Meeting Notes #27
Sunday, December 22, 2002
Attendees: Glenn H., Alex L., Victor M., Dev R., Terry T.
Place: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA

We began the meeting by tuning our guitars. The first note was passed in
clockwise manner from one member to another. The note carried from one
person to another with a small piece of who they are. As the note traveled
through the circle, it evolved and slowly completes itself to silence.

After a brief moment of silence Victor called for 'Eye of the Needle'.
Afterwards there was silence. Victor then called for 'Calliope'. We
performed the piece and there was silence.

The silence was broken when Victor asked if anyone had any observation from
our performance at the All Asia Café on Tuesday. We each gave our input but
most of us said that we were quite relaxed despite feeling nervous right
before the performance. Victor then emphasizes the importance of being
relaxed during performance.

Dev then raised a question of the right hand. The question was, should be
musician let go of the hands and be present in the music or both? A
musician should have complete control of their hands before we can let it do
things automatically. Two examples were presented and discussed, Jimi
Hendrix and Tony Levin. However, the group has not reached a point where we
can divert our attention completely away from our body. Our body should be
an extension of our instrument eg. Jimi Hendrix.

From the performance on Tuesday, Victor had a sense that the group is at the
beginning of the middle. The group should move forward as if we are
beginning the next phase of our commitment to our personal aim(s) in this
project. Personal lesson with Victor is encouraged.

An issue of recording the performance was raised in our discussion. It is
generally considered to be "bad form" to record the performance with out the
mutual permission of the members.

Break

The group came back to work on the accented picking of 'Calliope' over the
Cmaj/Am section. Victor went around the circle assessing the right hand of
each individual and adjusting it has he see fit. As we practiced this, we
should count the quarter notes. This presents a challenge due to the
arrangements of the notes and patterns. This leads to a discussion of the
arrangement of the Cmaj section and how the lead part and the bass part
intertwine together. For example, not all the accented notes of the bass
part are on the downbeat and the last note sets up the downbeat of the lead
part, etc.

Victor had mentioned the possibility of the next performance, which would be
on January 17th and 18th. Victor is uncertain about these performances but
will update the group as to the final decision. Dev will be in India until
January 17th.

Our next meeting will be Sunday January 5th at the Ultimate
Self Defense Center.

TT

Another Perspective:

Victor said that there are dangers associated with performance:
Performance may become an end in itself, rather than an aid toward the original aim that we set for ourselves.People react in part just to the fact that there are 8 friendly looking people on stage, trying to do something together. People like seeing people try to do things. We get credit we don't deserve.

The idea was raised that, since the audience wasn't listening carefully, it was easier to play for them.
Victor asked, "Can you imagine being at a place where you would be nervous to play for yourself, but not nervous to play for others?"

The people that we hold in most high regard, that essence, is really a projection from ourselves. Some people can bear this projection. The thing we see in them, is with us always. We sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that its not.

The performance was a good sign. It was something that was given to us for free, and as such, perhaps marks the beginning of the middle. The thing is, that the next one, we will have to pay for. So, better start preparing for that now. (Editorial comment: If we are at the beginning of the middle, the next station is the point farthest from the beginning of the whole process, the point of most potential, the point of least apparent available energy. GH)

It is time for each of us to look at what it is going to take for us to fulfill on the original intent of this project.

No one can tell us what this is, each of us must look for ourselves. Perhaps, more time practicing, more attention to detail, more lessons, more time sitting etc. Forget what you have done so far. Start with a clean slate, and really assess what it is going to take. Make a plan.

Victor reminded us of the "bringing quality to one task" exercise from the Lebanon course. Our job is to take that quality, and bring it to each moment as we play.

GH

Tuesday, December 17th, 2002
7:30 PM

All Asia Cafe
334 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge MA

The GCNE's, First Performance.

Meeting #26

Sunday, December 15, 2002
Attendees: Martin B., Glenn H., David K., Dev R., Terry T.
Place: Glenn's house, Somerville, MA


The meeting began with four of us. We tuned via 1 tuning fork.

We decided in light of our upcoming performance on Dec. 17th, we would work on all of the pieces we have learned so far. It was decided that we would go around the circle, with each member choosing a piece for the group to work on. Dev started us off with Calliope. This was pretty rushed and not very together. A suggestion was made to run it again, but playing quieter. At this point our fifth member joined us and got clued in to what was going on. We played Calliope again and this take was much better than the first. We worked on looping the 4 measure main theme and tag to work on nailing the transitions, since we still struggle here. Overall, though Calliope is not yet solid, we are making progress, especially considering we have only recently learned the entire piece.

Glenn then called for Eye of the Needle. We were still playing the final section without much dynamics. It was suggested to try it as a "stair", where each repeated phrase started out quiet, and got louder towards the end of the phrase, then the next phrase would be quieter again (though not as quiet as the previous one, therefore it would end up loaded than the previous phrase), lather, rinse, repeat. We played Eye of the Needle again applying this principle, and it did make a difference, though more work is needed.

I (David) called for Third Relation. Though we rushed it as usual, we could feel that we were trying to keep it more in check. We ran it again, with again the idea of playing quieter, and this was much better. In fact the intro was probably the best we have ever played it (no bum notes to be heard).

Terry called for Larks/Thrak. Larks still feels like it's the biggest struggle for the group in that, as a whole, not much progress is being made. Some of us just aren't playing all the way through at speed (me included) and it doesn't feel like a lot of progres is being made from week to week. Thrak wasn't great either. We did a little bit of duo and trio work on the polyrhythms, then ran it again. The second time was definitely better, but it's still not where it needs to be (or even where it was at one point).

Martin called for Aspiration. This was really nice. The soloing all felt like it belonged and the sections ebbed and flowed in what felt like the right way.

We took a break and watched Glenn demonstrate his attempt to get on David Letterman.

Starting back up, we decided to do some work with the metronome. We tried Calliope, and were nowhere near being with metronome on the intro. We halted and tried again, this time with the metronome slower. This time we were bettter at staying with it, and when we drifted, were able to pull it back. We worked on just playing the intro staying with the metronome.

The metronome was shut off and Glenn then started a circulation with some chongs at the end. Some nice things happened at times, but it didn't feel as cohesive as some of our other circulations.


Performance Tuesday 12/17 at All Asia Cafe, 334 Mass Ave between Central Square and MIT. Be there at 7pm, to perform at 7:30pm.

Next meeting Sunday 12/22, usual place.

Meeting Notes #25
Sunday, December 8, 2002
Attendees: Martin B., Glenn H., David K., Alex L., Victor M., Dev R., Terry T.
Place: Ultimate Self Defense Studio, South Boston, MA

Due to the smell of the new mats, we decided to move the meeting to the other room inside the facility, though we still had to use our bits of foam to prevent our stools from making a permanent impression on the mats.  We sat in a circle. The meeting began with the three tuning fork method. We then ran through each of the following pieces of our repertoire: The Eye of the Needle, The Third Relation, Larks’ Thrak, and Calliope. During The Eye of the Needle, one of the leads made a mistake, and the energy of the mistake ricocheted over to the basses, who began flubbing notes.  After, we discussed how this happened, and why it should not happen. (This discussion was elaborated on later.)

Soon we entered into a discussion on performing, and even down to why we even play music at all. The focus moved over to Glenn, who clearly voiced his aversion to playing in front of an audience.  This tied in to what we had discussed last week, and Victor thought of three exercises for us.  First, he had Alex, Glenn, David, and Dev sit in a semi-circle, and perform for the rest of the team. We were to treat them as an audience, as if it were an actual performance.  We played The Eye of the Needle. Comments them came from both within the performing group, and from the audience. Everyone seemed to notice the tension that was coming from Glenn, and our discussion continued.  A major point was brought up that it was difficult performing for people who weren’t participating in the event, whereas in a situation when everyone is contributing, performing is easier.  

Victor had us play The Eye of the Needle once again, but while we played, he gave us verbal descriptions of what to visualize.  The visualizations involved the audience changing colors, turning upside down, and eventually returning back to normal. Other people voiced other performance anxiety techniques that they had collected over the years.  The audience critiqued us, telling the basses that they sounded the same, and that actually the leads sounded a little worse than they did the first time. Eye contact, or lack thereof, was also discussed between the performers and audience. 

Victor then jumped to the third exercise, in which the same group of people played Larks’ Thrak, while he joined in, but intentionally played wrong notes, especially loudly. He instructed us to try not to laugh, but once we began, it was almost impossible.  Still, we managed to get through it, the beginning and middle being much worse than the end. Victor commented on how no matter what he plays, we should still be able to hold our ground and play our parts. People’s mistakes should not affect your own playing. Another example is in a Circulation. If the person before you drops their note, plays it out of time, or makes any other mistake, you should still come in at the right time, with the right note.  

David and Dev were then replaced by Martin and Terry, and the exercise was repeated, but this time with Calliope. Victor repeated a certain type of mistake that he did with the first group, and that was to play the right part, but a semitone too high.  Such a glaring mistake was difficult for people to avoid paying attention to, but that was part of the task. David and Dev then offered commentary on the performance, and the group commented on it’s own playing. 

Victor then showed us where he was at this task and performed solo The Third Relation, while all of us tried to distract him by playing wrong notes, talking, moving around, etc.  He made it through cleanly. 

Next week Victor and Dave’s band, The Sweepers, have a performance at T.T. The Bear’s Sunday night, so we the formal meeting is cancelled, though there was discussion of having a rehearsal without them before the show, and then going over. The meeting adjourned around 10:30.

DR