Yet another day in the life

4:30 AM – up and at ‘em! I wake up before the alarm clock...
5:30 AM – walk to Midway. It’s amazing how few people are out in the city this early...
5:50 AM – make list of everything I have to do before 9 AM. Feel like the Army (sorry Kevin).
5:55 AM – go to Midway rec room to find a spoon to eat yogurt with. Out of spoons. Out of sporks. Opt for a plastic knife.
6:00 AM – roll up sleeves and start in...
8:37 AM – realize I’m behind schedule... begin mentally reorganizing, while physically working as fast as I can.
9:26 AM – OK, done a little late, but no one is too hacked off about it...
9:54 AM – build has been approved, so I walk to Burger King for a second breakfast...
10:15 AM – reorganize for following week... man, there’s a lot to do to be ready for E3!
10:31 AM – receive email from Newman about his new piece, asking a question about specifying a certain guitar tone... have to answer him later...
10:34 AM – schedule meeting in MS Outlook for this afternoon to discuss a voiceover production schedule
10:40 AM – coordinate with Eddie (asst. producer) to make mini-movies of all the special moves that the characters have in the fighting game (every special move usually has 3-5 sound effects)
10:48 AM – have an idea for my new concert band piece, and I can’t resist shooting a quick email to the BCM brethren to check their opinions on an obscure orchestration idea...
10:49 AM – meet with sound designer #1 to go over goals for next week.
11:15 AM – meet with sound designer #2 to go over goals for next week.
11:49 AM – LUNCHTIME!!! Paradise Sushi – the only sushi joint I know of where you can get your maki roll on, as well as a sauna and massage. Today I’m only there for the maki.
12:51 PM – buy lotto ticket. (Yeah, I know it’s stupid, but it’s fun once in a while...)
1:02 PM – back in the studio. See email from Eric regarding my orchestration question.
1:05 PM – meet with voiceover producer to set up outline for the meeting this afternoon.
1:38 PM – get an email from Newman regarding my orchestration question. His answer completely contradicts Eric’s answer... I get a good laugh out of this.
1:40 PM – get an email from Ed Boon – he can’t make the meeting at 3:30. We toss around some other times, then I ROYALLY SCREW UP OUTLOOK so everyone gets a half-dozen wrong times to cancel and schedule a meeting that doesn’t exist... oy...
1:53 PM – straighten out the Outlook debacle...
1:57 PM – eyelids getting droopy, brain bonking... Dr. Pepper prescribes 591 ml. of caffeine and high fructose corn syrup...
2:00 PM – meeting on super-top-secret part of next Mortal Kombat game...
3:00 PM – end of super-top-secret MK meeting... bwah-hah-hah-haaaaaa....
3:22 PM – (realize I still haven’t written a note of MK music today, and probably won’t get to either...)
3:40 PM – type up outline for meeting at 4:30.
4:17 PM – email from Jay – he can’t make it at 4:30. Avoid Outlook altogether and run from room to room, asking everyone involved if they can do it at 5:30...
4:28 PM – plop back down in studio chair – 5:30 it is...
4:37 PM – finally email Newman back...
4:38 PM – receive mini-movies from Eddie. Review movies, take notes, and make plans to distribute this work amongst the other sound designers.
5:30 PM - meeting starts up, and I'm running it fast and furious, because by-
6:10 PM - I'm out the door, walking down to Belmont to catch a cab to-
6:46 PM - the 30 East Hubbard Street, for a Pro-Tools 5.1 mix demo. This goes on until...
8:38 PM - Catch the "El" train back up to my neighborhood so that by-
9:03 PM - I'm scrounging the fridge for leftovers. My wife enjoys some "alone time" with me by watching me stuff my face (have I mentioned what a patient woman she is?). And then, after having been running full-blast for 16.5 hours, I finally get to-
9:33 PM - Sit down to start writing!

writing...

... writing... writing... writing...

I find I have to stop writing about 2 hours before I want to go to sleep. Otherwise I'm wide awake, with my mind racing...

REDLINE

I can't believe I almost forgot -- Steve Bryant heard his first performance of the concert band version of his piece REDLINE -- arguably the most difficult piece of music ever written. It is also one of the coolest. Anyway, you can check this out by jumping over to his website, or if you CLICK HERE.

Chippewa Falls

I'm sorry I haven't written in a few days. I have been preoccupied, mostly with the new piece I am working on. On October 16, 2005, at 2:00 a.m., a bus hit an overturned semi-trailer truck. Five passengers were killed and 39 others were injured. You can read about the accident if you click here. They've asked me to write a piece in memory of those who passed during this accident. I'm sure you can understand that I've had a lot on my mind.

done!

WATERCOLORS is officially done... just finished the last movement, Raindrops Hang From a Spider's Web (sorry folks, but no one gave me a more convincing title). I actually wrote this piece NINE TIMES -- that's right, beginning, middle, and end, finished, done, look at it, crumple it up, throw it out, start over from scratch. Aside from the concept and the intent, there is nothing about the original that is like the final draft.

OK folks, that's all... gotta get some sleep!

WATERCOLORS update

So it's been a few days since I've talked about my Texas commission, WATERCOLORS... but that's not to say I haven't been working on it!

(for the unenlightened, WATERCOLORS is a collection of 5 short sketches for concert band, all based on water themes. Reflections in a Tidal Pool is one of them...)

I finished another movement, but not the tentatively titled Raindrops Hang on a Spider's Web -- I was not happy with that one... I finished another one that I'm calling Cast Adrift on a Stormy Sea -- it's very big and dark and bombastic and it swings on a very long pulse (like a big ship being tossed by huge waves). So what do we think of THIS title...? Anybody have any other ideas?!?

Assault on Sun Prairie, WI

Tuesday started bright and early with a rehearsal at 8 AM -- I wandered into the building with NO IDEA where I was going. Fortunately, I ran into Garry, a tuba player in the band, who recognized me and he helped me get my gear to the stage and get set up (thanks again, Garry!). Very soon, I met the director, Steve Sveum (seen here holding my beloved 7-string) -- one of the nicest, most accommodating, and generally chilled-out cats I've ever met. Soon the band arrived, and after a few words about the piece, it was time to play. Steve gave the downbeat, and we were on. It was clear from the get-go that this band was well-rehearsed -- they dug their teeth into the first movement's brisk tempo and clamped their jaws down on it. And even though it wasn't a huge ensemble, their sound was MASSIVE. I tell you, I was having an absolute blast playing with them... and it was only 8:15 in the morning!

The high point of rehearsal was when it came time for my cadenza, and just as I hit this screaming high note -- I hear a voice... booming through the room, coming from no where in particular... well, I'm inclined to stop playing when I start hearing voices. Turns out it was the school's intercom system coming through the auditorium, but there were a few seconds where I had NO IDEA what was going on!

After rehearsal, a percussionist named Kyle found me in the hallway -- he just wanted to double-check some dynamics and interpretive ideas, but I had to tell him that his section was really knocking me out. Usually, I have to spend a fair amount of rehearsal tweaking the percussion parts in the third movement, but this section was tight and well-balanced, and needed no attention at all. Combine them with Andy, the bass player who was laying down a bulletproof groove, and I was soloing over them with effortless ease.


Sarah Strohmenger, me, and Liz Hanley before Chaos Theory...

The next rehearsal of the day was with the Wind Symphony, who was performing TranZendental Danse of Joi. Again, the band was very well-rehearsed, and while there were kinks that needed to be worked out here and there, things ran pretty smoothly. I rearranged some stuff at the last minute on Wes (the drummer), but he totally rolled with it everything and there was nothing to worry about. I couldn't quite get my hands moving fast enough during the bass guitar solo, but I kept my fingers crossed that the performance would go better...

Jasmine came up to me after the rehearsal with some questions about publishing -- she writes choral music and is even considering taking on a concert band piece. She obviously has a lot of drive and motivation, and I'll be very interested to see how long it will be before I'm opening a concert program and find one of her pieces listed inside.

After a break for lunch, it was time for Sticks & Stones. The drumset soloist was a very talented guy from Madison, WI named Jim Huwe -- it was only the second time he'd seen the piece, but it was fantastic to hear him bring so much energy and musicality to the piece.

Once rehearsal was finished, Nicki and I found ourselves with a few hours to relax. We briefly considered going to visit the Spam Museum we'd seen advertised in a brochure at the hotel, but it was in Minnesota, and we decided that was a little ambitious for the mood we were in. We decided on a Diner in town, where we had an early dinner and an AMAZING slice of Peanut Butter Silk pie (sorry, no photos for the pie...).

Halfway through, the alto sax soloist from Sticks & Stones, Neil, came into the diner. It turned out he'd been looking all over town for us! Neil is also an aspiring guitarist and composer, and was hoping we could talk about music and composition. We agreed on a time to meet, and he left. Eventually Nicki and I went over to a coffee house called "The Bean 'n Cream" where we watched the owner's 2 year old daughter run about the entire coffee house while the owner and his wife tried to keep track of her -- it was better than television, let me tell you.

Soon enough we were headed back to the school, where I met back up with Neil, and spouted off about classical guitarists he should check out and general compositional stuff (hey Neil: that guitar composer I couldn't remember the name of? LEO BROUWER -- I remembered at around 12:30 in the morning!)

The entire concert seemed to go over very positively -- and well it should have. The bands all played really, really well and I was very pleased to hear their interpretations of my music. The Sticks & Stones performance was appropriately fierce, and Jim Huwe was absolutely flawless. TranZendental Danse of Joi was even better in performance, with the entire band pocketing the groove... and I even managed to make it through my bass solo fairly unscathed. And Chaos Theory... well, they tore the roof off the mother... once or twice, I managed to make eye contact with Steve Sveum, and I could tell he was having an absolute BLAST keeping this runaway train teetering on the brink... but the whole ensemble was glued to his baton and they never missed a trick.


Sarah, me, and Liz AFTER Chaos Theory...

After the concert was over, there was nothing left but to say congratulations and goodbyes to our new friends, and then pile the gear into the car and head back to Chicago. Nicki and I never turned on the radio once, and spent most of the 2.5 hour trip talking about the day and the concert and all the people we'd met that day.


Janessa, me, and Garry

me and my buddy Robert Rockman, future stunt guitar shredmeister extraordinaire...

A huge thanks to Garry, Carlos, Kyle, Sarah, Liz, Jasmine, Nick, Joe, Andy, Anna (cough!), Wes, Neil, and all the other musicians who worked so hard on this music, and whose names didn't deserve the ill fate of my sieve-like brain. A special thanks to Jim Huwe, not only for coming out to play Sticks & Stones, but also for totally kicking its ass. And an extra special thanks to Steve Sveum, for making this entire experience possible, for being such a kind and gracious host, and for treating my music with such care and attention.

THANKS SUN PRAIRIE!!!

Stay tuned...

Sun Prairie ROCKED. Flat out -- Steve Sveum and those bands are making some great music. Unfortunately, I managed to not take a single picture -- so I'm going to write about the trip tomorrow. In the meantime, if ANYONE from Sun Prairie has pictures from yesterday, send them to me at jimbonney@aol.com and I will post 'em with the story... spread the word, folks!

Sun Prairie road trip

Tonight I'm heading up to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin -- I'm playing guitar on Chaos Theory and bass guitar on TranZendental Danse of Joi... and they're also playing Sticks & Stones! I'll be sure to fill you in on all the news that's fit to print...

the hardest thing in the world to do

write something simple.

okay...

... so I'm getting the impression that people aren't so WILD about my new title, Raindrops Hang From a Spider's Web... any suggestions?



What I liked about the title was how it described the delicate and fragile balance in nature, yet how precisely and perfectly-designed nature is. I thought the imagery was good -- like diamonds suspended on a silken thread...

OK, so the piece is pointalistic, which is to say that it's about single notes, tiny events... little musical moments. It's minimalistic, so there is a lot of patterns and repetition. It is a little unsettling sounding -- it's made up of a synthetic scale (F G A B C# D E -- or D harmonic minor, starting on the third scale degree), and the notes are very angular (there's not a lot of melodic motion). There is a lightness and a delicacy about it, and it's very diaphanous in texture (go look it up).

The Spiderweb part is not important. Actually, the rain isn't important either... you can try something with dew, although I thought "dew" seems like too warm and friendly of a word... or snowflakes, but I think of "snowflakes" as too positive and magical... the only thing is, the title MUST involve some form of water.

Anyway, I don't care if anyone liked my idea, I just want a good title for the piece. I'm up for suggestions -- let's hear some open creativity out there!

so... whadiya think?!?

This week I'm putting the finishing touches on another one of the sketches to go with the WATERCOLORS collection -- as you may've figured out by now, I have a heck of a time coming up with titles, but this time, I think I've got a good one.

So we started with Reflections in a Tidal Pool, which is ironic, because it is probably going to be the last movement of the collection. After much deliberation and discussion, I settled on the title for the next one, Moon Over Twilight Lake (I'm imagining this one being third). Next came an excellent suggestion from the peanut gallery -- Echoes of Sun and Ice -- this one will be first. Which brings us to the one I'm finishing now -- it's very coloristic, pointalistic, and minimalistic, with a quiet, unsettled atmosphere. The title I've come up with is:

Raindrops Hang From a Spider's Web

SO WHADIYA THINK?!?

Three Cheers for Jason McElwain

It's not often enough in life that these kinds of stories come true. If you haven't seen the video, give yourself a short vacation from your day-to-day malaise of cynicism and self-doubt and CLICK HERE.

dreamtime

last night i had a dream that me and my wife were being held in a prison somewhere and someone fired three heat-seeking missiles (specially calibrated to target us) so we tried to hide in our cells but there was no where to hide so we tried to change our heat patterns by jogging in place and rubbing our hands together and stuff but that didn't help either because one of the missiles found nicki (it was kinda sneaking around slowly like a wolf sniffing out it's prey) and suddenly i was in her cell (either to protect her, or provide a heat-emitting distraction) when suddenly the missile turned into a guy with a hi-liter marker (florescent blue -- in his right hand) and a little mini pocketknife (in his left hand) and he was trying to cut me and highlight me at the same time so i grabbed for his wrists and when i did that i moved in real life and i ended up knocking a glass of water on the floor and breaking it so i had to get up and get a broom and sweep up the broken glass at 5 o'clock in the morning.

umm...

I wrote something so unbelievably BORING today that I couldn't bear to post it.

myspace paydirt!

Just when I'm starting to get bored with my whole myspace experience, Mike Porter (of Alderson Broaddus/Chaos Theory fame) emails me and introduces me to a guitarist I'd never heard of named Tommy Emmanuel... go check him out, he's AMAZING. Amongst Maestro Emmanuel's friends is my idol, STEVE VAI... Steve Vai has a page on myspace!!! Suddenly I'm crashing through a whole vein of progressive guitar gods that I absolutely LOVE -- guys like Tony MacAlpine and George Lynch and Greg Howe and John Petrucci and Mike Keneally and Vernon Reid and Eric Sardinas... check these guys out -- they'll burn your face clean off.

Thanks Mike!!