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Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors

This past Friday, I was able to make it to the Infinity Mirrors exhibit on the last week it was at the Hirshhorn. Its possible that because this was the last weekend you could see the exhibit, when we arrived at the museum at 7:30, there was already a couple hundred or so people in front of us. We only had about 30 seconds in each room, which was honestly kind of short, but reasonable considering the high demand. All of the rooms were incredibly breathtaking, but I think my favorite room was the The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away. Because of the lines, we ended up spending nearly ten hours at the museum, but I think it was still worth the wait.

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Arts Fest is done!

So last Saturday was Arts Fest and I performed my thing. Despite the weather being so hot, I think it went pretty well. It was really cool seeing my fellow Arts Scholars capstones and workshop. Thankfully, my violin didn’t let me down and it wasn’t being particularly finicky. Arts Fest is probably the last time I’ll ever perform solo. Personally, I wasn’t 100 percent satisfied with my performance, but oh well. I’m glad that I did end up performing on stage since it had been a while since I had last played in front of people. There’s still the Showcase left, and after than I’ll be more or less done with my capstone! 

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Arts Fest in three days!!!

Thankfully the new strings that I ordered arrived this past Sunday so now my G string doesn’t make a weird buzzing sound anymore. On the downside, because I changed my violin strings, I keep on having to re-tune it after I play. Hopefully, it’ll get used to the new strings by Arts Fest. In terms of my arrangement, I found a video of someone playing Arirang that I liked so I think I’ll just play it be ear. Still working out the bowings and finerings. I’m playing between which bowings and fingerings sound best.

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A bit of background on Arirang

As I was doing some research on Arirang and its origins, I found an interesting fact that it was actually used as a pro-resistance song during Japanese colonization and a pro-democracy song during the 1960~80s. This was something I had no idea about, but now that I know, I definitely view Arirang differently. Also, apparently, one theory on the origins of Arirang believes that this song dates all the way back to the Shilla Dynasty!? They say that Shilla’s first king’s wife’s name was Alyeong and so over time it changed to Arirang. 

Also here’s a nice blog post that I found that has that theory and others

https://kuiwon.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/what-does-arirang-mean-the-theories-on-the-etymology-of-arirang/

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Update

So currently I am in the process of practicing Arirang. A lot of the sheet music that I found was pretty short. When I recorded myself playing it, I think the time was under a minute. At the moment I’m currently practicing off of multiple arrangements. If I find an arrangement that I like I’ll probably stick to it.

I’ve recorded just a short clip of myself practicing Arirang but I couldn’t figure out how to post it here, so I’ll just include it in my second look presentation.

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This is the piece I’ll be playing, Arirang, performed on the haegeum. It’s a beautiful piece and the performer here plays it in a very sorrowful way, which suits the lyrics of the song. To sum up the meaning, Arirang is basically a song about a woman mourning about her unrequited love. I’ve known this song for a very long time since I would hear my mom singing it when I was young, but I never once looked up the meaning of the lyrics. 

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Little change in plans

So after looking at how much time is left till Arts Fest and the fact that my current schedule is not looking very good, I think i’ll have to change my final project a bit. I also realized that I’m biting off too much than I can handle with the music editing thing. My original plan was to create a mashup video that I would play on my computer at Arts Fest. However, I’ve now decided to actually perform at Arts Fest, instead of having a exhibit. 

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Moana

Last Wednesday I went and saw Moana at Stamp. Even though I had already seen it, I decided that it would be worth it to see it again since it was a free viewing. One thing that I thought was really refreshing about this film is that it didn’t have any romance in it and solely focused on Moana and her adventure to saver her island. I think its nice that we’re seeing more and more films where the stereotypical “prince” doesn’t swoop in and save the damsel in distress and instead we’re seeing films where the female character takes matters into her own hands.

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I like the way it sounds so far! The echoey and resonant sound in your clip definitely gives it a more Carnatic-like sound than Western pop music. I also think you’ve arranged the piece in a way that will fit very well with accapella. It’s cool that this is the first time arranging and you’re self teaching yourself on music theory. Are you having your accapella members perform this live, or are you just recording their voices? Even if it is just a recording, I can’t wait to hear the full version!

This a screenshot of the sheet music of my arrangement of Real by Brayton Bowman, and a sample from the MIDI file for the music. I spent about 3 weeks to a month finishing this arrangement, as I was very careful with it, because it is my first attempt at arranging a piece of a cappella music for my group, Faux Paz, by myself. My main struggle with this process was not letting the song be an exact transcription of the original. In a cappella, many groups will sing songs very similarly to the original. Faux Paz likes to set themselves apart by putting their own creative spin on songs. Implementing the styles of Carnatic music into the arrangement has helped a lot with differentiating the arrangement from the original song. Another challenge I had stemmed from my less than extensive background in music theory. After spending a lot of time with my keyboard and going on educational music theory websites, I was able to overcome this obstacle.

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I think it’s so cool that you’re using 3D printing for your project! It must have been really arduous getting the mouthpiece just right. I can’t wait to see what your final product will look like. I’ve never actually thought about using 3D printing to create instruments, but I think it’s a really good idea. When 3D printing becomes more and more common, I could see people who can’t quite afford traditional instruments having 3D printed instruments. It also seems like something that might be useful in music classrooms and children’s orchestras.

Finally finished my original mouthpiece. It took 3 attempts to print total - the first attempt was scaled wrong (second picture shows the wrong one next to the right size), the second attempt had a problem in the design that caused the 3D printer to drill the nozzle through the center of the mouthpiece (the third picture shows the outcome of that), but the third print was just right! I designed the mouthpiece so that it had a larger diameter and was deeper so that it is best suited for symphonic playing. In addition, I had a medium sized bore that works well for symphonic playing. I did this design based on research that I had collected previously and wanted to create a mouthpiece that I could use to play an etude on for my final presentation. More photos of the CAD drawing coming up!

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This whole artistic freedom vs big record company is a kind of a catch-22 because those artists under powerful companies receive a lot of benefits such as better promotion and marketing which will probably help them get some fame and success. However, those record companies have their own agendas that doesn’t always fit with the artists’. I do think though that with the internet the way it is now, there are certain ways that artists can maintain creative freedom and success at the same time. I think Youtube creators such as Lindsey Stirling are examples of artists who can release content under their own musical direction while being world famous.

More stuff I did

I found some articles talking about creative control for artists, and I think that’s what I’ve been trying to get at for a while now. For artists, it’s a balancing act choosing between making music the way you want to or making a lot of money. You are bound to lose some artistic freedom signing onto a major label but you get a lot of resources from them. But doing everything yourself might give you all the freedom you want creatively, it also limits your reach from a marketing standpoint. Interesting stuff.

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Wow, this is really cool. I think its amazing that you’re composing a cello concerto and I like how each movement is a stage of grief. Also, I like the idea of having color coded sheet music, it was helpful while I was listening as I was following on the sheet music. I’m not sure how you’re planning on presenting your project at Arts Fest, but it would be cool to print out the sheet music with a legend so people could listen and read the music at the same time. All the different layers and the depth of your movement is just incredible; considering how good it sounds just on noteflight, I can’t imagine how much better it would sound recorded with actual instruments. 

Mvmt 2 completed?!

https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/3d0370b60378674e263ee9c07d4d51e139aaa03e It’s pretty much done. Feedback is greatly appreciated! So, how did I do on being angry? Could be angrier indeed… Symbolic things worth noting. look at the motifs. some of them are from the first movement.I gave them all namesred is “dead”- pitches DEAD of course.blue is “resolute”- symbolizes the desire to improve ochre/mustard is “time”- scale degrees ti to me in some important key.magenta is “ memory”- symbolizes remembering back to a time before the griefpurple is “no”- every time you see it, it’s the character saying “no” symbolizes denial. Green is when something about one of the motifs is off, perhaps the character is lying to themselves (The person that caused me grief is an oboe player, thus the oboe in this piece does more green than the other instruments) cello solo is basically you/ the protagonist/ the thought process e.g measures 100-107 the protagonist starts remembering the past (memory motif) and so the oboe is messing up your resolution.Throughout the piece, you want to be in D minor. The oboe is playing your resolution in the parallel major, making you feel like it’s okay. But it’s not okay. It’s all weird and stuff. I feel like there’s a better word than motif for the longer melodic lines. “Themes” perhaps? If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, anything else constructive, please talk to me I’m super glad to talk about my composition!

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My attempt at playing the haegeum

So today I got the chance to actually try and play the haegeum. I have a friend who does Korean dance and she happened to know someone who is a performer of haegeum and I was able to meet up with her and learn about the haegeum. Obviously since I have no experience with the haegeum, it was really hard to get the correct sound even just playing open string without it sounding like a dying cat. Also, since I have a background in violin it was really interesting noting the differences between the two instruments. The haegeum actually only has two strings which the bow goes in between, and you switch from the outer to inner string. I kept needing to get help with placing my fingers on the strings since I would take my hand off and lose my place. Additionally, something really interesting I learned was that the strings on the haegeum will loosen as you play it and can change the pitch slightly(or in extreme cases go down a whole pitch). I also felt very uncomfortable holding the bow since it was a completely different grip that what I’m used to with the violin. Overall, I’m really glad I was able to meet up with and talk to someone who actually plays the haegeum and it was a lot of fun learning about and how to play the haegeum.

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Watching ton and tons of videos

So today I spent some time on Youtube trying to find my classical piece and Korean traditional music piece to use for my final project. I think I’m most likely going to use a more slow and calm Korean piece so I’m currently trying to find a classical piece that has a similar slower beat. At the moment, I’m thinking of using Arirang as my Korean piece since its kind of the unofficial national anthem of Korea, even if it is slightly clichey (but still beautiful!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OrPafGSoYg This is a link to a performance of Arirang on the haegeum. This style in which this common tune is played is really beautiful but also quite sad at the same time.

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Tutorial Time

So now that I have the majority of my midterms out of the way, I decided to spend today watching a ton of tutorials on Audacity, which I’ll be using to edit my audio. I have to say that when I downloaded Audacity, I was immediately brought back to the early 2000s and Windows XP just by the design and look of the software. Since I’ve never actually used Audacity before, of course I watched a couple of tutorials on how to use the program. I found a website-http://www.freeaudacitytutorials.com-that had a bunch of tutorials on using Audacity. I watched the beginner tutorials, which mainly took me through how to navigate the software, what all of the buttons do, and how to start a new project, import and export files. I also watched a tutorial on using the editing tools such as zoom, cut/copy/paste, and the selection tool. After watching all of these tutorials, the prospect of editing music doesn’t seem too daunting since it seems that Audacity is pretty user-friendly and simple to navigate. 

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Kreativity Open Mic

On Saturday, I went to an open mic at the Clarice held by the Kreativity Diversity Troupe. There were many talented people that sung, rapped, performed stand up comedy and read poetry. One particular touching part of the open mic was when one girl read a poem she had written about one of her best friends dying from a brain tumor in the third grade. There was also a slam poetry performance which was about the experience of being drunk. I really liked the comparison she made between being drunk and drowning.

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Renwick Gallery

Last weekend I visited DC with a couple of friends and walked around the mall for a while. While I was in DC I finally got to visit the Renwick Gallery. I thought the installation, “1.8 Renwick” by Janet Echelman, was really magnificent, it was really calming just sitting under it and watching the colors change. Another piece in the gallery that I really liked was the glass spinning wheel, which reminded me of Sleeping Beauty for some reason.