simple
as i mentioned in my last post, in lieu of a solo drumset show at the hammer museum, i was commissioned by wildup to write a piece for their big december 8 concert, the last and largest of their residency at the hammer. the piece i wrote is called 'simple.' it is a text-based score, and in it i ask five or six players to work with one musical parameter at a time--pitch height, dynamics, rhythm/meter, and timbre.
the picture above is my practice writing the title, for use on the title page. i got rid of the little hook at the top of the 's,' i pushed the other letters closer to it, i adjusted the height of the 'l,' made sure the 'e' was open, found the angle i wanted the text to lean forward at, etc. it was really interesting to me, having not practiced anything but single characters since fourth grade. i then slowly honed in on exactly the layout i wanted for the title page, over ten or so attempts, adjusting the proportions, line lengths, and borders by eighths of an inch. play this nerdy game.
i know that to any graphic designer, and many people with better eyes than me, this is pathetic. i'm okay with that because i found it extremely funny that i would spend hours getting just the title page right on a piece called 'simple.' the title page! it could just be a beautiful irony, maybe it's one of those 'little question, big answer' deals, but i don't think it's just crazy ramblings. i guess i figure that if it shows that i took time to get this just so, that i think it will be worth some of your time. i would be perfectly fine with people judging this score by its cover. it reminds me of a keith jarrett quote, 'timing is the complex part of simplicity.' go see the concert, the thing sounds cool too.
in other news:
1) please listen to the anthropic ensemble's ep on our new bandcamp page.
2) the january 2013 issue of modern drummer hits shelves on december 4th. i have two rhythm etudes in it, and it looks, other than that, to be a really stellar issue.
3) i'm playing with 'bubbeleh' in long beach tomorrow night (11/29).
4) huell howser is retiring.
thanks for coming. tell your friends.