Thursday, January 29, 2015

The Squirrels Ran Away

         
So I started working on the idea that I had at lunch yesterday when I got home last night. After about ten minutes I came to the conclusion that 99 percent of it was crap. So into the round filing cabinet it went. This resulted in me working on Impression No. 5 for the rest of the night. I am very happy where I am with this piece I hope I will be able to get a mix of it done by the end of the weekend. But as you know squirrels are tricky bastards; who knows what they are planning.
               

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Squirrels Everywhere I Look

               

So I am in the process of finishing working on Impression No. 5 with the hope that I can mix it over the weekend. But. As I am sitting here eating my lunch I got an idea for another large project and spent half of my lunch starting to sketch it out. Only God knows if I will get back on track with Impression No. 5 or spend the next weeks working on my new idea for a new piece (lets not even mention that I still have the Ballet to work on).

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

So Many Squirrels

               

I spent most of Friday night working and revising Impression No. 5 and I now feel that it is at least 95 percent done; just need a few more listen through and we should be ready to start mixing. Impression No. 4 is waiting for its final mix down and I should had finished it this weekend, but I did not. After working most of Friday night on polishing No. 5 I spent the rest of weekend distracted by squirrels and got nothing more done. Maybe tonight.
                     

Friday, January 23, 2015

Impressions of Squirrels

 

I continued with writing Impression No. 5 last night.  I would say that I am now about 90 percent done with it.  All of the notes are down on the page, it is now a mater of cleaning up the notation, working on the small things, like dynamic marks.  Still need to finish mixing Impression No. 4.  Squirrel!

                  

Thursday, January 22, 2015

More Squirrels!

         
In my last update I stated that I had been putting off mixing of my piece Impression No. 4 for some time now. One of the reasons was because I had no idea for Impression No. 5. (The Impression series was originally conceived as a set of seven pieces, but was trimmed to five by the time I finished Impression No. 1.) So I knew I would be writing an Impression to finish the set off, I just did not know what form it would take.


I truly expected to work on and quite possibly finish mixing Impression No. 4 last night, but as I listen to the first four impressions at lunch on Wednesday Impression No. 5 bloomed full born in my head. So instead of working on the mix for Impression No. 4, I spent most of the night working on Impression No. 5.



Who knows what will distract me tonight!  

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Too Many Squirrels

       
I finished writing Impression No. 4 back in early November of 2014, but I have put off mixing it for the since then. Last weekend after doing a little sketching of some ideas for the new ballet on Friday night I spent the rest of the weekend setting and mixing Impression No. 4. I am currently listening to two different mixes I did before I do the final mix. With some luck and no squirrels I should have something for people to listen to by the end of the weekend, if not sooner.
               


                    

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Ballet Progress

         
I started on my fifth version of scene 1 on Saturday and is coming along very well. It will be the one I will use and is currently about 90 percent done. Even when plowing through the first scene I did continue to think about other scenes; the one scene I am most worried about is scene 11, but I think I have a idea for it now that I need to explore.
           

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Ballet Progress

    
Well the first scene is giving me fits. I have written drafts for three different versions of the opening scene and I am not happy with any of them. I am now working through a fourth version in my head that will hopefully work. My granddaughter has returned from her Christmas/New Years trip to Japan and Singapore, so I do not know how much time I will have each day to work on the ballet; I guess we will see how little sleep I need.
                           

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Ballet Update:

   
The Music is coming along fine. The music for second and third scenes are both about 98 percent done, with just final editing and polishing to do. I have written two drafts of the first scene, but have started sketching out a completely new third version of the first scene last night. I have made notes on several other scenes, but have not yet put a note on the paper for them.


The current working instrumentation is:
  • A string nontet (4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cells, and bass)
  • A double reeds nontet (3 oboes, English Horn, 4 bassoon, Contra-bassoon)
  • Percussion (both pitched and un-pitched, several players)
  • Flute (maybe doubling on Piccolo and Alto).