Friday, June 22, 2007

Surfing Safari, Singing Suzanna

While out on my morning surf, I managed to pickup the following splinters in my board.
The first is the RTO, The Really Terrible Orchestra. It is a collection of bad musicians who got together to give honor to less than supernal playing.
I guess. I haven't heard them yet.
Give 'em a listen, here's thier site.

  • Really Terrible


  • Another is "Sick Puppy" or SICPP. Stands for "Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice"

    A gathering of musicians in Boston at the New England Conservatory to play strange new music.
    Read about it here

  • Sick Puppy


  • Bad Orchestras and wierd music.
    Sound like me and my computer.
    Unfortunately, my computer plays the junk I write exactly as I've written it.
    When I listen back, after the "Hey, I wrote this myself" moment wears off, it seems to be the same turgid mish-mash of semi-literate, disconnected ideas that defines the very first thing I wrote 10 years ago when I started this hobby.

    Sigh!

    It's possible, by twisting a few knobs on my computer, to make these cyber-players play out of tune and out of synch.

    Maybe instead of trying so hard to make it "good" I should try the opposite tack and see what it sounds like "bad"

    One of my favorite musical inspirations is P.D.Q.Bach's concept of "innovation through incompetance"

    Actually, though I don't think I've achieved much innovation, and my incompetance is beginning to annoy me just a bit.

    Another musical inspiration is the Frank Zappa quote "Record it first, we'll rehearse later" (sic)
    I read somewhere He said that while filming "200 Motels"

    That really belongs in the "attitude" section of this blog site.

    Follow me out onto this limb, if you will.
    "200 Motels" is an expansion of the psychological inspiration for Steve Foster's "O Susanna"
    "I come from Alabama, with my banjo on my knee"
    That's touring.
    "It rained so hard, the weather it was dry; the sun so hot I froze to death", et cetera.
    That's crazy.
    That's Foster.

    "Touring can make you crazy" the theme of 200 M's
    That's Zappa.

    See what I mean? Same message, innit?

    Good night and lot'sa luck
    That's E.R.Murrow

    "Bonsoir et tant pis"
    Thats L'ane Savant.

    Tune in again tomorrow for more of the same, or maybe more of something else.
    That's me

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    2 Comments:

    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Hi, Wolfang Amadeus Savant!
    Why not send some of your music to SICPP (aka "Sick Puppy")?? Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I ALWAYS say ad infinitum; keep trying ad infinitum; make M.P. sad she didn't get there first (if ever)!!
    Margrit and I would like to hear some of your compositions while she's in Seattle.
    Bis bald and
    Tschüß,
    Margrit & Anonomann

    2:17 AM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Saw the personable Nile Rogers of Chic talk at EMP a few years back and he told us that all through his formative early years he wanted to be taken seriously as a jazz musician. He talked about the origins of the (utterly fabulous rythm) guitar sound that eventually led to the smash hit Le Freak (which I like). Guitarist Nile had a jazz image in his head but bass-playing partner Bernard kept trying to narrow it down. They messed with this for over 14 years (if I remember right) before it was laid down in the form that eventually defined Chic after Bernard had sort of a Eureka moment about the rythm guitar and became insistent. Nile was impressively modest about this and illustrated this development on his guitar. After Chic became famous Nile got a chance to jam with Miles Davis who wasn't interested in playing jazz with Nile: he wanted to play that 'chinka chinka' guitar chord stuff.

    maybe that matters.

    the word 'incompetance' always brings The Peter Principle to mind since that book endowed me with the ability to finally hold a job.

    "A few eccentrics try to avoid getting involved with hierarchies..." L. Peter & R. Hull

    They ARE everywhere it must be reported.



    your blog is da bomb.

    11:09 PM  

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