Packing the Car for Boston

seems like a long way from here
seems like a big city
seems like a demanding curriculum 
seems like he's ready to go

Of Mice and Music

Today Jeremy was replacing guitar strings in the basement when a mouse ran across his guitar case and disappeared. When Jeremy came upstairs to tell me about it, I reminded him that his father is the mouse-control parent. Living in the woods as we do, discovering a mouse in the house is not uncommon. My husband catches them in Havaheart traps then releases them many miles from here, first providing a muffin for the mouse’s first meal away from home. 

Once the guitar strings were replaced and Jeremy started practicing, the mouse came out again. At first, the little creature panicked and ran straight into Jeremy’s foot. After a while, the mouse got used to the music and sat listening. The mouse did not toss a sunflower seed into the guitar case and make a request, although that might happen at any time.  

I know this isn’t a plot. There isn’t a problem. The mouse doesn’t try three times to solve it. 

But isn’t there a picture book here somewhere? 

Go ahead. Write it. Be my guest.

The Three-Dimensional Solution

My Work-In-Progress involves an imaginary town with a road, a river and buildings. I drew a map and wrote the draft. Somewhere in the third revision, I discovered geography problems. Some of my characters were on the wrong side the river, and there is no bridge. I re-drew the map, but there were still issues. Finally, I decided I needed to see the town in 3D. I got a very old, very dusty set of Duplos from the basement and built the town. The model helped me identify where the problems were. Now I’m revising with geography and geometry in mind. 

Sometimes it takes more than a map. Here's some Duplo-building music.

 

Ain't No Sunshine

The Voice is now in its 4^th season. Yesterday I watched a replay of The Battle Rounds where two singers are paired to perform a song of their coach’s choice. Usher paired Ryan Innes and Orlando Dixon to sing “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Mr. Innes is all about raw emotion. His voice is perfect for this song. Mr. Dixon is a technical master. He knows when and how to soar. 

Think about the scene you’re working on right now. Does it need to growl or does the improvise variations on the high notes? Does it need pure emotion or technical expertise? Does it need some of each?

 

Good News - Good Day

Jeremy was accepted to the Berklee College of Music! 

It's a good day. Please sing with me. 

"Good Day" by Chaotic Paradise: Jeremy Burton on guitar; Henk Plaggemars on vocals; Emma Pittsley on bass; Neil Deatrick on drums. 

Travels with Jeremy

Tomorrow Jeremy and I leave for Boston for his first audition. Fingers crossed! We’ll come home long enough to do homework and laundry, respectively, then then head to St. Paul for audition number two. These are exciting times. 

Blog posts may be sparse for the next couple weeks. 

Putting the Sin in Syncopation

Lately, my writing has taken a backseat to music notation. Jeremy is creating complete scores of three of his songs for college and scholarship applications. I help decipher Jeremy’s fiendishly difficult rhythms and occasionally enter lyrics in the music notation program.

To check for mistakes, we can use the notation program's playback function. The guitar track has a typical electronic tone, but the vocal line sounds like a heavenly choir of tenors, an interesting effect in heavy metal music. The virtual tenors sing all notes, “Aaaaah” as if they’re going to segue to “alleluia” or “amen”, but so far they haven’t.

The title of this post was taken from a 1921 Ladies’ Home Journal article in which Anne Shaw Faulkner suggested, “the demoralizing influence of the persistent use of syncopation, combined with inharmonic partial tones” was responsible for the corruption of America’s youth.

The Voice

Jeremy and I have been watching The Voice Season 3. This show works for several reasons.

1. The contestants are mostly young people who are trying to live their dreams.
2. The personal history section highlights the adversity contestants overcame as they attempted to become professional musicians. The stories of single parenthood, battling addiction, sacrificing a former career, etc. resonate with viewers.
3. The contestants have been vetted, so there are no cringe-worthy acts.
4. The judges are friends, and the good natured competition between them adds humanity and fun to the competition.
5. The judges offer constructive criticism, something that is hard to come by in real life.
6. The tables are turned. If more than one judge “turns his/her chair” for a contestant, the contestant gets to choose between them. Superstars plead with unknown singers to pick them.

This is also a recipe for a successful YA novel.

1. Give the young protagonist a dream.
2. Make it seemingly impossible to achieve.
3. Make the protagonist appealing.
4. Have fun with the supporting cast.
5. Give the main character a way to learn and grow.
6. Use plot twists.

Easier said than done.

Busy Day Links

Today I drive to Detroit metro airport to drop off Jeremy. He’s going to two workshops at the Berklee College of Music. My fingers are crossed that they’ll let him take his guitar on the plane, he’ll manage in a big city, and his music will get helpful feedback.

For later in the week, I have pictures from the MSU gardens of frogs, turtles, bees and butterflies. Today I’ll direct you to the writing advice of Jennifer Nielsen, author of The False Prince. Her Infinite Checklist of Writing Tips is brilliant. Thanks to Ruth McNally Barshaw for the link.

Reading Music

Most music notation software costs several hundred dollars, and is reportedly somewhat user-unfriendly. Perhaps in response to  consumer demand, Sibelius offers a lower priced, simpler version called Sibelius First. Last week, Jeremy and I bought this program so he could transform his chicken scratches on staff/tabular paper into lovely printed music. On the way home from the electronics store, we listened to the Beatles’ One album, and Jeremy told me that none of the Beatles read music. That surprised me. I learned to read music when I was in the third grade (because my parents were affluent enough to send me to music lessons). I learned to read English the year before I started Kindergarten, and in the span of my life, that four-year head start seems insignificant. Reading music feels like something I’ve always done.

The Beatles created music that started a revolution without ever scratching those notes onto staff/tabular paper. They conquered the world on talent alone.

Good Vibrations

We didn’t own a piano when I was growing up. Instead, my parents bought an electric Hammond organ, and my mother used to play after my brother and I went to bed. My room was close to the living room, and the floor would vibrate as my mother played “Red Roses for a Blue Lady” or “Georgia on My Mind.” I loved falling asleep to that gentle oscillation.

My floor still vibrates, but to different beats. When Chaotic Paradise rehearses in our basement, the house shakes. Jeremy’s personal practicing is somewhat quieter, but the vibration can still be detected. And since the drum kit for Jeremy’s band is here, the drummer often comes over to work on solos. I doubt my mother would appreciate Jeremy’s metal music, but she’d be happy to know that people I love still rock my world.

Facebook Reprise

I couldn’t resist reposting this facebook dialog.

Me: I miss having a Sousaphone in the living room this summer.

Kim: Did I tell you that Claire is playing mellophone in marching band now?   She's making the transition from clarinet. It's a lot louder...

Me: Wish Claire the best from me. You don't know loud until a metal band rehearses in your basement.

Gina: That's a different kind of heavy metal.

(Jeremy’s fiberglass Sousaphone weighed 35 pounds. The brass ones are heavier.)

Music v. The Environment

Tonight on NPR, they described a Justice Department raid on the Gibson guitar factory for illegal use of endangered woods, specifically ebony and rosewood from Madagascar. Protecting the world’s rainforests is of critical importance. On the other hand, these guitars must look beautiful and sound wonderful. I wish I knew more about the type of wood used to make guitars. Apparently, some of these same laws apply to vintage instruments that were made before environmental laws were passed. In the early 1970s, I played an ebony clarinet and have no idea where the wood came from. It’s an interesting controversy.

I was positive the lead-out music would be Norwegian Wood by the Beatles. Nope. It was My Guitar Gently Weeps. If you’ve never heard that song on ukulele, click here.

Songwriting, Malware and Writing Days, Oh My

I had intended to write a thoughtful post on negative space this week with examples from my photography and applications to writing. Then Jeremy decided his band needed a songwriting room. He and Neil (drummer) cleared out another corner of our basement, picked up some salvage furniture and carpeting at MSU, and created a cute and comfortable space. That corner of the basement had been used to store a lot of stuff, but I’ve now relocated our tax return files and trashed or recycled a lot of stuff that should have been gotten rid of years ago.

Just as the basement issue was getting under control, my PC got another malware infection and had to go back to the computer hospital. All of my photo-editing software is on that computer, so Sunday’s nature photo is unlikely to happen this week.

Some members of The World’s Greatest Critique Group have planned writing days for today and Friday. To heck with all these other issues. I’m going to finish revisions this week.

Chaotic Paradise's First Concert

Jeremy’s band, Chaotic Paradise, performed at Lake Lansing Park band shell a few weeks ago. The concert is now on YouTube. In case you’re not up for thirty two minutes of metal music, slide the timeline to 20:24 to hear “Graveyard,” the song Jeremy plans to audition with. When the camera zooms out to show the kids dancing on the lawn, you get a quick glimpse of Sam. He’s wearing a dark blue shirt and standing on the sidewalk.

(If the video takes too long to load, try clicking on Chaotic Paradise in the sidebar.)

Lights, Camera, Action!

I’ve been recruited to make a music video for Jeremy’s band even though so far I’ve done only still photography. In my manuscript G&CBS (fka TAoCBS), Troy, the protagonist, makes a short film, and he has the entire novel to figure out how to do it.

I have a week.

Troy’s approach was to film everything in his life then cut, splice and edit a bunch of random footage into a video. Probably the band will want a more specific approach. I think practice is the answer – practice for everyone. Tonight, when Jeremy plays his guitar, I’ll start figuring out lighting and camera angles.

Did I Mention Loud?

Metal Band Update

Me: That’s the best I’ve ever heard you play.
Jeremy nods.
Me: But if it’s that loud two floors up, you need to wear ear plugs.
Jeremy: We’ll turn down the volume.

The lesser of two evils.

Metal Inspiration

Me: What song are they playing?
Sam: It’s the one Jeremy wrote last night.
Me: He wrote a song – while they were moving the drum set?
Sam: They were talking about how irritating it is when Katie calls them Hon so I suggested they write a song called Attila the Hun. I think that’s it.

Heavy Metal Mama

Jeremy and two friends formed a metal band. Neil plays drums, Katie sings, and Jeremy plays guitar and writes their songs. Yes, I’m proud. I’m also worried about potential hearing loss - for the band members.

They used to practice at Neil’s house because he has a super-fancy drum set and a finished basement. Neil also has four cats, and unfortunately Katie is allergic.

Sigh.

So, much of the summer has been devoted to converting our unfinished, extremely cluttered basement into a practice space. They cleaned out one corner and hung old blankets to form a room. I contributed dorm room carpet from Home Depot, and we’re still discussing economical sound proofing options for the remaining two walls. They installed a mini-fridge for soft drinks and even plugged in my old metronome.

Still, our new sound stage isn’t perfect.

Jeremy: We have ants down here.
Me: Are they the big ones or the little ones?
Jeremy: I don’t know. Medium.
Me: It makes a difference. The little ants love ant traps. They rush right in and eat the poison. The big ones are carpenter ants, and they don’t like traps so much.
Jeremy: There’s a dead one in the corner. Wanna see?
Neil: Wow. Maybe we could write a song about ants called Poison.