Here’s an article about Schelomo, a beautiful piece for cello and orchestra by Ernst Bloch.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:k9qXCCdRvLIJ:www.jeffreysolow.com/Writings/BlochSchelomo.doc

I played the piece as part of my junior recital at UIUC.   I chose Schelomo mostly out of fear and laziness;  Laurian Laufman was able to get the rest of the string faculty to agree that it would satisfy the concerto requirement and it seemed shorter than most of the alternatives.   It turned out to be not only a beautiful work (the recital itself enhanced by the piano accompaniment of Samir Golescu) but also not musically easy at all.  One never knows what one is getting into beforehand, now does one?

…the uniquely captivating stage manner of their leader,  opener Canasta outdid headliners Elsinore at Lincoln Hall last night.     The 9-member Canasta put on a tight, high-energy show complete with a big-bandesque lead vocalist, electric violinist, 3-member horn section and dual keyboards– one of them played by Angie.     Elsinore too repped the bowed strings,  bringing a full string quartet on for the show.   The intricate string work provided an interesting and at times amusing counterpoint to Elsinore’s pop-metal/rock guitars.  Although the harmonies were beautiful, Elsinore’s scoring didn’t have the spot-on perfection and punchy delivery of the clearly older and more confident Canasta horn section.    While I realize that 9 people on a stage (including horns) is a pretty fool-proof formula for a good show,  I’m rarely so impressed by a live act.  Definitely check out Canasta’s next Chicago shows Aug. 27 at transistor and October 3rd at Beat Kitchen.

I’m back to thinking about how to amplify my acoustic cello for live use. I have a new plan. It’s the following: 1 Mixer/preamp, 1 Realist, 1 AT Pro 30.

With the mixer/preamp, I should be able to eliminate some of the low-rumble coming from the piezo, and balance that transducer with input from a condenser pointed toward the fingerboard.  That way I could get some fingerboard action sounds in the mix, as well as some of the percussiveness that I’m hearing from the plectrum.

Portland Cello Project and The 1900s. It was a good show, short and to-the-point. Only flaw was that the cello group was a little under-amplified. The Portland group is in a similar genre-transcending vein to Turtle Island String Quartet. They played some jazz, some Rihanna, some Pantera, and closed with the Mario Bros theme.

are improving 🙂

…I spent about 8 straight hours at Soapbox playing the  electric cello through the Presonus, into Ableton.

Aaaaaaaand was deeply dissatisfied.   Processed cello,  whether it’s done by a bunch of stomp boxes, guitar fx processors or Ableton Live is still just, yeah, processed cello.    The real cello — the wooden one — taken to its acoustic limits is a far more rewarding and deep experience.   Sooooo this may signal a return to the fishman piezo and preamp/EQ, and a move away from the electric.   A return to good old-fashioned mic’ing.  Yes indeed.

Problem is,  the fishmen are lost.

Nothin’ Less Cafe was hosting this awesome display of electronic toys during Milwaukee Arts Fest.   A couple guys from Pumpingstation:One were on hand to explain exactly how the toys were interfacing with Ableton Live and and to talk electrical engineering with other so-inclined visitors.

…may just be a shortened dowel from Menards. About 14 inches, sturdy but lightweight.

Store length is 3 feet, so I look around for a suitable cutting tool. First thing I see are some bolt cutters. Awesome. Perfect. I pick them up and get ready to cut. An employee rounds the corner. I drop the bolt cutters and mutter something like ‘too small’ and develop a deep interest in various types of pliers and escape to a new aisle as soon as I deem it’s safe.

Next step I ask the next available employee in the “Tools” section whether he couldn’t cut the dowel for me. He looks at first the dowel then at me with an admixture of incredulity and distaste.

-Cut it?
-Yeah. With um maybe your boxcutter or something…?

I look meaningfully to his side, where all hardware store employees carry a boxcutter in a leather or nylon holster. Nothing. He looks at me like I’m speaking a foreign language.

The dowel is obviously too small to warrant a power tool, but wouldn’t break cleanly if I tried to DIY it. I feel I’m justified in asking for help.

He looks around helplessly. We walk into the saw aisle, where he spends some time looking at various saws before selecting one and removing the cardboard packaging. I hold the two dowels over someone’s cart while he saws them. It’s particularly weird because a) the sawdust is getting all over the merchandise in the cart and b) he’s trying to saw both at the same time and they’re round, so yeah.

But it gets done. Another satisfied customer.