Rick's House, 3 - 25 -12, 8:15 PM - 12:15 AM
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, and Scott in attendance.
**a +4 -3 circulation to commence the meeting. the circulation travels in one direction in an ambiguous, slightly chromatic tonality, concluding without chords.
**Prelude to begin repertoire work. the opening bars flow well but things become less even as uncertain notes creep in. to expedite the correction process, the group retakes from within the piece, rather than from the beginning, which also challenges the structural understanding of players who are more familiar. things begin to go more smoothly, and the group decides to move on and return to the piece later.
**Peaches en Regalia is approached next, at first slower than performance tempo. after a second run, Rick takes Dev aside to help him with a few parts while Victor, Chris and Brad woodshed the two perpetuo sections. when Rick and Dev return, the group makes several more runs through the piece, eventually incorporating a fade-out at the end of the arrangement. Rick makes a note to "roll" all chords in the piece.
**after a break, there is a small consensus to continue work on Fugue no. 1 from the WTK. Chris makes a suggestion to play through the piece with only the "head" of each voice's entry, and a second time imagining the voice as a response to the previous entry. after these two runs, the group is eager to tackle the fugue with full parts. much work is devoted to this, employing several strategies: with metronome; without metronome, but counting; with no metronome, no counting. at one point, Scott steps aside to refresh his part, while Rick and Dev work out an intricacy in the last bar. as another volley of takes ensues, Victor and others begin mapping the entry of other parts for themselves, to enhance reliability and contrapuntal awareness. a pass is even made at a full Prelude/Fugue, which stays together until the end.
**a couple play-throughs of Overworld 2, with Dev conducting dynamics. some late-in-the-night banter leads to the addition of a small tone color in the finale, and the piece seems ready for Thursday.
**while Rick makes an excursion upstairs, the group compiles a list of performable (and maybe performable) repertoire for Thursday. this dovetails into a recital and somewhat lengthy discussion of Voices of Ancient Children, before Rick returns downstairs.
**a little more Fugue, and recapitulation of logistics, before dispersal.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Inside Out tech rehearsal
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 3 - 15 - 12, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, and Scott in attendance.
**as people are arriving and getting settled, Brad "loans" Scott a guitar with a pickup.
**once equipment is moved inside and everyone is gathered, the group takes a moment to observe its "beginning" in the space.
**the first question to be addressed is how best to use the space for the group's particular style of performance. speakers and seats are placed (with adjustments made), and the board is set up.
**some extended soundchecking, including circulations with three, four, five and six people. there is a small discrepancy between the height of the group's temporary stools and the speakers that is causing acoustical difficulty for some of the players.
**a couple pieces: Eye of the Needle and Austurias.
**the group begins tearing down around what would be the time of the theoretical end of a performance. with some questions as to the storage of equipment, everything is cleaned up only a little after 8:00.
**Dev gives some advice for making phone calls to promotional contacts, before the group leaves off. there is no sign of the group that follows us in the space at 8:30.
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, and Scott in attendance.
**as people are arriving and getting settled, Brad "loans" Scott a guitar with a pickup.
**once equipment is moved inside and everyone is gathered, the group takes a moment to observe its "beginning" in the space.
**the first question to be addressed is how best to use the space for the group's particular style of performance. speakers and seats are placed (with adjustments made), and the board is set up.
**some extended soundchecking, including circulations with three, four, five and six people. there is a small discrepancy between the height of the group's temporary stools and the speakers that is causing acoustical difficulty for some of the players.
**a couple pieces: Eye of the Needle and Austurias.
**the group begins tearing down around what would be the time of the theoretical end of a performance. with some questions as to the storage of equipment, everything is cleaned up only a little after 8:00.
**Dev gives some advice for making phone calls to promotional contacts, before the group leaves off. there is no sign of the group that follows us in the space at 8:30.
Inside Out rehearsal #7
Thacher Montessori, 3 - 11 - 12, 8:30 - 11:30 PM
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, Scott, and Alex in attendance.
**the group spends the afternoon doing a photo shoot, followed by dinner.
**before meeting with guitars, Dev does some follow-up on promotional work and engages the group in discussion on some ideas to promote the upcoming GC course.
**for warm-up, Where's the Nurse and Batrachomyomachy, with a little detail work on the latter.
**next is Prelude and Fugue no. 1 from Bach's WTC. the Prelude team plays through the piece as far as their knowledge will collectively take them, which tonight is about half-way. it seems that there is a little lack of clarity in the notes of the sequence (rather than the structure) for some players, which is luckily a straightforward fix. then onto Fugue, which tonight is begun from the final chord of the preceding Prelude. conversely, the obstacle to this piece seems to be structural - entering at the right time, counting correctly, etc.
**Dev requests Voices of Ancient Children. the group plays through the piece once, tentatively but without any conspicuous mistakes. Dev makes a note on the tempo, and Chris offers to have a clear delineation of the structure for the next rehearsal.
**the final piece for rehearsal is Overworld 2. Chris has made some changes to the "coda" he has written for the main loop, based on the previous week's responses to it. He takes a moment to teach these as well as a new ending. Then, the team makes several passes through the complete Overworld, and concludes the meeting.
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, Scott, and Alex in attendance.
**the group spends the afternoon doing a photo shoot, followed by dinner.
**before meeting with guitars, Dev does some follow-up on promotional work and engages the group in discussion on some ideas to promote the upcoming GC course.
**for warm-up, Where's the Nurse and Batrachomyomachy, with a little detail work on the latter.
**next is Prelude and Fugue no. 1 from Bach's WTC. the Prelude team plays through the piece as far as their knowledge will collectively take them, which tonight is about half-way. it seems that there is a little lack of clarity in the notes of the sequence (rather than the structure) for some players, which is luckily a straightforward fix. then onto Fugue, which tonight is begun from the final chord of the preceding Prelude. conversely, the obstacle to this piece seems to be structural - entering at the right time, counting correctly, etc.
**Dev requests Voices of Ancient Children. the group plays through the piece once, tentatively but without any conspicuous mistakes. Dev makes a note on the tempo, and Chris offers to have a clear delineation of the structure for the next rehearsal.
**the final piece for rehearsal is Overworld 2. Chris has made some changes to the "coda" he has written for the main loop, based on the previous week's responses to it. He takes a moment to teach these as well as a new ending. Then, the team makes several passes through the complete Overworld, and concludes the meeting.
Inside Out rehearsal #6
Thacher Montessori, 3 - 4 - 12, 8:00 - 11:30 PM
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Scott, Alex in attendance.
**for a calisthenic warm-up, the group tackles the "anchor" exercise up and down the neck first at a moderate, and then a brisk, tempo.
**a play-through of Flying Home for something a bit more musical.
**several pieces of new repertoire are in need work, and people are at various levels of proficiency with various parts within that repertoire. the group splits up to economize the work and find a direction: Alex works individually on his parts for the fugue; Rick works with Chris on the perpetuo sections of Peaches en Regalia; and Brad and Victor work on their own part for Peaches.
**after the small groups session, a few full recitals of Peaches before Alex and Rick must both make early departures.
**following a short break, the remaining group plays through some repertoire: Growing Circle, once at a slow tempo and again more quickly; one take of Bicycling to Afghanistan; Moving Force, with Chris pulling Scott outside to show him the bass part; and finishing up with Thrak, getting Scott on board with marching, counting, and a little help from the Talking Heads.
**Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Scott, Alex in attendance.
**for a calisthenic warm-up, the group tackles the "anchor" exercise up and down the neck first at a moderate, and then a brisk, tempo.
**a play-through of Flying Home for something a bit more musical.
**several pieces of new repertoire are in need work, and people are at various levels of proficiency with various parts within that repertoire. the group splits up to economize the work and find a direction: Alex works individually on his parts for the fugue; Rick works with Chris on the perpetuo sections of Peaches en Regalia; and Brad and Victor work on their own part for Peaches.
**after the small groups session, a few full recitals of Peaches before Alex and Rick must both make early departures.
**following a short break, the remaining group plays through some repertoire: Growing Circle, once at a slow tempo and again more quickly; one take of Bicycling to Afghanistan; Moving Force, with Chris pulling Scott outside to show him the bass part; and finishing up with Thrak, getting Scott on board with marching, counting, and a little help from the Talking Heads.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Inside Out rehearsal #5
* Thacher Montessori, 2 - 26 - 12
* 7:50 - 11:30 PM
* In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev
** to begin, a circulation which hovers between C and G Major.
** once again, the group warms up with familiar repertoire: Where's the Nurse, Askesis, Batrachomyomachy, Calliope, Intergalactic Boogie Express
** two play-throughs of La Cathedrale Engloutie as a quintet. the group decides that the piece is tenable as a five-part arrangement, if needed. some sections are still rusty. off-book for next week, please!
** short break, which leads to some discussion. among the topics are recruitment ideas for the Circle; turning the burner up on our work currently; a practical point regarding season length; and, still an issue, a name, to be addressed later.
** saddled with guitars again, the group tackles Peaches en Regalia, focusing specifically on the "D" section.
** the group plays a game with free association to help them settle on a name ("Inside Out"). a few decisions made regarding certain arrangements (Opening, Overworld 2), and what to have ready for next week.
* 7:50 - 11:30 PM
* In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev
** to begin, a circulation which hovers between C and G Major.
** once again, the group warms up with familiar repertoire: Where's the Nurse, Askesis, Batrachomyomachy, Calliope, Intergalactic Boogie Express
** two play-throughs of La Cathedrale Engloutie as a quintet. the group decides that the piece is tenable as a five-part arrangement, if needed. some sections are still rusty. off-book for next week, please!
** short break, which leads to some discussion. among the topics are recruitment ideas for the Circle; turning the burner up on our work currently; a practical point regarding season length; and, still an issue, a name, to be addressed later.
** saddled with guitars again, the group tackles Peaches en Regalia, focusing specifically on the "D" section.
** the group plays a game with free association to help them settle on a name ("Inside Out"). a few decisions made regarding certain arrangements (Opening, Overworld 2), and what to have ready for next week.
Inside Out rehearsal #4
Thacher Montessori, 2 - 19 - 12
8:00 - 11:00 PM
In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, Scott
The meeting begins with discussion of what obstacles stand in the way of a full-on promotional effort for the upcoming performance series. One of these items - the selection of a name - is given some deliberation after an unsuccessful session last week, but with results that are no more clear. The group once again decides to let the question rest and move on to guitar work.
First order is some familiar repertoire to warm up: Eye of the Needle, Where's the Nurse, Growing Circle. The last piece is taken more slowly and with section work to accommodate Scott, who is newly jumping on as a player.
Then another familiar piece: the first prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier, with Dev taking the fifth seat. Focus is mainly directed toward establishing the pattern and flow of the circulation, rather than going through the whole piece note-wise. A step is also taken to determine articulation - legato, staccato, as written, or let ring? with the group settling on the last. This work naturally leads to the accompanying fugue, which is given several run-throughs with 6/7 of the ensemble.
The final pieces to be reviewed are La Cathedrale Engloutie and Opening. For the latter, Victor leads a short rhythm clinic for the high line, which must circulate a triplet figure across four seats. The highs are eventually able to find a groove, and Chris joins in with the eighth note counter-rhythm for a more or less successful looping of the first section. A few last-minute memorandums before closing.
8:00 - 11:00 PM
In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Dev, Scott
The meeting begins with discussion of what obstacles stand in the way of a full-on promotional effort for the upcoming performance series. One of these items - the selection of a name - is given some deliberation after an unsuccessful session last week, but with results that are no more clear. The group once again decides to let the question rest and move on to guitar work.
First order is some familiar repertoire to warm up: Eye of the Needle, Where's the Nurse, Growing Circle. The last piece is taken more slowly and with section work to accommodate Scott, who is newly jumping on as a player.
Then another familiar piece: the first prelude from The Well-Tempered Clavier, with Dev taking the fifth seat. Focus is mainly directed toward establishing the pattern and flow of the circulation, rather than going through the whole piece note-wise. A step is also taken to determine articulation - legato, staccato, as written, or let ring? with the group settling on the last. This work naturally leads to the accompanying fugue, which is given several run-throughs with 6/7 of the ensemble.
The final pieces to be reviewed are La Cathedrale Engloutie and Opening. For the latter, Victor leads a short rhythm clinic for the high line, which must circulate a triplet figure across four seats. The highs are eventually able to find a groove, and Chris joins in with the eighth note counter-rhythm for a more or less successful looping of the first section. A few last-minute memorandums before closing.
Inside Out rehearsal #3
Thacher Montessori, 2 - 12 -12
8:00 - 11:00 PM
In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Scott
As people are getting settled, Dev asks whether the group should talk or play guitar first. There are several important matters to be discussed, which takes up the first part of the meeting: firstly, deciding which repertoire (out of a long list) to have ready for opening night in roughly a month's time. Nothing is ruled out, but a few suggestions are made on how to address repertoire in a quality-oriented but time-efficient way.
The next topic is deciding on a name for the performance series, as part of the process of beginning the group's promotional efforts. This turns out to not be so easy, and after a good bout of deliberation the topic is dropped with a vow "not to think about it whatsoever" until a later time. Dev also briefs the group on correspondence strategies.
For guitar playing, the group turns to some older repertoire with the idea of using it like a warm-up, while saving performance notes for personal practice. Going through each piece once, we play Askesis, Where's the Nurse, Third Relation, Flying Home, and Growing Circle, before a short break.
The Circle reconvenes with Peaches en Regalia, which exhibits a wide gamut of familiarity with individual players. Rehearsal of the piece is thus largely a process of running through the early sections, with Rick assisting respective circlers with an array of difficulties. Victor makes an appointment to learn the piece in person.
Overworld 2 gets a run with more last minute re-orchestration, and La Cathedrale Engloutie is given hearing for the first time since the end of season one, with a tighter arrangement and a new player. The first take is reassuring, and with some clarification from Brad the group makes it to the last measures more or less satisfactorily.
8:00 - 11:00 PM
In attendance: Victor, Rick, Chris (scribe), Brad, Scott
As people are getting settled, Dev asks whether the group should talk or play guitar first. There are several important matters to be discussed, which takes up the first part of the meeting: firstly, deciding which repertoire (out of a long list) to have ready for opening night in roughly a month's time. Nothing is ruled out, but a few suggestions are made on how to address repertoire in a quality-oriented but time-efficient way.
The next topic is deciding on a name for the performance series, as part of the process of beginning the group's promotional efforts. This turns out to not be so easy, and after a good bout of deliberation the topic is dropped with a vow "not to think about it whatsoever" until a later time. Dev also briefs the group on correspondence strategies.
For guitar playing, the group turns to some older repertoire with the idea of using it like a warm-up, while saving performance notes for personal practice. Going through each piece once, we play Askesis, Where's the Nurse, Third Relation, Flying Home, and Growing Circle, before a short break.
The Circle reconvenes with Peaches en Regalia, which exhibits a wide gamut of familiarity with individual players. Rehearsal of the piece is thus largely a process of running through the early sections, with Rick assisting respective circlers with an array of difficulties. Victor makes an appointment to learn the piece in person.
Overworld 2 gets a run with more last minute re-orchestration, and La Cathedrale Engloutie is given hearing for the first time since the end of season one, with a tighter arrangement and a new player. The first take is reassuring, and with some clarification from Brad the group makes it to the last measures more or less satisfactorily.
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