New Tat...Old Recital...same old same old

Hello everyone! As you can tell from the last entry, there were plenty of things that kept me away from the Psyche of A Jazz Trumpet Chick.

Well first thing first. The recital.

How did it go MB? Well...it wasn't my best...nor my worst. It kinda just...was. I honestly felt like I was going to bolt out of the UC and catch a train home in that dreaded weather (it was freezing cold with the windchill and it snowed...a lot.) My teacher was there, and she said I fooled her because it looked like I was calm the entire time. So I get to read a book.

I'm playing the Hindemith Sonata for Trumpet, now. I'm almost through the first movement (up to speed and such). I have a few bars left to go over with my teacher, but I went through a few by myself.

So I'm reading a collection og music essays written by Ralph Ellison. I was introduced to Ellison in my senior year of high school. I read Invisible Man for AP English. I enjoyed it very much especially for its dealings with jazz music, and music in general. I found this book in my school's library and it's very interesting.

But here's the biggest thing that's happen since I wrote last. I got a new tattoo. It's a trumpet on my right arm. I originally wanted it on my wrist but as I looked and as my tattoo artist drew it, it turned out bigger. But it's GORGEOUS!! It looks like an oil painting of a trumpet with the shading. I'm so very happy wth it. Here you go:



I have some written homework to do (on top of hours of practice) so I leave you with this video of the upcoming L Word episode tonight:

LESBIAN TURKISH OIL WRESTLING!!

Mindless ramblings from the psyche of a jazz trumpet chick

Well, what about that Super Bowl last night? I normally do not watch football, I find some of the plays and points of the game rather...silly looking ( I mean when the punt the ball after a touchdown or 4th down and you see a zillion men running after the same thing...it looks like a scene at Christmas in a toy store when a game is released.) Then again...I do follow basketball which can be silly looking as well...just how many time can you try to make a basket rebound after rebound after rebound.

My little brother (the youngest one) was wearing a Patriot's jersey in the house and when I found out that the Giants were playing in the super bowl against an undefeated team I clearly proclaimed that the Pats would win it. However then I remembered this ordeal. Ah it's been an interesting start to New York Sports this year. The Giants won because they fought hard. Now we have baseball to look forward to in April...

but there's college basketball now...and this is where it's at! I've loved the Huskies since I learned Rebecca Lobo went there. I followed the Bird years, the Taurasi years, and now we're back to being undefeated. Tomorrow will be the dispersal draft for the newest addition to the WNBA family, and someone from the Liberty will be there soon (and I'm hoping it's not my baby Shay Doron

As a devoted Liberty fan...I'm still not over this. I was watching the Draft live at home. I had my popcorn by me, my Hammon Jersey on...and my heart stopped for a while after i heard the words "trade" "new york" and "becky hammon".

Let's have a look back at what I used to oggle at during my summers:

But how is school MB? School going fine, I'm loaded up with homework beyond homework. It's not so much writing homework, but more practicing and making sure I'm hitting things right homework. I should be easily up to 2 hours of practice a day if I want to cover the length of what needs to be down with my private teacher. I think I have to sign up for a recital on Sunday, I'm playing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto Movement II.


Except...I willl be performing this piece on a Bflat Getzen Capri, hopefully with a paino player, and hopefully not making up slurs ;) (that was for my trumpet teacher...in fact she told me that unless I somehow changed my name and sex to a male named Haydn I was not allowed to make up shit anymore. That's what happens when you live in a jazz mind for 4 years!!)

But soon I will be this chick


Peace out...

School Days

I got a new mouthpiece for my flugelhorn! It's a Bach 1 1/2 B cup mouthpiece. I was out with my girlfriend a few weeks ago and we ran into Sam Ash like we normally do because we're music fiends. I got nicer service at the Carle Place Sam Ash than I normally do. Usually they don't care but this guy really listened to me. I came in asking for a 1B Bach mouthpiece for flugelhorn because that what the guy said at Catalano's when we measured the old mouthpiece that came with my Amati. I explained to him my situation: Bach just came off a long long strike, and everything is backordered. I really needed a new mouthpiece because I'm an active flugel player in my jazz band and the old piece was not doing much for my performance.

The Sam Ash guy looked it up and saw he could get me a 1 1/2 B, and I said I would take it. Originally I was going to try to stay true to the 1's so the footprint of the mouthpieces wouldn't screw me up, but I got a new 10 1/2 C for trumpet, so I'll just deal. He said to call after 10 days to see if it came in.

I called last Monday I believe and after waiting for 18 minutes, they found it and I dragged my mother to pick it up. 40 dollars later I have a brand new sound on my flugelhorn. I can't even believe it's the same horn that I was playing on before. It has that nice deep sound that I was really looking for. I have more control over my sound than with my last piece, I'm not squeaking when I hit high notes. I just wished I had it earlier for my first concert.

Over the past two weeks or so, I have:
~Gone back to school
~Got my industrial piercing
~made an appointment for a new tattoo
~almost got into a fist fight at work
~severely pissed my girlfriend off
~almost dropped my trumpet lessons this semester
~Bought $70 worth of music, and equipment

School is going well so far. I'm taking:
Music Theory II
Sight Singing II
Literature in English I
Intro to Computers and Their applications
Pre Calc
Jazz Band
Trumpet lessons

all for 16.5 credits

Theory is going smoothly. We're making a smooth transition into four part writing in root position from last semester. Sight Singing is the same, just longer exercises and we're getting into 16th notes in rhythm. We're going to be able to bring in our pieces that we're working on in other classes, and she's letting us (who play instruments...there is an obscene amount of vocalists in the class...all very good vocalists too...which makes me nervous when I have to sing outloud)use our instruments in class.

English is pretty interesting. We are starting with old Irish Folktales and will cover 600 years of literature in 16 or so weeks. Computer is the basics and I'm going to make a website as a result of the class..more info coming on that. Pre Calc remains me of my Math 12 days back at Holy Trinity. The nice thing is Computers meet half of the time since half of the class schedule are online days and the others are in class days.

Tomorrow I have my first Jazz Band class. We have more people coming in. Thursday I have lessons with my private instructor.

I got my industrial done on my right ear. I now have a bar going through my entire top portion of my ear.(pic isn't my ear, I haven't gotten around to taking a pic of it yet)

I also made an appointment to get this tattooed to my right wrist

Pictures to follow around Feb 16 for that one. I got a new Bach silver polishing cloth for my trumpet Diana. The last one was really dirty and made the trumpet dirtier than ever. She's residing in a case as I practice on my old Wierl trumpet, Becky. I got new head tuners for my Washburn, they're black. It looks sick:

I put on my new Jimi Hendrix string along with those babies,and bought some new guitar picks. I love it. Guitars, trumets, flugelhorns and other instruments make me giddy...

Did you ever know?
I want to play saxophone just so I can wear a neckstrap after I'm done. I always thought it was cool because my old band director wore his all the time. I mean...I carried my trumpet mouthpieces everwhere (I was/am a band geek), but a neckstrap would be easier to deal with than lugging around 5 pounds of metal hardware.

SmartMusic Part 2

Oddly enough, the package from smartmusic came in 3 or 4 days after I ordered it. I was surprised with the quickness. I decided to set it all up. It comes with two installation cds, and the mic is a little clip on mic. I plugged the mic into my computer and clipped it onto my horn and inserted the first disc...and waited.

After about 20 minutes of installing the software, I was ready to explore the smartmusic world. I decided to decline on watching the videos on how to work the program, and went in head first. I had problems with adjusting my mic level at first, but after realizing I had to switch the defaulted mic (my computer microphone) to the input of the smartmusic mic, I was chugging away on the smartmusic train.

I looked at some of the music they offered, and there wasn't a huge selection of jazz music. I however, found a ton of classical choices, including my two current projects-Haydn and the Hindemith. It allows you to slow down the piece, allows you record and playback how you sound. there's accompanment, and a solo line to play along with. I had a problem staying on the beat, or I thought I was on beat but when listening to my recorded performance, I was a beat behind the entire piece.

I also got an email from my professor on what we're playing this semester. A lot of Miles Davis. This should be really cool.

My 20th birthday was last wednesday. I got a new 10 1/2 C trumpet mouthpiece and put in an order for a 1 1/2 B flugelhorn mouthpiece. I went back to work. My boss is leaving after the next show, and they're still looking for a new manager for the front of the house. I'm getting a trumpet tattoo very soon, I'm going for a piercing appointing next week and I'm going to talk to the artist there to see what we can do.

But right now, it's all about the L Word


...and Bret Michaels

Smartmusic

I was talking to my lovely girlfriend on the phone after receiving a message from a bar looking for acts to book (you know those random myspace messages that sees a genre and automatically asks if you wanna book with them) when I checked my school mail and there was an email requesting that we all buy a subscription to Smartmusic.com

From what I've gathered (and have paid $45.95) is this site helps the music student practice. You purchase a subscription (the average is $100 a pop), and then you purchase the necessary accessory (a foot pedal, a vocal mic, a instrument clip, and some other deal), and in a week or two you will have the software and mic at hand.

I guess in two weeks I shall review my first time experience with this product. I've ran into this product before when I was a Music Ed Major. I had to sign up for the MENC and with that I received a subscription to two journals of music, and one reviewed or listed gifts for your musician in your life-Smartmusic was one of those gifts.

I think I'll check it out even further, and comment on it later in the month.

But I saw the Departed


I'm not one for guns and blood but damn I enjoyed this movie...

Maybe it was the Irish ass kicking

or Dropkick Murphy's "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"

Happy New Year's

What did everyone do for the holidays? Or in my case...what have I done this past month of not updating my blogger??

School has come and gone, and now I'm on my winter break. I am glad to say that my hard work paid off with a 3.9 GPA for this semester and a 3.98 GPA as my cumulative GPA (Which means...I got a 3.9 this semester and last semester).

The holidays came to fast and went by to fast. The theatre was rocking with spirits for John Edwards, and then with some country christimasy music by Kenny Rogers (just know when to hold 'em...know when to fold 'em....err...don't get me STARTED!!)We finished the year at the theatre with a little of ALY AND AJ (Into the rush...I would NOT mind going into the rush with those two if you know what i mean ^-^) and a little ditty of nastiness with Jim Norton. How much can a girl hear about ass sex and blowjobs in one night?

My christmas was full of musical gifts. I received a guitar foot stand, guitar polish, my Jimi Hendrix springs, and several jazz cds. Yes cds...there are just some albums you NEED to own physically...not digitally.

I got Diz n Bird LIVE! at Carnegie Hall, which is awesome. You can hear Diz and Bird talk and shit, but listening to Bird LIVE, is an amazing thing.

I got Miles Davis' Sketches of Spain...which is another awesome album. It combines the genius of Gil Evans and Miles being backed up by a full orchestra. Along the classical jazz fusion is Bird's Charlie Parker with Strings. Oh man, amazing.

I also got Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool, which I haven't had time to really listen to. I've been excited over the previous 3.

But my christmas isn't christmas without some KELLY CLARKSON. I got her new album, which is pretty cool. I just wish I had the song NEVER AGAIN when my first girlfriend broke up with me....

I was really hoping that I was going to secure a 1B Bach flugelhorn mouthpiece but unfortuately BACH is only producing standard moutpieces...no special orders because of the strike they just settled. I'm going into the city next week for my 20th birthday and I'm going to ask people at Sam Ash what they could recommend if I can't get a Bach mouthpiece, and on the cheap side since Bob Reeves mouthpieces are expensive. I need to get one before I go back to school.

Did I forget to mention I had my first concert in over a year and half in December??

With the jazz band at school, it was pretty sweet...topping any concert I had in high school. Probably because I felt completely at ease, but the line up consisted of "Don't Explain", "Lonely Woman", "Tico Tico", "Our Spanish Love Song", "Night of a Thousand Eyes", "How Deep is the Ocean", and of course... "Watermelon Man". I somehow recruited a few more musicians and we should have a pretty sweet line up next semester.

I'm going to try...keyword try to update as much as possible.

Til next time!

PoJ

The Haydn will always kick my ass

It's been way over a month since I last wrote. Shame on me. I have been doing a lot of studying and been putting way too many hours over at the theatre. I think my boss takes a schedule, blows it up, sticks it on a corkboard in her humble abode and throws darts at it and wherever the darts land, those days are mandatory. She had good aim in October considering there were 11 shows and out of those 11, 7 were mandatory.

But work aside, let's get to the music portion.
Music Theory is moving along nicely, I even secured an A on my midterm. With only a few weeks left in the semester, I'm moving along and my professor has confronted me with the notion of becoming a music major. I'm going to take up the offer to hash it out with her somehow.

Sight-Singing...I'm actually passing. I got a 92 on the midterm, and I was expecting a 65. My professor there is very nice and we're on the same train so we often run into each other as we drag our tired bodies to head home (with me only on the train for maybe 6 minutes while she sits there for 40).

Jazz Band is going just ok. Last week my mother came home from Ireland and I had to miss my trumpet lessons and practice because at the time I was escorting my brother on the bus and train home. However, plans changed at the last minute and I ended up with the night off. There's no school today but they're having a rehearsal, but I don't have to go because I'm not part of the gig next week...yet I have to attend it. I'm not going into that here. So I get to go to a gig. The major gig is on Dec. 9th, which will be my debut as an Adelphi music student...or undeclared music student...or poser music student...whichever you prefer.

Lessons are going nicely. I'm tackling the Haydn, and it's kicking my ass. I think I got through it once and I was very proud of myself. I've found a new love in the second movement. Around measure 20 there's a nice long chromatic crescendo to a high A flat that within context of an orchestra sounds so beautiful.

The jaw is acting up now and then, my health hasn't been too stable, but I'm pushing forward. I feel crappy now but I've been playing through it because it makes me physically feel better but afterwards I feel like a mess. A painful mess. I'm very tired but I guess I just continue forward.