Isn't beatboxing really cool?  I've always loved watching really talented people do it. It is so entertaining and virtuosic.  But I've always felt like it was a skill reserved for hip-hop musicians, drummers, or really cool people!  (Or maybe a combination of all three!)  And it's certainly not something that is part of operatic training.

Idea 12 of 52 Ideas is a real stretch.  Since it was such a new discovery, I thought it would be interesting to archive the process on video and share that.  You have to know, before making this recording and video I had NEVER attempted to beatbox.

You can watch the video, which includes the final product at the end.  Or I've also included the music itself below as it is uploaded to SoundCloud.  Enjoy!

Conspirare has just celebrated its 20th anniversary, culminating in a special event this month called "Wondernight."  This beautiful video was featured at that event, and it captures the spirit of this awesome group.  I feel so grateful to sing with Conspirare.  

My commitment in the 52 Ideas project is to post something new every week, and my deadline is before I go to bed on Saturday night.  So I'm getting in right under the wire this week!  It's been kind of crazy this week. 
But here is my new work:

My friend Andrea Rosselle suggested (as it relates to visual art) that when you are "onto something" in your art, that you should "go make 25 more of those."  So I'm starting to think it might be good at some point to go back to some of the pieces I've written so far and "rewrite" them.  In other words, take the initial inspiration and try again. I'm not sure I'm there yet, but I'm considering the idea. 

Wow, this is beautiful and thought-provoking.

Well, my wife Abby is now off on her trip.  She left yesterday and will be gone for a whole month.  Generally I'm feeling sad already and gonna miss her terribly.  But I am hoping I will use some of my extra free time to write more.  Each project I've done for 52 Ideas so far has gotten me excited, but then I feel like I don't have enough time to really develop it.  Or also sometimes I don't really have time to record it as well as I would like. 

I was feeling SO excited for Abby doing this experience in Nepal, learning new things, exploring a new culture, and volunteering her time for people in need.  We were talking about how it was like she was being lifted up like a bird to follow a dream she has.  And then she played me a piece from Dharohar Project (which is amazing, by the way...you should check it out.)

So then I was also feeling connection to the Snow Patrol song "Run," which seemed to capture how I feel about Abby doing this.  Then lastly, going on the bird theme, I remembered a great song by the Wailin' Jennys called "Bird Song." 

Thus, a mashup was born!

This is the first time in the project that the music isn't completely original.  I used the three tunes and imagined what it would be like to have them all happen at relatively the same time.  So here's the result.

In other news, I'm really excited that Esteli Gomez is going to be in Portland next week.  We have been singing together in Conspirare for a couple years now. 

While she was in town, I asked her to teach a workshop at Resound NW.  She said yes, and "Your Voice, Your Song" was born!  It's going to be cool, and it's happening next Wednesday, March 6. 

Here is Idea 3 for 52 Ideas.

This weekend I was listening to a bit of composer Ernest Bloch and also Yo Yo Ma playing Massenet's "Meditation" from Thais.  We have also been watching "Battlestar Galactica" which has a really beautiful, epic soundtrack.  I think some of that found it's way into my music this week.  I was imagining a cello as I was writing it.  But I don't play cello, so I used my voice instead...!
(It also brought back some memories of my days singing High Holy Days at Jewish temples in Houston and Portland.)

In other news, I also posted some recordings of me singing Bach from performances last year.  You can hear them on Soundcloud. 

I'd like to announce a project I've just begun as part of a 2013 New Year's Resolution.

Hi!  Happy New Year!

For those of you who know me, you probably know me as a performer - I'm mostly a singer and occasionally an actor and pianist.  I'm also a very busy music educator and run my own private voice studio. 

But probably not many of you know me as a composer.  It's something that's been a part of me since I was very little writing songs on the piano in my living room.  I took a big plunge in high school, writing for my school choir, church stuff, and some other chamber groups.  Then I wrote a good deal in college, mostly as part of music theory classes.  In grad school, I got very focused on performing, and composing virtually disappeared from my life. 

In 2006, I decided to get more serious about writing music, and I took an extensive retreat for several days by myself to write. I returned home with several original songs, which became the seed of my debut CD, "Devotion."  It was produced by my friend Michael McBride and released in 2008.

Meanwhile, I was approached in 2007 by a friend to co-write a Christmas musical called "Every Man Heart Lay Down."  I wrote several songs and oversaw the music for the whole production, which has now been produced 3 times in Houston, Texas.  Additionally, I've done some arrangements off and on for church choirs, handbells, voice students, etc. 

However, the past few years writing has taken a back seat to performing, teaching, getting married, and moving across the country. 

So I've decided it's time to reacquaint myself with "composer Dan." Thanks for coming along for the ride.  :-)

Here's the plan:

• Compose something every calendar week for all of 2013.  It doesn't need to be elaborate or complicated, but it does need to be something original. 
• Minimum length of 30 seconds.
  
• Record and publish what I've written each week on my blog.
• I reserve to right to write something but not make it public if I choose.
  
• I am going to leave open the possibility of writing an arrangement of a preexisting tune or quoting material from other writers.  (I'm still pondering this.)  

Also, I sort of wanted to come up with a name for this project other than "I'm composing this year."  Abby and I talked for a bit about this, and we realized I'm just trying to create musical sketches and ideas.  She suggested "52 Ideas."  So that's the current working title...

A few people that have inspired me to do this:

• Jon Steinmeier is a a composer and member of multiple bands in Chicago, and he's an old friend from Wheaton College.  Jon created a project a few years ago to write and record a song each week, which he did for 2 years.  While his project was a bit more ambitious than mine, I always thought it was a super cool idea and it's been in the back of my head ever since. A short article about his project
• Andrea Rosselle is a visual artist and good friend of mine in Portland.  When Abby and I first moved to Portland, we lived with Andrea and her husband while she was furiously working on her MFA thesis project.  She said to me, "Many people take certain labels like 'painter' or 'writer' but so few of them are actually creating art on a regular basis."  What she said stuck with me, and I realized that just because I've composed in the past does not make me a "composer."  I want to be active.
• My parents and wife are a huge support to me.  My dad in particular has always been a cheerleader for my composing.  He regularly asks me if I'm writing and encourages me to "stay after it."  And my wife, Abby, is my hero for getting so excited when I suggested this project in the first place. 
• I am a member of Playback Theater Portland, an improvisational theater troupe in which I act and make music every week.  There's many things that make this group really extraordinary, but I always feel grateful knowing each week I will create something new with Playback. 
• Julia Cameron's book "The Artist's Way" is awesome and is very close to my heart.  Abby and I had a creative cluster going through this book a few years ago in Houston, and that group, led by Jacque Darragh, feels like a gang that's always in my corner.  
• Anne Lamott's book "Bird By Bird" is one of my favorites.  I specifically love how she encourages creators to start small and simple.
  

A few basic tools that I'll be using:

My studio at Resound NW, including my grand piano and guitar

USB Microphone made by Blue on long-term loan to me by good friends. 
It'll be going into GarageBand on my Mac.

KORG keyboard for MIDI input, using an M-Audio MIDI interface also going into GarageBand.  I also have a microphone for performance (as pictured above) but at this time I don't have a way to use it for recording.

I just returned from the Conspirare tour to France.  Below is a highlights video I made some pictures and video from the trip.

We loved this experience - we did concerts in Saint-Lo, Falaise, and Paris.  We we there performing as part of a festival called Polyfollia.  We also visited the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach in Normandy, where we sang to honor the lives of those fallen in World War II. 

My good friend Rick has been helping me make some videos for my voice studio, Resound NW.  He helped me with the filming and the interviews, and I did the editing myself (!). 

I'm so excited that Conspirare's next CD is going to be released next month.  It is the choral music of Samuel Barber.  We had an incredible experience recording this music last fall in Goshen, Indiana.

Below is a video that was released about the recording process.  Enjoy!