Galileo
Last night saw the new fish teaching the old dogs a new trick. It is the song "Galileo" by the Indigo Girls, and I have not been able to get it out of my head since we worked on it. This is a good thing, as my part is cementing a spot in my brain as we speak. Expect to hear this one from us soon at your local coffee shop/festival. As a general rule I shy away from crossing gender lines when choosing songs to arrange, as female melodies often fall in higher ranges and cause a necessary lowering of the key, changing the original feel of the song. This song is a fantastic exception; thanks to the noobs for opening my eyes a bit wider.
The motivation of the group is definitely kicking in, and everyone is focused on getting this group on its feet. I look forward to rehearsals now more than I ever have, and I attribute that to the strides we have made thus far. I actually feel a little guilty when I choose to do other thing besides work on arrangements; I love it.
Dono
Give me somethin' to believe in...
I was able to witness history this past weekend. No, not Barry... he is old, but not historical. I am talking about being at the Viking's game, seeing Adrian Peterson in person running for 296 yards and setting the NFL record. Witnessing people perform amazing feats is awe-inspiring, and makes you dream about doing something awe-inspiring yourself. I suppose my chances for that are relegated to the music realm and not the gridiron, so I ought to focus my energies on that. Is it possible to do something awe-insipiring in the arts if it is not original? With football, you are confined to the parameters of the sport, and inpiring awe comes with outperforming all others at the same skill. Adrian Peterson is doing things that are awe-inspiring, yet he is using the same physical mechanics running the football as everyone else. He is not skipping every third step, or flapping his arms to gain extra speed. One way to compare this to the music realm is someone covering an already known song. How many covers of popular tunes are "awe-inspiring"? Originality is borderline necessary in art, as its audience expects it to be new and fresh.
Why am I rambling about this? Well, to get back to my main point, would I need to come up with something original to do the same? Vocal groups seem to thrive on souped-up versions of familiar songs...and could I write an original song on par with the others I have arranged? I guess, as the old saying goes, all I can do is try. I have no doubt the guys will let me know what they think about it.
Dono
Hungry eyes...
Last night I found the reason for my constant rouse from slumber at roughly 3:30am. It started shortly after moving into my new apartment, and has happened with frequency for a couple weeks now. At first I thought it may be restlessness from being in a new environment; the next week I chalked it up to bladder issues from drinking tea before bed. This week I have it narrowed down to two things: One, our neighbors are vampires, as I only hear noise from them sans sun; or two, they get up extremely early (i.e. 3:30 am)and have ridiculously loud conversations to keep each other awake as they get ready. I am hoping for number one, since a vampire will turn to dust when I stab them in the chest; not so much with number two.
After rehearsal last night it struck me that this group is hungry. Not hungry in the sense that we downed two boxes of pizza before rehearsal and realized we needed a third, because we did, but also hungry in the musical sense. We were able to get through 3 arrangements last night, 2 of them brand new to some, 1 of them brand new to all. It was fantastic. Being in group with this much musicianship makes my head swim. We may, however, have a problem. Our hunger for new, quality arrangements of songs that fit the Up 'til 2 style will never be satiated. We will end up on the streets, holding up barely legible cardboard signs that read, "Will work for arrangements." Casey will end up in some back alley doing who knows what for a taste of those sweet, sweet harmonies. It is a slippery slope, my friends. Wish us luck. And protection.
Dono