Pittsburgh Jazz

I've always loved jazz music. There's just something about a nice jazz tune to tap your feet to! Yesterday I went downtown in Pittsburgh and watched Leroy K. Wofford, who is a jazz and blues musician who grew up in Pittsburgh. Every Tuesday night, the city puts on a jazz performance. Here are some photos...

Leroy and his band performing in Pittsburgh Cultural District.

My sister and I downtown at the jazz concert.

Here's a short video of Leroy and his band. Enjoy!

iTunes Visualizer

When I first got my computer, I was setting up my iTunes and accidently hit a button and interesting, moving shapes started to fill my screen. I later found out how to use the iTunes Visualizer, which is just cool effects to whatever song you are listening to.

Recently, I've been looking at my visualizer a lot. The visualizer can work for any music you are listening to, but I personally like to listen to Dubstep or electronic music. One of my favorite artists is Pretty Lights.

You can download full albums off their site which is here.

Here are some cool screen shots I took of my iTunes Visualizer.

I thought the Visualizer gave a really interesting affect to the music I was listening to. Since I was listening to electronic music, I thought the space-like and colorful qualities fit the music well.

Finally set up my station :)

So since I've been doing work, work and MORE work, I decided I would get my clarinet practice corner ready so I can practice there. I practice in my room, but throughout the school year, my chair kind of was covered with boxes, clothes, and bags. So today, I decided to clean up my room, clear out my boxes, and get my practicing chair ready.

So above in my chair I play my clarinet in. Usually I would practice while sitting in an upright, hard chair, but those chairs always make my back tired-- especially when I practice for up to 2 hours! So in this picture you can also see my wire music stand. It is convenient because it folds up and I can take it wherever I need it!

This is my tuner. (Yes it has a tweety bird sticker on it!) But throughout the years of playing clarinet, I can't stress enough the importance of being in tune. Usually, I tune after I play a few scales just to make sure my clarinet is warmed up. Then, I tune and adjust my instrument so that I am perfectly in tune. The longer you play an instrument, the warmer it gets, since you're blowing warm air into it. So if your instrument is cold, your pitch will be flat (low), and if your instrument is warm, your pitch will be sharp (high). Being in tune with the tuner is not always what is important though, especially while playing in group or a band. It is important to listen around you and blend with the people sitting next to you, even if they're slightly out of tune-- at least you'll all be out of tune together!

Here is my bin of clarinet music. It's filled with sheet music, folders, and books I've accumulated over the years.

Of course! The most important part of playing clarinet-- reeds! You have to have reeds in order to play instruments such as clarinet, saxophone, and the double-reed instruments such as the oboe and bassoon. I usually buy two boxes of reeds at a time and test out all of them to find one that sounds excellent. A lot of times, only one or two reeds sound good out of the whole box!

How do we do it??

So tonight at dinner, my parents and I had an interesting conversation about music and dancers. My sister, Christina, is a dance major and my mom danced with Ohio Ballet when she was young. It was surprising how many connections I made between dancers and musicians.

The conversation started because Christina is taking a science course over the summer. Now, Christina has always been an incredibly intelligent person (and I mean genius!) but she is going to school to get a professional dance career. I mentioned my thoughts on why Christina decided to focus her career goals on being a dancer when her academics could get her so far.

But, what my dad was questioning, was how do dancers and musicians remember what they are doing? He was wondering how we could perform, whether music or dance, without forgetting what we are supposed to do.

This conversation struck me as interesting because I never really thought about it before. Since I've been playing clarinet since the summer before 4th grade, I don't have to think about each note before I play it. The same thing with dance-- Christina has been taking dance classes since she was a toddler, so remembering the moves is just second- nature and she can remember without a problem.

I guess I never really thought about it before, but from an outsider's eyes, they may question the fact that being a musician (or a dancer) takes time to improve and you remember things as you move up in difficulty. (So obviously, I didn't start playing clarinet concertos in 4th grade; I started with learning fingerings for notes, simple scales, and have been working my way up ever since.)

Work...

So since my summer is now consisting of make-up work and papers, I have spent a lot of time listening to music while doing my work. But with the amount of time I spend on my computer doing work, I am starting to get a little sick of the music on my iTunes.

So to broaden the music I'm listening to, I created a few Pandora Radio stations. The cool thing about Pandora is that you can create stations based off of a genre or band you may like. So, for example, I have "Incubus Radio, Pretty Lights Radio, Muse Radio" and some others. Incubus, Muse, and Pretty Lights are all some of my favorite artists, and Pandora creates a playlist of music sounding similar to these bands, but isn't limited to only Incubus music or Pretty Lights music.

I am currently listening to my Incubus Radio, and I really like that some Red Hot Chili Peppers songs are coming on. I like the Chili Peppers, but I don't have any of their music on my iTunes (mainly because my iPod is already full of music and apps!) Music makes all the work I have to do easier to get through. And it also helps me focus :)

Shippensburg Trip

On Saturday, members from Susquehanna's bellydance circle went to Shippensburg University (as I mentioned in an earlier post) for a Japan benefit. When we arrived, there was a huge dining room set up with chairs, tables, catered Japanese food, and a stage. There were other events that took place, as well as our performance.

 

Some people performed other dances, some sang songs, and there were a few presentations by people who had family in Japan when the earthquakes occurred. There were fraternities of the university also holding events in the dining room. 

Overall, the event was a huge cultural presentation, all raising money for the people in Japan. 

Here are some pictures of us at our performance!

(From Left to Right) Madie, Me, Emily, Casey, Jae, and Kristen

(From Left to Right) Me, Madie, Emily, Jae, Casey, and Kristen

Busy Weekend :)

So along with being involved in the symphonic band on campus, I am also involved in the Bellydance group. I started dancing last year and since then has loved it so much. It is so much different than anything I have done before, so it is nice to go to bellydance practice during the week to clear my mind and have fun with the bellydance girls. We perform in Charlie's and also host other events on campus. So check us out!!

Here is our Facebook page link :)

BellyDance Circle

This Saturday, we are going to Shippensburg University to perform at an Asian Cultural festival being held there. I cannot wait to perform for people I don't know! I will post pictures when we get back.

Since joining BellyDance, I have been shown so much more music that I wouldn't usually listen to. But after having choreographies and memories with this different type of music, I can actually listen to it for fun and dance to it.

 Here is a picture of me doing a tribal piece.

This was one of our shows at Charlie's this semester :)

Concert on Sunday!

So this Sunday there is a band and wind ensemble concert. We have been doing some last minute rehearsals to prepare us so that we can play well in the concert. We also have a rehearsal right before the concert on Sunday to make sure everything is perfect (and hopefully it is because there won't be time to fix anything!).

It is always fun to play a concert because after the concert is played, we turn in our music and will receive new music next rehearsal. Sometimes I get tired of playing the same pieces over and over again for the concert, but practice makes perfect! I look forward to getting new music because it is enjoyable to have the challenge of learning new music, rather than playing the same music that I already know very well.

My parents are visiting for the concert, so it will be nice to see them and hopefully impress them with our program. I am confident that this is going to be a good program with challenging music :)

Ah now I remember!

So lately I have been waking up with a song in my head and I could not remember what it was from or where I had heard it. After being so frustrated with not remembering the name, I asked my sister if she remembered what the piece was.
The piece is Ravel's Alborada del gracioso. The reason I love this piece so much is because of the dynamic contrast between sections.
Here's the link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zppE4rUgnm4&feature=related

At about 1:40, the flute section has a pretty cool flutter-tonguing technique. Listen to it! It sounds awesome!
And at about 2:15, the bassoon has an incredible solo. I think it is just so peaceful and reminds me of an extremely talented bassoonist from my high school band. Ever since I heard this piece, bassoon has become one of my favorite instruments to listen to. When it is played well, it has a rich full interesting sound that is different from many other instruments. Take a listen and let me know what you think!

Inconvenient...

So today is St. Patrick's Day, and while everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather and fun activities, of course there would be band rehearsal scheduled! I personally don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day for my nationality, because I am not Irish... but it is still fun to celebrate with friends. I think more of the reason of this post is because they weather is starting to get a little nicer, and today is such a gorgeous day that I don't want to do anything! No homework, no class, no band.... But, I of course have all three of those.

Once the weather gets nice at the end of the year everyone is pushing for classes to get out early so we can enjoy it! But, band rehearsal is always scheduled on the most inconvenient days. Rehearsals were scheduled on Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, friends' birthdays, and other inconvenient times. Of course it only seems to interfere with social and entertaining things, but sometimes I really don't feel like going to practice. I would rather set my clarinet aside, sit out on the lawn, and enjoy the baseball game!

"Break"

Hmm... This spring break doesn't feel like much of a break. It's still stressful, busy, and I have homework! I also have to worry about another playing test when returning from break. :-/

I've been practicing a lot because, last playing test, with the stress of midterms, I didn't play nearly as well as I know I can. So, even though I have to work hard to play the pieces effortlessly, at least it is something I enjoy doing!

What I am not looking forward to is the amount of rehearsals we have after spring break. Sometimes I really wish I could just play for fun, but sometimes I feel like the symphonic band makes everything seem too forced. We should be able to just relax and play. Some people are more musical and talented than others, so it gets frustrating to keep starting and stopping at the same place in one piece if a certain section messes something up.

Music can be such a relaxing thing.. Something I always look forward to doing on my own time...
But sometimes the demands and expectations of being in a band gets to be stressful and takes the fun out of it.
I don't know, maybe I am just stressed out. Don't get me wrong, I still love playing clarinet and music... right now I just would prefer to have a little more fun with it!

Honor's Band Weekend

This weekend, students are here at SU to attend the honor's band. They are high school kids from around the area that attend this event, but SU music students have to house the students. It is always nerve-racking to find out what the students are going to be like, and since I room with my sister who is also in band, that means we get 2 students.

So last night (Friday), we met up with our students and brought them back to our room to settle in and get a good sleep for their busy day today. The two girls are both very polite, and it helped that they were close from high school. So luckily, we aren't stuck with messy, mean, and socially awkward people!

Today, the honor's band students have a full day of rehearsing and later tonight have a pizza party and dance party. Sunday is the concert where the SU band is also playing. It starts at 3 p.m. in Weber Chapel (so come along, it'll be a good show!) The SU band is playing first and if I am not mistaken, I think the jazz band also plays. Then, the honor's band plays too. The music should be fun (and of course played very well... this is honor's band after all..)

I'll post pictures from the concert tomorrow! Hopefully some of you can make it out!

Practice makes perfect....

So today I'm getting back to practicing since I've been sick this week (Yuck!). But here is a picture of my clarinet! I remember up until sixth grade I used a rented clarinet through a music company but in sixth grade my mom finally bought me my own clarinet. Since I was taking lessons and soon 'graduating' to junior high school she bought me this clarinet.

Of course in this picture it is taken apart and in its case. But also in my case I carry reeds, a tuner, a cleaner, and cork grease. I assume you all know.. but a reed is the piece of wood that is places on the mouthpiece that vibrates to create sound when it is blown into. A tuner is important for every musician to carry because playing in tune is what makes a musician sound their best. Cork grease keeps the cork pieces moisturized so they do not crack and break when putting the clarinet together and taking it apart.

This clarinet is pretty old... but it has been very good to me throughout the years :)

Pictures at an Exhibition

So I was listening to Pandora radio and one of my favorite pieces came on... Pictures at an Exhibition. Pictures at an Exhibition was composed by Modest Mussorsky based off of his friend's picture show, so it is pretty interesting how he composed the music by giving a tour of the exhibition. Originally this piece was written for piano, but over the years there have been other arrangements and orchestrations for bands or orchestras. I have played parts of Pictures at an Exhibition in both my band and orchestra from high school. The symphony band played it and for orchestra, I played alongside 5 other musicians.

On this Wikipedia page, there are recordings of the movements in this piece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictures_at_an_Exhibition

Auditions tomorrow....

So tomorrow (Thursday) I have an audition for symphonic band. Each semester, the musicians have to re-audition for seating. The clarinets have to play Galantai Tancok (Dances of Galanta) by composer Kodaly. I found a recording (although I'm not playing in it) but you'll get the idea. The section that I have to play for my audition is from about 1:25 to 3:36. Take a listen! I think this is a pretty good recording of it.

I tend to get nervous for auditions, even though it isn't really too intimidating. Our band director here, Dr. Eric Hinton is really talented and helpful and definitely loves music.

High School Band Trip

This is a photograph of my high school Symphony Band when we went to Chicago.

We attended a Medieval Times event where our band received awards. In competition with other high school bands, we received superior status on each of our awards.

But I guess in my first post, I didn't tell you much about myself...
I am a sophomore at Susquehanna University. I am a Communication Major, but I do participate in the Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble here. Since I have been playing clarinet for so long, I did not want to stop playing when I came to college.

To start...

To tell you a little about myself, I have been playing clarinet 11 years. I have participated in band throughout elementary school, middle school, and high school, and have been section leader since my first year of band. As a sophomore at Susquehanna University, I still plan on continuing band throughout my experience. Participating in both band and orchestra has given me great opportunities to play in pretty cool places. In high school, the Symphony Band went to a convention in Chicago. The orchestra also took a trip to Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Cape May, where we played in the capital building.

This photograph is my high school's (North Hills Senior High School) orchestra when we played at the capital building.