I start working during the day
And when it gets dark
You turn the light on for me
I am sitting, in a low lit room
A light streaming from the kitchen
You turn the lamp on for me
I am sitting in my apartment
You’re not here
There is no lamp
Evolving Emotions: A Churning Prison
Naked in a world foreign to my body
Tears well up
A refusal
A protest
Amidst the overwhelming reality before me
I tremble
Unable to breathe
Afraid to utter a sound
Suppressing all movement
For fear that the world will hear me
See me
Acknowledge me
And take me with it
In its churning jowls
Pressured production
Cyclical aging
And infinite pain
My heart pleads and bargains
Against what quickly approaches
I am growing older
By the passing hour
Minute
Second
Forced into the assembly line
With a ball and chain at my feet
I am scared
Of what mechanical existence lay ahead.
Immersive #20: Anonymous Reminders
It’s always a joy to walk around a building and look at all the little drawings and posters scattered around. Often times, the little notes that I find around campus are positive acts of kindness that remind me to take a step back and take a breath once in a while, although the hashtag causes me to take a double take in a different way. Either way, there’s something special about the anonymity of the sender, knowing that they took the time to leave the note for everyone else to see. And, the fact that the message resonates deep within you when you stop and take a look indicates a deeper understanding about a shared human condition. While this post may not be anonymous, I hope you all take care regardless, and I’m sending good energy your way!
Art Biz with Liz: Arranging for the Carillon
When it comes to music theory, I’m at a little bit of a loss. I can read notes and rhythms, but I struggle with things such as the nuances between types of chords. I was a little bit nervous, then, when it came to arranging my own piece of music, particularly for the carillon, of which I’m still a beginner at. Luckily, I had a plethora of resources at my fingertips and chose a song I was already familiar with, “All I ask of You” by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The song already works well on its own, and it’s recognizable if you were to play it on a piano or hum the melody. It has a strong melody with existing movement and shape, which made my job a lot easier.
A huge part of arranging the piece was considering the instrument I was arranging for, the carillon. I referenced several existing resources, like “Composing for Carillon” by Joey Brink in NewMusicBox magazine and “Arranging for Carillon” by Rachel. I also referenced existing piano scores. Doing so made me think about the physical limitations of playing the song the carillon. For the most part, when playing on the piano, it’s easy to traverse across different areas on the keyboard. With the carillon, on the other hand, quick jumps between octaves or otherwise maintaining a large gap between the hands or feet can be challenging. It may be difficult to play an interval of more than a tenth in the feet, for example, or more than two octaves in the hands due to the spacing of the keys, which are farther apart than those on a piano.
Another interesting aspect of arranging for the carillon is acknowledging that once a bell is struck, it stops on its own accord. There are several things to consider related to this. For one, it can be difficult to play repeated notes in the lower register, as the heaviness of the clapper can make the batons for lower bells take longer to return. Additionally, the inability to dampen the bells can make it difficult to write sudden harmonic changes, which can sound blurred. As the carillon produces rich, thick sound and lower notes can be sustained for quite some time, it’s advised to spread out harmonies and reduce thick cords. This includes avoiding unnecessary repetition of chords and combining two voices into one. The bass register isn’t the best for busy rhythms and chordal accompaniment, but I learned that you can play around with moving them up an octave or two or reducing some notes/rhythms for simplicity. These sound properties of the carillon are different from some other instruments and are worth considering when arranging a piece. For my arrangement, this meant removing some harmonies from the bass clef and considering ways to incorporate them elsewhere.
Carillons are also interesting in that each instrument is different. Some carillons have 2-3 octaves, while others might have 4.5+ octaves (such as our two carillons at U of M). I arranged my piece with the Baird Carillon in mind, but if you want to ensure that your song sounds okay on all instruments, Perfecto notes that the safest choice is “to avoid keys with more than three flats or sharps” (Arranging for Carillon). Historical carillons were often tuned in meantone, which means the intervals were tuned to sound best in C major. Key signatures with more than 3 flats or sharps, depending on the instrument, can sound out of tune. The original “All I Ask of You” was in D-flat major, but I arranged my piece in D major, which I later transposed to F major.
As I mentioned earlier, “All I Ask of You,” already has a well-defined melody. The simpler musical texture and limited number of independent voices allow for greater clarity when playing on the carillon. This made it easier to choose which elements were absolutely essential to the piece early on in the arrangement process. After creating a skeleton score, I received feedback from my carillon instructor each week until other elements such as dynamics were added.
This was my first time arranging something, and it was actually quite fun! Now onto playing the piece.
References
Perfecto, Rachel. “Arranging for Carillon: An Online Guide.”
Clowns Have a Union (and I Think That’s Neat)
I saw a post recently about how clowns have a union (which is true) and how strange that is, and how drag queens don’t have a union. I’m no expert on unions and economics, so I’m not going to try and sound smart talking about that here. But the connections between clowns and drag queens certainly interest me. I mean, what really is the difference between them? We both wear a ton of makeup, often try to look a bit ridiculous, and we’re both entertainers– just for slightly different age groups.
According to firsthand.co, the profession of clown is as follows: “Clowns dress in outlandish costumes, paint their faces, and use a variety of performance skills to entertain audiences. They work in circuses, amusement parks, schools, malls, rodeos, and hospitals, as well as on stage, in films, and even on the street. Clowns are actors and comedians whose job is to make people laugh.”
According to Wikipedia, drag queens are people who “use[] drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes… People partake in the activity of doing drag for reasons ranging from self-expression to mainstream performance. Drag shows… occur at events like pride parades, carnivals, drag pageants, and in venues such as cabarets and nightclubs.”
Clearly, there are distinct differences here. But when it boils down to the details, there are a lot of similarities too. Drag queens and clowns work in a wide variety of different locations and events and utilize a variety of performance skills to entertain audiences. I’ve seen a drag queen fix a computer as part of her act before, so there’s really no performance skill that hasn’t been utilized as a part of a drag show. They both wear outlandish costumes and paint their faces, and as drag moves further and further away from regular gendered norms, outlandish and bizarre makeup is a more normalized part of what we expect with drag. Some queens even actively choose to paint more like clowns, myself included many times.
So then what really separates drag artists from clowns? Is it just because we don’t have to go to school for it? If I start making balloon animals, will I suddenly switch from being a drag artist to a clown?
I think what defines drag artists from clowns, or makeup artists or gogo dancers or burlesque performers or any of those other performer types is truly the artists themselves and what they make of their drag art. Drag is what you make it, it’s a performance of self-expression. There’s no real rules to drag, certain way things have to be done. It’s all up to the artist themself. Also, we don’t need degrees to do drag. Sorry clowns.
So it doesn’t matter if I’m dressing in a clown-themed drag look if I’m making balloon animals or riding a unicycle or pulling handkerchiefs out of my sleeve. I’m still a drag artist, I’m still doing my drag in my own expressionist way. But we still don’t have a union as drag artists. Maybe that is something that could happen in the future. Who knows!
TOLAROIDS: Flowers!
Before I flood you with all the snow photos from the last couple of weeks, here is a reminder of the warm seasons in the form of flower photos (also, especially because Valentine’s Day was just there a couple of days ago and all these bouquets are still on your desks!)
