Reframing risky actions with rhythm

In high school, I briefly joined the our high school [U.S.] football team because, among the un-cut sports, it seemed like one of the most well-balanced for conditioning and teaching someone how to get started with intensive fitness.

While I joined too late to really grasp and take part in critical parts of it (especially camp and scrimmages) that probably would have given the best of the applied fundamentals, I enjoyed what I learned during off-season conditioning in the weight room (mostly thanks to a handful of hilarious and goofy Junior Varsity (JV) and Varsity teammates who’d blast “Coach’s 80s [Music] Favorites” between sets), defense and hitting drills on the blocking sled (basically a big padded dummy for you to run up to, block and push).

Of course there were things that come to mind when you’re very inexperienced in the middle of a sport that has an aggressive reputation — some are reasonable like how to tackle properly (I missed the chance to do a lot of that by joining late and missing the camp) and build confidence on the field, people get bigger and more lethal with their hits as they progress beyond freshman year into JV and Varsity teams.

But what spooked me most after the season was over was a dream where my actions crossed into the real world: I’m at practice doing drills with the blocking sled, hitting it, driving forward, and hearing the coach say “Good hit.” and running back into position before waking up to realize I shoved my pillow from across my bed into a wall at the side of my bed.

I’ve been reluctant to deeply train in a lot of striking combat sports because of that event:
The muscle memory and actions in my subconscious were real, and I realized if I wasn’t able to keep a simple motion like basic blocking, doing a more aggressive push or hit could potentially injure other people too.

Would that stay with me forever? What if stayed with a girlfriend and when a dream or nightmare like that comes up and I wind up attacking her without knowing what I was doing?


Recently I’ve been focused on how to cohere the sounds that come from working on practical tasks — construction for example — into something that people can approach, engage, enjoy, and celebrate from the perspective of music.

If you’ve heard or partaken in some of my participatory pieces before, Watershed (using “raindrops” from clapping, etc. like you might have heard elsewhere), or Breathing (breath and wind-aesthetic noises), there are ways to cohere random noises that

On a spectrum starting from the precise control a composer might have with a traditional instrumental or symphony vs. what happens when embracing random (the musical term is aleatory) events in music like John Cage’s 4 minutes and 33 seconds or Pauline Oliveros’s games for deep listening, there’s an in-between place where you can facilitate noise and “frame it” that’s especially interesting to me in music that can have a role in accelerating the way a community takes care of its basic needs while giving room for people to explore and build their own skills (again, construction in Detroit neighborhoods and a dream that inspired ways to merge both concerts and construction into the same event).

Which brings us back to percussive hitting motions.

Returning to a classic* (at least, classic for dating back to 1997 haha) video of a shamisen and Taiko drum duo, I realized that building the stamina and coordination involved with striking a large drum might actually be very similar to the kind of practice that goes into learning how to strike and build up the basic form and endurance that’s conducive to (though definitely not a substitute) learning the basics in some combat sports/martial arts like boxing.

This isn’t as big a leap as one might think. Johnny Nguyen ( I like to imagine him as my big brother or cousin as we share LA-Vietnamese roots ) stakes much of his professional image in teaching about boxing, his website is titled Expert Boxing, and at the same time, he swears by the role dance had in transforming his ability to move and work the ring as a better fighter.

You know how after working out, you feel pretty good as the endorphins release, and then your capacity to be present with or navigate past lots of silly and otherwise petty events magically goes up? I’m pretty sure being a taiko drummer would do that on a lot of levels. Even in my brief experience with playing in the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s West African Drum Ensemble, the joy and mental clarity that came from playing on the sanban (a medium sized laundry hamper-sized drum often heard in West Gunean drum ensembles) or dunnun (the largest drum, think of an extra long barrel) was second to none.

Unlike playing a stringed instrument, where you’re suddenly met with countless variables plus the risk of carpel tunnel, there’s a kind of peace that comes from the simplicity of being very physically engaged as a drummer.

So seeing the drummer in this taiko video swinging giant drum sticks to literally (albeit rhythmically in an artful sense) and noting that he looks as fit as someone who does lots of pushups and chinups on a regular basis, it wouldn’t be too far off to look at learning an endeavor like boxing with the same attitude: there’s an art and rhythm that comes with striking the bag (or opponent, though whether one chooses to engage another person is a different case), and when sparring with an opponent, there’s an element of improvisation and pacing that comes in which is very similar if not the same as learning to improvise with another musician during a jam — albeit the outcomes and goals might differ greatly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M4K5wk9DCM

[Feel free to ignore my comments -- rarely in spaces where talking about this stuff with people who interface with symphonic/orchestral music at an analytical level so I'm taking the opportunity to ramble reflections out loud]

Listening again to Orient and Occident all the way through for the first time in probably over a decade, I'm starting to appreciate some new layers to the piece. There are the overt elements of counterpoint in the call/response which strike us right away, and then there's a subtler dimension of stylistic counterpoint too -- a lot of unison voicings (akin to what's heard in traditional Turkish/Arab orchestras) and some embedded octaves/artificial harmonics but also harmonies and chords (presumably on the occidental side) in a way that drastically go against the "oriental" traditions. A Turkish friend once scolded me for adding drone notes during an improvisation on a melody that reminded him of traditional Turkish music. I'm shuddering from the recollection now that I can listen closely with more seasoned ears than my high-school self would have ever known haha

Persuasive Resolutions

[transcribed directly from the main text in the notebook image]

1 I 2019 02:23                                         
[in small text to upper right corner: "Assess for complexity; * -> this statement lacks engagement w/ other systems of realtiy i.e. env. factors]

The most important thing for resolutions
to manifest is committed self-persuasion.

What if posing our resolutions as questions served us better? Better than at least,
the strain, tension, and repercussions
a binary imperative often creates in our lives.

Guidance:                                   Resolution:

How can I be
fully present w/
self, environs, & people?  --->   Be present.


What does being rpesent need to look like now for the situation & myself
to improve?


The most likely source of distress created by resolutions (the NYE type)
probably comes from the psychological barriers that accompany shame and guilt.
Couple it with one's inexperience or inadequate capacity to rebound from a
shortcoming, and it makes sense that so many people "fail" at what they
resolve to do--especially as they tend
to do it on their own rather than with
the support an intentional & caring community can provide.

3 Years In: Groovin' Like a Garden with the Groove Thang

When farmers plant new crops, it's often wise to rely on other crops or food sources rather than hope to reap from the first harvest. Why? Because the first few seasons often amount to learning, conditioning, and stewarding the soil's community of micro and macrobiota--you're prepping for the magic to happen, you're not going to see it finished until much later.

[By the way, some vocabulary for non-ecologists:
microbiota = all the microorganisms like fungi and
macrobiota = the larger than microscopic organisms like worms, etc. that help plants access nutrients, "communicate", and rotate/circulate soil nutrients and humus in the topsoil.]

And swinging around to reflections about music and creative processes from the lens of a gardener or a farmer (but mostly as a gardener), I'm starting to appreciate the development of one of my recurring groove-tunes as a creative demonstration of the above metaphor.

Years ago (about 3 to be specific) on a soggy winter/spring evening, I jammed out an idea for a tune I called the "Balkan Groove Thang" at about 1:15am while I was working through a fever (and no, not the kind of fever that's conducive for disco). It was fun to play even when my energy was down, and hearkened to the possibility of bridging one's heritage with more "modern" aesthetics while still representing a little bit of both, plus I figured out I could add a Mongolian exclamation ("Tuh!") in substitution for the traditional James-Brown-esque "Ungh!" and "Ow!" shouts:

Without a doubt, this tune was inspired by the existence and performances of an Ann Arbor "Balkan Funk" band called (at the time East, later Ornamatik, and later still Rhyta Musik -- which I think is the band's current name). In fact, the melody's rhythm is based on the second part of the Gankino Hora, a Bulgarian tune.

.   .   .

A few years later, likely toward the winter of 2017 though I unfortunately forget when at this moment as I type, I started to practice and improvise with a blend of the musical modes.

For non-music readers, modes are basically knowing what part of a word you'd want to emphasize when speaking with a different accent or in a different language. In the music world, the scales are the "accent" of a dialect or language--the bunch of pitches that make the notes you hear which often distinguish various kinds of folk tunes; while rhythm and the emphasis we hear on the words (in speech, elocution and cadence; in music they call these accents--very convoluted reuse of words but that's what it is) is a lot like learning the grammar found in a language

So we already combined notes you often hear with the blues and funk to couple with the Balkan style, and found adding a few notes onto the blues scale suddenly turns it into a traditional Japanese scale called Miyako-Bushi -- which has notes common enough that similar scales can be found in other cultures too, but it's very distinct in a lot of famous traditional Japanese folk tunes like Sakura Sakura (often on the Koto string instrument or Shakuhachi flute), Tsugaru Jonkara Bushi (often on shamisen), etc. -- which brings us a fairly nice melting pot of traditions into one Groovy Thang.

In this particular session late in August of 2018 I had just found another way to play with the clash between tri-tones (the notes that make the groove sound a bit more funky, rhythmic bow-chops aside) while taking a break at work in the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation's immense back room/robotics area (imagine a warehouse with skylights, and fantastic graffiti from local Southwest Detroit youth on the walls in the middle of a community center--it has wonderful acoustics and it's an interesting space to play in).

Trying to make my way to a friend's harp concert in Ann Arbor, I ran out and didn't find the place until it was well done, but was able to enjoy the acoustics of this sort of arcade or alley (architects, feel free to take me to task on misnaming whatever this corridor might be called).

As I had recently returned from helping out family, I was still very well fed and fairly fit which made for good creative conditions, and the instrument I played on had an interesting alternative tuning which seemed to make the body of the violin resonate better too.

So all that backstory to share that 3 years later, we have this little jam that luckily didn't get deleted when my hard drive crashed.

Anger and actions

This February I walked with someone who noticed an unconscious youth and identified it as alcohol poisoning--when he kept walking by and justified leaving the young man behind with a cynical remark ("survival of the fittest"), and onlookers also left the kid, I became extremely angry--relentlessly angry. It was around then that I realized a lot of the people I was around also kept a similarly apathetic attitude.

I since adapted a framework used for intervening with bias (e.g. racism/unconscious bias) in professional environments (initially developed by Cook Ross) and applied it to doing something a bit better with that anger than trying to destroy things or getting myself into accidents with my rage:

1. Identify
Whatever makes you angry/how it impacted you--(this is a first step where you can take out the anger and feel it through unbridled) -- express it in a way that safely calls attention to the issue, while remaining consistent with your ethical and moral values.


2. Inquire
Ask/humanize/try to empathize with the cause of anger--talk to someone, or investigate (this is where grounding again with reason becomes critical, and disarming the situation with genuine curiosity)


3. Innovate
Create ways to handle & prevent future situations from happening, if appropriate & feasible, invite the person who angered you to come up with a solution together(this is when peacemaking/peacebuilding happens by co-creating solutions)


Since then, I've learned it's exactly what many people do to end abusive behavior or relationships (minus the inquiry step, depending on the situation), especially the subtler kinds of abusive behavior:


For recognizing behaviors that tend to go under-the-radar but eventually don't sit well:
http://coda.org/index.cfm/meeting-documents/patterns-of-recovery/ or (printable version)

For a guide on how to intervene with those tendencies minus a lot of junk psychology (on using anger to inform how to end a codependent relationship, not necessarily ending all relations with the individual):

http://mindfulconstruct.com/2010/07/09/end-a-codependent-relationship-the-healthy-way/

I've yet to synthesize the following article into the above frameworks, though I believe it's worth posting because it was thoughtfully created and includes in-process guides that appear to be written from experience (e.g. don't exhaust your mind + body at the same time when channeling anger):

http://www.fastcompany.com/3048912/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/how-anger-can-help-unlock-your-creativity

[He]artful dialogue: Co-creating artful conversation with courage

New life-challenge: turn curiosity into courageous questions quickly.

Not so new but still challenging for me to do: elicit passion and wisdom from other people as soon as appropriate.

“Art ain’t about paint. It ain’t about canvas. It’s about ideas. Too many people died without ever getting their mind out to the world.” — Thornton Dial, SR.

Art, as I’ve come to understand, exists as a special form of communication. It’s communication that inspires a sense of wonder—a deep curiosity that has us ponder the encounter and ideas behind what we engage. It compels us to activate our curiosity as we wonder about the possible implications an encounter can have on our lives or the that of others.

I saw Thornton Dial SR.’s quote in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s folk artist exhibit. It was liberating as much as it was validating: To make art, one requires no rigorous history of training, art degree, special materials or extraordinary circumstances to start. To me, Thornton Dial’s quote was an invitation to make whatever was on my mind if I so wished to do so. Better yet, it comforted me to know there’s boundless opportunity to share any idea, including those that can’t be experienced in writing. Perhaps what we have to share comes forth as good and beautiful. Whatever we choose to do, the act of honestly communicating our ideas certainly brings us closer to truth for our minds and hearts. Whenever that happens, it’s an invitation to live life artfully.

Looking at Mr. Dial’s quote again, it also applies to how I look at living life when speaking with and listening to people. There’s an art to good conversation and dialogue. If we consider Seth Godin’s distinction between the characteristics of work and art, artful conversation becomes a palpable ideal. Godin believes that work can be recognized as something people want to do less of, while art is something people want to make more. In that sense, we can all strive to make artful conversations. Both are important, good work can be necessary for creating better art.

.      .      .

I believe everyone benefits being in and moving from a place of passionate curiosity. Being as Rachel Carson describes, in a “sense of wonder”. When activated, it entices profound intrigue straight from the spirit. Whether mentally or physically, that place could be our own, among others, or perhaps better yet: shared. What matters most is that we speak with the flames of inspiration, those burning deeply from within our being to create that place.

If there’s dead space or if confusion nags at your attention in a way that prevents peace for everyone in the conversation, call it out and help shake things up. Time and life in the presence of another person are too precious an opportunity to squander. For anyone who grants me the privilege of sharing a conversation, this applies to us too. Call me out if I don’t do so first. Just because I’m familiar with the recesses of awkward pause doesn't mean I necessarily need or want us to stay there.

Perhaps the cost of very good conversation comes from committing yourself wholly to the people you speak with by thoroughly listening and keeping the courage to share what really matters to you. But do so in the greater interest of co-creating an enriching dialogue for everyone involved. Live boldly. Don’t be cautious, but be considerate with presence, intelligence, and equal heart. With this in mind, we can strive to create heartful conversations.

I’m still learning how to do so with excellence. But I like the idea that it’s an endeavor to live and share.

Windows in Michigan Central Station?

"Detroit's iconic eyesore: the windowless, 18-story Michigan Central Station"-via http://www.fastcompany.com/3007840/creative-conversations/how-young-community-entrepreneurs-rebuilding-detroit

Windowless?

The writer must not have been around since February.

The windows were still there when I went by two weeks ago.  Those are some fine windows too, they're looking really fresh even from Michigan Avenue almost half a year later.  To whomever installed them, bravo.  That's one of the best creative pranks I've seen yet.
http://youtu.be/XS1n7Q84dP0

Vague connections: humanity and sweethearts in 7/8

"She heard my footsteps approaching in the corridor and found them intriguing. (I have a vague memory that I ran down the corridor in 7/8 time.)" -Richard Stallman

http://stallman.org/articles/childhood-sweetheart.html

It's odd though, there exists a research paper I despise, even if only for its title ("The Dark Side of Creativity: Biological Vulnerability and Negative Emotions Lead to Greater Artistic Creativity") which I think of frequently, and I suspect it ties closely to influence on Melynda Reid's work and artistry.  If anything one's creativity in this context indicates the breadth and depth of their capacity to experience and convey humanity.  However, it's unfortunate and sombering to recognize real stories about others who really struggle with keeping brighter moments in mind and sometimes, the stories of their lives don't capture the moments when they make it to the next peak.

The video above is a mind-blowing adaptation of a Macedonian love song adapted for two cellists on one cello.  If you're not taken by watching them play, watching their bows is like realizing how related rates in calculus work.  Coincidentally, the tune is also in 7/8 meter, much like Stallman's footsteps!

The April CASL Improvisations (Piano and improvisation notes)

To listen to the full suite of piano improvisations (about 20 minutes total):

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/sets/the-april-casl-improvisations/

Set notes (notes about each individual improvisation listed further below):

A potentially enjoyable set/suite of four improvisations on piano made between classes at the University of Michigan-Dearborn College of Arts, Sciences and Letters in April of 2012. I someday hope to make them a bit more concise when I can afford the focus. Listen and you might find: sentiment, pensiveness, wist, and playful mischief (possibly in that order).

I was trying to settle a lot of buzzing concerns and by the time I finished (about half an hour later) I felt really refreshed for the first time probably in months. This was a "sit down and go" session, I just started plunking on the piano. I re-discovered the set in late May or early June (I forgot I recorded it) and realized I could probably make a suite or something out of it all. I'm pretty sure I can trim each "movement" by a minute at least if I'm concise.

About Improv #1 
http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improvisation-1-circa
I sat down, thought, thought I should start playing, started playing, and probably pulled pensive inspiration from motifs of a song called "Overreacting" by the band "Brad Sucks" (http://youtu.be/jOWAs65u5MQ ), and The Sims game (one of the building themes http://youtu.be/UbA58yOhPH4 ).

About Improv #2

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improv-2-1
This was fairly sprawling, I'm pretty sure I can shorten it by 2 minutes to make the entire tune approximately 3 minutes.

Appeal and rhythm of lower notes attribution might be attributable to Ravel, hard to say if I just really like that interval, or if that sound was learned from hearing his “Concerto for Left Hand”. I recall a hint of U of M dissertation recital nostalgia--I've seen/experienced some strange states of consciousness/emotions from people playing borderline melodramatic piano at a few of those free concerts.

There’s a motif I came up with several years ago which I like to call the “archaic groove thing”, depending on where it’s played on the piano it can sound rather dark. I almost tried playing it here but resolved to come up with something new instead. I’m also drawing a tad of inspiration from some of Lee G. Brooks’s/SunBC’s piano work elsewhere.

Uncertainty, unfun, and doubtful darkness were common themes in this improvisation.

About Improv #3 

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/casl-improv-2

In the vein of Debussy, Ravel, and Eric Satie: foggy, soft, fluid, then bright and tender. Probably inspired by Lee G. Brooks's piano work ( Hear the opening/closing theme to this short film, wonderful!http://youtu.be/-A4kFpscYKE ) too. I recall wishing I could play more sophisticated chord structures at this point. Somewhere around 1:24 I was really tempted to play a dark 7th, but since I tend to do that in most of my improvisations I also refrained from doing so. I later played a random note which was even more "wrong" sounding (though I like it, a benefit of that unintentional improvisation)!

This is perhaps one of the first times I started to explore nuances of quieter dynamics and gentler piano articulations. I suppose there's some yearning behind it.

About Improv #4 "Playing With the Wrong Notes" 

http://soundcloud.com/greatlakesian/playing-with-the-wrong-notes
I had a violin teacher who couldn't stand what music theory calls "tritones" which to him basically sound like "wrong" notes. Maybe I'm spiting him with this, either way, playing with 'wrong' notes—harmless mischief and little children/being one comes to mind, and I really like it.

Almost certainly inspired by the six Roumanian Folk Dances collected by Bartok (especially the playful feel of dance #2 http://youtu.be/UHZt6ITdSto ) along with some Hungarian and other Eastern European folk tunes; my cheerful Romanian-American friend Alex , plus HEAVY stomping and hyperactivity too.

There's some vivid imagery that comes to mind for me. I'm curious to know if it does so for anyone else too.

In some places it reminds me of getting ahead of myself with enthusiasm and not caring—like when watching a kid trying to mount a scooter with a running start before realizing that most of the scooter isn’t even in line with where they intended to go.

Here's a bit of what came to mind for me as I played:
1:22 playful running along
Intentional dancing emphasis (stomping foot to emphasize)
~1:45 Jaunty playing
Happy running in a field by a stream? Vigours of youth.
Playful teasing [not chiding] w/ percussive [piano] stomps
3:55 timid play/poke
~5:00 It’s been a good day. Yeah.
5:32 resurgent jolt of excitement just before you're supposed to sleep?

Time to sleep! #

(note to self: I might be able to trim a minute off of this tune?)

Improvisation disclaimer: 

I'm self taught (somewhat, I didn't really make a focused effort to teach myself in the first place) on the piano, I've been trained and perform on violin/fiddle much more extensively, and sometimes alto saxophone too. Since playing the instrument with both hands on a piano is a mysterious process to me, the underlying chords and rhythms tend to be more repetitive than I'd prefer, but I like to play nonetheless.

My improvisations are as one might imagine: on-the-fly experimentation with various ideas and innovations. Sometimes I have a theme in mind, sometimes I simply start playing. Most of these musical ideas are my own, but I do my best to attribute any inspirations and origins in accord with good scholarship and an open source ethos. In any case, I'm still averse to making musical gibberish when improvising.

I frequently improvise, and opportunities to explain the context and potential significance of a piece are rare depending on the situation I'm in. As an occasional busker, I thoroughly enjoy the opportunity for human dialog and interaction with those who enjoy what they hear or take interest in what I do. Furthermore, some people are accustomed to experiencing music as a passive and pleasant diversion. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, I try to challenge this expectation.

In everything I create, I strive to combine insight and consideration about the possible implications of my actions, especially when disseminating ideas to many people. I encourage everyone to explore a more intentional, active, engaging, and conscientious paradigm for how we "consume" experiences and communication.

I think I played on a Kawai Upright piano. Recorded using an Olympus VN-6200PC voice recorder (mono, best for lectures and such) placed on top of the piano or my backpack next to the piano.

[note, these notes were written well after {months after} the date of the post, I gave it April 30th since the recordings took place sometime during April {probably mid-April like April 14th, 16th, or 17th}.  It just recently occurred to me that a blog was probably most effective for coupling notes with a video/audio file online.]

Marie Colvin, biology, and the dour optimist. [Hooray!]

Marie Colvin

Marie Colvin (1956-2012) with John Le Carré at the presentation of the Martha Gellhorn Prize, May 2010. (Image from the Martha Gellhorn Prize site)

I'm not sure why I regularly worry about issues far beyond my regional geography and connection, but knowing that some people die because they have a burning desire to tell the truth about other peoples' suffering is thoroughly sobering.

To my knowledge, I've not examined any of Marie Colvin's work, but Colvin was awarded the Martha Gellhorn prize for journalism. The Gellhorn prize "challenges secrecy and mendacity [lies] in public affairs" and "raises 'forgotten' issues of public importance, without fear or favour." (Aside: Gellhorn had a really interesting life too, I live similarly to how she did)

I noticed Colven on the Gellhorn website Saturday (when I started writing this post), and that she had an eyepatch--the result of a rocket propelled grenade intentionally fired at her in Sri Lanka--and that she was killed in Syria this March according to the Guardian UK.

There's a conflicting account about how she died on wikipedia, but in the spirit of her interests, that shouldn't matter--Marie's a strong woman worth knowing about in any case and a killing of this kind is still an injustice.  What strikes me about her is that she's way under the radar, but I think her efforts are as heroic as many noted civil rights activists like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

On Biology and Compassion