Workout Wednesday

Hello out there in Blogging land! I have been jumping on and off the workout bandwagon. Finally got some new wheels and bearings for my long board which means that I have been down at Liberty Park racing around the side walks and enjoying some speed in my life. Realizing that this isn't the best overall workout, especially for getting the heart rate up for long enough, I've been headed back to the gym to run, lift (a little), and run some more. Today I ran for 30 minutes straight without stopping, halfway to my goal of running for 60 minutes straight. The other half my workout today I worked on my abs and tried to tear them up a bit. Just made me realize that I need to work on my abs more and more as I move forward.

On the point of a mental workout, I was able to get through and image the third page of my concerto. Still haven't completely decided on the final sticking for measures 25-27, because as the speed picks up I'm sure this will change. There are two very different and very valid stickings that work for this section. The big question is do I keep the melody in one hand which has its pros and cons or do I split it between both hands which is less overall movement but is a little harder to coordinate at higher speeds?

The work is coming along well, obviously a bit slow, but overall progress is being made with mounds to go. It feels like my brain is filling up with notes, so many scales or partial scales, and key centers. It's good that I have a couple of Multiple Percussion pieces on this program because the other half is going to be mind numbing with the amount of notes to be laid down.

Back to it tonight after work, I'm going to work on page 4 of the Koppel concerto. Tonight is the last night before next Monay that I'll be able to practice and get some good work done because I will be back and forth house/dog sitting in Saratoga Springs spending some quality time with my buddy Otis. I can still get some transcribing done on the Benny Greb piece. I should be able to wrap up the final drum transcription this weekend then the only thing left on that is to finish transcribing the trumpet solo and then find a trumpet player to play it for me. Already have a Sousaphone player as well as a Trombonist, just need to finish the transcription and enter it into Sibelius, print out, and start rehearsals.

"Whatever you do, move only at a pace that is natural...So long as your spirit keeps going forward, you're moving fast enough." - Philip Toshio Sudo

Here's to a lifetime of work and fun...gotta remember to have fun too. Let's Go!

Chords and Chords and more Chords

So the concerto consists of the basic chord structure of (I-bV-iv-V-I) but then throws you for a larger loop. So starting in E major we have... E maj. - B flat maj. - C# min. - B major - then back to E maj. That's just the opening statement not to be out done the next big section goes as thus D min7 - E min4 - A min4 - D min - G min - C min to then C# min.

Now that I've got a handle on the general chord changes I was thinking this would help in some of the movement in the marimba part. Think again, the Marimba part serves as most, at times, all of the transition from chord to chord so very rarely does the marimba actually center in on any one key. The few cadences that do happen in this piece are in the orchestra/piano part but are so subtle and fast that one could miss it if not reading the score.

I'm glad I got this far with it which definitely gives me a foundation to stand on with the marimba part but there are still so many times at which the running scale or chord of the marimba does not coincide directly with the overall key structure that it's hard to image and completely hard to get into your hands.

Thus is the fun of learning a completely challenging piece but there are times at which I feel it will get the better of me. It's at those times that I just dig in a little harder and a little deeper until something musical and productive jumps out of the pages at me. The spaces between those jumps seems to be fewer and farther between these days. Let's Go!

Tuesday is Trying

Got up a little later than I wanted to this morning. Ran for roughly 45 minutes. I was glad to get to the practice room last night for almost two hours. Really dug into the Baker - Lonely City Suite and damn that shit is fast. When I was done last night I ended the first movement at about 60 bpm (beats per minute) and I'll tell you that 64th note singles at 60 bpm is a bit of a challenge. But the end goal and written tempo of the piece of 85 bpm is going to be a good ceiling and ultimately a great stretch for my hand speed.

I didn't get as much work done on the Koppel - Concerto for Marimba that I wanted to, but today is another day. Already started out well with a good run and a good stretch. Tonight I will re-focus on the Concerto and then polish some sections of Cangelosi's- Wicca. Wicca will take a large amount of focus on each and every note for the proper emotions to be conveyed. I can't just play at the notes and get through it, that's already been done. Just like every other piece on this recital, this piece was chosen for its connection to spiritual sounds that I hear and more importantly feel. The feeling is the utmost important part of this piece, it really needs to feel right. This goes for every piece on this recital, they all need to feel right. The last thing I want is just to get up in front of friends and family and just play some notes for an hour. It needs to be an experience, at least for me but hopefully for those who choose to show up as well.

There's more to this world than just going through the motions. If more people, musicians specifically, could understand this concept perhaps our orchestras and art programs wouldn't be suffering so much.


"Do what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and do it that way every time." - Phillip Toshio Sudo

The Beginning Begins

Woke up today, Ran/Walked for 60 minutes just a little over three and a half miles. What a great way to clear the brain and get the day started. After roughly 9 hours of work I will go the Music Building and practice as much and as hard as I can.

This is the beginning of a 7 day a week of workout, work, and practice schedule. On my lunch hour I'm going to dig into the Baker - Lonely City Suite. After work I will continue to dig into the Koppel - Concerto for Marimba, gotta get through the pages/stickings and continue to get the imagery in my system. Little by little this will come together.

Some plans have fallen apart, but as the saying goes..."When life falls apart, make art." The sacrifices that will be made will be out weighed by the benefits of the end product. Here's to a lifetime of work and focus.

From the Past we can Travel to the Future

I know, I know. You're saying to yourself, "Why the hell would anyone still use Myspace?" To which I reply, "It's the only place that will let me upload enough songs to give you a vague representation of my drumming."

This is something that I've been meaning to do for a long time. I have uploaded a fairly good representation of my drum set drumming on to www.myspace.com/claybarnum With this has come lots of reminiscing, but this is good. Because the current position that I'm in musically is that of steady forward motion and quite often from time to time I forget to look back on where I've been.

I am proud to say that I've been a part of these tracks, even though there are some aspects to the songs that I did not have any control over. I do take full credit for the drum parts

Tonight was as good a night as any to take on this project, even though it didn't actually take that long. Tonight I was also able to get some good practice in on the Anders Koppel Concerto for Marimba, pushing through the difficulties of stockings on this piece seems to be the biggest hurdle. I have a good flow going, just need to keep it going solidly for the next couple of months.

One day at a time... ||:Work, Practice, Run :||

Maslanka Symphony No. 9

Now the fun can begin. Although I've had fun working on David Maslanka's newest Symphony No. 9 these past few days. It truly is time to get back to the fun that will last the next three months. This energetic very emotional performance is definitely one for the books for me. I realized at the end of tonight, as I was packing drums into the truck, that I've played three different Maslanka Symphonies in the last two years. Most people are lucky enough to have played one or even two in their lifetimes, but three in only a couple of years is quite the treat.

At this point, the only thing left on the books is learning and performing the recital. Its funny that I say "the only thing left," because really thats a whole three month process in and of itself. So much to sacrifice for the things I want in my life. Sacrifice time with family, friends, and good friends I haven't seen in a long time just to get more practice time in. But, I keep telling myself  that it'll be worth it in the end. I hope this is true. I hope that this feeling of uncertainty fades a little as the deadline approaches. I hope that  I can listen with my heart and my soul more often.

The last two nights I have been listening with an open heart and an open soul. Open to the universe, open to the possibilities of what may be. I do believe that if we listen close enough that the universe will let you in on little secrets but you have to be able to truly focus in your heart and soul and listen to them equally and unbiased. If you can do this anything is possible. This is what drives me to do the things that I do, to play the pieces that I play. Many people, one in particular, has said to me quite a few times "You're crazy" or "Why do you pick such hard pieces?" My reply, "It's just what I do." I don't usually pick the pieces the way most people do, the pieces tend to pick me. That process pushes me to further my knowledge of music and pushes the boundaries of my playing beyond what I ever thought was possible.

Let it begin.

Running and Transcribing

So, the answer is no. I was not running and transcribing at the same time. But, in fact, I did do both tonight.

I was actually headed to the practice room after work to dig in and get some real work done on the recital. But being deterred for about 45 minutes while my key was stuck in the lock of the door to my truck (Imagine that, it rhymes). After tearing the door apart to get to the inner workings, made a few adjustments and finally go the key out. As I headed up to the University I remembered that I had RSVP'd to a UMFA (Utah Museum of Fine Arts) Staff Party for the opening of their new SPEED event. No, this is not a bunch of meth addicts gathering at the Museum. Instead, it's the gathering of many major land speed record holding racing cars. Awesome to say the least.

After the entertainment at the Museum, I was faced with a decision to make. Work out now then be up until Midnight or later practicing or practice now and not get a workout in? I chose to workout now and then figured I could work on my Benny Greb transcription at home until I passed out or got to a stopping point.

I ran/walked briskly for the better part of an hour. Working up to running for the full sixty minutes is a smaller goal for the summer but one that will be attained in not much time. Weighed in today at a whopping 250 lbs after working out. Not excited about that, but slowly shedding pounds over the next few months.

The transcription process is one that I've never really done until this song. I mean, I've always torn my favorite drum parts to pieces to learn them but never actually written them down and seen them in this way. Usually I work on the overall form of the piece and get the general idea of the groove but rarely, Ok pretty much Never, write it out note for note. It is definitely fun to pick apart a piece of music that someone else probably laid down in the studio without really thinking much about. Naturally talented musicians such as Benny Greb don't really have to worry about what comes out, cause most if not all of it is magic. Anyhoo, I am most of the way done with this piece. I have about another page and a half (less than a minute) of music to work on. The other parts are already finished just working on the drum kit pieces right now and once that is done I'll drop them into Sibelius and it'll be time for rehearsal.

The best part about learning a song this way is that by the time I'm done with transcribing the notes by hand then inputting them into the computer, I'll know the parts inside and out. So those of you in the Brass Trio, watch out. I'll be listening. Which is the main reason for doing this, to maintain/improve my ear training skills and to have a Drum Set piece on my recital. It's kind of funny that I haven't studied drum set at the University of Utah yet but I still have a piece on my recital. That's probably due to the fact that I love playing and that's really (still) what I'm best at.

Everyday.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle

Music in Place

Finally! All of the music has arrived and since today is June 1st it's time to dig in hard on preparations. Timeline has been set, schedules are being adhered to. It is amazing how so many goals stack up together, so if one fails multiple fail. In some ways I've done this on purpose to force me into hitting my goals. In other ways this has happened inadvertently. Either way goals are on track.

Keeping with the timeline that I've set out is undeniably important because it will keep me in check for the lofty goals that I have set for myself.

Goals for this summer leading up to and beyond my Recital are as follows:

1- Learn Recital

Lonely City Suite - Baker

Monte Nido - A. Lee

Mental Separation - Barnum

White Knuckle Stroll - Cangelosi

Prelude/Hotdog - Greb

Challenge #2 - Delacluse

Wicca - Cangelosi

Concerto for Marimba and Orchestra- Koppel

Denotes Still need to learn

Denotes learned, time to polish

Denotes Currently in Process

2- Schedule Recital; Aiming for Mid-September (hopefully the 16th)

3- Exercise; Workout everyday to lose weight, specifically 40 lbs minimum, 60 lbs maximum. This serves multiple purposes over the next few months: 

• Photo shoot for Recital posters
• Better practice sessions
• the ability to focus properly
• Skydiving for my Birthday
• this is the goal that set me in motion to lose weight in the first place
• Must be under 220 lbs to even go
• But over 200 lbs you get charged more to go
• Beyond the next few months this is a major health change and will continue through the rest of my life, career.

4- Organize the photo shoot and poster design for Recital

1. Miranda Whitlock-Downs will be the photographer for this photo shoot. We've talked about a few ideas which will definitely turn some heads, or at least be unique to me and my style which is all I can ask for.
2. Greg Downs will be designing the final poster once the photos are done because the main poster idea will revolve around the end photo.
3. Printing and Distributing of posters to appropriate venues

5- Organize stage layout and load in/out times.

This is really a lot to do and will happen fast. So if you can't get a hold of me you now know why. I have a few other small items to take care of over the next few months, those are a surprise.