“One Man Band”

One Man Band <– Click & watch

I’m in love with this short film. Pixar = awesome. Did I hear a bit of Brahms? Hungarian Dance?

Chamber Music!

I got my music for chamber music camp in July! I’m playing:

Beethoven’s Piano Trio III in C minor, Allegro Con Brio.   This is my primary piece.  Should be tons of fun

And this is my secondary piece:

Mendelssohn’s Canzonetta.

All I could find were guitarists playing it, which is awesome, but I really wanted to hear a string quartet version. And I got first violin Yay.

I’m really sad because this is my last year …butI’m also really excited because that means I’ll be one of the oldest kids there, which means everyone is going to look up to me ^_____^ I’m really looking forward to playing and meeting people. The people I meet there are always so cool

Well…I should probably go practice. See yahs.

Honda Robot Conducts Detroit Symphony

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jxh9QHfT4JmEgddKQjckerAf-RmAD90LD61O6

Okay…

Machines are taking over the planet. Don’t get me wrong…I love the internet. If it weren’t for the internet I wouldn’t have this blog <3. I wouldn’t be able to talk to some people who I really like every day, and I wouldn’t be able to frantically e-mail a teacher my homework at the last possible second. However, as wonderful as machines can be, there is A LIMIT. There should be a line that cannot be crossed.

The line hasn’t been crossed YET, but it could be crossed in the near future.

As for this situation… I have to admit, it’s kind of cool that they can program a robot to imitate the movements of a human and actually make those movements realistic. On the other hand, it MOST DEFINITELY limits the artistic expression of the orchestra because the robotic conductor can’t respond to musicians or make last minute adjustments to tempo and/or style. Not to mention the lack of raw, human emotion. If you’ve ever seen a good orchestra perform, you’ve seen a conductor throwing his hands about and bobbing his head. Perhaps, though, in the not-so-far-away future, it will be possible to program a robot to respond to musical cues and do other things like that.

Despite this, there will always be the argument that machines are not human, and to put them in our places is immoral. And also, that’s yet another job that wouldn’t be needed. It may be a small one, but it’s still a significant one. I myself am not opposed to machines making things more convienient (example: self check-out at the grocery store), but I feel quite strongly that tecnology and classical music should not mix in any way except to record and stuff. I feel that music should be something that stays strictly…human.  Without humanness, the beauty of music is gone : /

Then again, all this popular music has already been torn apart by electronic beats and modified/simulated voices.  Who needs talent when you’ve got a computer? (<– that’s basically my point…I don’t want that mentality to take over the earth.)

Hopefully this was just a one time thing… In that case, it’s fine and actually pretty cool.

Almost there…

The first payment on the violin is DONE as of saturday. Now I’ve got 2 months to raise $1200. Yeesh.

I’ll do it, though. I plan on getting a job that’s better than by current Quiznos job. They pay me $8.50 an hour, which is pretty good for working for a fast food place, but I don’t get many hours, so I really need to find something else. Babysitting and waitressing would get me the money quickly. My teacher also suggested having a benefit concert for myself xD That sounds kinda bitchy, but it might be a cool thing to do. Hopefully I’ll make a bit of money, and I’ll also have a chance to practice my performing skills!

It’ll get done. It really will.

Music is a bridge to Heaven

I went with my family to see “The Forbidden Kingdom,” yesterday for Mother’s Day.  I slept through the first half because I was up ’til five a.m.  Saturday night/Sunday morning (after-prom sleepover X_X).  When I woke up, the girl, Sparro, was playing her pipa and the American boy was sitting next to her.  She turned to him and said something along the lines of,

“They say music is a bridge to Heaven,”

and I was glad to have woken up at that particular moment because, even though I’m not very spiritual, I couldn’t agree more

Oops

My violin got sold for $1,000…and we bought it for $2,500 O_O

It was all a HUGE misunderstanding. For some reason we were dumb enough to leave Miriam with the dealer/maker, and now she’s gone : / Not only did I want to SAY GOODYE, but we were kinda counting on that money to pay for the new instrument. My dad is PISSED at us for leaving it there. Soo basically now I’m $1,200 short. Obviously we don’t have to pay it all at once. He said we can pay him the rest in two months. I think I can do it. I’m gonna get another job and work my ass off all summer : /

On thr bright side, the violin is basically mine I’m going to do some name brainstorming when I get the chance!

Violin > school

Yesterday I got to leave school at 11:30 to look for a violin in Rye, New York ^_^ We went to see a man named Robert Isley. He put out a bunch of instruments for me to try, and I came across this 18th century violin that had a GORGEOUS sound. It was so bright and clear…but it was $10,000 -_- Nu-uh. Not happening. We took home the next best one, a German instrument from the 20’s, but once I played it outside of the shop, it was nothing compared to the other violin.

Sooo…it’s official! I’m going to try to get my hands on this violin. If I can sell my old one AND the shitty one my parents used to play on, then I’m all set! But even without that money, I’m gonna try to make it work. My parents and I are going to talk about it, and I’m going to get it one way or another :p

On a side note, I’m extremely happy that violin has such an importance in my life that I can miss school for it Sooner or later, violin and school will be the same thing! Yay, college!!

Violin therapy

I told my teacher about all the stuff I’ve been working through lately. She told me to play it out on my violin. (My reaction = duh.) Anyway, she had me do this exercise where I put all my emotions/angst into my playing, close my eyes, and tell me what color I saw/felt. She said that, after a while, I should get calmer, and the colors should get lighter and softer.

For the whole ten/fifteen minutes I spent doing that, the color I saw was a consistent DEEP, DARK, RED.

Something is wrong with my brain. LOL.