Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Another Piano Update

Here's the next (fifth) piece of the project. Prelude in C Major by Bach. Very pretty, very simple. My interpretation is definitely not "accurate" by Baroque standards, but I like playing it this way. The next couple are pretty difficult (the Aria de Capo and Var. 30 from the Goldberg Variations by Bach). So it will probably be at least another week until the next update (unless I throw in another take of Invention 13, which I may).

Prelude in C Major from Bix Bettwy on Vimeo.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Piano Update

First of all, I'm aware that the audio file from my BMI presentation isn't working for many of you, so I will repost it as soon as I figure out how to fix it. I'm not terribly tech-savy.

Also, Invention #13 is below. This one has been a real pain in the ass. I'm still not 100% percent satisfied with this. The middle section is a little sloppy and I'd like to get the tempo up a bit, so I will most likely give it another day or two of practice and make another video. But I was inpatient to get up a video to show my progress. Enjoy ...

Bach - Invention 13 from Bix Bettwy on Vimeo.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

File working?

If that music file in my last post isn't working for you, let me know.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Theatre of Blood

Today I had a presentation of my next Theatre of Blood song in the BMI Workshop. I recorded it and you can listen to it below. The recording is not terrific, but it's decent, you can hear everything fine. This is the second song in the show ("Once More into the Breech"), sung by Richard Lionheart, the main character. We got very good/helpful feedback, so we'll be making revisions and doing it again in a few weeks.

The song is performed (wonderfully) by Scott Mikita, the lyrics are by Billy Hipkins (the guy who's doing the introduction), and the piano is being played by David Gaines (also in the workshop). Enjoy!

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Save File: Once More.mp3

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Coming soon ...

So, it's been a rough week ... I had lots of work this week preparing students for the SAT today, so I had to set aside a couple of these projects for the time being. However, I've been keeping up with the piano and going to auditions regularly again, so this week was certainly not a loss. Also, one piece of relatively good news: I got wait-listed by the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA program. So, we'll see what happens there. I absolutely intend to go if I clear the list.

In the next week, I should have Invention 13 up.

On Tuesday, I have a presentation of my next Theatre of Blood song in BMI, so I will either record video or audio of that and put it up ... probably. I need to double check with my lyricist (Billy) and the performer if they are ok with me putting this material on the web, though I imagine they won't object.

Also on Tuesday, I'm doing a scene from Doubt in my acting class. I wish I could record that and put it up here, but I think that's probably rather tasteless to record things in acting class.

The screenplay I've set aside until I finish this next BMI presentation. Didn't want to do it, but I feel like I have to focus on the song for now.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Finally, an Update

So, I got pretty bad about updating every day this week. That being said, it may be a better idea to do fewer updates anyway. Maybe two or three times a week. The goal is to put in time on these projects every day, but there's not always anything interesting to post as an update.

So far, I'd say I've been moderately successful at doing this whole blog thing. I have been been keeping up my piano project (today was the first day I didn't get in at least 1 1/2 hours of practice ... I'm at my grandparents place for the night without my piano books, but I still managed to get some playing in). The screenplay project has been a bit more sketchy, I haven't touched that in a few days. I have read the plays (True West and Doubt, so far), so I'm keeping up with the play-reading. However, I may abandon that as a blog project, since it's really more of a guideline than a project with a finite goal. The piano and screenplay projects are good because I have defined a goal. I'll also keep the musical project, even though I have to do it anyway for BMI, because, again ... specific goal.

This post was mainly for me to think aloud. Thank you for indulging me. More updates to come (and, possibly, a couple new projects) in the next week ...

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

General Update

So, I recently missed a couple days on here, but I haven't been slacking off in these projects. I've started work on Invention 13. It's pretty tricky, a bit harder than the previous two that I did, so it may be longer than a week between video updates. The next song is not as hard, though, so that should follow soon after.

Still doing the initial brainstorming process on the screenplay. I should have a more interesting update on that in the next couple days.

I finished reading Doubt, and I'm almost done with True West. Then I'll move on to something else (perhaps one of Leah's suggestions.

I'm going to add a new project soon having to do with singing. I need to figure out exactly what my goals will be, but the gist of it will be to improve my singing and do better in musical auditions.

Monday, March 1, 2010

PROJECT 1: Piano - Invention #8 by Bach

Ok, so I have something of a dilemma. How well do I have to be able to play each song before moving on to the next one?

For example, when I sat down to record Invention #8, it took me about 35 minutes to get a solid take (and even then, there are a couple small mistakes in the final product). Part of that is attributable to the recording process (nerves, striving for perfection, etc), but the piece is certainly not at "performance-quality" yet. However, I did get a good take. So, am I done? At least for this piece I'm inclined to say that I am, because I don't find the Bach pieces particularly fulfilling (and I think they get on Josh's - and the rest of the building's - nerves a bit). But for future pieces, I guess I'll have to make a judgement call. On one hand, it seems silly to learn a piece if you can't perform it for people ... but on the other hand, I'm mainly working through the Bach because it's good technique-building music, not because it's musically satisfying. Thoughts?

Bach - Invention 8 from Bix Bettwy on Vimeo.