As promised, here is the Shangri-Las track
that subconsciously inspired The Strangler.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Alvin Lucier / I am sitting in a room
Worth listening to:
http://www.last.fm/music/Alvin+Lucier/_/I+Am+Sitting+In+A+Room?autostart
http://www.last.fm/music/Alvin+Lucier/_/I+Am+Sitting+In+A+Room?autostart
LISTENING FOR THIS WEEK
Hello All
Here are a lot of relatively short pieces to listen to for next week. Please listen to them in order - they are chronological, beginning before jazz and continuing into present day. When listening, consider improvisation vs. composition - i.e. what do you think is written, and what do you think is made up on the spot.
You don't have to listen to them all at once, but do try and just LISTEN. Don't wash the dishes, don't check your email.
LOVE SUPREME (Coltrane) is in four movements. If you like, you can just listen to the first movement. BLACK, BROWN, BEIGE (Ellington) is constructed as (sort of) a symphony. Feel free to listen to as much as you care to, at least the first movement.
I'll post these on the blog too. And we will listen to a couple of these in class again on Monday.
Thanks!
Lisa
Louis Gottschalk: http://www.last.fm/music/Louis+Moreau+Gottschalk/_/Le+bananier%2C+Chanson+negre%2C+Op.+5?autostart
Scott Joplin: http://www.last.fm/music/Scott+Joplin/_/Elite+Syncopations?autostart
Louis Armstron, Heebie Jeebies:
http://www.last.fm/music/Louis+Armstrong/_/Heebie+Jeebies
Duke Ellington: Black Brown Beige (Please listen to at least first movement)
http://www.last.fm/music/Duke+Ellington/Black%252C%2BBrown%252C%2B%2526%2BBeige?autostart
Charlie Parker - Donna Lee
http://www.last.fm/music/Charlie+Parker/_/Donna+Lee?autostart
John Coltrane: Love Supreme (Please try and listen to at least the first movement)
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Coltrane/A+Love+Supreme?autostart
Eric Dolphy: Out TO Lunch
http://www.last.fm/music/Eric+Dolphy/_/Out+to+Lunch?autostart
Cecil Taylor: Cell Walk for Celeste (11 minutes long -- try and hold out through the whole thing; it is demanding)
http://www.last.fm/music/Cecil+Taylor/_/Cell+Walk+For+Celeste+(Take+1)?autostart
Peter Brotzman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIbQG2oSpo8&feature=related
Derek Bailey/Tony Oxley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f20VQjKH9xk&feature=related
John Zorn: COBRA
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Zorn/Cobra%3A+John+Zorn%27s+Game+Pieces%2C+Volume+2
John ZorN conducting COBRA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otrr-LhkX-s&feature=related
Here are a lot of relatively short pieces to listen to for next week. Please listen to them in order - they are chronological, beginning before jazz and continuing into present day. When listening, consider improvisation vs. composition - i.e. what do you think is written, and what do you think is made up on the spot.
You don't have to listen to them all at once, but do try and just LISTEN. Don't wash the dishes, don't check your email.
LOVE SUPREME (Coltrane) is in four movements. If you like, you can just listen to the first movement. BLACK, BROWN, BEIGE (Ellington) is constructed as (sort of) a symphony. Feel free to listen to as much as you care to, at least the first movement.
I'll post these on the blog too. And we will listen to a couple of these in class again on Monday.
Thanks!
Lisa
Louis Gottschalk: http://www.last.fm/music/Louis+Moreau+Gottschalk/_/Le+bananier%2C+Chanson+negre%2C+Op.+5?autostart
Scott Joplin: http://www.last.fm/music/Scott+Joplin/_/Elite+Syncopations?autostart
Louis Armstron, Heebie Jeebies:
http://www.last.fm/music/Louis+Armstrong/_/Heebie+Jeebies
Duke Ellington: Black Brown Beige (Please listen to at least first movement)
http://www.last.fm/music/Duke+Ellington/Black%252C%2BBrown%252C%2B%2526%2BBeige?autostart
Charlie Parker - Donna Lee
http://www.last.fm/music/Charlie+Parker/_/Donna+Lee?autostart
John Coltrane: Love Supreme (Please try and listen to at least the first movement)
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Coltrane/A+Love+Supreme?autostart
Eric Dolphy: Out TO Lunch
http://www.last.fm/music/Eric+Dolphy/_/Out+to+Lunch?autostart
Cecil Taylor: Cell Walk for Celeste (11 minutes long -- try and hold out through the whole thing; it is demanding)
http://www.last.fm/music/Cecil+Taylor/_/Cell+Walk+For+Celeste+(Take+1)?autostart
Peter Brotzman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIbQG2oSpo8&feature=related
Derek Bailey/Tony Oxley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f20VQjKH9xk&feature=related
John Zorn: COBRA
http://www.last.fm/music/John+Zorn/Cobra%3A+John+Zorn%27s+Game+Pieces%2C+Volume+2
John ZorN conducting COBRA:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otrr-LhkX-s&feature=related
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Boulez Quote
That I mentioned in class but couldn't quite remember:
I wanted to eradicate from my vocabulary absolutely every trace of the conventional, whether it concerned figures and phrases, or development and form; I then wanted gradually, element after element, to win back the various stages of the compositional process, in such a manner that a perfectly new synthesis might arise, a synthesis that would not be corrupted from the very outset by foreign bodies—stylistic reminiscences in particular. (Boulez 1986a, 61)
It is from this wikipedia entry on one of his compositions, a series called Structures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structures_(Boulez)
I wanted to eradicate from my vocabulary absolutely every trace of the conventional, whether it concerned figures and phrases, or development and form; I then wanted gradually, element after element, to win back the various stages of the compositional process, in such a manner that a perfectly new synthesis might arise, a synthesis that would not be corrupted from the very outset by foreign bodies—stylistic reminiscences in particular. (Boulez 1986a, 61)
It is from this wikipedia entry on one of his compositions, a series called Structures:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structures_(Boulez)
Tone Row Possibilities
Hi All.
Some thoughts towards creating a 6 element "tone row" for your scenes, if you have not started yet.
One thing that might help you upon starting is make a rule for yourself as to how you are going to integrate your tone row scheme into your scene. Will it be every line is a new "note"? Every 3 words? The "note" shifts every time a new character speaks? Once you decide, try to stick to this rule (although certainly you will break it once or twice)
Here are some examples of some ways you could create your primary tone row.
STRUCTURAL
Entrances and Exits
(Ex: Super Slow Entrance, Cautious Entrance, Fast Entrance, Fast Exit, Despondant Exit, Super Slow Exit.)
Transitions
(Ex: Lights up bright, Lights change to red, Black Out, Sound Cue, New Set Piece Rolls on, Extreme Costume Change)
Musical (to be applied to lines and silences)
(Ex: Stacatto, Retard (slow down), Extended Syllable, Repeat 3X, Glissando (high to low or low to high), Pianissimo (very quiet)
CHARACTER
Moods
(Ex: Ecstatic, Furious, Mildly Amused, Mildly Irritated, Deadpan, No reaction)
Desires (this is a bit of a wild card - not exactly sure how this translates into speech, but it is interesting to think about and could be a fantastic failure!)
(Ex: Wants Food, Wants Sex, Wants Money, Wants Affirmation, Wants to be Hurt, Wants to be Famous)
MORE RANDOM/DA DA
Bad Accents (Assign each a numerical value, accents must shift through the scene, could be one accent per line, characters could shift accents within monologues, etc.
(Ex: Irish, Chinese, African American, Minnesotan, French, Yiddish, Russian)
Objects (Appearing / reappearing / being referred to or I suppose possibly even the objects are the characters)
(Ex: Roll of Toilet Paper, Apple, Piggy Bank, Feather Pillow, Sword, Coffee Pot)
Some thoughts towards creating a 6 element "tone row" for your scenes, if you have not started yet.
One thing that might help you upon starting is make a rule for yourself as to how you are going to integrate your tone row scheme into your scene. Will it be every line is a new "note"? Every 3 words? The "note" shifts every time a new character speaks? Once you decide, try to stick to this rule (although certainly you will break it once or twice)
Here are some examples of some ways you could create your primary tone row.
STRUCTURAL
Entrances and Exits
(Ex: Super Slow Entrance, Cautious Entrance, Fast Entrance, Fast Exit, Despondant Exit, Super Slow Exit.)
Transitions
(Ex: Lights up bright, Lights change to red, Black Out, Sound Cue, New Set Piece Rolls on, Extreme Costume Change)
Musical (to be applied to lines and silences)
(Ex: Stacatto, Retard (slow down), Extended Syllable, Repeat 3X, Glissando (high to low or low to high), Pianissimo (very quiet)
CHARACTER
Moods
(Ex: Ecstatic, Furious, Mildly Amused, Mildly Irritated, Deadpan, No reaction)
Desires (this is a bit of a wild card - not exactly sure how this translates into speech, but it is interesting to think about and could be a fantastic failure!)
(Ex: Wants Food, Wants Sex, Wants Money, Wants Affirmation, Wants to be Hurt, Wants to be Famous)
MORE RANDOM/DA DA
Bad Accents (Assign each a numerical value, accents must shift through the scene, could be one accent per line, characters could shift accents within monologues, etc.
(Ex: Irish, Chinese, African American, Minnesotan, French, Yiddish, Russian)
Objects (Appearing / reappearing / being referred to or I suppose possibly even the objects are the characters)
(Ex: Roll of Toilet Paper, Apple, Piggy Bank, Feather Pillow, Sword, Coffee Pot)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Melody
Skylight
by Corrie
(a fugue in three voices)
Late afternoon. The sun sliding through the trees. Faint chatter of crickets and birds.
Hansel and Gretel are holding hands and walking, their feet crunching on the leaves in a steady rhythm.
They are both adults. Water is rising to their ankles.
Hansel
Tell me a story.
Gretel
What kind of a story?
Hansel
I don’t know. Any kind.
Gretel
It was a dark and stormy night.
Hansel
Stormy and dark, stormy and dark.
Gretel
With the lights turned out and the moon alone in the sky.
Hansel
Alone in the sky? Tell me a different story.
Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day.
Hansel
Sunny and bright, sunny and bright.
Gretel
With all the lights turned up and the sun filling the sky –
They stop. They look at each other. They change places. They walk faster. Water is rising to their knees.
Hansel
Ask me a question.
Gretel
What kind of a question?
Hansel
Any kind, any kind.
Gretel
Are you hungry?
Hansel
Are you hungry?
Gretel
I see a house, alone in the forest.
She points. They stop. They look at each other. They climb a tree, slowly. Water laps beneath them.
Hansel
I see a house, alone in the forest.
Gretel
We are alone in the forest.
Hansel
I am your house.
Gretel
You’re being melodramatic.
Hansel
I am /dramatic.
Gretel
You’re always melodramatic.
Hansel
You make me melodramatic.
They sit on a sturdy branch. They swing their legs in unison, to a steady beat.
The witch approaches them. She walks in a different rhythm to their swinging. She floats on water.
Witch
Hello. How old are you?
Hansel
Younger than you are/
Gretel
Older than you think.
Hansel
You are a stranger.
Witch
I am simply strange.
Gretel
We don’t talk to strangers.
Witch
Strangers don’t talk to you.
Hansel
She is strange.
Gretel
You shouldn’t say that in front of her.
Witch
You can tell me anything.
Hansel
Tell us a story.
Witch
I can tell you the most wonderful, the most beautiful and marvelous story in the world.
Gretel
Can you really?
Hansel
Can you?
Witch
Once upon a time, there were two children living in atree.
Hansel
It was a dark and stormy night with the moon alone in the sky.
Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day with the sun filling the sky.
Witch
It was a stormy and sunny day, and the moon and sun shared a sky.
And the moon and sun were young and afraid.
Gretel
You’re lying.
Hansel
She’s not lying.
Gretel
You wouldn’t be able to tell. You’re never able to tell anything.
Hansel
That’s because you do all the telling.
Witch
And on that day the sun and moon had a terrible, terrible fight.
Hansel
Is that why they never see each other these days?
Gretel
Is that why they never share a sky these days?
Witch
And because of that fight they sent clouds to hide the distance between them.
Hansel
Clouds.
Gretel
Between them.
Hansel
Why were
Gretel
they fighting?
Witch
Nobody knows, nobody knows.
Gretel
Nobody knew.
Hansel
Somebody does.
Hansel and Gretel
You knew, of course.
Witch
I never said that I did.
Hansel
But you did.
Gretel
What did you do?
Witch
Follow me, and I will tell you.
Gretel
Into the house alone in the forest?
Hansel
We are alone in the forest.
Witch
Into the house alone in the forest, where I live.
They climb down the tree. They wade through the water to the house in the forest.
Witch
Here’s the door.
Gretel
A door alone in the forest.
Hansel
The sun and the moon in the sky.
Witch
Open the door.
They open the door. They are swimming, now.
Witch
I can tell you anything. I can be anything you want me to be.
Hansel
I am not your house.
Gretel
I am not your door.
by Corrie
(a fugue in three voices)
Late afternoon. The sun sliding through the trees. Faint chatter of crickets and birds.
Hansel and Gretel are holding hands and walking, their feet crunching on the leaves in a steady rhythm.
They are both adults. Water is rising to their ankles.
Hansel
Tell me a story.
Gretel
What kind of a story?
Hansel
I don’t know. Any kind.
Gretel
It was a dark and stormy night.
Hansel
Stormy and dark, stormy and dark.
Gretel
With the lights turned out and the moon alone in the sky.
Hansel
Alone in the sky? Tell me a different story.
Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day.
Hansel
Sunny and bright, sunny and bright.
Gretel
With all the lights turned up and the sun filling the sky –
They stop. They look at each other. They change places. They walk faster. Water is rising to their knees.
Hansel
Ask me a question.
Gretel
What kind of a question?
Hansel
Any kind, any kind.
Gretel
Are you hungry?
Hansel
Are you hungry?
Gretel
I see a house, alone in the forest.
She points. They stop. They look at each other. They climb a tree, slowly. Water laps beneath them.
Hansel
I see a house, alone in the forest.
Gretel
We are alone in the forest.
Hansel
I am your house.
Gretel
You’re being melodramatic.
Hansel
I am /dramatic.
Gretel
You’re always melodramatic.
Hansel
You make me melodramatic.
They sit on a sturdy branch. They swing their legs in unison, to a steady beat.
The witch approaches them. She walks in a different rhythm to their swinging. She floats on water.
Witch
Hello. How old are you?
Hansel
Younger than you are/
Gretel
Older than you think.
Hansel
You are a stranger.
Witch
I am simply strange.
Gretel
We don’t talk to strangers.
Witch
Strangers don’t talk to you.
Hansel
She is strange.
Gretel
You shouldn’t say that in front of her.
Witch
You can tell me anything.
Hansel
Tell us a story.
Witch
I can tell you the most wonderful, the most beautiful and marvelous story in the world.
Gretel
Can you really?
Hansel
Can you?
Witch
Once upon a time, there were two children living in atree.
Hansel
It was a dark and stormy night with the moon alone in the sky.
Gretel
It was a bright and sunny day with the sun filling the sky.
Witch
It was a stormy and sunny day, and the moon and sun shared a sky.
And the moon and sun were young and afraid.
Gretel
You’re lying.
Hansel
She’s not lying.
Gretel
You wouldn’t be able to tell. You’re never able to tell anything.
Hansel
That’s because you do all the telling.
Witch
And on that day the sun and moon had a terrible, terrible fight.
Hansel
Is that why they never see each other these days?
Gretel
Is that why they never share a sky these days?
Witch
And because of that fight they sent clouds to hide the distance between them.
Hansel
Clouds.
Gretel
Between them.
Hansel
Why were
Gretel
they fighting?
Witch
Nobody knows, nobody knows.
Gretel
Nobody knew.
Hansel
Somebody does.
Hansel and Gretel
You knew, of course.
Witch
I never said that I did.
Hansel
But you did.
Gretel
What did you do?
Witch
Follow me, and I will tell you.
Gretel
Into the house alone in the forest?
Hansel
We are alone in the forest.
Witch
Into the house alone in the forest, where I live.
They climb down the tree. They wade through the water to the house in the forest.
Witch
Here’s the door.
Gretel
A door alone in the forest.
Hansel
The sun and the moon in the sky.
Witch
Open the door.
They open the door. They are swimming, now.
Witch
I can tell you anything. I can be anything you want me to be.
Hansel
I am not your house.
Gretel
I am not your door.
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