It is now two days since I got my new music writing program, and already I've created my five-part masterpiece for saxophone. If you've ever heard the song People Get Ready, then you'll know just how I was inspired to arrange the piece for a saxophone quintet (or sax choir, depending on if I manage to swing it with the whole section). It includes two alto sax parts, three tenor sax parts (sorry altos, it just turned out that way) and a wicked fun bari part. I completed the 63 bars that I arranged yesterday, and have since moved on to much more difficult (and frustrating) things.
Have you heard the song Layla by Eric Clapton? Can you even imagine how sweet that would sound arranged for saxophone?? I've already finished the intro (the part with the awesome guitar riff) and I'm now working on the key change and actual verses and lyrics which sounds like it would be easy, but let me tell you. IT ISN'T. I'm doing the whole song by ear because I don't have music for it, which is different from People Get Ready, which I based on the piano score I already had. As if it wasn't difficult enough to figure out that whacky rhythm progression (syncopation much??) now I'm trying to get through this key change and it is nearly making my brain burst. I just can't get that note right! If anyone wants to work out what the heck is up with those notes, please help me. I'd rather like to not lose my sanity over something that sounds vaguely like C#m7.
Now, the next issue I'm pondering. Before school starts again, I'm getting a haircut, and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I really enjoyed having short hair, but I don't know if I want to go into that kind of commitment. I can always cut it shorter if I don't like it, but if its short, and I miss my long hair, will I be totally pissed off? But I think I want to cut it short before performance season starts up in May-ish, so I don't have to french braid it. Do I want to do that now and just keep that style until then? Will I look too young with short hair? Or too old? And if I keep it long, what style do I want anyways? I like being able to do things with my long hair, but I also like the things I can do with short... Haha, wouldn't that surprise the bejeezus out of Nico when I see him next? Actually, wouldn't it surprise everyone?
New dimension to the problem! If I cut my hair short, will I need to get new glasses? Cause right now they're really huge, but my hair balances things out somewhat. Ah!! The decision hurts my brain! Plus, another ponderable about my hair, who's gonna cut it? If its the same guy as last time, I have no worries at all about short or long, or anything, because he's absolutely magic with scissors and I'd highly recommend his services to anyone, expensive as they are. Luckily, last time I got it complementary because the guy cuts my mom's hair.
I really hope it goes ok, cause I'm rather neurotic about the little things. Even though my hair isn't that nice now, I'd really like it to be better.
I'm really leaning toward short for spring...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Just to Catch You Up
I briefly mentioned a while ago that I was going to sing O Holy Night at my church's christmas eve service. I also said that I was a little nervous that I would mess up or something. To recount the scene as it was that Christmas Eve night...
I was sitting on my narrator stool as planned, perfectly cool and calm, and I heard my cue line. "A special night. A holy night..." and I stood up, feeling surpisingly not nervous at all. However, in the four yards or so to where the microphone was set up I could feel all the muscles in my legs seize up, and as I gazed out to the audience, most of which were people I had never seen before in my life, I listened to the opening notes and realized I could no longer feel my toes. Have you ever been able to feel every detail of your pulse? Not just when it was, as a simple ker-thump, but to have it overwhelm your whole breathing/circulation system. I managed to get out the first notes with pretty darn good sound, but on the seventh word my air just randomly caught in my throat and the sound died. It sounded something like, "the stars are brightly shi-" and then I had to inhale and realize that I had just stopped in the very middle of a syllable. Thank goodness I had the sense to take that word's time and take a couple deep breaths so I could come back in on "it is the night..." and so on. After that, throughout the whole first verse and chorus my knees were shaking like crazy and I was surprised the people in the front row couldn't SEE my pulse pounding in my chest. By the time I got to the french lyrics I could once again keep my legs relatively still and I could breathe like a normal human being, but I'm really hoping no one in the audience could understand french because I'm pretty darn sure that my pronunciation was way, way off. But at least the last notes sounded fantastic and that's all that people really remember, right?
I was sitting on my narrator stool as planned, perfectly cool and calm, and I heard my cue line. "A special night. A holy night..." and I stood up, feeling surpisingly not nervous at all. However, in the four yards or so to where the microphone was set up I could feel all the muscles in my legs seize up, and as I gazed out to the audience, most of which were people I had never seen before in my life, I listened to the opening notes and realized I could no longer feel my toes. Have you ever been able to feel every detail of your pulse? Not just when it was, as a simple ker-thump, but to have it overwhelm your whole breathing/circulation system. I managed to get out the first notes with pretty darn good sound, but on the seventh word my air just randomly caught in my throat and the sound died. It sounded something like, "the stars are brightly shi-" and then I had to inhale and realize that I had just stopped in the very middle of a syllable. Thank goodness I had the sense to take that word's time and take a couple deep breaths so I could come back in on "it is the night..." and so on. After that, throughout the whole first verse and chorus my knees were shaking like crazy and I was surprised the people in the front row couldn't SEE my pulse pounding in my chest. By the time I got to the french lyrics I could once again keep my legs relatively still and I could breathe like a normal human being, but I'm really hoping no one in the audience could understand french because I'm pretty darn sure that my pronunciation was way, way off. But at least the last notes sounded fantastic and that's all that people really remember, right?
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Best Movie Ever!!
In continuing my excellent day, we watched the first of the good Star Wars movies (A New Hope) as a family movie, and I've decided that Star Wars is the best series of movies ever made. I mean, its got everything. Firepower, plot, romance (sort of), soap opera type elements ("I am your father!! GASP), and humour too (yay ewoks!).
I do believe that the last three movies were without argument way better. (By last three I mean the superior first three movies made). I mean, what the heck is with Jarjar Binx? Luke and Leia were a billion times better. And can we not forget the best characters ever, R2D2 and Yoda. You just have to love the little droid.
I mean really, Star Wars is everything that a good movie should be. I dare anybody to say that those movies suck. Because they don't. At all. Well, except for the crappy buttons. Those are kinda funny because they suck so much. If you watch the original trilogy any time soon, pay attention to the buttons in the scenes with battles and whatnot. They look kinda like Halls candies.
Other than that, Star Wars owns.
I do believe that the last three movies were without argument way better. (By last three I mean the superior first three movies made). I mean, what the heck is with Jarjar Binx? Luke and Leia were a billion times better. And can we not forget the best characters ever, R2D2 and Yoda. You just have to love the little droid.
I mean really, Star Wars is everything that a good movie should be. I dare anybody to say that those movies suck. Because they don't. At all. Well, except for the crappy buttons. Those are kinda funny because they suck so much. If you watch the original trilogy any time soon, pay attention to the buttons in the scenes with battles and whatnot. They look kinda like Halls candies.
Other than that, Star Wars owns.
How Lame Am I?
Ok, let me describe to you what I do on holidays when I don't have anything to do, or anyone to talk to. Today (after a strangely productive morning and early afternoon), I sat on the couch with the laptop sitting beside me watching Scrubs on DVD for 4 hours or so, periodically switching between eating chips and chocolate, and then wishing I was still eating junk food. After a significant amount of time without stuffing my face some more, I dozed off and curled up in the corner of the couch to have a nap (tv still on, as is laptop), and woke up 45 minutes later when somebody signed in on msn and the *ding* from the speaker woke me from my relaxation induced slumber. I then talked to Amanda for a while, but when she left I was left to entertain myself with some more Scrubs and reading of peoples blogs. I then felt inadequate because I had nothing good to write about, which is why I'm telling you this now.
So, in short, best day ever, but now I'm a little sad that I am such a lame person. So many of my friends are on trips, or visiting family, or writing full-out novels for gosh sakes, and all I'm doing is wondering how long I'd have to run on the treadmill to make myself not feel guilty for eating that whole chocolate bar. At least my lip chap smells like coconut. All is well again.
I've been thinking that maybe I should take a leaf out of David's book and put some of my writing on here from LA class. I only have one real story that would be fit to post on the internet, but in the future if I figure out how, I can post some of my music that I've written/arranged on here. Other people write with words, I write with music. Most of it hasn't been documented though... Maybe I should get on that.
If anyone actually knows how I could put music on here that I've done, let me know as I'm totally clueless.
In other news, this couch is still comfortable, even after sitting here all day. Also, I came up with some really good chords I'm hoping to write a full song around, but I'm having some serious writers block with the words I'm going to put to this music. Speaking of music, on the bus yesterday the guy I sit beside had two of his friends on the bus and they all had guitars so they told me the chords they were riffing on and I joined in on the accordion I so conveniently had with me. Yay, fun on the bus.
Other random stories... hmmm... this morning (the not so lame part of the day) I went to the church for the rehearsal for the Christmas Eve service. It was very long and tedious, and when I sang the french verse I totally messed up and said the wrong words in part of it. Luckily no one noticed. Except possibly the guy that was in french immersion last year, but he didn't mention it so I'm gonna hope he wasn't paying attention to my incredibly awful pronunciation. For the record, I do not speak french at all, but singing it on really high notes is fun. I really hope I don't freak out in front of everyone at the real thing tomorrow. Good thing I'm singing O Holy Night in C, which doesn't go above my strident range. I can hit three and a half octaves, but when you really get up there its probably not going to sound good.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm going to be singing in front of a couple hundred people. Plus my entire extended family. What was I thinking??
So, in short, best day ever, but now I'm a little sad that I am such a lame person. So many of my friends are on trips, or visiting family, or writing full-out novels for gosh sakes, and all I'm doing is wondering how long I'd have to run on the treadmill to make myself not feel guilty for eating that whole chocolate bar. At least my lip chap smells like coconut. All is well again.
I've been thinking that maybe I should take a leaf out of David's book and put some of my writing on here from LA class. I only have one real story that would be fit to post on the internet, but in the future if I figure out how, I can post some of my music that I've written/arranged on here. Other people write with words, I write with music. Most of it hasn't been documented though... Maybe I should get on that.
If anyone actually knows how I could put music on here that I've done, let me know as I'm totally clueless.
In other news, this couch is still comfortable, even after sitting here all day. Also, I came up with some really good chords I'm hoping to write a full song around, but I'm having some serious writers block with the words I'm going to put to this music. Speaking of music, on the bus yesterday the guy I sit beside had two of his friends on the bus and they all had guitars so they told me the chords they were riffing on and I joined in on the accordion I so conveniently had with me. Yay, fun on the bus.
Other random stories... hmmm... this morning (the not so lame part of the day) I went to the church for the rehearsal for the Christmas Eve service. It was very long and tedious, and when I sang the french verse I totally messed up and said the wrong words in part of it. Luckily no one noticed. Except possibly the guy that was in french immersion last year, but he didn't mention it so I'm gonna hope he wasn't paying attention to my incredibly awful pronunciation. For the record, I do not speak french at all, but singing it on really high notes is fun. I really hope I don't freak out in front of everyone at the real thing tomorrow. Good thing I'm singing O Holy Night in C, which doesn't go above my strident range. I can hit three and a half octaves, but when you really get up there its probably not going to sound good.
Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm going to be singing in front of a couple hundred people. Plus my entire extended family. What was I thinking??
Friday, December 22, 2006
December 21-22 (so far)
So, this is my first foray into the world of mobile blogging. True, I'm sitting writing this two feet from an actual computer (actually, probably less than two. How big is a foot anyway? Stupid imperial system), but don't ruin the buzz.
*
I just got interrupted to go set the table and put away some laundry. Now I'm sitting on the couch waiting for supper. I wonder what it will be?
*
Still no supper. It's 5:35, we leave in approximately 40 minutes for band so therefore supper must be soon. Right?? If not, I'm gonna be one hungry band geek. Speaking of which, I am just sooooo excited for CRUB tonight! Even though Nico won't be there, which is sad (partly because he's on a cruise and I'm not, partly, well, it's rather obvious). Yay! Hamburger time!
***
I'm in the van right now and we're headed to Best Buy for some Christmas shopping. This truly is my favorite holiday. Gifts, excellent food, big break from school, everyone wins!
We have a pretty nice van, now that I think of it. Despite its overwhelming beige-ness, its pretty nice. It even has electric, automatic doors (even though one doesn't work). Whenever we drive friends places the doors usually mess them up one way or another. Some people assume they door's just sticky, so they yank the heck out of it. Other people have an easier time with our crazy vehicle. One thing that's kind of annoying to me about the van is its random fruit punch stain under one of the seats. No one in my family remembers how it got there, and now its permanently ingrained into the carpet. Luckily no one but my seems bothered by it.
I can see ikea! What a giant blue store. And what's with the random colorful flags? All they say is IKEA but you'd think people would make the connection without the huge flags out front. Oh well, Ikea is still super cool.
*
I just got interrupted to go set the table and put away some laundry. Now I'm sitting on the couch waiting for supper. I wonder what it will be?
*
Still no supper. It's 5:35, we leave in approximately 40 minutes for band so therefore supper must be soon. Right?? If not, I'm gonna be one hungry band geek. Speaking of which, I am just sooooo excited for CRUB tonight! Even though Nico won't be there, which is sad (partly because he's on a cruise and I'm not, partly, well, it's rather obvious). Yay! Hamburger time!
***
I'm in the van right now and we're headed to Best Buy for some Christmas shopping. This truly is my favorite holiday. Gifts, excellent food, big break from school, everyone wins!
We have a pretty nice van, now that I think of it. Despite its overwhelming beige-ness, its pretty nice. It even has electric, automatic doors (even though one doesn't work). Whenever we drive friends places the doors usually mess them up one way or another. Some people assume they door's just sticky, so they yank the heck out of it. Other people have an easier time with our crazy vehicle. One thing that's kind of annoying to me about the van is its random fruit punch stain under one of the seats. No one in my family remembers how it got there, and now its permanently ingrained into the carpet. Luckily no one but my seems bothered by it.
I can see ikea! What a giant blue store. And what's with the random colorful flags? All they say is IKEA but you'd think people would make the connection without the huge flags out front. Oh well, Ikea is still super cool.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
FYI
You may be wondering why this blog got named "kim - on the road" when you are most definitely not on the road while reading this. Obviously. But, upon the gifting of my new pocket PC type thingy, I'm free to write my blog whenever. Wherever. And I fully plan to. Prepare to hear random rants about the idiots on my bus, insane ramblings from LA class, you name it, I plan to type about it. Actually, right now I'm nowhere. I'm in my basement writing on a computer, which is really boring, but later I might write from somewhere fascinating. Like the van.
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