2014 Pan Ramajay Workshop Day 2

Practice Plan

The first day I only logged 90 minutes of practice time -- mostly due to the faculty concert and having to run errands. Today, I had my instrument ready, a place to practice, and no evening obligations to get in the way. I was able to practice at 8am before rehearsals, during lunch break, after rehearsals wrapped up, and after dinner for a total of about 3 1/2 hrs, which is good. I should be able to match this tomorrow.

The most difficult charts are Ray's piece, followed by Don's piece. Ray's piece is 8 pages long, and rhythmically complex, plus it has a several runs and fast patterns in variations throughout. Don's piece 

has several key changes and meter changes.

Today's Musical Calisthenics exercise

Tom talked a little about useful ways to practice scales. First, we altered which beat we started the scale on. First on '1', then on 'e', then on '&', then 'a', then '2', etc. It was harder than I thought. That was what Tom called, rhythmic permutation. Next, we moved on to alternating the scale. We started with C Major, then F, then Bb, Eb, Ab, C# (moving in perfect 4ths). Tom says there are only 3 ways to rotate through all 12 keys: chromatically, up a P4/down P5, down a Major 3rd.

Electives

Today was the first day for electives, which take place immediately after our lunch break. I attended Don's improv clinic today, which he usually does. Don talked about devices for improvising, including leading tones, (scale tones up and 1/2 step below melody notes), the minor and major blues scales, using alternate chords -- our example chord progression was a ii V7 I vi, and we changed the I to a iii on the 3rd 4-bar phrase to illustrate. Don also talked about using the diminished scale over the V7.

Tomorrow, I think I may do the engine room session with Jim & Allen, then the technology session with Rick on Thursday.

Rehearsal Recap

To nobody's surprise, Tom's rehearsal was methodical and worked through the chart in pieces, each section addressing different goals. Alan's rehearsal was very good too, and reminded me I needed to work out a few technical issues. Don's rehearsal went as expected -- he started at the end and worked backward in chunks. This composition is really neat -- I wish I could write like this.

2014 Pan Ramajay Workshop Day 1

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a week at the University of Denver for the 5th annual Pan Ramajay summer steel drum workshop -- 5 days filled with making music with a world-class faculty of professional musicians with expertise in steelpan and outstanding musicianship. This year, like the first year, I am staying in the residence hall (Nelson Hall). It is a spartan existence -- just the basics, but I can practice late and simply walk back to the building. I can also take advantage of the Denver BCycle bike-share program when I need to run an errand.

Advanced Band

This is the third year I am participating, and the second year I am playing with the advanced band. Mind you, there is no audition to get accepted to different skill level groups. You just have to be willing and able to play music at a certain level, or you won't have too much fun.

This year, the advanced band is smaller than the intermediate band. It is usually the other way around. As a result, the parts are very exposed. We have 4 lead payers, 2 double seconds, 1 double tenor, 2 cellos, and 1 bass.

Rehearsals

Day one of rehearsals was a mixed bag. We first had Tom, who went easy on us in terms of difficulty for his chart. I really like Tom's method, which is to take slow tempo and work on chunks at a time. Tom is excellent at communicating what he wants and how he wants parts played. Tom is just a really seasoned music educator with a fabulous demeanor and very high level of musicianship.

Don Prorak's piece is a fairly challenging to me. At the same time, it is a really fine piece of music. Don does a nice job of relaying stories and humor. This piece, Tempus Fugit, was written for his father, Emil Prorak, a watch maker and drummer who passed away a few months ago. Don loves to delve in to mixed keys and meters. He did a great job of imparting the spirit of a timekeeper in this piece. I'm excited to hear it as it progresses. I think I can get my part down with enough practice.

Alan's charts always have a great groove above all else, and this year's piece is no exception. Sometimes the music is composed so recently that the sheet music is not what you might call complete. Missing rehearsal letters, dynamics, mistakes and other errata are common, but you have to rise above to get to the music at its heart. After all, printed notes are just a way to relay music. It is the musician's job to interpret it.

Ray's piece is always the most challenging.  I'm not bashing Ray -- in fact, Ray is a fabulous musician, and composer. His charts are just a little unorthodox. For example, this year's piece was a Panorama piece and has no repeats or codas -- so it ends up being 8 pages long. Really, a nightmare for page-turning. Besides that, the fact that it is a Panorama tune, necessitates many runs, so the musicians can "show off" for the Panorama judges. The jury is out, but it is very likely that I will not be able to play the whole thing. I am making peace with the fact that I won't practice past 11pm. If that means I play only 80% of Ray's chart, so be it.

Convocation / Electives

After our hour and a half lunch break, we have a convocation (assembling as a group per a summons - -ha ha). It is fancy college-speak. We just regroup and have a little something different before resuming rehearsals. On the first day, we heard Darren Dyke talk to us about how a tuner tunes a pan. Specifically, we heard about how the note is tuned to the fundamental pitch, two ends of the note are tuned to the octave, and the opposite sides are typically tuned to the 12th (octave + fifth). I'm not sure we learned anything that would help us in our next purchase decision, but we have even more respect for tuners.

Faculty Jam

Lastly, the faculty put on an hour-long concert for us of loosely rehearsed tunes. This is always a treat, as it really allows their musicianship to shine and gives us a heightened sense of how professional musicians can put on a great show with little preparation. For me, it was really nice to hear them play Black Orpheus and Blue Bossa, because I often play those tunes. They also played Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island and Roaring Lion's Caroline and Bob Marley's No Woman, No Cry among others.