Seussical the Musical – Orchestra and Musician Notes

Here’s music info for those producing Seussical the Musical. You might find these tips and tricks useful if you are a musical director, conductor, musician in Seussical the Musical – or if you are working with pit orchestras for musical theater productions. I think you’ll find many items here you can apply to many different stage musicals. My first involement with Seussical was for META Performing Arts in Skagit County, WA. Our performance run was November 3-12, 2006 at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, WA.

If you’re working on music for Seussical the Musical, you already know it’s a LOT of music. The longest wait between songs is about 30 seconds. The Conductor/Piano 1 score runs over 400 pages – most musicals I’ve worked on run under 200 pages. You’ve got your work cut out for you. The music is not extremely difficult, but it has a lot of textures needed to pull off the orchestration. I think the orchestration is very good, and the charts are very clean. As conductor you will notice many errors between the conductor’s score and musician scores. Double check all your numbered repeats, fermatas and pauses – they are marked erratically from score to score. I thought I had caught most of them, but in rehearsals realized I had only caught about half the errors. There are also a small number of note errors, listen carefully to your musicians to catch them. (I should have kept better notes so I could post a listing of the errors to fix).

Here are the major problems I identified with producing the music for Seussical, and notes on how I worked around them.

1) How do you fill out the orchestra for a local production?
2) Will the show work with 5 or 6 musicians?
3) How do you find woodwind players that can each double on 4-5 instruments?
4) How do you get a professional stringe ensemble sound – without using cheezy keyboard patches or investing in a full string section?
5) How do you teach four part harmonies to grade school children, and have them remember the enormous amount of music in this show?
6) If using kids, how do you get the Wickershams to sound hip – the score is written for males who’s voice has already changed.
7) What’s more important for the Cat In The Hat – vocal ability or acting ability?
8) What to look for vocally in the different groups of Bird Girls, Who’s, Wickershams, Jungle Animals and lead characters of Mayzie, Gertrude, Sour Kangaroo, Horton the Elephant, JoJo and the General.
9) Assming you are using a majority of children in your cast, how can they project over the orchestra?

Answers to questions:

1) How do you fill out the orchestra for a local production?
I really think you need to pony up and fill out the orchestration as much as possible. Seussical is all about imagination and the different textures you orchestra brings to the show is part of pulling off that environment. I want to hear Disney, I want to hear Fantasia – that’s not going to happen with a five piece group. It will sound ok, but not inspiring. For me, I’d rather not do it unless it’s going to be ultra cool. If you’re using five or six players, then these notes won’t help you – this is about producing Seussical in a semi-pro environment (which can also mean community theater that works really, really hard!)

2) Will the show work with 5 or 6 musicians?
“Work”, yes – something I’d want to work on? No. Get donors, beg borrow and plead, get that orchestra filled out. I was fortunate to get a single donor to underwrite the entire orchestra. They were given prominent mention in the program.

3) How do you find woodwind players that can each double on 4-5 instruments?
You can’t – assuming you do not have a budget to hire session players (which really, only session or union players are going to be able to pull off all those doubles professionally) and are not near a major city with access to players like this. So split your woodwinds into as many parts as you need to cover the three parts. I found that you can skip the following parts, which are VERY small parts once the others are covered: You can cut bassoon, Flute II, clarinet II. I had players for these parts, but the parts were so small they declined to play. If you can get people for those parts great, but you probably won’t miss them.

Here is the instrumentation that Seussical the Musical calls for:

Bass Electric Bass
Cello
Drums Kit, Woodblock, Piccolo Snare, Cowbell, Timbale, Shaker, Bell Tree, Flexitone, Mark Tree, Triangle
Guitar 1 Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar
Guitar 2 Acoutic Guitar, Banjo, Electric Guitar
Keyboard 1 (Breathy-bell Synth, Pno+Perc.E.P., Cowbell + Calliope, Pno/Rhodes, Pop Piano, Piano, Elec. Pno, Calliope, Kazoo, Cheap-sounding Piano, metal Clav, MetalClav + Calliope, Poly Synth, Stackoid, Tack Piano, Glittery Synth, Buzzy Xylo, Mysterious E.P., Sweet E.P., XyloGlock, Voices, Theremin, Shimmery Stuff, Many Flutes, Rock Piano, Clarinet)

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Keyboard 2 (Breathy Pad, Bell Synth, Harpsichord, B-3, Cricket Synth, Elephant, Orch Hit, “Doing”, Psycho Strings, Tinkly Voices, Door Slam, Kalimba, Mallet Synth, Bell/Harpsi Synth, Pedal, Log Synth, Percussive B-3, Rok B-3, Calliope, Reedy Synth, Hank-y Synth, Nose Flute, Kazoo, Birdie Whistle, Tiny Synth Voice, Horn, Pig Synth, Animal Brss, Many Tubas, Bird Honk, Bird Fart, Hard Bottle Blow, AirRaid Siren, Spooky E.P., Warm E.P., Warm Voices, Celesta, Ethereal Choir, Spooky Voices, Dark Choir, Glittery Bell Synth, D-50 Stack, 80s Pad, Breathy Bell, Toy Piano, Cathedral Organ, Squishy Bass, Small Pipe Organ, Marimba, D-50 Heaven, Mello Organ, Rock Synth, Metal Clav, Hooty Synth, Clock Sound, Icy-cold Synth, Accordian, Ravenborg, Roller Rink Organ, Kazoo Brass, Cimbalum, Funky Horn, Pizzicato Strings, Sitar, Many Trombones & Horns, Buzz Brass)

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Percussion (Crotales, Chimes, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Congas, Tympani, Djembe, Siren Whistle, Shaker, Vibraslap, Tambourine, Bell Tree, Triangle, Finger Cymbals, Piatti, Sleigh Bells, Vibraphone, Suspended Cymbal, Mark Tree, Cork Pop, Temple Blocks, Samba Whistle, Ratchet, Bongos, Cowbell, Scraper, Rainstick, Marimba)

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Reed 1 Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Piccolo
Reed 2 Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Oboe, Tenor Saxphone
Reed 3 Baritone Saxophone, Bassoon, Clarinet, Flute
Trombone
Trumpet 1
Trumpet 2
Viola
Violin 1
Violin 2

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Here’s how I covered that orchestration:

(1) Electric Bass
(1) Cello
(1) Drums Kit, Woodblock, Piccolo Snare, Cowbell, Timbale, Shaker, Bell Tree, Flexitone, Mark Tree, Triangle (Your drummer will need a cowbell)

(1) Guitar 1 Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar
Guitar 2 – CUT
(1) Keyboard 1 – Piano and Hammond B3 (covered by conductor, you could also have a “piano player” cover Key I)

(1) Keyboard 2 – Reduced patches to: Electric Piano (one aggressive, one mellow) , B3 rock, B3 mellow, Heaven Pad, Bell Synth, Calliope, Reed Synth (oboe-ish sound), Theremin (whistle with portamento), CyberBorg (dance synth patch), Spooky Voices, Tick Tock (from drumset sound bank),

(1) Percussion – Keyboard 3 covers these mallet percussion parts from the percussion score: Chimes, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Tympani, Vibraphone, Marimaba)
(1) Percussion – Live percussion player covering conga, djembe and latin percussion parts.
(1) Reed 1 – Flute, Piccolo
(1) Reed 2 – Bass Clarinet, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone
(1) Reed 3 – Baritone Saxophone, Oboe (Oboe from Reed 2 part, BariSax has priority in uptempo songs, oboe has priority in ballads)
(1) Reed 4 – Alto Saxophone (From Reed 2 score)
CUT WOODWINDS if not available: Soprano Saxophone, Bassoon, Clarinet II, Flute II

(1) Trombone
(1) Trumpet 1
(1) Trumpet 2
Viola – CUT if not available.
(2) Violin 1 – Combine real violin player with Keyboard 4 (Keyboard player playing Violin I part, will need to select patches that blend with live players and Violin II part)
(2) Violin 2 – Combine real violin player with Keyboard 5 (Keyboard player playing Violine II part)

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4) How do you get a professional stringe ensemble sound – without using cheezy keyboard patches or investing in a full string section?

By combing quality keyboard string samples with live players. The live players will provide the attack and bend that you need in the sound, the keyboard covers the fullness of the sound. I have seen Seussical performed live with a full string section (three players per part) but it still did not have the nice full sound of symphony strings. My experience has been it is very difficult to pull that sound off within budget and the pool of players available.

5) How do you teach four part harmonies to grade school children, and have them remember the enormous amount of music in this show?

When we had auditions, we were very careful to check for singers that could sing harmonies, and grouped them accordingly to different character types. I have the more advanced singers cover the harmony parts, and the younger singers cover the melodies. In some sections where harmonies only come in on a couple notes, I simplified into two part harmonies and eliminated some harmonies. This was dictated by our particular casting, but I would guess this to be a similiar situation for most all-kid productions.

To learn all the music parts we broke into groups at rehearsals, many times having four different rehearsals running simultaneously. Singers were often brought in before rehearsals to work on particular ensemble parts and to reaffirm harmonies.

Once harmonies were in place, I would omit the lead line and play harmony parts to make them more solid for singers.

6) If using kids, how do you get the Wickershams to sound hip – the score is written for males who’s voice has already changed.

I changed the octaves of some parts, and had Wickershams speak some of the low parts. They are just too low for young unchanged voices. We did with attitude, and the final result was very hip.
7) What’s more important for the Cat In The Hat – vocal ability or acting ability?

I think acting ability is more important. Many of the Cat in the Hat vocal lines can be performed as speech-sing.

8) What to look for vocally in the different groups of Bird Girls, Who’s, Wickershams, Jungle Animals and lead characters of Mayzie, Gertrude, Sour Kangaroo, Horton the Elephant, JoJo and the General.

I put trained vocals in the Who section, they need a very pure sound with strong harmonies. Also worked with Who’s a lot on over-enunciation to make their parts more animated. Bird Girls – need to have 3part harmonies, we used 6 bird girls so each voice doubled. Without the harmonies, the Bird Girl part doesn’t come across, needs a “Supremes” type sound. General can also be speech-sing style. Need a strong vocalist for both Mayzie and Sour Kangaroo – I don’t really see a way around this, especially the Kangaroo. Horton’s part covers such a wide range, I think you’ll find speaking some lines instead of singing will work better for this character too (for a younger voice). I have Horton under-sing a lot, seems more in character.

9) Assming you are using a majority of children in your cast, how can they project over the orchestra?
Picking our sound crew was our first priority. Field mics for different vocal ensembles and dedicated wireless mics for leads and supporting characters. We also put the orchestra behind the cast so the sound crew would have more control over the final volumes – the particular hall we were in has a very live orchestra pit that is hard to control. Also, because I use several keyboardists to cover parts, it’s important to have a sound crew with a good ear so they can mix the textures properly.

Hope that helps, if you have any questions on the show or see a way something could have been improved, please post it.

How Long Copyright Protection Endures

How Long Copyright Protection Endures

Works Originally Created on or after January 1, 1978

From the United States Copyright Office – http://www.copyright.govÂ

A work that was created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinarily given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death. In the case of “a joint work prepared by two or more authors who did not work for hire,” the term lasts for 70 years after the last surviving author’s death. For works made for hire, and for anonymous and pseudonymous works (unless the author’s identity is revealed in Copyright Office records), the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Works Originally Created before January 1, 1978, But Not Published or Registered by That Date

These works have been automatically brought under the statute and are now given federal copyright protection. The duration of copyright in these works is generally computed in the same way as for works created on or after January 1, 1978: the life-plus-70 or 95/120-year terms apply to them as well. The law provides that in no case would the term of copyright for works in this category expire before December 31, 2002, and for works published on or before December 31, 2002, the term of copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047.

Works Originally Created and Published or Registered before January 1, 1978

Under the law in effect before 1978, copyright was secured either on the date a work was published with a copyright notice or on the date of registration if the work was registered in unpublished form. In either case, the copyright endured for a first term of 28 years from the date it was secured. During the last (28th) year of the first term, the copyright was eligible for renewal. The Copyright Act of 1976 extended the renewal term from 28 to 47 years for copyrights that were subsisting on January 1, 1978, or for pre-1978 copyrights restored under the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (URAA), making these works eligible for a total term of protection of 75 years. Public Law 105-298, enacted on October 27, 1998, further extended the renewal term of copyrights still subsisting on that date by an additional 20 years, providing for a renewal term of 67 years and a total term of protection of 95 years.

Public Law 102-307, enacted on June 26, 1992, amended the 1976 Copyright Act to provide for automatic renewal of the term of copyrights secured between January 1, 1964, and December 31, 1977. Although the renewal term is automatically provided, the Copyright Office does not issue a renewal certificate for these works unless a renewal application and fee are received and registered in the Copyright Office.

Public Law 102-307 makes renewal registration optional. Thus, filing for renewal registration is no longer required to extend the original 28-year copyright term to the full 95 years. However, some benefits accrue to renewal registrations that were made during the 28th year.

For more detailed information on renewal of copyright and the copyright term, request Circular 15, Renewal of Copyright; Circular 15a, Duration of Copyright; and Circular 15t, Extension of Copyright Terms.

The Beatles are God-hating Communist devils?

beatles-ed-sullivan.jpgHere is info directly from the Faithful Word Baptist website. Has anyone seen the movie Footloose lately?

The website says the Beatles are God-hating Communist devils, and it would really be best if we only sang songs in church which are 50 years old or more. That way, we know what’s tried and true.

As I’m thinking about it, wouldn’t it be most beneficial to only stick with ideas that are 50 years old or more? Yes, I think so. This way we’ll know what to think ahead of time, why reinvent the wheel? Umm….unless you live in a time period where the wheel hasn’t been invented within the last 50 years….then you couldn’t reinvent the wheel because it wouldn’t be invented because you could only use ideas from the last 50 years…….mmmm…..now I’m getting confused here. I guess I’m thinking too much again.

And only use the King James Version bible, that’s on the website too.

I notice the congregation is 10 months old. Does the 50 year rule only apply to music?
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A quote from the website:
“Rock n roll music was pioneered by ungodly sinners like Little Richard, a sodomite filthy animal, and Ray Charles, a heroin addict. of rock n roll music is ungodly.”

I am going to give this serious thought before I commit to burning my audio collection. Will some one loan me a wheelbarrow and a can of gasoline?

So where do I stand on music and theology? Short answer: lyric content and the perception of the listener are deciding factors.

We all fall short in our Christian faith. It would not interest me to seperate other people’s sins into categories for judgement. If a style of music is deemed inappropriate by a congregation, then that music style is not appropriate FOR THAT CONGREGATION; this does not make a statement on the inherent qualities of the music. Music does not inherently have a quality, it’s our perception of it that creates the quality. My guideline is: are the lyrics about God, for God or to God; and I would add one more: does the music spiritually feed the congregation or strenghten their walk in Christ.

But I am always open to adjusting my opinion when I have new information to work with. I can’t imagine I would ever say that I have fully defined the nature of the arts in worship. The arts are not static, it must breathe and move – and the same I think with our Christian faith.
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From the Faithful Word Baptist website:

If music without drums, syncopation, or a rock beat is acceptable music, then “Yesterday”by the Beatles would be suitable for a Christian. This song has no drums, syncopation, or rock n roll beat – so what’s wrong with it? It doesn’t talk about drugs, illicit behavior, or violence – so what’s wrong with it? What’s wrong with it is the source. It was written by God-hating communist devils. Rock n roll music was pioneered by ungodly sinners like Little Richard, a sodomite filthy animal, and Ray Charles, a heroin addict. of rock n roll music is ungodly.

Three Ways to Avoid the Wrong Music

3) Primarily sings songs which are 50 years or older. Worldly music goes in and out of style; but the classic hymns are never out of style. The Christian Contemporary music and southern gospel music of today will not be sung 50 years from now. It will be old hat; but here we are hundreds of years later still singing “Amazing Grace”, “There is a Fountain”, “Come Thou Fount”, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” These are songs that have stood the test of time and which God has blessed for decades. New music is not wrong, but must be very carefully examined for the source and the quality. If we were to sing 9 out of 10 songs 50 years or older, the tenth new song should not sound out of place.

Masaru Emoto

Let’s put this Masaru Emoto business to bed. I am asking for a scientist with a biology or chemistry background to help me replicate his experiments for publication.

It is beyond me why no one from the scientific community has stepped forward in a more public fashion to replicate Emoto’s claims. I believe unchallenged information like this does a great harm to the general public’s collective understanding of science, and yes, religion.

I have contacts for publication of our replication experiments, and I will dedicate time to monitor the experiment and create supporting audio materials for the experiment. Scientist needs to supply microscope and computer photography hookup.

I’m no scientist, but I care about possbile misinformation to the general public.

Someone recently referred to me as an “expert” in this field. I’m certainly no expert, but rely on those scientists who are. Perhaps I’m just a little more vocal than others.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just move along. If you ARE aware of this information and have disregarded it, please be aware that’s it’s impact is not on a small number of individuals.

Busta Rhymes – Background Info and Bio

busta_rymes.gifBusta Rhymes, aka Trevor Smith, Jr. – Visit the Official Busta Rhymes Website. Busta Rhymes is associated with Aftermath, also the current label for Bishop Lamont. I’ve worked on some of the ProTools sessions for Bishop and now have some material in the works with BR’s crew, so we’ll see what happens. In the meantime you can also visit my free hip hop battle forum at RapDogs.com – one of the net’s first public battle forums.

I got into a little situation with a hip hop crew a while back, and it wasn’t pretty. My close friends know about it, nothing I’m going to post publicly. I said I’d never do hip hop again……but it’s just too much dang fun. And besides, how many Norwegian Protestants do you know doing hip hop? Stay tuned….

Wikipedia Busta Rhymes Info

busa2.jpgTrevor Tahiem Smith, Jr. (born on May 20, 1972), better known as Busta Rhymes, is an American hip hop musician and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the name Busta Rhymes (from former NFL football player George “Buster” Rhymes) after watching him perform.

In November of 2005, Busta Rhymes cut off his trademark dreadlocks during a photo shoot in a New York barbershop owned by producer Cory Rooney. The shop is featured on an MTV show titled The Shop. “I started growing [my hair] in December ’89. I was 17,” he said. “I signed my [record] deal and said I ain’t combing my hair no more. I don’t have to.” He says the haircut was symbolic of a change in his music and the new record deal.

2006 has seen the release of his seventh studio album, The Big Bang. The CD became his first #1 album of his entire career. The CD sold over 209,000 copies in its first week to earn the top spot on the charts. The album also became his highest charting album in the UK, peaking at #19 there. Some of the album was leaked on the internet, and as a result several songs were left off the album and new ones added. The Big Bang featured more production by Dr. Dre than Busta’s previous releases and appearances by Raekwon and Nas. The singles that have been released from the album are, “Touch It”, “I Love My Chick”, featuring Kelis and Will.I.Am of The Black Eyed Peas, “New York Shit” featuring Swizz Beatz and “In the Ghetto”, featuring Rick James. Busta also had a stint opening for Carey’s Adventures of Mimi Tour.

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How Famous Was Freddy Fender?

freddy-fender-full2-opt.jpgPhoto I took from the stage while playing with Freddy Fender.

Sometimes people ask me how famous Freddy was. My mind flashes back to some of the shows – hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people all worked up to a frenzy. All ages in one room, spellbound by Freddy. Makes me smile.

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SAN BENITO — How famous was Freddy Fender?

The varied collection of awards and accolades that he amassed in his lifetime and the popularity of his music worldwide are evidence that Fender was more than a regional source of pride.

While not necessarily the standard barometer of fame, Fender was deemed prominent enough to be spoofed on “Saturday Night Live,” a television show that normally caters to young viewers. Horatio Sanz, a regular player on “SNL,” did his impression of Fender in the “Derek Jeter’s Taco Hole” skit on Dec. 1, 2001.

Fender actually made several television appearances, mostly as himself, on “The Tonight Show,” “American Bandstand,” the “Dukes of Hazzard,” “Hee Haw” and “Austin City Limits,” among others.

More recently, Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” was included in the soundtrack for “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” a film by Tommy Lee Jones in which the main characters form a friendship, in part, due to their mutual appreciation for Fender’s song.

From 1975 to 2002, Fender was nominated for five Grammy Awards in six different categories, winning once for “Best Latin Pop” (“La Musica de Baldemar Huerta” in 2002) and twice for “Best Mexican/American Performance,” (for “Los Super Seven” in 1999 and “Texas Tornados” in 1990).

In San Benito, his birthplace, city leaders dedicated an elevated water storage tank bearing his likeness on June 4, 2005, Fender’s 67th birthday. In anticipation of the event, Fender acknowledged his supporters in a statement posted on his official Web site, www.freddyfender.com:

“God has embraced me many times when I was most in need of him,” he wrote. “Thank you many times friends and fans from all over the world for all your prayers, dedication and loyalty. See you in San Benito for the lighting of the H20 tower.”

In 2005, music distributor Direct Source replaced Thomas Jefferson’s face on Mount Rushmore with Fender’s on its “Rancho Grande” compilation of the singer’s music. Fender was widely lauded abroad as well as in his homeland in more serious ways. According to Fender’s Web site, he was inducted into the European Walk of Fame in 1993. In 1999 he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

He was also inducted into various music halls of fame in Louisiana, Texas and others around the globe.

As part of its farewell to the 20th century in 2000, the Orange County Register placed Fender 18th on its list of “Most Important Latin Artists of the Century.”

According to his Web site, Fender performed at inaugural balls for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton and Texas Gov. Ann Richards. Among the “career performances” also listed on Fender’s site are playing for President Jimmy Carter at the White House and performances at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, at Wrigley Field during Chicago Cubs games in 1981 and 1986, at Carnegie Hall and at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1975.

The Internet has proved to be a significant role player in keeping Fender’s legacy alive. Most of Fenders albums are widely available online, with sale and auction listings for new and used copies of his compact discs posted on such Web sites as E-bay.com, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and Wal-Mart.com.

In some cases, individual songs or entire albums can be downloaded directly onto personal computers and MP3 players. Several of Fender’s songs can even be used as ring tones for mobile phones. Online purveyors of Fender’s songs hawk them in English and Spanish as well as in German, Dutch and Chinese, among other languages.

His fans were as varied as his last concert appearances, which included shows in Wisconsin, Washington, New Mexico, Oklahoma, California, Arizona and Nevada, according to his online calendar.

Fender resided in Corpus Christi, but he spent his last days as a musician on the road — mainly outside Texas. His last scheduled performances were listed as a private party in Houston on Dec. 3 and a concert at Steven’s Steakhouse in Commerce on Dec. 31 of last year. But his old bandmates Augie Myers and Charlie Rich, Jr. had to substitute.

The failure of Fender’s Web site administrator to update the calendar section prompted numerous messages from visitors for more information on Fender’s performances and prognosis.

Many of his fans incorporated his lyrics into their messages to the singer. One such entry was left by Judy Damato of Branford, Conn., who recently wondered publicly about Fender’s health in a message on the singer’s online guestbook.

“Please, whoever updates this site, is Freddy alright? I see no bookings on his calendar,” she wrote on Feb. 20. “Is he back in the hospital? Please at least let his fans know that he is OK. No one could ever take his place.

“He must be a kind, loving person to be able to touch so many hearts of people he’s never met,” she continued. “Please give us an update on what he is doing or how he’s doing; and could you do it before the next teardrop falls?”

Daniel Ordaz
Valley Morning Star

Peter Callesen – “Paper Cuts” Paper Art

paper-cut-impenetrablecastleekstra7web.jpgThis is an artist that really stirs my imagination. Meet Peter Callesen from the Oncotton Design Studio in London, England. See more of Peter Callesen’s artwork from his online gallery.

Seems he is picking up a bit on the groundwork laid by M.C. Escher. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t absolutely love Escher drawings. Around my college years a friend gave me the book Godel, Escher, Bach – which the author describes in his own words: “I realized that to me, Gödel and Escher and Bach were only shadows cast in different directions by some central solid essence. I tried to reconstruct the central object, and came up with this book.” If you like mathematical relationships, music theory and how the two related – I think you’ll love the book.

So Peter Callesen’s work excites me because I get the same sense of wonder with his work that I do with Escher. A kind of giddyness at the ridiculous nature of the work, and immediately following a deep respect for the complexity underneath a deceivingly simple presentation. A skeleton contemplates it’s relationship and seperation from the body; has it had enough of the tired shell and desires it’s own identity? Then I realize it’s a piece of paper, and I laugh at all that I am trying to read into it.

Great work Peter – you are a true artist. Your works make our minds dance and think, and with no bitter after taste. I predict one of his works will one day be in the Louvre. Maybe someday we’ll get to do a join art-music venture. That would be a blast!

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From Peter’s Gallery
ABOUT MY WORK

A common theme in many of my works earlier works is a reinterpretation of classical fairytales as well as a more general interest in memory in connection to childhood – as for instance in my performances Castle, Folding and Jukebox. These playful performances exist in the lost land of childhood, between dream and reality, and It is in this meeting or confrontation of these two conditions, in a kind of utopian embodiment, that these works of art becomes alive, often in a tragicomic way.

This interest for the romantic is extended in my later exhibitions White Shadows at Esbjerg Art Museum and From dust to dusk, but here with less focus on the confrontation between dream and reality leaving more space for the poetic aspect as well as the possibility of a reality behind or within the dream.

Lately I have been working almost only with white paper in different objects, paper cut, installations and performances. Some of these objects and installations are copies of stairs and ladders made out of thin paper. These works derive from my earlier work, Bridge and Still life, dealing with dreams and the impossible – but here in a more fragile and almost sublime version. The trashy style in earlier works is here exchanged with a more precise aesthetics. The work exists in the gab between the recognizable everyday object and the fragile and spherical condition and material in which it appears. The whiteness, the ideal pure copy of something real as well as the vertical direction coherent in most of my paper works, could also indicate the aspect of something platonic or religious.

Most recent I have started to make white paper cuts/sculptures inspired by fairytales and romanticism exploring the relationship between two and three dimensionality, between image and reality. I find the materialization of a flat piece of paper into a 3D form as an almost magic process – or maybe one could call it obvious magic, because the process is obvious and the figures still stick to their origin, without the possibility of escaping. In that sense there is as well an aspect of something tragic in most of the cuts.

A continual figure in my earlier performances and later drawings is The Dying Swan, who can be described as a hybrid between The Ugly Duckling and a human figure. The Dying Swan reveals different layers of identities, and often he strives for being somebody or somewhere else or tries to achieve the impossible – but is always confronted with reality and failure. He is not only a symbolic character. In his interaction and power-play with the audience his physical presence often creates an intense and uncomfortable atmosphere. In the drawings The Dying Swan creates his own universe, where he seems to be trapped in impossible situations and circles, dealing with death, rebirth, self-creation, and -destruction.

Romantic Longing in the Art of Peter Callesen

by Camilla Jalving
Excerpt:
A4 fragility
Take a piece of A4 paper, just a normal ordinary blank one as it comes out of the copy machine tray. You can write on it, draw on it, but also cut into it. Peter Callesen does so. Since 2004 parallel to his performance practice, he has been transforming two dimensional surfaces into three dimensional sculptures by the means of a paper cutter. From the white surface of ordinary A4 paper, a narrative arises. Or rather, lots of them. Stories, dramas, film clips. In ‘Snowballs’ a small house is erected from the paper. In the background, up the hill, two balls of snow have been set into motion. It is only a matter of time before the house will be smashed to the ground by the force of the rolling balls. At least, this is what I imagine, as the small sheet-like paper sculpture only shows the seconds before the disaster. As a still image, a frozen moment in time full of classic suspense, it shows how a possible catastrophe will take place on the A4 paper, elegantly created by a few cuts and slices.

Other paper cutouts are more intricate, revealing a painstaking craftsmanship. With great care and immense patience, Callesen creates a white, hyper-aesthetic universe of puns-in-paper, often making use of a tragic-comic slap-stick humour with a melancholic tinge. Creating the paper cutouts is basic magic in a way. In stead of drawing, Callesen cuts, folds and suddenly a world appears. 2D becomes 3D, which is quite a heroic gesture in and by itself. A gesture of basic transformation you might call it, initiated by the artist/creator. However, and this is an important point to bear in mind, if the gesture is heroic, the outcome is equally fragile.
Much can be said about fragility as a formal strategy in artistic practices. In an art historical context, it can be seen as a counter-aesthetical move against traditional modernist sculptural practice, most often based, as it is, on volume, monumentality, the trace of manual force or industrial heaviness. Callesen’s sculptures are neither heavy, nor monumental. Rather, through their delicate materiality, their flagrant fragility evokes an ‘aesthetic of possible failure’, as if they are always on the verge of collapsing, of falling apart or being flattened by an awkward hand. In this way Callesen reformulates sculptural practise, querying as well as queering in a way, the monumentality of the medium.

In ‘Impenetrable Castle’ the castle reappears. Typical of Callesen’s paper cutouts, it is attached to its own negative, the paper from which it is cut. When cutting, Callesen never isolates the figure from the ground, but merely transforms ground into figure. Hence the castle remains a sculptural loop, a self-sufficient construction that cannot be entered as it closes itself off from the outside. As such it can be regarded as an emblem of both longing and enclosure, of “bitter melancholy, solitude, the sufferings of exile, the sense of alienation” to quote Berlin one more time. A closed-off world of fairytales and childhood dreams.
This connectedness of figure and ground can be seen as a merely formal matter: as the artist’s way to stage a battle between the flatness of the paper and the volume of the figure, hence creating a certain formal tension between the flat sheet and the elevated sculptural form. Perceived more symbolically, the connectedness of figure and ground seems to propose the inevitability of origin, meaning the impossibility of ever freeing oneself from the past. Like the figure, we are always bound to our grounding, literally speaking the A4 paper, metaphorically the place we come from. For even though the figure rises from the paper, it is equally restricted by the paper, defined as it is by what makes it possible. The paper cutout ‘Butterflies trying to escape their drawing’ makes this point very clearl: eight butterflies flapping their wings, albeit aimlessly, as they are tied to the material that brings them into being.

McIntyre Hall Sound System Overview – Mount Vernon, WA

mcintyre-hall-stage-overvie.jpgHere are notes for sound system operation at McIntyre Hall, Mount Vernon, Washington. Information correct as of October 2006. Located on the Skagit Valley College campus. McIntyre Hall, 2501 East College Way Mount Vernon, WA 98273

McIntyre Hall has a master digital controller preinstalled in front of the main speakers. This may compress / limit end signal from mixing console. Amp room is always powered, engage the amp room with the keyed lock on the mixing room main tower.

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PDF DOCUMENTS

OWNERS MANUALS

DIAGRAMS

AVP Diagram (Audio Video Points)
Right Click – Select “View Image” for Full Size
Printable Image
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ML-3000 Mixing Console Track Sheet
Right Click – “View Image” for Full Size
Printable Image

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ML-3000 Mixing Console – Center Section
Right Click – “View Image” for Full Size
Printable Image
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McIntyre Hall Full Stage View

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McIntyre Hall from Stage Viewing Audience

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AUDIO INVENTORY

Mixing Console

  • Allen Heath ML3000-32

Microphones

  • Rode NT3 – 4
  • Audix OM2 – 8
  • AKG C5900 condenser – 4
  • Audio-Technica AT4041 condenser – 2
  • Shure KSM27 condenser – 2
  • Crown PCC-160 boundary – 4
  • Shure ULX Beta 87A/WL51 lavaliere 6
  • (10 Wireless Mics total as of 10/06)

Microphone Stands

  • AKG KM 260/1 floor stand – 6
  • AKG KM 211/1 boom – 2
  • AKG KM 211/2 boom – 2
  • AKG KM 210/6 tripod stand – 6
  • AKG KM 259 low profile tripod – 6
  • AKG KM 201 heavy duty – 4
  • AKG LGN 19 16″ gooseneck – 4

Speakers (stage monitors)

  • Renkus-Heinz TRX121/12M

Playback Transports

  • BurnIT CDR830 recorder 1 – 1
  • Denon DN D4000 dual CD/MP-3 – 1

STAGE DIMENSIONS Proscenium Opening

  • Width 49′-11″
  • Height 27′-0″

Stage Depth

  • Downstage apron edge to plaster line 4′-0″
  • Plaster line to upstage wall 36′-0″

Stage Width

  • Stage right lock rail to stage left wall 78′-0″

Orchestra Pit Filler

  • Front edge at center line to apron edge 12′-6″
  • Front edge at 1/4 mark to apron edge 10′-0″
  • (Front edge curves on a 34′-0″ radius

Stage Floor

  • Masonite over (2) 3/4 plywood (1-1/2″ total) on resilient stringers and pads

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SPEAKER PLACEMENTS

Catwalks

  • FX 1-2 and FX 3-4 across both catwalks

Patchbay

  • Patchbay at mixing area is Belden Type (Type “B”) – only use balanced cables. Belden jacks look like stereo ends but the tip is smaller.

Monitor Locations (From stage to audience perspective)
Speakers are 8 ohm (Do no run more than 3 per amp)

  • Pit Stage Right – Channel 1-6 – Monitors 1-2
  • Pit Center – Channel 7-10 – Monitors 3-4
  • Pit Stage Left – Channel 11-16 – Monitors 5-6
  • Stage Right – Channel 17-24 – Monitors 7-8
  • Stage Left – Channel 25-32 – Monitors 9-10
  • Back Stage Right – Channel 33-36 – Monitors 11-12
  • Back Stage Left – Channel 37-40 – Monitors 13-14
  • Balcony Right – Monitors 15-16
  • Balcony Left – Monitors 17-18
PROCEDURES

Baffles

  • Curtains in catwalk can be drawn across sides to decrease reflection. Suggest drawing curtains for amplified shows.
Set Up

  • House stereo mic should feed to green room and dressing rooms
  • House stereo mic should feed LISTEN wireless units for hearing impaired
  • 9v batteries on wireless mics need to be changed every night

Paging System

  • Test paging system levels during tech week for backstage volumes
  • Line 3 is the CD recorder
  • Amp for Paging System is on bottom of rack, not in amp room.
Power Up

  • Power up backstage rack – double check rack is in Manual Mode (Auto-mode is for 1-8 mics and bypasses mixer, usually only used for single mic performance)
  • Power up sound booth rack, mixer, wireless mics
  • LAST – Power up amps (keyed)

Pre-Show

  • 30 minutes before show, run DVD 30 minute countdown
  • Turn Lobby TV on
  • When countdown has ended, switch to live video feed
  • Feed stereo room mic to lobby

Intermissions

  • Play DVD countdown, start at 20 minutes (20 minute intermission)
  • 3 minutes before Act II, bring stereo house mic to lobby
  • When countdown has ended, switch to live video feed

MIXER CHANNELS

  • Two Stereo Channels (1-2 and 3-4)
  • 7-8 For Recording
  • 31-32 Catwalk Mics

Main Lobby – Plasma TV for Showtime Countdown and Live Video Feed

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Thank you to Jerry Fortier and Stephen Craig for showing us the system! And thanks to TAG and Bruce Vilders for setting up the classes.

The Mystery of Esteban Revealed

esteban3.jpgWho is this man of mystery that has been selling acoustic guitars for years on late night infomercials? I delve deeper as investigative music reporter as a service to the public. And a little help from some members on my forums.

Esteban is so muy gaucho, but in our investigative research we find some previous personalities that he seems to resemble in uncanny fashion. I present here the results of our rigorous research.

And our favorite line from his infomercials: “And with this switch you can sound like Metallica”.

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SQL Error : 1016 phpbb_sessions.MYD – Simple Fix Solution

Simple fix for SQL Error : 1016
This was a simple problem that came up with one of my databases, and I wasted a lot of time going the long way around the mountain. I’m posting the database problem here along with a quick fix for those with a similar error.

THE ERROR:

phpBB : Critical Error

Error creating new session

DEBUG MODE

SQL Error : 1016 Can’t open file: ‘phpbb_sessions.MYD’. (errno: 145)

INSERT INTO phpbb_sessions (session_id, session_user_id, session_start, session_time, session_ip, session_page, session_logged_in, session_admin) VALUES (‘1c2d81c6031571e71b2909fa76261504′, 2, 1161053838, 1161053838, ’47e750bd’, 0, 1, 0)

Line : 245
File : sessions.php

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THE FIX:

Perform the following SQL query:

REPAIR TABLE phpbb_sessions

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DETAILS:

This problem can happen to many different mysql database tables and seems to happen specifically on sessions.php – My SQL had been restarted, so that might have been a cause. If you are using PHPMYADMIN to run your databases, you will not be allow to fix the database from within the tables view for that database (like you normally would). Because phpmyadmin cannot complete the listing of tables, you cannot select the table to fix, and also do not have the normal listing of functions to select from (including the “optimize” table and “repair” table functions).

But just because you can’t see the sessions or users table, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. On my databases I entered “REPAIR TABLE phpbb_sessions” as an sql query and it fixed the table, which fixed the database problem.

In looking for a fix for the problem, I saw this same error across many different software platforms including phpbb, vbulletin and several ecommerce software platforms.

My initial fix was to backup databases from the command line on the server, since I had root access. I then deleted the existing database and reloaded the backups. A very long process when the mysql query fixed it. To perform the simple query you do not need root server access, only access to phpmyadmin.
Another reason I’m posting this, is I saw several dozen instances where other people had this error for over a month, effectively closing their websites. Hopefully this will help those who, like myself, are technically challenged with mysql.

Hope that helps!

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Another version of a related error:

phpBB : Critical Error

Error doing DB query userdata row fetch

DEBUG MODE

SQL Error : 1146 Table ‘databasename.phpbb_users’ doesn’t exist

SELECT u.* FROM phpbb_users u, phpbb_sessions_keys k WHERE u.user_id = 2 AND u.user_active = 1 AND k.user_id = u.user_id AND k.key_id = ‘d0d838d45d9db9fea44a2500bb8199ab’

Line : 89
File : sessions.php