GCNE Meeting 01-10-2010

In attendance: Victor McSurely, Rick McCarthy, Chris Paquette, Brad Hogg, Glenn Hughes, Alex Lahoski.

First in the building tonight are Victor, Brad, and Rick. After turning on the lights and PA, Victor starts the metronome at roughly 48 bpm, and begins the subdivision exercise (one note per beat, then two, then three, up to eight, and back again). Rick and Brad sit down separately and join in; eventually, Chris, Alex, and Glenn all arrive and join in as they sit. Roughly 10 minutes of this, all together.

Moving on to 3rd Rel. We begin by playing the F#m descending section, counting out loud as 8 bars of 4. We then move to attempting the count as 12 bars of 3--we're forced to abandon playing the entire section and instead play just the F#m chords (playing as two bars of 4 while counting in 3 out loud). This has a more solid sense to it, and we play the whole piece several times, addressing different issues as they arise.

Up next is Prelude--we haven't worked this one for a while, so it takes a moment for everyone to remember their way through the piece. The end of the prelude gives us some trouble, as well, so we run the last 4 bars several times, in order to solidify the unusual phrasing. Running the whole piece again, the time begins to really assert itself as an issue, leading Victor to ask everyone how they are marking time. There are several methods being used, from sensing the pulse in the core, to marking time with the foot, to simply allowing the music to speak and take command. The real difficulty is in being able to move fluidly between marking time as 8ths, as 16ths, and in the larger context of the music. Alex, who is not currently playing on this, remarks that there are several moments where it's clear that the circulation is moving as a phrase through the group. We run the piece once or twice more, and then take a short break.

During the break, gear talk ensues, and a consensus is reached: we need to know what nutrient baths are being used to grow $20 tortoiseshell picks. If any readers have some information as to the growth process, your help will be greatly appreciated.

Back in the circle, we revisit Nurse, and play once through, after which Rick moves to bass. Further work ensues--the leads take a moment to run the end, in order to get everyone's hands agreeing on phrasing and timing. Basses back in, and we run twice more, with noticeable improvement.

Flying Home is next: 3 basses and 3 leads. Once through, with one comment from Victor: "That one's going to be fun."

Calliope, next. Played once (?), with some spot work.

Bicycling, after this. This is really starting to sound good, and there were a few moments that sounded splendid, throughout this.

After this is played, Alex stands up, noting this to be the end of the meeting for him (it is 10 p.m., and he still has to drive home and be at work in the morning). This also marks the end of the meeting for Chris, and for everyone. There is some talk about practicalities, such as working on division of attention exercises using repertoire as source material, and we all take our leave for the week.