Dead Reckoning, an EP from BTE, is scheduled to be released Tuesday November 21!
Black Tie Elephant EP release
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joke courtesy of @hemlockrecords
I’m gonna be telling this all week. My poor students. 🙂
An Eb note, a C note, and a G note walk into a bar. The barman says, “Sorry, we don’t serve minors here.”
C sends Eb a dirty look. “I told you to act natural!”
The Paver interview
Thanks to Jamie Ludwig!
http://www.chicagomusic.org/blog/interview-paver#.Uk8xga6m0ip
Whitney
Pulled out this Whitney Houston cello arrangement I started last year, to try to finish it up. Her vocal line is ToUgH. Syncopation within melisma? Check. Double dotted rhythms? Check. Super-wide vibrato that morphs into metrical ornamentation? Check. Good thing I’ve listened to The Bodyguard soundtrack so many times it’s second nature.
Helen Money at PRF Borelli’s
Here’s a short clip of Alison Chesley’s intro to her Helen Money set at Borelli’s, PRF BBQ 2013. It was awesome
Orchestra Rehearsal Warmups
Been thinking about how to do better orchestra warm-ups, more consistently. When a warm-up is good, it’s real good. It establishes a good mental state: focus and engagement for rehearsal. But when it’s bad, it’s real bad. Boring. Repetitive. Reinforcing of bad habits. Actually, when I think about my own practicing, often it’s the technical challenge of a warm-up that draws me in. Although, possible post hoc ergo propter hoc, the warm-up is always first. Either way, it’s gotta be interesting and worth doing!
Orchestra Director and clinician Michael Alexander has some ideas here.
The Paver – Trust – On Vinyl!
Check out our kickstarter. Help make it happen 🙂 
Thoughts from Yo-Yo Ma
I should share something that Yo-Yo talked about at the open Civic Orch. rehearsal I went to last month.
He addressed a concern among young musicians preparing auditions: along a continuum with traditional or ‘metrical’ performance at one end and total interpretive freedom / individualistic style on the other, on which side would it be best to land?
Yo-Yo’s response was that this dichotomy obscures the idea behind good practice. Musicians should practice every passage traditionally and also with a *variety* of different stylistic approaches. Freedom isn’t playing a piece differently than everyone else, but rather is the ability (gained through practice) to choose *in the moment* the best way to play a passage. This is the root of expressive playing and musical freedom.
the target: vibrato on demand.
Tchaik for Cello — Awesome!
‘Jennifer’ has an amazing vibrato!
Rock The Cello 