Knock Knock…
Who’s there?
Knock Knock.
Who’s There?
Knock Knock
Who’s There?
Philip Glass.
Philip Glass Who?
In all seriousness though, this nappy-haired legend has been on my mind a lot recently (and not because of his dashing good looks). He’ll be here at Miami on Wednesday Night performing piano arrangements of some of his most iconic works, and from what I understand he’ll be giving a masterclass to composers earlier in the day. This man is my idol. Needless to say, I’ll be hanging on to his every word on Wednesday, listening to all of his music over the weekend, reading his books, and studying his scores (because I really, REALLY have nothing better to do). I’m hoping he can solve my current problem…
What do you do when you get in a rut and all of your music starts sounding the same?
The approaches I’ve been taking towards composition don’t seem to be working anymore. I’ve fallen into a trap of strict diatonic tonality and I can’t find any escape that isn’t awkward or unimaginably dull and predictable. Meetings with my composition professor, while always refreshing, have become exercises of endurance. I might just be a dull, boring person. I might just not have any fresh ideas quite yet… Or I might just be trying too hard.
My latest two pieces, the fourth and third movements of “The Infirm and His Myth” were written in a minimalist, additive style that I had never touched before. The problem is that it’s a five or six movement work. How can you stay continually innovative, unpredictable, and yet consistent and relevant in a piece of such scope with such limited tools to work with? These are the questions I’ll be asking Mr. Glass on Wednesday, and hopefully he’ll be able to shed some light on the subject.
In other news, I’ve rediscovered the joys of Memes. Today I present to you one of the sterling entries from FailBlog.org – The Jumping Jack Fail. It’s good to know that the Iraqi Police force will be so ready to take over upon the US Withdrawal.
look familiar…?
SQUAD… CAMP IT… UP!
- Kevin
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