Literature

Literature

Stillness filled blank pages in bound diaries
Memories carefully preserved in blue ink
Hearts’ expression without force or dramatic flattery
Stop swimming to descend into a slow and blissful sink

Reinforcement of leather and intricate knots
Our steady, circular breathing as thoughtful as hymns
Droplets drip down words lost in a pool of blots
Sensing your absence as aching phantom limbs

Eyelids crinkle and line in time with old age
Yet, earth and ocean beneath the skin remember
As we write our own verses on the last page
The end will remind me of a frosty December

Following volumes penned with distinctly signature text
Carrying the image of you close to me from this journey to the next

From Blossoms

Li-Young Lee – From Blossoms

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the joy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

 

When I asked Z what Z thought would happen after death, Z simply replied “I think that when you die, you die.  But I do hope that I come back as a peach tree.”

 

Nobody Said It Was Easy

I was listening to my ipod on shuffle the other day, and Coldplay’s “The Scientist” started playing.  I remembered purchasing the sheet music on Musicnotes a few years ago, and decided to learn it again.  The cover sounds very rusty, and I’ll probably end up reposting a better version after I work on it for another day or two.

I really love this song… even though it’s pretty depressing.  It’s a bit comforting to listen to something that’s close to what your heart is experiencing at moment.

Coldplay – The Scientist

Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you,
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh lets go back to the start
Running in circles, coming in tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard

Oh take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

Tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard

I’m going back to the start

Coldplay – The Scientist (Cover)

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Sweet Spot, Sweet Dreams

So… maybe I’m far from being done….

There’s still a LOT of editing that has to go into the music composition I’m working on.  I’ve been going back and forth with the instrumentation..

Option 1:  Piano, Violin, Bass
Option 2:  Piano, Viola, Bass
Option 3:  Piano, Violin, Cello
Option 4:  Piano, Viola, Cello

I can’t seem to find the right balance of sounds.  I’ve been arranging and rearranging, adjusting dynamics, adjusting chord spacings… and I can’t get it to fit together perfectly.  I think I’m going to spend some time studying the Brahm’s Requiem score this weekend to get some ideas.  And maybe I’ll take a quick look through my college music theory textbooks.

I’m trying to limit my editing to a minimum.  I’m afraid that making too many revisions is going to take the original idea out of the piece.  I printed out the score this morning and highlighted the sections that I’m not allowed to touch… or at least, try not to touch too much.  I’m going to resist any revisions to the bass line on 33-36… it’s my “sweet spot” in the piece, and I’d cry if I ruined it.

Picture quality’s horrible, but you get the idea… it’s measures 33-41.  P2 looks and sounds like kaka, so I’m planning on spending a lot of time on making major changes by the end of this weekend.

It’s weird… ever since I started working on it, I’ve been able to sleep through the night.  Before, I was waking up every 3-4 hours and maybe even sleepwalking… I can’t be sure.  I took a break yesterday, and my sleeping was out of whack again and I woke up wearing my clothes inside out.  I’m almost 100% certain that I didn’t put them on that way.  This past year my sleeping issues have gotten worse.  Friends that spent the night are witnessing me sleepwalk around the condo in the middle of the night.  And, I think I might have sleep apnea.

I started doing some research on the internet.  Stress seems to be a major contributing factor.  I know that I have a tendency to bottle things my feelings, and maybe that’s what’s stressing me out.  I have no issues expressing my thoughts and opinions.  If anything, I probably over-communicate it.  When it comes to my feelings… it’s so hard for me a break down that barrier because I hate feeling vulnerable.

But, I have to admit that I do feel much better that I’m finally using creative outlets to let go of the emotions that I’ve been locking up and burying.

Done and Done!

The other day, I came across a website that allows users to use a web application and compose music for free (http://www.noteflight.com).  Users input data with their computer keyboard and can export the information in a XML file, midi file, or audio file.  There’s also a section on the site to browse through scores that other people have created using the service, and if the author permits, can make changes.  I think it’s an excellent tool when you’re away from home or you’re collaborating with other musicians, but the program has far too many limitations for every day use.  Oh, and the lag time…. Christ.  It’s like an elephant moving through 3 feet of molasses.

I ended up exporting the piece that I started on Noteflight and creating an XML file that I opened with Sibelius.   I love love LOVE Sibelius.  I don’t think I’m ever going to go back to using Finale.  Sibelius is so intuitive and user-friendly.  I’m wasting less time learning the program and more time notating.

I finished writing out the entire melody on Tuesday.  I had my TV on, so my attention was pulled back and forth from the piece, to Nutty Professor II, back to writing more measures for the piece, to watching Nutty Professor II again.  I’ve never been so distracted.  Usually, I can sit for hours without taking a break or even noticing the time flying by.

So yesterday, I turned the TV off, plugged in my ghetto-fabulous Casio Tone-Bank keyboard and started notating the chords.  Within 2 hours, I was done with all the parts.  There’s still a lot of tweaking that needs to be done, especially with the voicing on the violins, but at least the foundation of the song is there from start to finish.  I spent the last half hour working on the bass part.  I tried to structure the bass part mathematically, but it just didn’t sound right.  It didn’t really build the momentum that I was looking for.

In measure 33, I started arpeggiating the chords for the bass.  The arpeggiation is only for 4 measures.  I’m trying not to overdo it.  I don’t want it to sound like a jumbled mess of a whole lot of nothing.  Measures 33 – 36 so far, that section is my favorite.  And I am NOT going to overkill it.  I’m not going to give it the same fate as the Fugees cover of “Killing Me Softly” when it first came out on the Radio.  KIIS FM, Power 106, The Beat all played that song 4x an hour, every hour for MONTHS.

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