arrange • compose • conduct
This is how I started my description of my conducting pattern. (It’s an odd meter piece, with frequent time signature changes and surprising subdivisions.) “You don’t need to know this, but here’s how I’m conducting this.” For a y’all come, multigenerational pickup choir, the theory takes a back seat. And […]
Most of the time, the best instruction in a studio session is one word long. “Again.” Sometimes, “You can do it better. Again.” is more effective, but mostly the one word response is the way to keep the flow going. A good percentage of the time, you can skip speaking […]
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” Heraclitus Working on a recording project with the Aces reminds me of this lesson in three ways. These are all good things. We want the music to have life, […]
You won’t know the real milestones till later. School years are filled with commonly accepted milestones. First Day of School, Homecoming, the SAT, Prom, Graduation Day, and on and on. But while those events might turn out to be memorable or even significant, my experience suggests that real milestones happen […]
I don’t have any feelings at all about Coronations, Weddings, or other British royal events. But let’s have more events where music – and specifically new music – is central to the experience. Reports are that there were twelve new commissions for the King Charles III’s Coronation today. That’s a […]
In a masterclass being led by April mini, I heard her reference a line Steve Zegree said often to his groups. “I only ask two things of you,” she said. “Work hard and trust me.” With a good leader and a willing group, there’s a lot that can be done […]
Is each part of your practice integral, or are some things just side habits along for the ride? My writing practice is to simple: sit and write daily. But recently I find it hard to begin my writing except at the end of the day. I can sit and not […]
Sometimes what’s called for is White Rabbit Mode. The white rabbit in Alice In Wonderland constantly shouts “I’m late!” as he bustles and hurries through the story. In plenty of rehearsals, there’s a little time for digression, for stories, for flights of fancy and following musical ideas and experiments. Other […]
Are your singers emphasizing words like they’re the TikTok text-to-speech voice? The ubiquitous text-to-speech voice from TikTok is immediately recognizable once you’ve heard it. And part of that is for the stilted, easily parodied diction. She! kind! of! emphasizes! every! word! excitedly! It’s clear that sometimes choirs can forget to […]
You have to turn off the infinite tap. Media is effectively infinite now. The media (film, tv, music, podcasts, books & articles, social, etc.) that is inside your niche is vast enough that you need never stop consuming it. But. If you don’t turn it off, you can’t make your […]