So we got a big snow storm today in Portland, Oregon. As you would expect, people starting freaking out and getting worried about driving.  So I had some cancellations in my day.  The snow was so BEAUTIFUL!  I was very moved while watching it drift down in such a lovely and elegant way (with the backdrop of everyone around me being very worried, and watching traffic crawl by outside the window).  This was my musical response as I tried to just enjoy the beauty. 

It incorporates a little of the jazz song "Snowfall" and the Christmas song "Let It Snow" as well as some of the Robert Frost poem "Stopping By a Woods on a Snowy Evening."  

Enjoy!

Here's some fun I'm having with my new looping machine.  I'll be performing this at my upcoming live shows.

A little more work this week with electronic media:

Here's another idea in exploration of electronic music. 

Here's Idea 18 of 52 Ideas.  I think it was a little inspired by Jonsi, whose music I adore.
You can hear all the ideas so far on my SoundCloud profile.

It can be kind of crazy to try to fit in a new "idea" every week.  There's been so much going on!  I just finished performing the opera "Semele" last weekend, I had a huge event at my voice studio last night, and I leave on a 10 day European tour tomorrow!  Lots of good stuff, but I'm determined to get some composing in regularly anyway!

I've been working a bit with rhythmic concepts so far during the 52 Ideas project.  As a singer I'm particularly drawn to the lyrical, ooey-gooey, long lines.  And as a sometimes choral singer, I like the vertical sonorities that maximize harmony and dissonance. 

But I just don't spend a lot of time in my musical life in the rhythmic world (other than having the professional necessity for excellent rhythmic skills, which I do have).  As I have been playing with electronic music and also beatbox (a couple weeks ago), I came to a realization - I don't really understand how drumming works....I've never played a drum kit, and I have really minimal experience with hand drums like congas or djembes. 

So last week I had a drum lesson!  I met Mike Dunay at a Playback Theater event, and he taught me my first ever drum lesson.  It was fun and I immediately noticed how much there is to learn. I'm hoping to spend more time on the drums and get more experience in this area. 

This piece I wrote is REALLY in process...I'm almost embarrassed to share it because it was really hard to do.  I was trying to create some drums loops without using the pre-made loops in Garage Band.  And I feel like my mind sort up comes up blank when I try to do this. 

So, here is Idea 14, with a reminder....this is all an experiment!  I'm trying something new!
(Also, you might want to listen to this one with headphones or good speakers, otherwise you won't be able to hear the bass part.)