A random link led me to a series of fantastic tonal toys. Some of these are simply diversions, and some are elaborate programs that can be used to create amazing compositions. Here’s a quick run-down of what I found…

Pulsate

Think wind chimes. This little Flash app by Andre Michelle is hypnotic and addictive.  Clicking on the black work area will create a circle that expands from the click-point.  The circle will continue to expand until it touches another circle, so you need to create at least two for this thing to work.  When two circles touch a bell-like tone is generated, and the circles reverse direction.  If they had been expanding they now contract.  A contracting circle will contract until it reaches a single point, then start expanding again.

The pitch of the tone is determined by the size of circles.  A larger circle will create a deeper tone, and a smaller one a higher pitch. An interval is created, but sometimes the larger circle’s pitch is so low that it’s hardly audible.  It sounds like the app is tuned to a pentatonic scale to minimize dissonance, much like a set of wind chimes would be be tuned.

Rhythm is determined by the expansion rates of the various circles.  You can create very complex patterns  by positioning circles closer to or farther away from each other.  Circles within circles also create neat patterns.  I find it fascinating to start with a simple pattern of three circles, and gradually make the pattern more complex by adding more circles.

Here’s a short video of one of my creations.  However, I suggest that you follow the link and create your own to get the full sensation. (more…)

This past weekend the Greenville Chorale joined forces with the Greenville Symphony for a concert entitled “Inspiring Voice” featuring the works of Leonard Bernstein and Guiseppi Verdi. It was probably one of the most enjoyable and stirring concerts we’ve done, and I think all went very well.

Local music critic Ann Hicks had this to say about the concert…

Bombastic choral music at the heart of opera combined with modern nods to ancient text comprised the Greenville Symphony Orchestra’s final Masterworks concert of the 2009-2010 season.

The concert, led by maestro Edvard Tchivzhel, fused orchestral might to the vocal power of the excellent Greenville Chorale in a program titled “Inspiring Voices” at the Peace Concert Hall on Saturday night.

The entire evening proved to be both vocally and instrumentally inspirational.

Works by America’s incomparable 20th century composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein filled the first half of the program, in which “Chichester Psalms” was bookended by the Overture to “Candide” — a jewel in any orchestra’s repertoire — and the operetta’s closing duet, “Make Our Garden Grow,” elegantly delivered by the entire Chorale.

The deeply inspirational “Psalms” provided a perfect platform for the Chorale and for boy soprano Caleb Smith. The seventh-grader at Prince of Peace Catholic School, coached by Alan Reed, interpreted the 23rd Psalm in a clear, sensitive tone, phrasing the difficult Hebrew phonetics with confidence. His performance would have been even more compelling if the microphone had been placed closer to him.

The Chorale’s massive vocal power found a perfect outlet in the Psalms’ bold sonorities and transformative melodic passages. The singers delivered its sheer beauty with soul and raw energy, definitely making a joyful noise unto the lord. Spotted in the midst of the Chorale, singing his heart out, was its fine artistic director, Bingham Vick Jr.

The second half of the program was all Verdi, all the time. The vocal and instrumental narratives from the Italian composer’s vast operatic repertoire included, among others, the auto-da-fe “Spuntato Ecco,” from “Don Carlo,” the stirring “Anvil Chorus” from “Il Trovatore” and, for a passionate, marching conclusion, “Gloria all’Egitto” from “Aida.”

The music was very challenging.  We had to learn rapid-fire Italian and Hebrew, and my having braces didn’t help with that process.  However, as with all things that are a challenge, often the rewards justify the hard work.  It wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that the music actually became fun for us.  Now that the concert is over, I find myself humming the melodies.

I feel fortunate to be able to perform with a group like this and do music of this caliber.  I’m not a huge opera fan, but it’s impossible to not be taken away by Verdi’s Anvil Chorus (complete with brake drum anvils.)  Everyone should have a chance to at least hear this music live.  There is nothing like it.

This is a concert weekend for us. The Greenville Chorale is performing a selection of works by Leonard Bernistein and Giuseppi Verdi. The first performance last night went very well (more on that in a later post).

The repertoire called for some unusual instruments, including two brake drums hit by standard hammers for Verdi’s Anvil Chorus, and a sheet of metal struck to simulate thunder in Verdi’s Witches Chorus from Macbeth.

However, the instrument that really puzzled us and caught our attention was the cimbasso.  As shown in the photo at the top of this post, it looks like a cross between a trombone and a tuba.  It turns out that is pretty much it’s function, too.  It fills a niche by providing an instrument in the bass range of a tuba, but with more of the tonal qualities of a trombone. (more…)

The other day I walked into our office and heard “Roxanne” by The Police playing on the stereo in our lobby.  It was turned down low, but Andy Summer’s dry guitar pattern and Sting’s distinct voice are hard to miss.  This wasn’t an arrangement of “Roxanne” scored for the 101 Strings or some such nonsense.  This was the original 1978 recording.  Apparently it was also being fed into our intercom system, because I heard it softly playing as I walked down the hall.

Normally I don’t pay attention to the office music.  As usual the system was tuned to an easy-listening radio station that’s just one tick above Muzak.  However, this song struck me as odd.  Was it really appropriate to have a song about dating a prostitute playing in a school district office?

When this song premiered 30 years ago it was quite radical.  The sparse, dry instrumentation with a simple quasi-Reggae beat was a departure from either the disco dance beats or heavily orchestrated progressive rock of the era.  While double-entendre was common in lyrics, this one was fairly straight-forward – “Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light, walk the streets for money, you don’t have to sell your body to the night…”  The lyrics could be heard clearly, and it was far below the acceptable norm for the time.

But, even the radical eventually becomes commonplace.  Most people walking into our office would have completely tuned it out.  Now punk rockers such as the Ramones don’t sound as radical as they once did. Songs from even further back, such as the Who, Rolling Stones, and The Beatles are hardly given a thought if encountered in the background, and they were just as radical for their time.  Heck, back in medieval times a major third interval was radical.  Things change.

Even if the radical does become more widely accepted, I’m still a firm believer in the appropriateness of certain songs and types of music for certain settings.   I’m not a prude – I don’t believe in a wholesale banning of certain types of music, such as what Bob Jones University does with its students.  I like loud raucous music, and even some that’s fairly radical even by today’s standards.  However, I don’t think it belongs everywhere.  For example, I’m very much a traditionalist when it comes to church music, and have never really cared for contemporary Christian.

That being said, the purpose of the radical is to shake things up, especially with traditionalists such as myself.  When done with purpose, it can be very effective – either for good or for bad.  (Notice I said “effective” and not “appropriate.”) Its power lies in the unexpected, and the departure from the norm.  When I hear a great ground-breaking song like “Roxanne” casually mixed into a school setting, it strikes me as being worse than inappropriate.  I get the feeling that the song has lost something.  It’s been tossed onto the scrap heap of most popular music, and can now be ignored as background white noise.  And that is unfortunate.

Tuesday night Laura and I attended the Furman Singers’ concert. It was the last tour concert with Dr. Bingham Vick at the helm. This May Vick will retire from Furman after 40 years as a professor there.

In most respects the concert was typical of the Singers’ tour concerts. The first half featured major choral works, each 4 – 6 minutes long. There was some Orlando Gibbons, Brahms, and new works by Mark Kilstofe and Daniel Gawthrop. The Singers performed with their usual precision, and this portion of the concert was beautiful.

It has been a Singers tradition to end the first half with Ringwald’s arrangement of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Former Singers are always invited on stage to participate. This being Bing’s last tour concert, it looked like the entire audience was moving toward the stage, as a hoard of Singers Alumni came forward.

The second half is always much sillier, with lighter works and jazz pieces. Some years the silliness really detracts from the music, but this time it wasn’t too bad. The penultimate piece was a fitting send-up of choral conducting, in general. Lastly came the traditional Brown Eyes, and with its sentimental notes the song left the house in tears. There was a reception for Bing and Judy after the concert.

And so an era comes to a close. Bing will continue to conduct the Greenville Chorale, so I’ll still see hm every Monday night at rehearsals. Hugh Floyd takes over as conductor of the Furman Singers next year. Hugh was at Furman the same time I was and has been director of choral activities at Oberlin College. He will bring some new blood to the group, but also an appreciation of its traditions.

My association with Furman Singers has always been a love/hate relationship. I loved the music, but never really got along with the Singers of my era. I don’t really know why. I just didn’t seem to fit in. I was never invited to go on tour with them, and was completely shocked when Bing invited me to audition for student conductor. I didn’t get it, but was flattered to be one of four invited to audition, nonetheless. Even so, I’ve not attended any of the Singers reunions, but have come back for the tour concerts.

After Furman I developed a good relationship with Bing and Judy through the Chorale and the Chamber Ensemble, and am glad that relationship will continue. Bing leaves behind quite a legacy of musical excellence with Singers and with Furman in general. 40 years is a long tenure, and his retirement is well-earned.