Hello all!
It is the super crazy time of the year between Thanksgiving break and Holiday break where most college students on a semester schedule have two weeks of school followed by finals week. And let me tell you... its one heck of a time, and not a good one. Now on top of that being a music major one typically has a holiday concert and this year, which happens every two years; the Moscow Ballet goes on tour with the Nutcracker Ballet and comes to Miller auditorium and asks the University Orchestra to 'accompany' them by being the live pit for the ballet, they also include the Children's Chorus of Kalamazoo (PS its happening tonight December 5 at 8pm in Miller auditorium!) But other than that I think I'm handling it all pretty well, I'm well ahead and feeling decently about homework, I need to study a little more, especially for theory.
ONTOP of finals week and Nutcracker and standard homework I decided that now would be a great time to start researching Summer music festivals and grad schools for bassoon. (Which if anyone has any input I'd love to hear it - contact me at emastenbrook911@gmail.com). But I've decided to apply to the Sarasota Music festival in Florida and the Hot Springs Music festival in Arkansas.
Anyway TTFN
Emily
Hours practiced today - 2
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Monday, October 29, 2018
STRESS
I guess I don't really get stressed, I get frustrated. And lately I've been having an issue with understanding how things are supposed to work within the music school and all of the requirements with it. I've been without and unguided by Dr. Rose for two semesters and I miss her dearly. And in doing so it has been a requirement for me to fumble and figure out the requirements semi on my own and its SUPER hard! And I'm just not ready to handle everything in the growing up and be an adult life as well as this.
Don't practice too hard,
Emily
Hours - 2
Don't practice too hard,
Emily
Hours - 2
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Make Beautiful Music
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have a class named Aural skills Improv. This is a class in the music repotoire that helps build those vocal listening to music relation skills not all of us are born with, to hear intervals and see rhythms better. In Aural IV (Improvisation) obviously the class explores improvisation. Today we were to improvise on this poem;
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
of the Jonquil low.
-Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)
My improvisation lab is composed of a bassoon (thats me!) a vibraphone, a cello, and a violin. Interesting group but we're all pretty great musicians and mellow people so we blend together really well. We chose this poem and decided to interpret it as such:
The first soft snow! = Winter (C pentatonic)
Enough to bend the leaves = seasonal depression weight (A minor)
of the Jonquil low = Spring arriving (F major)
As you see we predetermined keys per each portion and line of the poem creating a form for our improv to follow and make it easy for us to determine three separate parts.
And let me tell you it was such an amazing improv! It sounded like a professionally composed piece but way better because we were each our best musician creating what we knew how to create to the best of our playing. One cannot play how I imagine something to sound better than I. After we finished the class had to guess what our ideas of the poem were that we were trying to impersonate. And they guessed adjectives such as, soft and light, maybe even happy for the winter portion. Once we revealed that it was in fact about winter a girl in the class loudly and humorously exclaimed that it was true! So incredibly true and it must have hit a chord within her because it brought tears to her eyes.
This is exactly what I want to get out of playing, the idea of reminding someone of a memory so fond that it brings tears to their eyes from happiness. It was such a cool thing to witness.
Emily
Don't practice too hard,
Hours = 2 hr 40min ensemble
The first soft snow!
Enough to bend the leaves
of the Jonquil low.
-Basho Matsuo (1644-1694)
My improvisation lab is composed of a bassoon (thats me!) a vibraphone, a cello, and a violin. Interesting group but we're all pretty great musicians and mellow people so we blend together really well. We chose this poem and decided to interpret it as such:
The first soft snow! = Winter (C pentatonic)
Enough to bend the leaves = seasonal depression weight (A minor)
of the Jonquil low = Spring arriving (F major)
As you see we predetermined keys per each portion and line of the poem creating a form for our improv to follow and make it easy for us to determine three separate parts.
And let me tell you it was such an amazing improv! It sounded like a professionally composed piece but way better because we were each our best musician creating what we knew how to create to the best of our playing. One cannot play how I imagine something to sound better than I. After we finished the class had to guess what our ideas of the poem were that we were trying to impersonate. And they guessed adjectives such as, soft and light, maybe even happy for the winter portion. Once we revealed that it was in fact about winter a girl in the class loudly and humorously exclaimed that it was true! So incredibly true and it must have hit a chord within her because it brought tears to her eyes.
This is exactly what I want to get out of playing, the idea of reminding someone of a memory so fond that it brings tears to their eyes from happiness. It was such a cool thing to witness.
Emily
Don't practice too hard,
Hours = 2 hr 40min ensemble
Saturday, October 20, 2018
Fall break
This year Western implemented a new 'fall break' which seems like a great idea but I'm either not used to it yet or am just unsure. Its really nice because I can use this time to take work orientation (Thursday and Friday 8a-3/4p) and not miss school as well as take on multiple playing gigs further away from Kalamazoo. BUT! We had to start school a week early and thats exactly the same week that IDRS held their conference in Spain and of course I wasn't going to miss that! So I ended up missing a week of school (syllabus week.... woohoo!) but unfortunately I feel SUPER unproductive during this break. It definitely doesn't help that I've been eating like crap lately too. My friend that I carpool to Elkhart with has us stop at McDonalds after every rehearsal, its quite humorous but my tummy hurts! Tomorrow is our last rehearsal, last McDonalds stop hopefully and concert.
I'm really honored and excited with my opportunity to be able to play with the Elkhart Symphony and Orchestra, they contacted us in need of bassoons and we were able to carpool and make it work. But they've welcomed us quite warmly and have an amazing concert planned (this is probably the most excited I've been for a concert in a long time).
On top of that I am subbing in Academy Street Winds at Kalamazoo College, and funny enough there are a few of the same pieces in this folder as well. Another great ensemble I am lucky enough to play with.
I also just started my job as a barista, I completed work orientation last week and am starting my hands on training this upcoming week. I'm also super pumped to work for Greenleaf, they have so many benefits and really treat their employees with care.
On the down side, our heat is out.... still..
Its been an on and off battle for a few weeks now, ever since it got cold out. Theres an inside portion of the heater that's broken and the heating company that our landlord goes through is super backed up and slow so apparently that means we don't get heat for a bit... I'm pretty worried about my horn and my cat, tipsy. I know its in its case and it should be fine but at what point does it become too cold for a bassoon? (tipsy has a full coat of hair, she has some insulation)
Don't practice too hard,
2 1/2 hours and a GIANT puddle of spit on my floor
Emily
I'm really honored and excited with my opportunity to be able to play with the Elkhart Symphony and Orchestra, they contacted us in need of bassoons and we were able to carpool and make it work. But they've welcomed us quite warmly and have an amazing concert planned (this is probably the most excited I've been for a concert in a long time).
On top of that I am subbing in Academy Street Winds at Kalamazoo College, and funny enough there are a few of the same pieces in this folder as well. Another great ensemble I am lucky enough to play with.
I also just started my job as a barista, I completed work orientation last week and am starting my hands on training this upcoming week. I'm also super pumped to work for Greenleaf, they have so many benefits and really treat their employees with care.
On the down side, our heat is out.... still..
Its been an on and off battle for a few weeks now, ever since it got cold out. Theres an inside portion of the heater that's broken and the heating company that our landlord goes through is super backed up and slow so apparently that means we don't get heat for a bit... I'm pretty worried about my horn and my cat, tipsy. I know its in its case and it should be fine but at what point does it become too cold for a bassoon? (tipsy has a full coat of hair, she has some insulation)
Don't practice too hard,
2 1/2 hours and a GIANT puddle of spit on my floor
Emily
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Life & Early Halloween
Good afternoon! Its a high of 63 today and I'm loving this fall weather
Today the brother and sister fraternities are getting together to put on a musical exchange, when we get together to play music for each other, and I am super excited because we put together a trio of flute, clarinet and contrabassoon.... playing spoopy halloween songs! *I'll see if I can post my horrible recording later.
But boy life has really gone exactly the way I needed it to go. I sadly have left my job at Latitude 42, I just needed a change of scenery and it wasn't quite a good fit anymore. I began applying to jobs and applied to Starbucks. I am happy to state that I am now a hired barista at Starbucks. But I still have to complete a two day orientation before I can start making coffee. So right now I'm in-between jobs for about a week and a half, which was kind of a bummer because I won't have any income for that break BUT I just found out that next week is going to be heckin' busy for me. On Monday I have to take an exam for my Stats class, and a paper due in conducting, Tuesday a paper for my Aural skills class is due and Wednesday a paper for my Musical Theatre history class is due. So its going to be a lot of writing and I'm not sure why I decided to spend my free time WRITING in my blog... :D
Michael and I are also planning a trip to Mexico for spring break. We're trying to get about 6-8 people to come with us because we found a beautiful AirBnb (let me know if you can go!) and so far I've saved about $200 to attend this trip. I want to spend time on the beach, paddle board caves and visit the hot springs.
ALSO!!!! I have my first big girl audition tomorrow at noon. I'm auditioning for the Battle Creek Symphony and Orchestra. I hope things go well enough for me to feel good about it as I'm not too worried about getting the job or not, either way it'll be a great experience. But I'm definitely a little nervous, I guess if you're not nervous somethings wrong.
Total hours practiced today - 3 (plus one improv)
Don't practice too hard
Today the brother and sister fraternities are getting together to put on a musical exchange, when we get together to play music for each other, and I am super excited because we put together a trio of flute, clarinet and contrabassoon.... playing spoopy halloween songs! *I'll see if I can post my horrible recording later.
But boy life has really gone exactly the way I needed it to go. I sadly have left my job at Latitude 42, I just needed a change of scenery and it wasn't quite a good fit anymore. I began applying to jobs and applied to Starbucks. I am happy to state that I am now a hired barista at Starbucks. But I still have to complete a two day orientation before I can start making coffee. So right now I'm in-between jobs for about a week and a half, which was kind of a bummer because I won't have any income for that break BUT I just found out that next week is going to be heckin' busy for me. On Monday I have to take an exam for my Stats class, and a paper due in conducting, Tuesday a paper for my Aural skills class is due and Wednesday a paper for my Musical Theatre history class is due. So its going to be a lot of writing and I'm not sure why I decided to spend my free time WRITING in my blog... :D
Michael and I are also planning a trip to Mexico for spring break. We're trying to get about 6-8 people to come with us because we found a beautiful AirBnb (let me know if you can go!) and so far I've saved about $200 to attend this trip. I want to spend time on the beach, paddle board caves and visit the hot springs.
ALSO!!!! I have my first big girl audition tomorrow at noon. I'm auditioning for the Battle Creek Symphony and Orchestra. I hope things go well enough for me to feel good about it as I'm not too worried about getting the job or not, either way it'll be a great experience. But I'm definitely a little nervous, I guess if you're not nervous somethings wrong.
Total hours practiced today - 3 (plus one improv)
Don't practice too hard
Monday, October 1, 2018
Hello,
I haven't spoken in a while and a TON has changed! I am now a junior in college and things should be going swimmingly.... they're not!
ITS HECKIN HARD YALL
But I get to play bassoon every day and that's pretty cool. I was going to play the Hindemith sonata this semester because.. honestly... it sounds pretty :) but today in studio another kid played the first movement really well and its just awkward having two people of the same college studio play the same piece. We are all human and we have natural tendencies to compare and think that one has to be better than the other (plus I JUST started practicing it - will explain later) So I decided to pick a new piece. YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT!! and my friend recommended this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9krUOeXwMdk (this is the first movement out of three).
ISN'T IT AMAZING?! So I'm definitely going to switch to this, I ordered it today and even with my Honeybee coupons it was still $30... but I think its totally worth it.
Touching back on why I JUST started practicing for my solo this year. I am auditioning for the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra on Friday... this ... Friday.... I'm not so nervous as I'm looking at this as an experience thing either way. If I get in, cool I get to play with one of my most favorite people, and I get paid to play bassoon. If I don't get the job; thats okay I still got to go through audition preparation guided (somewhat) by an instructor, or a few ... ;) and its great experience in general and begins to put your name out into the bassoon world.
But drum corps kicked my butt this summer and I was so happy to go back to school and a normal life... oh wait... I don't have or even remotely know what that means with my 7am warm ups and such. I'm always going, I will never understand how some people just have days and days to lay around and do nothing (listen, this is what I really want here).
I now have a cat, she has three legs and is named tipsy, we moved in with a few other friends into a big yellow house that smells and leaks, we've put a few maintenance requests in, but I love it so much. Its so homey and full of love (most of the time) but it really feels like home with a heck ton of Christmas lights and command hooks.
Until next time (I'm not sure when that's going to be)
Bassooner or Later!
Emily Mastenbrook
I haven't spoken in a while and a TON has changed! I am now a junior in college and things should be going swimmingly.... they're not!
ITS HECKIN HARD YALL
But I get to play bassoon every day and that's pretty cool. I was going to play the Hindemith sonata this semester because.. honestly... it sounds pretty :) but today in studio another kid played the first movement really well and its just awkward having two people of the same college studio play the same piece. We are all human and we have natural tendencies to compare and think that one has to be better than the other (plus I JUST started practicing it - will explain later) So I decided to pick a new piece. YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT!! and my friend recommended this;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9krUOeXwMdk (this is the first movement out of three).
ISN'T IT AMAZING?! So I'm definitely going to switch to this, I ordered it today and even with my Honeybee coupons it was still $30... but I think its totally worth it.
Touching back on why I JUST started practicing for my solo this year. I am auditioning for the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra on Friday... this ... Friday.... I'm not so nervous as I'm looking at this as an experience thing either way. If I get in, cool I get to play with one of my most favorite people, and I get paid to play bassoon. If I don't get the job; thats okay I still got to go through audition preparation guided (somewhat) by an instructor, or a few ... ;) and its great experience in general and begins to put your name out into the bassoon world.
But drum corps kicked my butt this summer and I was so happy to go back to school and a normal life... oh wait... I don't have or even remotely know what that means with my 7am warm ups and such. I'm always going, I will never understand how some people just have days and days to lay around and do nothing (listen, this is what I really want here).
I now have a cat, she has three legs and is named tipsy, we moved in with a few other friends into a big yellow house that smells and leaks, we've put a few maintenance requests in, but I love it so much. Its so homey and full of love (most of the time) but it really feels like home with a heck ton of Christmas lights and command hooks.
Until next time (I'm not sure when that's going to be)
Bassooner or Later!
Emily Mastenbrook
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