On the other hand, listening to the episodes outside of the performance makes it easy to pay attention to everything that is happening and think of alternative ways I (or the other participants) could have contributed; it also allows me breathing room to think of long-term development of those ideas.

Today, I saw the Gryphon Trio perform Robert Rival’s Piano Trio, and at various points in the work, I could hear how the players parts reacted to each other, especially in the first movement: the main theme is tossed between performers (sometimes one instrumentalist states it before another is finished), played in an expanded form on one instrument and contracted on another (sometimes simultaneously I think), and goes through many manipulations throughout the piece.

After witnessing this, I began to wonder what it would happen if improvisation was executed as effortlessly as the Gryphon Trio performed Robert’s piece. If we [PNO DUO] could improvise in a way that created something similar to a developed work, it would sound extremely coherent and organic. This would require that all the participants listen intensely so that we can be prepared to react to each other, but more importantly, it would force us to think as composers. This leads me to the conclusion that when one is able to think as a composer, but in the moment or performance, improvisation can produce some seriously awe-inspiring art.

A while ago, I read about David Braid’s approach to improvisation as a composer and never really thought of it as something I could explore, being a (very) young composer; the Gryphon Trio’s performance has made the strong connection between composing and improvising very clear to me: by focusing on either one, you grow your skills in the other. I am very excited to give this a go in my future improvising.

The Art of Rhetoric was my piece, and it essentially is a commentary on the idea that politics should not have a place in the creative process of any form of art, because it ruins the work. As a rough guide, I will say that you can follow one of the more prominent themes as it makes its way through the three sections of the piece, hopefully (if I have done my job correctly) noticing that it sounds more pleasant when it does not interact with another theme that resembles politics.

You can listen to it on its own, or among the other pieces by my talented composer friends: Patrick Power, Patrick Murray, and Sam Shahi.

As if all this weren’t nifty enough, I have recently had one of my most exciting experiences as a musician yet: my good friend Trevor and I have started a weekly piano improvisation podcast called PNO DUO; we had a few jam sessions when I went over to his house, and it was way too much fun to not do it regularly. The first four episodes were a blast to do and I’m sure many more great experiences will become of this; I can already say that I have grown as a composer and performer by learning to listen to everything more.

• Hear the latest episode
• Have episodes sent to you in iTunes or via email
• There is a recording of one of our first jam sessions somewhere on the site, but I won’t say where.

Oh, and I upgraded to WordPress 2.7.

So that’s life. Recently, I have been practicing a lot and thinking about my directions for the future, and discovering that I would be better off pursuing an extended career in music, rather than a teaching job at a high school. I’m not discussing that here, but I am referring to it because it is the inspiration of a composition I recently made for my Introduction to Composition class.

Life and Meditation is essentially an outline of the process of stopping your activities in the world for a minute, thinking and wondering about possibilities, and going back into the world with a fresh perspective. It is significant for me because I have never had my own music performed before; this is not especially noteworthy when considering that I only started composing two months ago, but it’s cool to me, so there. The performers are Tristan Durie (Flute), Alex Goodman (Guitar), and Peter Grant-Mackechnie (Piano); I was conducting. The recording is below, along with the sheet music and an obligatory album cover (because there shall never be an album with no cover in my iTunes library). There’s also information about the individual parts of the piece if you are curious.

Life and Meditation (Recording)
Structure
Score

The Audio Channel

Use the rules bellow to get the latest podcasts you haven’t finished listening to yet; I put a limit so that I can sync with my iPod easily. As you listen to podcasts from this list, episodes will be swapped out with as much as is available.

You should also enable the Release Date column for your playlist so that you can sort by newest or oldest: when you’re in the playlist, go to View > View Options and check the box for Release Date.

The Video Channel

This one needs a little more spice, because I don’t just include podcasts, but random long videos from the internet like screencasts, lectures, or stand-up comedy performances from my P2P days. Also, I’m excluding the Tutorials genre because I don’t want to watch photoshop tutorials while I’m commuting or eating.

Don’t forget to enable the Release Date column for this too.

Both these lists are continuously updating with the latest podcasts and movies in your iTunes library, so even if you watch these from an iPod, it all syncs nicely. I waited a week to make these screenshots, so I’m going to go catch up now!

Quotasaurus is a place that I can fill with cool quotations about music, technology, productivity, life, and anything else that’s inspiring. It’s just a really simple one-long-page application, but that’s how I want it. It’s easy to make things complicated when you are developing, but I tried to discipline myself; not even a search box, haha! Anyway, enjoy reading the thirty or so quotes I have in there, and check back because I add in things everyday from books I’m reading and other places. Don’t forget to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Living with myself

• 11:30: Checked email, Facebook, feeds, Twitter, Tumblr, and other things that needed surfing
• 12:30: Decided I should probably go to school and practice
• 13:00: Dressed up to go out
• 13:45: Found out for the first time that my piano teacher hosts these gigantic 10-piano and 2-pianist monster concerts that have been featured on TV several times
• 14:30: Watched some Adam Gyorgy videos on YouTube
• 14:55: Cleared my nose for the seventh time today
• 15:10: More pianists on YouTube
• 15:40: Ate lunch so that I wouldn’t be hungry if I decided to go to school any time now
• 16:10: Did 11:30’s run-through again
• 16:40: Listened to Lizst Etudes and thought of writing about how I have not left for school yet
• 17:25: Upgraded this blog to WordPress 2.5.1, because the reminder of a new update available annoyed me
• 17:33 (Now): Making a promise to you that I will leave for school and practice by 18:00

What I was going to say

I’m dropping the idea of posting every Tuesday for now, because it made this blog feel like a chore, and I think the last post was a reflection of that (Not that it was a meaningless post, but it was very rushed and dutiful). I’ll try to make something happen somewhat regularly here, but it’s up to me, so there.

17:51 Gotta go!

All it really involves is reading a blog’s last few posts before adding it to my list; “meet” or get to know the content before you subscribe. If the last few posts don’t interest me, the next few probably wont either. The bulk of the cruft in my reader spawned from blogs that I added on impulse, without really reading them first.

I still have to go through most of my reading list, but I have a feeling that my dream of having nothing to read in my feed reader will come true someday.

Empty space is not a problem

I have developed the habit of filling any morsel of free time in my schedule with some commitment. This year, I had Tuesday and Wednesday evenings free, so I joined a debating team and the Hart House Chorus. I also took more courses than I could handle this year, simply because I wasn’t doing anything during the time of the course; I did not take into account that each course would have its own work to be done outside of class. Although I enjoyed the extra-curricular activities and was able to get many credits out of the way, I did not have much time to breathe, because during my free time, I was either working on school work, practicing, or hanging out. Breathing room is really the key to staying relaxed and not having to feel guilty for possibly being less efficient with the way I’m spending my time at the moment.

Look at your schedule everyday

If I had a penny for every disadvantage I encountered from being unaware or uncertain about the time of a commitment on my schedule, I would have about ten pennies. That isn’t a lot, because I look at my schedule sort of regularly, but it’s more than enough to make me realize the importance of looking at that big picture everyday. Those few moments where it will save your behind will make it more than worth it.

Put everything in your system, now!

I’ve been pretty good this year (at least by the second term) about not procrastinating with assignments; it’s a surprise, but a welcome change. However, even though my GTD system has made lollygagging a thing of the past for the most part, I have still finished some assignments the night before, only because I left the reminder for it unprocessed in my inbox. Many hours of stress and sleep can be recovered if that inbox is simply processed, with the respective articles awaiting your action in the appropriate place in your system. Even if you don’t use GTD, get those assignments in your reminder system. The key to all of this though, is to do it sooner rather than later.

30 minutes of focus is better than 2 hours of drooling

I struggled with this in my calculus course, a lot. I know I’m hyper and incapable of sitting still for more than three seconds, but if I can code in PHP, math shouldn’t be that hard, at least on the concentration level. I found myself spending 45 minutes doing the simplest problem on somedays, and ten difficult ones in half an hour on another day. Eventually I realized that if I just focused and kept the next action in my head as I worked, it would all be a cinch, regardless of the subject matter. The environment also had something to do with it; I found it harder to concentrate when working on my bed or the comfortable sofas in our faculty’s common room, in low light, or anywhere there are people. That last one took me by surprise, but it is true; I wont work when I know I can talk to the people around me.

Of course, what post about focusing would be complete without a reference to web browsing, social networking, email checking, and video watching; my fellow OCD sufferers, this is your dystopia. Here is what I do to stay on track while using the internet: use an inbox for links, use a timer, check email and everything else once a day (really).

Regular work is easier than cramming; saves money, stress, and time

I was totally lost in calculus this year, because I didn’t do the weekly problems, so I spent $90 on a seminar that crammed everything you needed to know for the final exam into your head, in two days. In my historical survey course, I didn’t read the chapters every week, so I had to stress before the final exam, read and make notes on everything frantically, and not have any time to take it easy. Both of these experiences resulted in a severe loss of time at the end of the year, which is when it is most needed. For my other classes, I barely had to study for the exams, because my knowledge was solidified after doing the work every week. As obvious as this whole idea is, it’s easier said than done. The only thing that can be said is to keep the goal of regular work in your mind, because it becomes much more doable if you think, “If I do this now, I will probably save about an hour during exam week, which can be spent relaxing and poking fun at colleagues that didn’t do the regular work”.

Switch activities regularly; it’s not only for the 5 year olds

I used to teach in a music school where I taught piano to small classes of toddlers, and I was told by my trainers that I had to change activities every five minutes, or they would get bored. When programming, practicing, or doing school work, I feel a lot better if I take a break or do something completely different on a regular basis, not every five minutes of course, but maybe at the end of each hour.

My actions for next year

• Get an estimate of how much of my time is going to be taken up by other things, and make sure I have an hour or so to breath; if I can’t figure out to do with my time, I’ll either sleep, go for a walk, or hide in some corner of the campus to be quiet.
• Look at my schedule every morning before starting my day.
• Process through all assignment sheets and understand what needs to be done next, sooner rather than later.
• Work in isolation and focus so that I can finish working sooner.
• Do the work every week, because if I do, I wont have to study during exam week
• Switch modes before my head starts to hurt