Adapting to a New Normal: Performing Live Music Amidst a Pandemic

Like every other profession over the last seven months, music, particularly live performance and education, has undergone significant changes. From online lessons via Zoom, major institutions furloughing their musicians, to some incredible remotely produced performances released online, it’s been fascinating to see how an entire industry has adapted to the new normal it finds itself in. This reality hit me hard over the last two weeks while I had my first in- person rehearsals with an ensemble in over half a year. Me and six other colleagues here at the Omaha Conservatory of Music met to prepare a newly commissioned work for an upcoming virtual concert titled: In Harmony: Stories from Childhood. The concert, which releases online on Sunday, October 11 at 3pm, will feature several new works played alongside the narration of children’s books. If you happen to have or know any young kids, I’d highly recommend checking it out!  

The work I’ll be performing on,  music to the story Fluffy the Porcupine, is for septet with an instrumentation of string quartet, piano, trombone, and trumpet. From the moment I walked into the concert hall, I can say that it was one of the most unique chamber experiences of my life. Almost the complete opposite approach to performing chamber works than I learned in school, Covid-19 necessitated not only that the performers have several feet between them but also that me and the trombonist sit in the front of the ensemble facing forward in order to direct aerosol particles towards the empty seating. This setup meant that the only musicians I could see were the trombonist and first violin with everyone else somewhere behind me. Further complicating things, it was also my first time performing wearing a musician’s mask. If you hadn’t heard of these, they are simply multilayered masks with slits cut into the material to allow a mouthpiece to reach a brass player’s mouth while still covering their face.

The first rehearsal was certainly interesting to say the least as everyone on stage responded to these new conditions. For me, playing with a mask forced me to immediately rethink how much time I needed to get my horn up to play as it seemed to take an eternity to navigate my mouthpiece through the slits (my fiancée can confirm that I am not the most coordinated person). I then ran into the second issue of playing while wearing a mask, it felt different. For one, it feels weird to play with material on your corners when you’ve spent your life not experiencing that. Two, there’s a lot more condensation on the mouthpiece when you’re breathing on it under a mask leading to noticeably less grip (and a hilariously missed entrance as it slides of your face). The setup also posed some interesting challenges. With limited visibility across the ensemble, the first violin had to lead and cue the ensemble through several entrances following narration and subito tempo changes. Due to the distance between performers, however, you had to go off what you saw rather than what you heard so that the group sounded together out in the hall.

As we spent more time under these circumstances, however, everyone got used to them and adjusted, which brings me back to my opening point about adapting to a new normal. Covid-19 has thrown the mother of all monkey wrenches in all aspects of life this year. While people have expressed legitimate concerns about how it will impact the future of the arts, I also believe that our industry will innovate to find ways to not only perform live music at a high level but also share it with the public. Whether that means practicing routine wearing a mask or trusting your eyes over your ears, each situation presents new challenges to overcome. At the end of the day, performing live music was just as fun and great as I remembered it.

That about does it for this week’s Rode Rant. Stay safe and happy playing!

"Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride": What I Learned Writing a Dissertation

Let me start off by apologizing for the long absence since my last Rode Rant (just a little over two years ago)! Finishing coursework at IU, accepting a teaching position in Omaha, Nebraska, completing competency exams, and finishing my dissertation have made the time fly by. Now that things have settled down, however, I thought it would be great to finally embrace Jeff Nelsen’s advice and commit to writing regular blog. Seeing as how I’ve spent the last six months researching and writing my dissertation, I felt that might be a good place to start.

A favorite quote of mine comes from Hunter S. Thompson, not only one of the best writers of his generation, but also a figure who always offered insightful and needed commentary on American culture and politics. Seriously, if you haven’t checked out any of his stuff, do it! Within what’s probably his most popular book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Thompson writes, “No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride…and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well…maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.” Now, while I completely concede that Thompson likely had drugs on his mind (literally) when writing this, I’ve always tried to embrace the idea that you should be open to fully committing yourself to new experiences and the chaos that can ensue as you follow them to their conclusion. In other words, the price you pay, such as unforeseen consequences or risks, is worth what you get out of the adventure. This proves especially true if, like me when it came to my dissertation, you have no real prior experience with what you are about to undertake or even a good idea of how you should go about doing it. In my case, I found myself last summer having to not only write what seemed an impossibly large document (at least 80 pages, which is a lot unless you’re talking to someone in musicology) but also base it on entirely original research of contemporary sources (again, likely not that intimidating if you’re still talking to that same musicologist). I was intimidated though, the longest paper I had to write during my college career was barely more than 20 pages and I had always used published articles or books rather than original documents and interviews. Over the next several months, however, everything somehow came together and my thesis, an historical overview on the development of the modern trumpet ensemble, will hopefully be submitted for defense within the next week. Having finished my journey and arrived mostly intact on the other side, I thought it could be beneficial to share some of what I learned along the way.

1.   People really are generally nice and willing to help if you ask for it.

Since no one had ever written on how and when trumpet ensembles became a thing, I figured reaching out to individuals who were active professionally or as students in the 1960’s and 1970’s might be a good place to start. I ended up emailing a lot of people asking for help and, to my surprise, many of them not only responded to me but were more than happy to answer my questions. It was amazing getting to read stories and opinions from some of the all-time greats of the trumpet world, such as David Hickman, Tony Plog, and Gerard Schwarz. As I accumulated more research and a better perspective on how the genre developed, there were so many others that also wrote back to me answering questions ranging from, “Can you help me find the date ITG (International Trumpet Guild for you non-brass players) commissioned this trumpet ensemble piece?” to, “I just discovered your group and would love to learn more about it.” Robert Murray, the trumpet professor at Columbus State University and the chair of the ITG Archives, not only helped me to schedule access to the archive materials but even offered me the chance to teach a masterclass to his students, which was such a great experience! Overall, I’d say one of the biggest takeaways from my paper is that you shouldn’t be afraid to just reach out and ask people for help. Even when they’re the big names of your field, you may be surprised how many get back to you.

2.  Archival research is actually pretty cool (provided you’re at least a little bit of a nerd).

As I mentioned in my last point, part of my research for this project involved looking at materials held at the ITG Archives at Columbus State University down in Columbus, Georgia. Prior to this, the closest I had ever come to archival research was a short field trip my research and bibliography class took to the Lilly Library on IU’s campus, which is located right by the IU Auditorium and that giant mermaid fountain. If you find yourself near Bloomington, definitely check that place out! The ground floor is open to the public and has everything from an original Gutenberg bible to a desk used by Abraham Lincoln while he was a lawyer and even the original first issues of Stan Lee’s comics at Marvel. While not nearly as varied, the materials at the ITG Archives are just as cool (if you’re a trumpet nerd) and worth visiting if you happen to be in Columbus and have some downtime. While my research focused on ITG conference programs and things related to trumpet ensemble, I couldn’t believe just how many boxes of stuff there where. I came across everything from pictures of Armando Ghitalla performing a recital wearing what looked like his pops concert attire, Snooky Young’s home address and phone number, signed letters from composers like Samuel Barber and Krzysztof Penderecki, and even expense reports for Timofei Dokshitzer’s time spent at a conference in the 1970’s. A lot of times, archival research seems to suggest a more boring and intense version of studying at the library, but if you give it a chance, it can be really interesting. Rather than just reading someone’s summary of events, you actually get to see how it unfolded yourself. Plus, you never know when you might just stumble upon that cool picture, letter, or recording!

3. Turns out there’s a lot you don’t know.

While I had never specifically looked into the development of trumpet ensembles before this project, I did feel that I had a pretty solid understanding of the trumpet’s history as well as everything that’s going on now. As I conducted more and more research, however, it quickly dawned on me just how much I don’t know. From learning that almost all of the first documented professional trumpet ensembles were entirely made up of women in the early 1900’s (Edna White sounds like she was a badass!) to even current groups active today that I wasn’t even aware of. Two groups I discovered that I would recommend everyone looking into are The FOREFRONT, a really innovative trumpet ensemble made up Chicago jazz / studio musicians formed in the early 70’s by Bobby Lewis, and Ensamble 7/4, a Venezuelan trumpet ensemble that’s released a bunch of great albums and performs internationally throughout the year. Both groups combine four trumpets with rhythm instruments, such as drums and bass. (Ensamble 7/4 also adds a cuatro, a Venezuelan string instrument that resembles a small / medium classical guitar, to the mix) The end result is a much different take on what one typically thinks of for trumpet ensemble music that’s just a joy to listen to. Ensamble 7/4’s music is pretty easy to access either through videos or downloading their albums. The FOREFRONT doesn’t currently have anything online, but you can buy a cd re-release of the LPs they put out in the 70’s for $10-$15 bucks. All in all, this project showed me that there’s always something new to learn and challenge your perspectives even when it’s on a topic you’ve spent a ton (too much according to my girlfriend) of time on.

4. It may never feel easy.

I have never been (and probably never will be) a fast writer. The closest I’ve ever come was during my competency exams where a stressful situation combined with my mistake of buying amechanical kitchen timer (you could hear every second ticking away like when that show 24 would segue in and out of commercials) to produce a lot of pages. In general, it’s not something that has ever come particularly natural to me. While I may like the final product, I’ve always had to put in the time to get there. Before beginning my dissertation, I felt that the need to consistently write might change this. If I’m writing all the time, of course it’ll become easy and fast. It never did though. Those last few pages felt just as hard as the first ones did. That’s not to say that my writing didn’t improve. Proofing my entire paper after finishing the final chapter clearly showed that I became much more focused and fluid as I went along. The process, however, never felt any easier or faster. Looking back now, the experience has reinforced the idea that somethings may never feel effortless even though you’ve continually improved on them. For instance, I’m a much better runner today than I was when I started regularly exercising five years ago.  Even though my distance and speed have noticeably increased, it doesn’t feel that much easier in the moment from when I began. This is why, for me, focusing on the results and the quality of the final product is more important and reliable than how something feels while you’re doing it.

Looking back over the last 6 to 8 months, I gained a lot more than just a long paper having gone through the experience of researching and writing a dissertation. While I’ll completely admit the inherent risks weren’t that high (at least compared to Hunter S. Thompson’s drug fueled debauchery) it certainly led me to places and to people I could have never expected. Which brings me back to that earlier quote, “Buy the ticket, take the ride.” It can sometimes be daunting to fully commit and go after new projects or experiences. Where you end up and the what you get out of it, however, will often more than make up for the hardships you may encounter along the way.  

Combating Preperation Stress

Welcome to the first instalment of my new blog Rode Rants! This week I wanted to discuss a topic I've been working through over the past year, how to best respond when the stress for an upcoming performance begins to manifest in your preparation. For me, this problem became apparent in the months leading up to my second DM recital here at IU. In addition to simply needing to pass for my degree, I also wanted to meet my own standards and show my committee the improvement I've made since the previous recital in the spring. Naturally, these factors contributed to my stress increasing as the performance date loomed ever closer.

While my initial preparation went well and stayed on track for the performance date, something changed in the two months leading into the recital. Progress appeared to become more stagnate and even my overall playing seemed off. These observations only fueled my stress even more creating a feedback loop. Fortunately, I have access to a large amount of resources at IU including the advice of Joey Tartell. After describing my situation in a lesson, he offered some strategies I feel could help any musician who finds themselves in a similar position.

These included:

            1. Always find the time to work on fundamentals.

            2. Have clear short and long term goals for each practice                                session.

            3. At the end of each practice session ask yourself, "Did I                                improve on what I worked on?" 

So lets break down what each of these strategies mean:

Always find the time to work on fundamentals:

When faced with preparing a large amount of music, especially when balancing it with the demands of other ensembles / projects, it's not uncommon for people to shorten or drop their daily routine. If you only have so much time available in the day, why not spend it on the repertoire you need to learn. While this choice seems rational, it may actually end up impeding your progress. One of the benefits of working on fundamentals each day is that it helps establish the habit of playing the trumpet well, a requirement most people would agree you need for any successful solo performance. By holding yourself accountable to maintaining your fundamental work, you increase your chances of keeping that level of playing while practicing your recital pieces. Furthermore, it provides you the chance to reset your playing should the practice of difficult passages cause it to falter or fall back on bad habits.

Have clear short and long term goals for each practice session:

While this strategy could apply to practice sessions in general, it becomes incredibly important when preparing for major performances. Each time you enter the practice room, you should know exactly what you will work on and the desired goal for each item. These goals exist in two categories, short term and long term. Short term goals are ones you can achieve within the session itself, such as getting a passage 5 beats faster, applying a lighter articulation to a run in a baroque solo, etc. Long term goals refer to the final product, such as wanting a concerto performance ready before the recital, Keeping both of these targets in mind will help keep you focused while practicing and avoid the temptation to simply run through works and reflect on how it went. It can also provide you objective evidence of your progress and increase your confidence that you are on the path towards success. 

At the end of each practice session ask yourself, "Did I improve on what I worked on?":

While this strategy may seem obvious, it represents a major step in not only ensuring you have productive practice sessions but increasing your confidence in the months leading up to important performances. After finishing your goal oriented practice session ask yourself this simple question, "Did I improve on what I worked on?" If the answer is yes, congrats, you're on the path towards success and you just need to keep with it. Even if you are still far from your ultimate long term goal, you can have the security in knowing that continuing this work will get you there. Should you answer no, however, now you have a problem. If working on a passage resulted in no improvement, you need to reassess your approach and do something different. Teachers, colleagues, and friends can all be valuable resources in providing you with new strategies. By asking yourself this question at the end of each session, you not only keep yourself honest but more assured in your preparation. 

Everyone has their own ways in dealing and responding to stress. For me, these led to a successful recital in which I accomplished my goals.  So steal anything you like and happy practicing!