Maryanne Amacher (1938-2009)

I have to admit, I don't know much about this composer, which is embarrassing. After reading this New York Times obituary, I hope that this online archive will provide more information. (You can subscribe to it via RSS feed.) If anyone knows of any websites or YouTube videos about Amacher, please let me know.



Speaking of electronic music, my professor told me today that now there is a stand-alone version of RTcmix. (I mean, you could always use command-line RTcmix, but for some reason I am really dense as to how to talk to it using the console.) I'm not sure if I should give away the link...

These are the days my friends.

Einstein on the Beach was performed this weekend in Los Angeles. Before I link two reviews, here is a Lego rendition of the opera (a very truncated rendition):



Here is the LA Times review.

Here is the Sequenza21 review.

Klinghoffer Never Performed in LA?

Music review: 'Death of Klinghoffer' at last

Love for Inanimate Objects

This is something I've been anticipating for a while now: the arrival of newer, shinier, and mostly *faster* computer. It finally arrived on Tuesday.

Here's what my last computer looked like:



Okay, that was fun, but really:



The old(er) computer is on the left, and the newer one is on the right.

And here is my new computer:



Am I happy with this new shiny (refurbished) MacBook? Yes, I pretty much am. It is running faster, more efficiently, and I can actually watch Hulu episodes without blips. (I guess I've been missing out on lots of TV shows, like the new one with Nathan Fillion. Dang.) Even my cat likes it so much she has to plot herself *right on top of my arm and cut off its circulation* just so she can be right next to the thing.



But, I must admit I'm sad - sad that my very first Mac has become obsolete. Yes, my iBook was my very first Mac. It was new (and refurbished) at the time. I was so enamored with it. You see, I've been a closeted Mac user my whole life, and when my iBook came in the mail, I knew I was finally coming out. At first my dad didn't approve, but I think he's mostly okay with it. Mostly.

I was so happy with my new computer, I almost never parted with it. I took it with me everywhere: work, school, camping, road trips to Montréal, concerts, you name it, my iBook came with me. We went on plane trips together - my iBook accompanied me on my first European trip to Croatia in 2006. I would watch my computer sleep. It looked so peaceful and beautiful, happily napping while a small white light near the clasp would inhale and exhale silently. When my cats came to join the household in 2007, my cats said hello, affectionately purring while rubbing their cute little noses on the computer screen.

But, alas, all good relationships with inanimate objects have to come to an end. After I downloaded Xcode tools for Tiger, I only had about 6 GB of hard drive left. It was so achy and arthritic: it would wince in pain whenever I ran Sibelius 6 or Max 5, showing me spinning beach balls of death each time these applications would run. Other applications would occasionally crash in frustration. Getting up in the morning was harder for my poor little iBook, for it was getting old. Or was already old.

So, it was time to take my poor little iBook and send it to a retirement home. (I am not pulling the plug, you sicko.) I have removed some applications since Tuesday. Unregistered my copy of Sibelius 6. And I am patiently transferring old files (like emails and iCal calendars) to the new machine. In a few days, my iBook will get a good reformating. And it will happy hum away when I turn it on to visit.

The Beginnings of a Piece

I figure now is a good time to finally put notes onto paper for this wind ensemble piece I'm writing. Admittedly, I've been a little apprehensive about it. What do you do with all of that color? How will I orchestrate this? And most importantly, how on earth do I begin a new piece of music?

One day (during the summer) I was bored out of my mind and I Googled neon signs. Neon signs have lots of color, right?
Um, have you tried searching for pictures of neon signs on the internet? It's fruitless; almost trashy. They make neon signs for everything. And they are best kept lit.

I was also searching for images of cool buildings. One really cool building: In 2004 the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters was completed. (Why is it that after I move, Los Angeles erects some pretty awesome buildings? Bleh.)

So, this is what the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters looks like:


It was designed by Thom Mayne, Pritzker-Prize-winning architect who recently designed floating houses.

Admittedly, this building looks like the Death Star, but less spherical.

This building also looks like my gym, a place not as feared as the Death Star, but inflicts pain no less:


So, okay, back to the Caltrans building: What really caught my eye was this public neon sculpture in the lobby:


And, after lots of Google-searching, I found that Keith Sonnier designed this light sculpture entitled "Motordom."

Motordom is the largest public art installation in Los Angeles; it's four stories high. I wish I could actually see this sculpture (alas, I am in Cincinnati), but I enlisted my dad to take some pictures (thanks, dad!!).

If you want to see more photos of this installation, click here. The first few I stole from the internet, and the rest my dad took.

I'm hoping these neon lights will provide some inspiration for the piece. If not, well, I don't have any better ideas.

Post-Post Composing!

I had this cactus once, which was given to me as a gift. The idea was, I wouldn't kill it. Unfortunately, I did. And, if I don't post something soon, my blog will also die.

So anyway, I thought I'd post something that I'm stealing from Dennis Bathory-Kitsz, who posted this yesterday.

Composers’ Rules for the Post-Postmodern Era

Ten Rules about You

1. Show no passion or deep emotions; even better, be inarticulate or make ironic pop references.
2. Do not discuss or even hold great ideas, except to quote from others (online, use many links).
3. Be sure to collaborate—unless you are an iconoclast, which gets better (if less frequent) press.
4. Focus; do not acquire broad non-musical skills, which will brand you a dilettante.
5. Hold fast to a compositional ‘school’ and stylistic network, but deny it thoroughly.
6. Utterly reject modernism, and deny that it ever held fascination; in fact, rewrite history and re-interpret past composers’ intentions.
7. Hold a guitar; there’s nothing better to show you’re not an elitist (see #7 below). [NOTE: I think you can also play in a laptop orchestra. Did you know the guys at Princeton were playing with Wii remotes?! I mean, seriously!!!]
8. Pretend you enjoy all kinds of music, and show your player in shuffle mode to prove it; be sure to reveal your love for Schubert (or any unassailable past composer).
9. Categorically state that you never read reviews.
10. At all times, deny your deep desire for recognition.

Ten Rules about Your Music

1. Adding a beat will redeem your music, especially if it has no other qualities.
2. Be diverse and make many references, but do not go deep (if you detect depth, switch to irony).
3. Audiences should feel, not think; this is absolute, and forgetting it will result in an epic fail.
4. Keep your music short; long music is suspect, unless it’s written by a recognized nonpop star.
5. Always use at least one instrument from another culture, but write for it unidiomatically.
6. Develop unique performance techniques which will guarantee focus on you (see #10 above).
7. Reject performance or compositional technique, unless you are holding a guitar (see #7 above).
8. Never title your work by its form (and avoid form anyway) but be clever or (if you want performances) geographical, moody or patriotic; avoid 20th-century-style abstract names.
9. Record your music badly in concert; awkward field recordings underscore your authenticity.
10. Incorporate improvisation, and insist you always have.

Five Corollaries for Electroacoustic Composers

1. At all costs avoid using ‘music’ to describe that sonic thing you do.
2. Make your technology as cool as possible, even if you have no creative ideas for it.
3. Make your technology look homemade, even if someone else built it for you.
4. If you can’t design and can’t build, call what you do circuit bending (see also #7 above).
5. Use the most obscure software possible, especially if it demands you write scripts or programs.