Mom and Music

Since Gray and Tanner have come along my thoughts on Mother's day tend to focus mostly on Michele.  But still, every year, my thoughts come back to my mom as well.  I suppose they linger there most days for at least a bit.  Even after 16 years I still have trouble coming to terms some times with the notion she is gone, but that is another post for another day.

Today, Mother's Day, has me thinking about how, for me, music helped me get through those first days when she passed away. I was not with her when she passed.  I was in fact on the other side of the country, and when the news reached me, the distance I felt was difficult to resolve emotionally.  It happens.  Time is what it is and life moves us as it must, but still, even now, I feel detached in some ways since I was not there.

There was one thing though that helped me to retain a kind of connection.  It may seem strange at first as I describe it, but the potency of the experience has in many ways informed every musical decision I have made since.  Perhaps every decision, musical or not.

A little more than a year before she passed I wrote a large scale orchestra piece called "Last Dance."  It was not a brilliant piece, though it did win some, mostly inconsequential, small competitions; but it was a good piece in concept.  I was very lucky, and humbled, that the University of Arizona allowed me to conduct the piece in performance, twice, as part of a student music festival.  It was a fantastic experience, though I was, to be fair, in a state of mentally and emotionally misplaced arrogance that I certainly did not appreciate its true significance at the time.

In any case, the performances were recorded and I as able to play those for my mother on a visit soon after.  She was already well in the throws of the brain cancer, but I recall how she watched the video quite intently - it required a lot of her limited focus, and she was already unable to speak much, if at all, very well - but she smiled and held my hand and for a time seemed happy.

When she passed, and I returned back home for the funeral, I asked my brother Andy to talk me though her last minutes as he had been there and I was curious to know.  As he began to tell me of those last hours, minutes, and moments, the music from "Last Dance" came flooding into my head like a detailed sound track full of every subtle nuance I could have imagined.

I have no doubt that I was projecting my own need onto the purpose of the music, but even so, it was clear to me that when given the chance music can tap into things that we otherwise would overlook.

The music gave me solace.  It allowed me to come to terms and peace with what was otherwise unbearable.  To this day it still holds me in a kind of spiritual comfort, keeping me close to my mom, God and my own sole.

That musical connection is in many ways just one of the many things my mother gave me.  Even at the end, she still was looking out for me.  Helping me.  Loving me.  It is still a fantastic gift that I treasure daily.

The drums are my problem? Seriously? Nah....

Ok, so this one is likely gonna be more of a rant than most, but so be it.

In tandem with my "write at least one complete new song every week" project (up to #73 this week, started back at the beginning of 2012) I've also been trying to get a fully functional performance rig going.  This rig has been in "development" for several additional years and has gone through so many variations that I will not list them all here.

The idea of the rig has been to push the Singer-Songwriter concept as far as I can.  In fact though the rig is intended for live performance, in truth it really is about the songwriting and finding new ways to inspire myself through the spontaneity of performance.    Easier said than done it would seem.

I posted a video several weeks ago that shows the fundamental concept:


Since then the entire rig has been modified to improve the sound quality of all the elements, but the one aspect that has been alluding me is how to handle drums and percussion.

Hold on.  Let me back up a sec. The main idea of the rig, and the video, for all it's flaws, gives the basics, it that nothing is looped or prerecorded, but that I can play the rhythm guitar, bass, percussion/drums, and even solo, all spontaneously, just as though I was using a full band.  Again, all with no loops or prerecorded bits.  Seriously.  And it works.  Really.

Actually, the main rig, after many years of dabbling in loopers and software like Ableton Live (all of which I honestly love) has turned into something that is, when I step back, honestly kinda simple.  Simple in terms of musical execution.  Well sort of.  It still takes a lot of mental concentration, but that is not a bad thing. It reminds me a good bit of when I was learning how to conduct an orchestra (wow! that feels like a lifetime ago. More on that another time...)  Over time it got far easier to keep track of all the elements so long as I kept my mental focus up generally, so I am confident that as I move throughh this self-imposed process it will get easier and easier.  Or so I naively am going to claim.  Anyway...

As I was saying/ranting, where things break down for me is with the drums and percussion element.  I've been playing with Slicers and beat sync effects (Boss SL-20, Adrenalinn III, etc.) and it just always comes out to "electronic."  That's not a cut on Electronic sounds.  Not at all.  In fact I plan to keep using the AD3 as part of the rig, but conceptually, this needs to feel more organic overall.  More acoustic.  And so the slicing of the guitar (again, check out the concept video above) is not gonna cut it.

It would be easy enough to just use a drum beat from a drum machine of some kind - again the AD3 is a perfect candidate - and while I may wind up there in the end, right now that feels to much like it's still a prerecorded bit.

I should mention that the prerecorded thing is not just 'cuz I want to have rules.  In fact it's the exact opposite.  The prerecorded stuff limits my flexibly ultimately to create the music as  I feel it. This rig cannot have any preconceived bits - beyond basic textures and sounds I suppose - or it will not be musically workable.  Once again, see the video for the concept...

In any case, what I am not trying to do is create a kind of stompbox execution to generate a bass drum.  Easy enough actually.  The other MIDI communication elements that this rig has required are in many cases far more complex - more on that another time, too.  But how to do I get the back beat?

The answer, and I hope I am not jinxing it, is to make use of some creative MIDI sync delays to the MIDI triggering itself.  (My apologies to those of you kind enough to read this who I just lost in the music tech geekery of my thoughts...)  In any case, this is posing yet another puzzle but one that I can see the end of, I believe, soon.

For those of you still with me, what got me going on this rant - yeah, I warned you, didn't I? - is that once upon a time I played drums.  A lot of drums.  I guess it just strikes me funny that all that drumming experience, or perhaps because of it, and yet it's the drums that are holding me up.

Ok.  Gotta get back to it.  End of rant.   For now.

John Lennon and CMAS and CRAS and Maricopa and on and on and on, all in April

The month of April was a pretty busy one for CMAS.  Even beyond our normal "busy."

Last Friday (4/19/13) we had the John Lennon Education Tour Bus (www.LennonBus.org) come to CMAS.  It was an amazing day to say the least.  The bus is a kind of mobile recording and film studio.  All in line with Lennon's basic philosophy on the importance of Arts education.

With CMAS in the mix is was certainly a different kind of tour date for the guys who run the bus, as we do what they do every day - just not in a mobile facility.  But in a lot of ways that is what made it so good for the CMAS students.

This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to draw direct ties to career options they can pursue in the future.  The students were blown away by the bus and the people on it and their expertise, but much of the day was spent talking to those experts about the industry.  About getting jobs like theirs. About how they can control their musical destinies and futures if they choose to do so.  It was really a wonderful experience.

So how did we get the Lennon bus to CMAS?  Well that was due to the recommendation of some of my friends at CRAS (The Conservatory Of Recording Arts And Sciences - http://www.audiorecordingschool.com) particularly Robert Brock.  The bus was going to CRAS that week anyway and he told their tour manager that as long as they were in town they must stop by CMAS.  So cool of Brock, and frankly very flattering, that he would consider CMAS an essential Phoenix destination for them.

And earlier in the week, CMAS as at CRAS anyway, for our now yearly "pilgrimage."  I've talked about this in other posts, but in brief, CRAS is very much the logical next step for many of my CMAS students.  The connects they make are just awesome.  I love taking CMSAS students there if only as it gives them some real perspective on the entire CMAS program and why I created it, and just what it can lead to.  It's always very gratifying.

The previous Friday (4/12) we did a huge show at the Maricopa Fairgrounds.  It was another awesome night for CMAS as we pushed the skills of not just our perfumers but also our producers, as we did some more testing of new gear and new processes to make our shows even more exciting but also more logistically simple - all in an effort to be able to do even more shows in the future.  Things are looking very good indeed in that regard.  More soon...

The week prior, Friday (4/5) we did another show in our Black Cat  series. I love that place.  It's not a big production for us, but it allows CMAS to stretch out a good bit without all the pressure of some of our more extravagant production shows.  It's become a very important regular gig for us.

"Works in Progress vol. 3" also came out in the first weeks of April.  And we did a bunch of things on Arcadia's campus too.  Oh, and the original Musical from last weekend, and the subsequent gig this past Wednesday at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Ok...wow!  That's a lot.  And we're not done.  What's really cool is that we are at a point now with CMAS were we can do so much, and they students do it all so well, that it feels like we are not really restricted.  Makes me almost wanna start revealing what I have planned for the not distant future for the program.  Almost.  Ha!

I will say this though:  In may we will play Black Cat on 5/10 and then a huge show at Arcadia (Song Writer Night) on 5/17.  We will also release "Works in Progress vol 4" in late May, along with hopefully (I hope I am not jinxing things) some additional CDs of both CMAS Live and Studio work.  Oh, and a slew of lunchtime shows on the main CMAS stage as we head into the end of the school year.

And yet, for all that, it's nothing compared to what's coming.  Really.  But I've already said too much.

More soon.  I promise.  You won't believe it....

Moving Music Education Forward One Small Step At A Time

Over the recent years I have to admit that I have gotten used to the notion of the Contemporary Music And Sound (CMAS) program (www.ArcadiaCMAS.com), I am fortunate to have created and get to facilitate, push the boundaries of Music Education.  I know that statement can come across as a bit arrogant, and I apologize for that, but it is not at all how I mean it, and more importantly, it is true.

This past weekend we partnered once again with our friends in the Technical Theater program at Arcadia and produced a complete, full scale musical called "The Arcadia Project." (see the plot synopsis below) And when I say "produced" I mean they students wrote it.  The script, the music, all of it.  Designed and built the sets, executed the technical production, made the program, etc.  EVERYTHING.  It was stunning.  I need to get some pictures up.  In any case...


From the press release: 

“The Arcadia Project” musical’s plot was written by Arcadia’s theater students, and is an epic story of discovery, love, and loss through the eyes of a group of high school students, their teachers, and community, as they come to terms with the fact that their original school, now remodeled, was actually designed to safely house a previously covered up alien invasion force from a distant planet. Part suspense thriller, part comedy, as the story unfolds, we learn that the new school’s design inadvertently freed the outer-space menace, now bent on revenge. As the plot progresses, through moments of deep emotion, humor and intrigue, the students learn that sometimes life is what you make of it, and that every moment counts.

The music for this all original, student production was written entirely by students in Arcadia’s acclaimed CMAS program. Not just a sound track, but a complete live musical experience, this show, with a cast that even boasts a few local Arcadia celebrities, promises to be a great evening’s entertainment for all ages.

Part of the Career and Technical Education department of the Scottsdale Unified School District, the Arcadia High School CMAS and Technical Theater programs have a long and proven history of successfully pushing the boundaries of arts educational opportunities for students, and this musical is certainly no exception. At a time when all the arts are in jeopardy across the entire state of Arizona, the students at Arcadia are hoping to show that the Technical Theater/CMAS/CTE methods they are using to create this amazing event can transform Performing Arts education into something that goes well beyond just performances, but can actually lead to real jobs in the fields they love, all while keeping the programs’ overhead costs below those of the standard Performing Arts approach. It’s a lofty goal, but one they are keen to achieve; so join us at Arcadia on April 18th, 19th, and 20th, and see for yourself just what the arts can be.



I'm going to include the program notes, and other commentary below just to give you an idea of what they did.  And I could certainly go on for quite a while about the entire project, but what matters most to me right now is the notion that we can change education for the better.  Waiting on the politicians to do it is a fools errand, so we gave the kids the ball as it were and just told them to run with it.  This show cost practically nothing to produce in comparison to a standard school musical, but the educational benefits were vastly superior. Vastly.  And the show worked.  It was legitimately a great show.  I should also mention here that as much as I am proud of CMAS, it was my friend, Richard Fairchild (Tech Theater and Drama) who really deserves the credit for coordinating the entire event.  Yes, this was a partnership, but someone has to be in charge overall, and thank goodness it was him and not me.  Also, we did bring in Michele as a bit of a ringer to help with vocal coaching the cast, so that was also a huge advantage we had.  Anyway...

If you missed it the good news is that we are just getting started.  There will be more.  Lots more.


Here's how one school board member described it:

"I had the pleasure last night of seeing The Arcadia Project, and wanted to let you know how much I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was great fun, and the songs were just terrific.  I’m so impressed that everything was written and composed by these incredibly talented students - you could see that that their hearts and souls were in this production."  

- Barbara Perleberg, Governing Board Member, Scottsdale Unified School District



Here are the program notes and commentary:

Program Notes

One behalf of the entire cast, crew, writers, composers, musicians, and everyone involved, thank you for joining us for this performance.  It’s a lot to produce a school musical – any school musical.  This one has proven to be not just a fantastic challenge, but also incredibly rewarding.  We are immeasurable proud of all the students who have taken part in this process.

School musicals are fraught with countless issues.  Which show can we afford the rights to?  Which show do we even have the students to effectively cast for?  Which show can we afford the production costs of?  Which show will be interesting to the students?  To the audience?  Which show will give the most opportunities for real learning? And so very many others that it got us thinking: Why can’t the students write their own musical?

The truth is, they can.  In fact, as we are now on the other side, we can tell you, it’s not just that they can, the fact is they should.  Just on the practical side, so many issues go away instantly. 

This project is really something new.  Not just a new show, but a new approach to the Arts as a whole.   In truth it’s an approach we’ve been fostering in the Technical Theater, CMAS, and the Career and Technical Education (CTE) department in general for quite some time.

So thank you again, to everyone involved in this process that has lead up to this performance.  We are so very proud of every single student; humbled to have been able to play a small part in their success here; and truly glad you could join us for this event.  And now, on with the show!

Why CTE?

Career and Technical Education is designed to help prepare students for careers straight out of high school.  The CTE courses at Arcadia require that students meet not only a rigorous curriculum based on academic and practical competencies, but also that they demonstrate their skills in projects like the one you will see tonight.

Right now there is a push, nationwide for something called “Common Core.” In its simplest terms Common Core is the idea that underneath all the educational opportunities and experiences a student gets, there are a set of fundamental skills and concepts that are essential to their success, no matter what field they ultimately go into.  Right now, those fundamentals are focused nationally on English, Math, and, to a large extent, technology.  From those stem all kinds of things. Science.  The Arts.  And more.

But the Arts integration can get tricky, and the world of education is changing.   This is a fact.  So why can’t the Arts change too?  The truth is that at the heart of pretty much everything CMAS and Theater do at Arcadia lies that simple truth.  We approach everything we do with the mindset of “Just how far can we push the limits of Arts education?  How ‘real world’ can we make this? 10 years from now, can this experience directly impact and help a student be gainfully employed in a field they love?”

Essentially, to us, it means that while you must maintain a strong appreciation for the past, the real goal is to create something new.  Something of your own.  In pretty much every educational theory model the idea of “creation” is always – always – the highest level of learning, and we always aim to give our students every opportunity to do just that: create something of their own.  Hence, we now have a student written musical.

The Process

How does a show like this happen?

Arcadia CMAS incorporates real world musicianship with songwriting, live audio production and recording studio skills. As an aspect of that process, each song you will here tonight was solely written by students, and many were released on the first two CDs available free through the CMAS website, www.ArcadiaCMAS.com.

Part of the curriculum for the Arcadia Theater program involves scriptwriting, and so in early January a group of writers sat down with an outline, access to songwriters, and began to tell a story.  At the core of this musical, beyond the spectacle and larger plot, is a story about very real teenagers.

In the process of creating this show the students used a number of current and advanced technologies – a hallmark of CTE - and many of those technologies are present in their application this evening.  From the recording studios in CMAS to the scriptwriting collaborations of the Theater students via online script writing and communication tools, to the set design, and a host of others, this show happened not just because the students wanted to do it, but because they received the training to actually make it happen.   The entire show had to be completely written in under 3 weeks in order to ensure there would be enough time to cast, build the set, execute the technical elements, and rehearse. 

Everything in this show came from the students. Everything. The music, the script, the design of the show tonight - costumes, props, even the fliers on the doors – all of it was created by students working together using professional equipment and industry standard practices, built using online technology and modern media, meeting cross curriculum goals and thinking at the creative level.

The notion that these students have worked hard simply does not even come close to describing what they have all put in to this production.


So now that this show is over, what's next?  Well, for starters we have several more CMAS shows coming up.   Then there is the vol. 4 CD  of our "Works in Progress" series to be released in May.  And there will be more shows like the one we did this weekend.  Even as this one was in production we were mapping out a way to do this as an annual event.  A totally original show every year.  beyond it being cool, the fact is that the clear educational opportunities this provided the students, honestly mandate we do it again.  More soon...