Musings

What Early Musicians Say

2012-01-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take a break from my dissertation writing and jump onto this meme. Sh*t Early Musicians Say (of course not a complete list): 1. That performance style is too modern. 2. That tempo is too slow. 3. Big beats! Big beats! 4. That tempo is too slow. 5. I like your ornaments. 6. Too much vibrato! 7. Equal temperament was the downfall of music. 8. What is on your

Up In the Air (not the movie, although I did enjoy the movie)

2012-01-05T18:18:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone! 2012 I believe will be interesting, at least for me I hope...In a good way... My dissertation station Soon, I can feel it, I might have an inkling of an idea of where I will be and what I will be doing next year. I have several options that I am working on right now, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like writing your dissertation, trying to create

Baroque Bassoon 101

2011-12-16T20:21:00.001-08:00

Over the last few months I have had many people ask me, "What is the difference between the baroque and modern bassoon?" Another question people ask, "Why play on baroque instruments? Why go backwards in the evolution?" I thought I would address these questions on my blog, and then whenever I am asked these questions again, I can just save so much time by referring them to my blog. (In all

Duo Ricercata Chazen Gig

2011-12-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

I just came back from the Twin Cities, where i played some Brandenburg with Lyra Baroque. Lots of fun, I met up with friends and was introduced to lots of interesting people. On top of that, Brandenburgs are just a joy to play. Here is a link to Duo Ricercata's audio webpage. I put up part of our "Live at the Chazen" gig that we did in September. The recording is really dry, and so I

A Little Secret

2011-11-26T14:41:00.001-08:00

About two months ago I felt a little under the weather, I was sleeping a lot and just feeling "off". In the climbing gym I kept tiring while climbing easy routes. I figured I had some mild bug of some sort. Then I noticed a rash on my arm that looked like ringworm. Just what you wanted to know, I know. Well, it spread, not the way ringworm spreads. Then it was everywhere. It wasn't on my face

Shawms and Indiana

2011-11-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

It has been an interesting week and a half. I turned in my dissertation proposal for my document. Don't cheer too quickly. At least one of my committee members told me it was "hard," and that we should talk. She told me this as I was trying to dry my hands in the bathroom today. Note to committee members, don't talk about a person's dissertation proposal in the restroom, it's rude. I don't

My Dissertation in 110 Words

2011-10-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the gist of my dissertation: One day, a bass shawm player was tired of carrying the giant monstrosity to work, had the great idea of cutting the instrument in half and binding it together. And viola, the dulcian was born. The dulcian, wanting to revert back to its natural state, soon forgot the great idea of being in pieces and redesigned itself to be one piece. Many years later, a

Presto bizzarro e rubato

2011-10-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here with a cat on my lap and a Gin (no tonic). E-mails are done, and now it is time to talk about Ligeti. Gather around the full spectrum lights my friends, while I tell you an interesting tale. I don't know exactly what to call us. My quintet, even though we are not formally a quintet, I guess. I want to claim them all as my own, since I thoroughly enjoy working with all of

Focus on a Topic

2011-10-16T17:22:00.000-07:00

So, after about a month and a half of research and study, I have finally finalized my dissertation topic. It isn't exactly what I thought it was going to be, but I am very excited. This is a good sign, considering it is a dissertation, not something you generally look forward to writing. The topic is going to be the migration of the bassoon in the late 16th century and early 17th century. I

Classical Music State of Affairs?

2011-10-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

Something has been bothering me recently. It seems my field is like a popularity contest, and everyone is always praising everyone, including themselves, for a job well done, even when it wasn't well done. I am going to try to put it into words, we shall see if I succeed: A recent concert that I attended, which wasn't very good, was lauded by the reviewers as "amazing," "spectacular," etc.

Climbing

2011-10-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my first trip climbing outdoors. I have been climbing indoors all summer, and this last Sunday I was able to make it outdoors. We went to Devil's Lake, which is apparently some of the finest climbing in the midwest. I had a blast. Each part of the rock has different names. Here is me on "Full Stop." This picture I took of my friend Autumn. Part of a full day

Concert

2011-09-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting couple of weeks, very busy, but with a lot of work accomplished. The highlight of the week was Duo Ricercata performing at "Live at the Chazen," on Wisconsin Public Radio. This gig was booked on rather short notice (thanks to the malfunction of technology) so we had a little over a month to put this program together, music on both baroque and modern bassoon. So it

The Law

2011-09-11T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have to go the courthouse tomorrow morning at 8:15 for jury duty. Yes! Just when you thought things couldn't get busier. However, I was kind of excited when I got the letter. It should be interesting to be a part of the justice system. I am probably the only person in the world who thinks it might be fun to be a juror. Tomorrow it will be a lot of hanging around doing nothing. I am glad

Final Note

2011-09-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

To finish my defense on the absurd "statements" about the history of the bassoon, here is a quote from CDF Schubart, who wrote about the bassoon in 1809 (the Germans weren't the first the wrest a solo from it, but he is forgiven): “Although the French invented it, the Germans have produced the greatest masters of it. For a long time, it was used only for accompaniment but the Germans were the

I do not like this article

2011-09-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/04/139947087/the-clown-of-the-orchestra-takes-its-revenge I didn't read this article initially, because it just seemed like a shoddy piece of writing that draws from outdated concepts of the bassoon. Well, I ended up reading it, didn't take more then a few minutes, and I was correct. Now, lets discuss. First off we have:

Medieval Metal

2011-09-06T05:52:00.000-07:00

This is amazing. I do worry about the recorders near the fire though...Apparently this is a trend, combining recorders/shawms/bagpipes and rock/metal/whatever. I am all about it.

Climbing Walls (literally)

2011-09-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

This last year hasn't been easy. It continues to not be easy. I am embarking on a musical career during a time at which unemployment is very high, arts programs are being cut left and right, and people are screaming about the death of classical music as we know it. Yet, what I do, or attempt to do, is drown out all the chaos that surrounds me and barrel forward. Remaining confident in my

Duo Ricercata News

2011-08-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

Duo Ricercata will be performing September 25th at "Live at the Chazen," at 2:00 p.m. We will be broadcasted live from Wisconsin Public Radio. Our Recital program (hopefully, still don't have confirmation about being able to move harpsichord and piano around, but it should be fine) will be: Baroque bassoon and harpsichord: Luigi Merci: Sonata in G major (English guy) Joseph Bodin de

A Question for Readers

2011-08-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

A quick survey. I work part time currently at UW-Madison's music library in the sound studio. My current project (until I graduate) is digitizing 78's. (those would be the smaller, 3 minute audio disc type things) I have been highly amused by some of the titles of these pieces. I was initially twitting, tweeting, (??) about it, and my good friend, fellow early music enthusiast Jerry Hui (we

Vacation and Change of Topic

2011-08-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am back from vacation, and ready to work.... almost. San Diego was very fun. I hung out with family, hit the beach, kayaked in the ocean, swam in an an outdoor pool, and had some kick-ass Mexican food. I was also able to see my grandmothers new house. Her home burned down 4 years ago in the fire that took around 350 homes in the city Rancho Bernardo, and countless others around the state of

Zen and the Art of Composing

2011-08-08T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am sitting on my couch, with my ankle on the rocks, and elevated. Considering I have a glass of wine and my cats are vying for my attention, I am not too troubled by my current state of affairs. Even though my ankle is still a little swollen. I was climbing, or more bouldering (Bouldering is when you climb the rock face without ropes, but you don't go that high, well at least I don't), with

Brooklyn Philharmonic

2011-08-03T15:56:00.000-07:00

Now this is a series. Kudos to Brooklyn Phil. We need more like this. Fantastic. Here is their website. The press release is here. We need more series to start looking like this in order for orchestras to remain viable.

Five Points (go team!)

2011-08-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago in Madison was the Madison Early Music Festival. Since I had to work, teach, and gig on modern bassoon, I was only able to participate a little. I was able to play in the Loud Band and attend the concerts. (I ushered) This created a very busy week. A week which included my debut on alto Shawm. I picked it up on Sunday, and just loved it! The air that is required is very

Duo Ricercata on the Web

2011-07-28T13:45:00.000-07:00

For your enjoyment. Here is my group, Duo Ricercata's youtube premiere. No baroque this time, and it's fairly standard rep (we didn't want to scare anyone just yet) and just modern, but at least you get an idea. The pieces are the first and second movement of Saint-Saens Bassoon Sonata, and Charles Koechlin Bassoon Sonata. Koechlin mvmt 1 Koechlin mvmt 2 Woot!

Sumer Is Icumen In

2011-07-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is I am so glad that I spent the $100 bucks and purchased an air window unit for my apartment. I don't really mind the heat, but wow. What a week. I have created a new website, for my Duo Ricercata. It isn't complete, but I like the general layout. I am using the same general template as my own personal website, but with some modifications, as I am barely literate in HTML