Quarter Notes ~ 02.17.06 ~
I've decided to revamp my website - not some major rework, but just to add some updated info like new projects and ideas. And since I don't keep a journal or diary, and I don't have one of those neat little gadgets like a Palm Pilot or a Blackberry, this is as good a place as anything to dump my random thoughts in .... before I forget them!
~ 02.22.06 ~
Just finished an interesting string arrangement job. I was asked to arrange for a string quartet 7 specific pieces for a wedding. But these are not your usual suspects like Bach or Mozart or even Andrew Lloyd Webber. They included songs by Pearl Jam, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Guns 'n Roses ... and "The Imperial March" from "Star Wars" (a.k.a. "Darth Vadar's Theme") which apparently will be played when the groom and his groomsmen walk down the aisle! I would LOVE to see the faces of the wedding guests when that piece is performed!
~ 03.07.06 ~
I started doing more small-scale recording with my basic equipment. Last night I got to help my friend Andrew who is a wonderful harpist and a music student record a few short samples of his playing for a demo CD. When the option of using a laptop computer to set up a remote, relatively handy recording facility proved unsuccessful, I had to choose between dragging Andrew's 100-kg pedal harp up 2 narrow flights of stairs at my studio and moving my studio computer and all the necessary tools to his practice room at U of T. It was an easy choice - I packed up my studio and went to school! It was definitely a worthwhile experience .... I was given a two-hour private concert of some beautiful and virtuostic harp music!
~ 03.20.06 ~
Last week during March break .... hmm ... March break - a term that hasn't meant much to me in a long time, but now that I'm teaching part-time at University Settlement Centre, I actually DO get a March break! .... Anyways, last week I went out to Durham (two and a half hours northwest of Toronto) along with Michel Plourde (multi-instrumentalist and composer) to visit my good friend Philomene Hoffman. Philomene is a prolific songwriter who used to play gigs with me and Michel in a 4-piece band. Since she moved up to Durham, we haven't been playing together regularly. So this was a great opportunity to reconnect and explore many areas of music again. We got some new tunes down on tape and shared some ideas. But above all, it was nice to see her again.
~ 03.22.06 ~
Last week at Philomene's place, when chatting about music from the different eras, the always-insightful Michel came up with a question. We often look back in time and talk about the 70's, or the 80's and 90's. In 4 years' time, we'll be faced with the need to refer to the decade 2000 - 2009. But WHAT are we going to call this era? We don't have a term for this period, at least not yet. Calling it the "0's" is kinda silly. So I thought about it the other day and came up with a few ideas ..... since we've been referring to the year 2000 as the new millenium, perhaps this decade can be called the Millenium's? Or Millenia's? Millen's? Millie's? Let's see ... 70's, 80's, 90's, Millie's .... That's it! I am going to patent the word "Millie's"!!
~ 03.30.06 ~
Do we live in a righthanded world? My new violin student certainly thinks so! He's an adult beginner who is a lefty and he is convinced that he'd be more comfortable playing the fiddle lefthanded (i.e. playing the bow on the left). I have always felt that playing the violin, unlike playing golf or writing, there isn't one dominant hand or arm - BOTH hands are equally important and need to be as agile. Perhaps that's why I have never seen a lefthanded violin (which would have to be specially constructed) being sold in a store. Still, my student is on a mission to find this lefthanded violin .... either that or commission a violin store to convert a regular violin into a lefthanded one.
~ 04.06.06 ~
Well, guess what? My student found one! What would we do without E-Bay?! I think this is the start of a very interesting teaching experience, and I'm excited by it!!
~ 08.16.06 ~
Looks like my typing fingers have gotten lazy for quite a few months here! Just some notes on what's been happening in the last little while ... I've been involved in a few new and really exciting projects, some of which have been advertised in the "Upcoming events" page. First is an acoustic 80's band called the McFlies. We are a 7-piece acoustic band playing only 80's songs - our way! Please see www.mcflies.com. Then I hooked up with a couple of people from CityTV News in a Celtic band called Up All Night. We've done a bunch of gigs around St Paddy's Day and early summer at some Toronto Irish pubs. I'm also part of an improvisation band called The Cliff. Everything we do is improvised. Stuff that we come up with, man, it surprises me every time!!
~ 10.09.2006 ~
I participated in the "Shock the Monkey Remixed" contest hosted by Peter Gabriel and Real World Records last month and had a really good time. Apart from learning more about remixing techniques and using whatever technology I could get my hands on, I gained some insight into this whole remixing/producing world. I am still very much a novice when it comes to this type of work, but it was very interesting and enlightening to see the different approaches taken by musicians and DJ's or MC's. During the last month and a half, I felt more and more connected with my studio and my little ProTools setup, and for the first time in my life, I found myself RUSHING to work every time I was headed to my studio because I had an idea and I wanted to lay down some tracks ASAP! ... and almost got a speeding ticket a couple of times!! |
