This has been quite the summer so far. First off, I have the best job in the world! I get paid to dress like a pioneer every day and make music with some amazing people and sometimes even get paid to go to things like Fantasy Con and promote the park (hence the picture). That was particularly interesting since I even got to add the make-up factor to my costuming. And the people watching. The people-watching at Fantasy Con was quite good and I was impressed with how open and comfortable everyone was. Unfortunately some of the girls got particularly comfortable at the store located next to our booth that sold bustiers and corsets. No comment.
Then, just to underscore how cool the people I work with are, we had a big murder mystery party, with costumes and all, and had a little too much fun figuring out why our co-worker was dead. I love murder mystery parties!
Well, I suppose there is one thing, but it's just that sometimes I get so fatigued from being out in the sun all day that I have very little energy when I make it home. That reflects itself in the fact that I haven't posted in a very long time, especially with music. I try, but it just doesn't happen sometimes. Because of that I sometimes feel like I've completely neglected this blog which is sad when the whole reason I started it was to force myself to step out of my comfort zone and compose things frequently. Sigh.
But I've finally finished another piece! Originally it was supposed to be a choral piece but I recorded it as a string piece and it's going to be for my musical I'm writing. It's only about half of the song, but something is better than nothing right now and at least this time I fiddled and actually wrote my fiddlings down which means I'll be more likely to come back and finish it later.
Again, please let me know what you think and I hope everyone is having an absolutely awesome summer! (Despite the heat. Horrible, horrible heat lately in Utah. Ugh.) :)
I don't know what happened this week but it was crazy. Somehow after consecutive late rehearsals with the choirs and orchestras I was able to complete a 4 page paper, read two novella for class, compiled a resume, had an interview, represented the college in two recruiting trips, and may still have time for pie tonight. Thank heavens next week is Thanksgiving.
Late rehearsals for what you ask? I have to admit, as time consuming it has been, I've been lucky to have the great opportunity to perform with the USU Symphony Orchestra Holst's Hymn of Jesus and Scriabin's Prometheus. Some people may have no idea what that means. Here's the nitty gritty.
Scriabin was a legitimately crazy Russian composer. I say crazy because he thought he was God. He thought this so much that his final piece, Mysterium, was meant to bring about Armageddon. Clearly it didn't and Scriabin is long dead. The coolest part is that he liked to experiment with other senses in combination with music, so in our case he intended Prometheus to be performed with a light show but due to the lack of technology in the early 20th century that never happened. However many universities are trying to bring this to life lately and Utah State is the next to do so!
All these pictures are from a rehearsal last night so you can see the sort of things they're doing with these lights. The music is beautiful though highly neo-tonal and the lights are notated in the score with each colour and effect correlating to a particular note or key. Sure, this performance runs the risk of giving people headaches, but those without those intolerances are in for a spectacular evening! It may not be the most exciting thing I've been a part of, but I have to admit this is pretty cool!
Sometimes I feel like I have the most active social life when I'm sitting at home alone on the 4th of July because the person I thought I had plans with told me otherwise with one days' notice. Ever have that happen? Don't get me wrong, I have lots of friends, but when you have not much time it's hard to make much plan (yes, I know how that sounds). I decided to at least be a little productive and actually post at least twice in a single summer month! Look at me being all wise with my time (I say after having just turned off Food Network following a three hour stint)!
To those who actually read and comment on things, that really helps me out a great deal. Obviously if my goal is to write a musical, even if it never hits broadway, I want to at least know what people are thinking of the rough drafts I develop. I still wish I could actually get some live recordings with vocals of some of this stuff so it's not all so lackluster, but c'est la vie ("La vie!" :))
Earlier in March I posted a rough draft of a song I named "Call Me" from this same musical Pride I've been working on. I finally got around to playing around with some ideas for lyrics. I mentioned in the original post that the song idea and melody came to me when I was half asleep, well that included lyrics as well. Unfortunately even the next morning I forgot nearly all the lyrics that had come to my head. They may not have even been that interesting anyway - I was half unconscious at the time, for crying out loud! The only things that stuck were the first two lines of the chorus, which is why they repeat. Keep in mind also that this is a rough draft, so don't be too harsh.
One thing I've noticed is that I'm not that good at creating stories (unless they're stories like Lewis Carroll would write, because I'm really good at nonsense stories - maybe one day I'll post "The Adventures of the Peach and the Apricot"), however I'm decent at satirizing my own life or reworking experiences I am highly familiar with. Lyrics sort of follow the same suit. This is one reason why it can be hard for me to share things because, when it comes to stuff for this show, it's automatically kind of personal. I just want to help others out from the things that I've learned, and this song is meant to give the sort of advice I received from many great friends in my life.
When life hits us hard we often just see all the bad.
It leaves us so frightened, bitter, so angry and sad.
Sometimes when that hits
It's easy to give up,
To throw in the towel,
But, buddy, please don't shut me out.
I'm reaching out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
You're feeling lost and depressed,
Just know I'm here by your side
And that I'll never rest
To see you safely home.
No, you're not alone.
I've watched you so long, I've seen you have courage, be strong.
To see you like this, I have to admit - it seems wrong.
What happened to joy?
What happened to laughter?
Denying yourself,
Ignoring our pleas and our shouts,
Please just reach out.
Call me, call me when the sun goes down.
Call me, call me when the lights go out.
I know you're feeling alone,
But that's so far from what's real.
You have your friends by your side,
And if you'll just kneel
And ask Him for that peace,
You'll feel that happy release.
Call me, I'll be there by your side.
Never surrender.
Keep smiling through.
Call me.
These are a few pictures of some of my amazing friends who have given this sort of advice to me in the last couple of years. Yes, I'm aware the pictures aren't the greatest, but I suppose that can also protect the identities of the innocent! :)
I know I have so many avid readers that were sitting around wondering in their spare time "I wonder why Jordan hasn't really posted anything lately" and becoming very concerned.
Now that I've put my lame attempt at ego to rest, I will still apologise that I haven't tried hard enough to keep writing. One of the reasons I started blogging was to push myself to write and produce things more frequently and actually get working on all the projects I've been making for myself, and yet that hasn't happened. Oh, well. At least I'm trying to get on it now.
You always tell yourself that summer will be the time that you will work on all the things you don't have time for during the school year, and yet I personally get so busy during the summer that I don't want to spend my free time doing anything except lying on a couch and vegging out after work. I can't complain though since I love my summer job and wouldn't rather be doing anything else!
So here's something very rough I put together tonight. I found I had some free time and finished plucking out a crude melody and accompaniment on the piano and just wanted to see what some of you thought of it. It's going in the show "Pride" I think I mentioned in an earlier blog post and will be sung by the female lead to the male lead who is offstage. After some tweaks I think it will be pretty good. Thoughts? Musings? Concerns? Awkward moments to comment about? :)
Someone to Watch Over You
This is the point where I'd usually share some interesting point of my life to tie it into what I'm planning on sharing with the world, but to be honest not much has really transpired. My life is ever so interesting.
Anyway, I have another song that's fairly new. Just as I was heading to bed a couple weeks ago a melody came in my head that I've tried really hard to remember. I think I still have the majority of it there, but if you've ever been in that situation you know how annoying it can be when inspiration strikes as you're falling asleep. I'm of the opinion that God does that just to make you frustrated that you were almost really awesome automatically and then takes it all away whilst you slumber. Oh, well.
So, back to my story, I hurried and put together something on the piano and recorded it so I could remember it and get something solid I can have faster than what it would take to notate. Long story short, here's a new piece for my musical that is still a work in progress, but this gives the general idea. When inspiration strikes at my bedside again, maybe I'll finish lyrics for it. Ha ha! In the meantime, enjoy and let me know what you think! (But no comments about the playing - I was improvising and kept second-guessing what the next chord was supposed to be. :))
Call Me (Preview)
