Week 40 - And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain.

Today was the recording session for our 'Fiasco' pieces.  Everybody did a smashing job, it was fun to see how much everybody has developed and grown over the last 10 months. Everybody has their own unique style of music and became better at it, really honed it.

It was a rush like I've never felt! Well, outside of the obvious moments, my wedding, the birth of my children. This was unique, it was special, a moment for me to shine for just me and the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears I've poured into the last 10 months. The orchestra sounded amazing! 

Everybody got 25 minutes on the stand with the orchestra. They'd play through the music twice and then between the composer, the booth and the musicians themselves, they'd discuss and work through whatever performance issues there were. They might rehearse a section 'on the stick' which means to conduct freely with the baton but without the click track. Most everybody got 2-4 full run-throughs after rehearsing. I was fortunate in that my piece didn't require much rehearsing and the orchestra was on point! I got 5 full takes. I've spent the better part of the evening loading all the audio files into a Logic session to do my final mix, which is due to the program director by Thursday afternoon.

There are moments in peoples lies that must seem existential. Moments where you surpass your corporeal existence and live a state of wonderment, how do humans achieve this? A star athlete crossing the finish line .10 of a second faster than anybody else to win the gold metal. An EMT that saves a child from an burning car, that kind of stuff. Today, I had my moment. By the third take the orchestra were really nailing it, there were moments where the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up they sounded so good. Then, at the biggest part of the piece with every single musician playing, the cathedral hall filled with the magnificent sound of a symphony orchestra playing music I composed, playing my spirit, I wept while I was conducting, I couldn't stop. It was the most emotionally vulnerable I have ever been, the most fulfilled! For a 30 second span of time I was one with everything! I don't know how else to explain it. 

I wish everybody could have that kind of experience. In all reality, there is a good chance that today is the only time I will ever have a professional orchestra playing music I composed, I hope it's not, but it could be. I'll never forget the sensation, the sound, the unity, so many individuals coming together in a way that only musicians can. It was breathtaking, memorable, beautiful.

Looking back at all my blog posts, the good, the bad and the ugly, it's a path I never dreamed I would get to travel. I laughed, cried, swore, and more than once wanted to just quit so I could sleep. 

The rest of the week is set aside for exit interviews. Basically a dissertation defense, we sit 1-1 with the director with scores and video files that contain all the important cues we recorded this year. Friday we set up for graduation, we rented out a theater in Seattle for the ceremony. On Saturday. there will be recordings of todays music playing in the lobby. We'll screen a few of the short films we scored this year. A placeholder diploma handoff and, that's it, 40 weeks comes to a close. 

Off into the world with you little bird, fly away, be free.

Week 39 - Finals

Took my conducting final exam today, feel pretty good about it. Tomorrow is my 'final' final exam, covering every topic from day 1. This, I'm worried about. I've had my noses in a book for 3 days now, I 'think' I know what I'm doing, I won't know for sure until tomorrow.

Monday is the big recording session! I'm totally stoked about the piece I've written. Two and 1/2 minutes for orchestra. Mostly a victory march with a love theme in the middle, I hope it's prophetic!

I am absolutely physically and emotionally drained, yet I feel a great sense of accomplishment.

In the days following the recording session there will be portfolio prep and my exit interview where I basically defend all of my compositions to the program director. I feel confident about the interview and the recording session, the final tomorrow is the only thing really weighing heavy on me. I'm hoping a decent night's sleep will help. 

Week 38 / Last from-home week (2 more to go)

Well, it's getting close.  I quickly knocked out my Advanced Mixing final and turned it in last Sunday (wasn't due until this Thursday) so I have no "homework" left.  Starting Monday I need to be in school for the last 2 weeks.

I have a conducting final and an exit exam in school next week and a recording session for my 4th and final film on Tuesday. My focus now is totally on my thesis, a 3-minute original piece composed and orchestrated for a 52-piece Symphonic Orchestra. The recording session for this project (which has lovingly been named 'Fiasco' by previous students) takes place at Bastyr College Chapel, on the other side of Lake Washington from Seattle. It's going to be a crazy full day. Each of the 9 students will get 30 minutes on the podium to sight read, rehearse and get as many takes as they can. Nine students = 4.5 hours, plus breaks for the musicians will turn it into a 6-hour ordeal, by far the longest yet. 

I'm definitely in a better place emotionally than I was when I wrote the last post (2 weeks ago). With all my other classwork completed I can focus solely on writing, and since this piece is not for a director, the only person I have to impress / please is myself! I have a new composition advisor for this cue, and I am attending the Director's offie hours every Tuesday and Thursday for additional feedback. 

I'm very pleased with what I am writing and am quite stoked to have 52 professional musicians play / record it. Knowing what I know now about the industry, the who's who and whatnot, I face the very real possibility this will be the only chance I ever have to play and record a piece of my music with such an amazing group of musicians. The industry is changing, most small productions want purely electronic scores (which I am happy to provide!), the days of the massive John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith scores / sessions are beginning to drift away. They will still happen, but they will be few, far between, and available to a very select few. The process of becoming one of those few involves living in LA which is something I am simply not willing to do. 

There are video games here in Seattle, independent film makers, documentary film makers, TV and the like all over the world now. I still have the symphonic world, marching band shows, and the licensing world can be lucrative if you hit it just right.