More On Steve Barber
The following is a few journal entries from
Stephen---just to let you know about the kind of
character that I've been lucky enough to connect
with...
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
These marimbas are most rare. They are
constructed in New Jersey out of the highest
quality of rosewood. The bass register is
amplified by brass resonators that produce a
huge sound, almost like the texture of a bass
pedal on a pipe organ. The sustain on these
instuments is phenomenal. I will post any
further info as it comes into play.
posted by stephen barber at 7:09 AM
Monday, May 05, 2003
The Barbwire Music Outreach ( Travis Wheeler,
Matt Orem, and yours truly ) had its first
excursion to Bowie High School on May 1st and
2nd. Bowie has an excellent reputation for its
progressive music extension. The first day was
focused on the creative mind......the imagination,
the importance of individuality, the boldness of
expression. I had recieved scores of the
students through their instructors, Jody Bagley
and Sheryll Jones.The maturity of their writing caught my attention.
Here were juniors in high school composing
very sophisticated works at a sophomore
college level in many styles....Renaissance,
Baroque, Classical, Romantic styles...even 12
tone pieces complete with Babbit squares,
aleotoric -conceptual , through composed ....the
whole gamut !!!What I had noticed was the fact that they were
leaving the accents and dynamics out of the
equation. Consequently, I had the class
collaborate writing 8 bars on the note g above
middle c for four wind instruments, using only
dynamics and accents. Schoenberg suggested
in his book of harmony the idea of " tone -
colored melody ", Klangferbenmelodie. The
Etude for 4 wind instruments was in progress.The second day, we all cut and pasted the 8 bar
strips together and constructed a piece. After
construction, four of the students got their
instruments and they played it down on the spot
! We also made chords out of the interval (s)
and the four students played that down together,
as well , while I improvised another part on
piano, examining all the permutations that can
be done with an exsisting piece of music. It is all
about change.After a creative, and bordering on fuel injected
hour, we talked about opening our super
senses to the world around us. ...to LISTEN
!!!....the rhythm and tempo of people walking, the
burst of subterrainean shocks of the city, nature
twittering machines...birds, fire engines, nail
guns, the surge of the ocean, wind tunnels, the
dripping of a faucet, etc. Mother Nature's
orchestra is all around us non stop.Those 2 days at Bowie HS was a great
experience. Scheduled is one more symposium
for the end of May. We will copyright the Etude
for 4 Winds, and schedule a Barbwire
performance for next year. 40 % is the idea, the
composing, orchestrating, and
inspiration...........the other 60%comes from "
actualizing the piece", its performance,
aggregating an audience......the perspiration.
posted by stephen barber at 8:24 AM
B
Baerwald
(view)
The following is a few journal entries from
Stephen---just to let you know about the kind of
character that I've been lucky enough to connect
with...
Wednesday, May 07, 2003
These marimbas are most rare. They are
constructed in New Jersey out of the highest
quality of rosewood. The bass register is
amplified by brass resonators that produce a
huge sound, almost like the texture of a bass
pedal on a pipe organ. The sustain on these
instuments is phenomenal. I will post any
further info as it comes into play.
posted by stephen barber at 7:09 AM
Monday, May 05, 2003
The Barbwire Music Outreach ( Travis Wheeler,
Matt Orem, and yours truly ) had its first
excursion to Bowie High School on May 1st and
2nd. Bowie has an excellent reputation for its
progressive music extension. The first day was
focused on the creative mind......the imagination,
the importance of individuality, the boldness of
expression. I had recieved scores of the
students through their instructors, Jody Bagley
and Sheryll Jones.The maturity of their writing caught my attention.
Here were juniors in high school composing
very sophisticated works at a sophomore
college level in many styles....Renaissance,
Baroque, Classical, Romantic styles...even 12
tone pieces complete with Babbit squares,
aleotoric -conceptual , through composed ....the
whole gamut !!!What I had noticed was the fact that they were
leaving the accents and dynamics out of the
equation. Consequently, I had the class
collaborate writing 8 bars on the note g above
middle c for four wind instruments, using only
dynamics and accents. Schoenberg suggested
in his book of harmony the idea of " tone -
colored melody ", Klangferbenmelodie. The
Etude for 4 wind instruments was in progress.The second day, we all cut and pasted the 8 bar
strips together and constructed a piece. After
construction, four of the students got their
instruments and they played it down on the spot
! We also made chords out of the interval (s)
and the four students played that down together,
as well , while I improvised another part on
piano, examining all the permutations that can
be done with an exsisting piece of music. It is all
about change.After a creative, and bordering on fuel injected
hour, we talked about opening our super
senses to the world around us. ...to LISTEN
!!!....the rhythm and tempo of people walking, the
burst of subterrainean shocks of the city, nature
twittering machines...birds, fire engines, nail
guns, the surge of the ocean, wind tunnels, the
dripping of a faucet, etc. Mother Nature's
orchestra is all around us non stop.Those 2 days at Bowie HS was a great
experience. Scheduled is one more symposium
for the end of May. We will copyright the Etude
for 4 Winds, and schedule a Barbwire
performance for next year. 40 % is the idea, the
composing, orchestrating, and
inspiration...........the other 60%comes from "
actualizing the piece", its performance,
aggregating an audience......the perspiration.
posted by stephen barber at 8:24 AM
