite a different experience than listening, heavily colored with the subjective. To grow further I thought it valuable to be able to listen to some of my improvisations and see what works and what doesn't, and to help me practice more discipline about the overall shape of a piece. This podcast thus is an audio journal, not polished or refined, but genuinely spontaneous.

I hope you enjoy it!

A Confluence of Fortuitous Circumstances

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 01:40:48 GMT

1) Project Auburn, a celebration of civic pride and elbow grease, in addition to renovating the classic State Theatre, has renovated the rear garden of OLAS, making it a great site for sculpture, relaxing, and entertainment. I helped put the fence up and did some of the repainting a few weeks ago when hundreds of volunteers turned out to make Auburn a better place. Kudos to the Rotary Club and other civic organizations for making our town a better place!

2) The Auburn Art Walk, a recurring evening of open studios and galleries, occurs every Second Thursday throughout the summer.

3) OLAS is celebrating the new landscaping, in conjunction with the Art Walk, with a show entitled From Earth To Sky, August 14th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM.

4) I acquired a new keyboard, a Yamaha CP300, at long last giving me some mobility to my music. (And making it easier to get quality recordings, more about which later.)

The outcome of all these fortuitous circumstances?

Jason and I will be playing our usual eclectic mix of improvisatory world/new age/jazz/undefinable music for the event.

If you're in the neighborhood, come on by!

Weirdest - but probably coolest - remix ever

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:39:52 GMT

Listen to this, and then check out this. Wow.