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Musical Style - Repetition and Variation

10/31/2011

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As a musical performer I've always been intrigued by musical styles and the challenge of authentically playing in a given style. What makes classical music sound classical, rock sound rock, etc.? 
Style implies uniformity, an overall set of rules or standards. Then, within those sets of rules, it's the subtle differences, the rearranging of order, the little twists and turns that a particular composer or performer takes that make each piece in that style unique and interesting. Repetition and variation.
A criticism sometimes levied at an unfamiliar or disliked style of music is that "It all sounds the same". Well, in fact, it does. That's what a style is supposed to do - repeat itself. But once we are familiar with the individual pieces within a style we can become immersed in the unique subtleties of each piece or performance and focus on the variations. The repetition provides form and familiarity while the variation provides interest.
For a non-musical example, when I toured Korea with the Rhode Island Saxophone Quartet it took me about three days before I stopped getting the names of our Korean hosts wrong. There was a uniformity to their appearance that at first struck me as "all the same". When I was finally able to perceive the uniqueness and subtle differences of each person in the group I no longer got their names mixed up.
For a musical example, cool jazz and hip hop are often perceived as very relaxed and laid back styles. They definitely have that vibe to them, but they are very precisely relaxed and laid back. There are very specific things that the musician must do to achieve that feeling. A style of rock music might be described as "driving"; something classical might be "expansive". How is all that achieved? 
To perform as authentically as possible in a given style I need to discover the uniform characteristics of the style as well as the subtleties of the differences. Repetition and variation.

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Old Computers

10/19/2011

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There's an old computer in my cellar that hasn't been used in about six years. I am ready to recylce it but there are some valuable music files I don't want to lose that are stored on discs that can only be opened by programs that are on this computer. They include the arrangements from my first few North Star Jazz Ensemble recordings and some other files as well. Today I brought it up from the dark, turned it on and took a trip down computer memory lane.....
The computer case offered a friendly "HI" when I turned on the power. Then it took about five minutes for the computer to boot up to Windows 98. It seemed like an eternity compared to today's computers which seem to boot up instantly in comparison. What did I used to do with all that extra time?
It smelled musty, and the fan made a loud whirring sound. The monitor is an old CRT type that weighs about 20 pounds, cumbersome and heavy compared to today's LED flatscreens. The mouse has a tracking ball which requires a pad and occasional cleaning that was standard before today's optical devices.
Once in Windows 98, I had to open up an old DOS (Disk Operating System, the PC's precursor to Windows) program called MusicPrinter Plus to view my files. Surprisingly, a few of those old DOS commands came back to me and I was able to negotiate my way to the old files. I remember how amazing this program was when I first used it. Before that I had written all my music with pen and ink using a wide calligraphy nib. With MusicPrinter Plus I was using what the creators referred to as an "Essential tool for the creative musician." And it was wonderful compared to writing everything out by hand without the cut-and-paste editing capabilities of a computer-based program. Seeing it today after many years it seemed archaic compared to today's programs.
The files were stored on "floppy" disks, but these were the smaller, firmer type that came after the really big earlier disks that were actually floppy. I copied them from the disks to the hard drives, then turned the system off and removed them.
I have ordered a USB adapter that will hopefully allow me to read the drives on my newer Windows 7 computer. But I remember how this old technology was at the cutting edge one day. I am glad that things have progressed to where they are and I love the new operating system and programs that have become the mainstay of my business and daily life. It's exciting to imagine where we'll be ten years from now. But it was fun to visit the past for a little while with my old computer that, despite all its shortcomings, is still a lot faster than I am!
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