I feel like I've reached the end of Stage 1 of the digital music reading process, having successfully negotiated a full recital last night. Actually, I got to sit out a set for voice/guitar, and to be honest, it wasn't a program with a lot of heavy lifting for me, which is one reason I chose it for my Airturning long-form debut. Still, I can happily say that not only did everything work beautifully, but I really felt completely at ease with the whole process. There's a wonderful simplicity to having a single page glowing there in front of you, with no concerns about page-turners, or pages that won't stay open. I guess what I'm saying is that it all felt right - simple, economical (well, not that kind of economical), even stylish. Most people who see my setup comment first on how small the music is, which is an understandable reaction, but I never found that to be a concern, although I'd like to blame all missed notes on something other than my fingers.
It's true that I already have much more experience with this process than I did in my nerve-wracking debut, but perhaps what made the most difference was a fantastic little discovery that Hugh Sung posted about a couple of days ago. Hugh, of course, is the primary trailblazer I've been following in all of this, and one of the creators of the Airturn system. The Airturn is, in some ways, a very simple device (part of what makes it so appealing) that just enables a pedal to signal a "page down" or "page up" command wirelessly, but I've written about how an overly eager pedal jab can produce an unintended double turn. In retrospect, much of my pedaling anxiety had to do with that. Hugh's discovery is that Windows (Macs, too, apparently) has a little program called "Filter Keys" hidden away in Vista's "Ease of Access" control panel (known as "Accessibility" in XP). I simply set Filter Keys to ignore repeated key strokes less than 0.5 seconds apart, and that completely solved the problem. Very big news.
As mentioned, this wasn't a particularly difficult recital technically, but there were several pieces with turns that needed to happen in the middle of busy passagework - I still find myself looking down when I have the chance, but I'm realizing I don't really need to. My foot has pretty much figured out how to do a quick jab without distracting whatever else I'm doing.
Probably the biggest ongoing issue for me is to work through my "absent-minded professor" issues. For example, I was home on Friday and expected to do a good bit of practicing from the PC, but I'd left both my power cord and extra battery at school, something I realized only after pretty much draining the battery web-surfing. Friday, I was slated to play only one work in a class recital; I was chatting offstage with someone while waiting to go on when I realized I'd left the pedal upstairs in my office. I may need to get one of those armbands that quarterbacks wear with all the plays written on them. Mine would say things like: 1) bring pedal, 2) turn off sound, 3) turn on Filter Keys, etc. But, on the other hand, it's not like I never showed up backstage with the wrong music in hand. These issues go deeper than any technology can solve...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Adventures in Airturning
My big full recital debut with the Airturn is only one day away, but in the meantime, I thought this would be a good time to take stock of how the experiment is going. If you're just wandering in, basically I'm working towards using a Tablet PC as a music reader, thus replacing paper and page-turners. The key technologies are:
Obviously, the most desirable improvement would be more screen real estate. Hugh Sung has recently been writing about his experiences with a PianoDisc piano that has a built-in widescreen monitor in the music rack. Now, I'm mystified by why anyone would want to experience something like this (especially the part at 0:40), but, yes, I would like to have a wide-screen monitor built into all of my pianos, please. (Actually, if you watch that video, I've got to admit that the little video pianos lessons look like a neat idea. And the Bugs Bunny clip at the end is cool.) In fact, I was sitting in my office yesterday, looking at the 19-inch LCD I bought for cheap on Black Friday and thinking, I could just prop that up on the piano right now. Unfortunately, it wouldn't work well as a music rack for the kind of old-fashioned paper scores my students tend to bring in.
However, I'm already plotting a performance with this monitor. In April, we'll be doing our annual opera scenes shows, which have me sitting and banging away for a couple of hours from scores that tend to have lots of page turns. I think it will be worth the trouble to drag the monitor over and give myself double-page views for these performances. Since I'll be off to the side of the stage, it shouldn't be too distracting for the audience, even with the necessary power cords. And, I'll be able to check email and sports scores while I play!
The larger point is that my current little Tablet PC is just a starting point. One reason I haven't committed to the Music Reader software is that puts all your files (PDFs or other) into its own proprietary format - for me, it's too early in the whole process to commit to something like that when PDF Annotator saves files in the pretty-much universal PDF format. If I'm on the road and my tablet is lost or crashes, I could still play my music (assuming it's saved somewhere else) from just about any computer I could get my hands on.
So, that's where things stand. I mention the drawbacks above not so much to say that this is a bad idea, but to concede that it's not just some magical new perfect world. Obviously, I feel the advantages already outweigh the disadvantages, and the technology will only get better.
Now, back to figuring out how best to set up two laptops for playing four-hand rep with one Airturn! I'm almost there...
P.S. Seriously, you should watch this Sync-a-Vision movie, and then consider the comedy potential when the PianoDisc piano is way out of tune. Imagine that guy singing Autumn Leaves with microtonal accompaniment. Now that I would watch. Also, imagine the possibilities of having the Sync-a-Vision. Practicing Hanon while watching TV! Creating interactive "piano hero" games that involve live piano performance with 3D graphics flying at you. In fact, this all needs its own post, but that will probably have to wait...
- The Tablet PC - although a laptop could be used as well, the tablet provides a lighter, more flexible and attractive option since its keyboard can be folded behind the screen to make what basically looks like a black binder. A regular laptop is awkward in portrait mode since the keyboard would be flipped out to the side - in landscape mode, a laptop wouldn't work on an upright piano. Also, Tablet PC technology makes it remarkably easy to mark up the scores with a virtual pen. (Here's what I'm driving.)
- PDF Annotator - software which reads PDF files and enables all kinds of general editing, re-paging, pasting, and, yes, annotating in a wide variety of colorful ways. There are, of course, other software options, including a newish program called Music Reader that isn't quite what I'm looking for right now.
- Airturn - a wireless transmitter, developed by the pioneering pianist Hugh Sung, which makes it easy to signal page turns by using a footswitch. I've settled on using a single footswitch that turns pages forwards, and am using buttons on the tablet to turn back if necessary. The availability of the Airturn is what finally got me off the bench and into the game. So far, it works just as advertised, with perhaps its best feature being that it involves no setup other than plugging one part into a USB port and connecting the other part to a pedal. I did make the mistake of just mindlessly going with the non-alkaline AA's that it shipped with when I was getting started. I had a couple of turns that didn't transmit in my first live performance - and discovered the next time I tried it that the batteries were shot, which means I'd probably been skating on very thin ice. I've now got two sets of rechargeables that I'll shuttle back and forth.
- IMSLP.org and a wide variety of other online sources of music scores in PDF format. Possibly the best website in the history of the world.
- A Konica photocopier at work that makes it extremely easy to scan in just about anything and have it emailed directly to me as a PDF file - it's really fun to make photocopies and never worry about paper jams, bad toner, etc.
Here are my observations so far on the basic advantages and disadvantages of this whole enterprise.
THE GOOD
- I've been mentioning this just about every post, but Tablet PCs are really wonderful. I've found my tablet to be a really nice lecturing tool - not only can I use the pen to mark up PowerPoint slides as easily as if I'm writing on a whiteboard, but, better yet, I can display scores that I've scanned in and use the pen to mark them up as we discuss. I'm still learning how best to take advantage of all this, but it offers a lot of flexibility. I also have really enjoyed using the Tablet when teaching piano lessons - in fact, a couple of days ago I happened to have it with me while listening to a student performing a Schubert impromptu in recital. It may seem strange to say this, but it's much easier to write quickly, legibly, and quietly (the stylus just glides across the screen) this way, and all the markings show up easily because they're in color. And, of course, they can just as easily be removed.
- Colorful annotations. It's amazing how helpful it is to have various little reminders in red. They just jump off the page.
- The Airturn! It really does work just as advertised, although every now and then I end up turning two pages. Setting the keyboard delay rate to the slowest possible setting has helped, but not totally solved this - I still find that if I jab too quickly at the pedal, there's a chance the page will turn twice. [UPDATE: 2/14 Hugh posted a fix for this on his blog yesterday, and I can happily say that it completely solves the double turning problem. I'll write more about this later.] It's not a big deal to reach up and turn back, but I'm hoping to get more consistent with this. What's interesting is that the pages turn so quickly, I don't really even seen the double-turn taking place, so I only realize the mistake by recognizing that the wrong music is in front of me. I've actually thought about using colored markings in the upper corners that would alternate left and right so that I'd get a quick visual affirmation that only one page has turned. In fact, I think I'm gonna try that tomorrow...
- Not having to hold a book open. Today, during a vocal coaching, I had to switch from a virtual score to playing from a big, fat book that wouldn't stay open. It's so annoying to have to keep swatting at flopping pages.
- The coolness factor. Actually, this is a bit awkward since, as an accompanist by trade, one doesn't want to distract attention from the soloist. Still, it's fun to show off the technology.
- Cost, of course. In fact, I'm not even going to do the math here, but there's the PC, the rather expensive extra battery (I still need to invest in a backup power cord), the Airturn, the pedal, the batteries, the license for PDF Annotator, etc. (One reason I chose PDF Annotator, which is quite affordable, is that I already had a license for an earlier version that I'd been using as a lecture tool for years; the upgrade to the newer version wasn't that big a deal.)
- The hassle. I expect to get more used to all this, but there's a lot to think about, even in rehearsal settings, with getting the computer powered up, being sure it's charged, remembering to turn off the WiFi to save power, resetting the keyboard response rate, getting scores downloaded, scanned, opened. Obviously, a performance setting makes all of these considerations all the more important.
- Resolution. I chose a PC with a 12.1 inch screen, which is a good bit smaller than standard laptops. The advantage is that it's quite light, and I don't find reading from it to be a problem at all. In fact, because our recital hall generally has poor stage lighting, I'm thrilled to be playing from a self-illuminated score, but the bottom line is, I'm generally reading smaller notes that aren't as clear as they would be on paper. Yes, I know that Music Reader software enables viewing half-pages in roomy landscape mode, but see #4. Still, I really haven't found that the resolution thing bothers me - I certainly mind it less than playing in a poorly lit setting, and as mentioned above, the colored annotations jump off the page.
- The extra turns. Until a much larger screen size is practical, it just makes the most sense to view one page at a time in portrait mode, which means I'm having to turn much more often than in the standard two-page at a time mode. This is one reason why, for now, the half-page views in Music Reader don't appeal to me. That's just doubling the number of turns yet again. Hugh Sung is actively promoting this method now, but he's been pedal-turning for so long that it's probably less of a big deal to him than it is to me. (See #5.) Also, I just like seeing lots of music at a time, although that may be largely because it's just what I'm used to.
- Pedal fears. Finding the pedal at the right time is still not trivial for me, especially in performances. For now, I've just about stopped using the soft-pedal (which is a positive temporary development because I tend to use it way too much), and yet I still find myself distracted by my left foot. The truth is, I've already found I can almost always find the pedal in one quick motion, but that "almost" worries me.
Obviously, the most desirable improvement would be more screen real estate. Hugh Sung has recently been writing about his experiences with a PianoDisc piano that has a built-in widescreen monitor in the music rack. Now, I'm mystified by why anyone would want to experience something like this (especially the part at 0:40), but, yes, I would like to have a wide-screen monitor built into all of my pianos, please. (Actually, if you watch that video, I've got to admit that the little video pianos lessons look like a neat idea. And the Bugs Bunny clip at the end is cool.) In fact, I was sitting in my office yesterday, looking at the 19-inch LCD I bought for cheap on Black Friday and thinking, I could just prop that up on the piano right now. Unfortunately, it wouldn't work well as a music rack for the kind of old-fashioned paper scores my students tend to bring in.
However, I'm already plotting a performance with this monitor. In April, we'll be doing our annual opera scenes shows, which have me sitting and banging away for a couple of hours from scores that tend to have lots of page turns. I think it will be worth the trouble to drag the monitor over and give myself double-page views for these performances. Since I'll be off to the side of the stage, it shouldn't be too distracting for the audience, even with the necessary power cords. And, I'll be able to check email and sports scores while I play!
The larger point is that my current little Tablet PC is just a starting point. One reason I haven't committed to the Music Reader software is that puts all your files (PDFs or other) into its own proprietary format - for me, it's too early in the whole process to commit to something like that when PDF Annotator saves files in the pretty-much universal PDF format. If I'm on the road and my tablet is lost or crashes, I could still play my music (assuming it's saved somewhere else) from just about any computer I could get my hands on.
So, that's where things stand. I mention the drawbacks above not so much to say that this is a bad idea, but to concede that it's not just some magical new perfect world. Obviously, I feel the advantages already outweigh the disadvantages, and the technology will only get better.
Now, back to figuring out how best to set up two laptops for playing four-hand rep with one Airturn! I'm almost there...
P.S. Seriously, you should watch this Sync-a-Vision movie, and then consider the comedy potential when the PianoDisc piano is way out of tune. Imagine that guy singing Autumn Leaves with microtonal accompaniment. Now that I would watch. Also, imagine the possibilities of having the Sync-a-Vision. Practicing Hanon while watching TV! Creating interactive "piano hero" games that involve live piano performance with 3D graphics flying at you. In fact, this all needs its own post, but that will probably have to wait...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Adventures in Radio
I don't listen to music on the radio all that often, but yesterday as I was scanning the dial, I got pulled in twice, first by a transcription I really didn't like (but which intrigued me enough to listen to the end) and then by a transcription I loved (but didn't get to hear to its end). I'm generally a big fan of transcriptions, and not just of the kooky variety you see in the previous post. They so often provide a fresh perspective on the familiar.
So, what caught my ear first was the beginning of Saint-Saëns' pleasant, if not-so-interesting violin showpiece, Havanaise. I was trying to remember the title (Habanera? No. Pièce en forme de habanera? No, that's Ravel...Havanaise!) during the piano intro when I was surprised to hear a cellist swoop in with the solo rather than the expected fiddle. Within about two measures I was pretty sure it was a Yo-Yo Ma Production; he has a distinctive way of sliding around a little too purposively that seemed like a giveway, not to mention that the poor guy has clearly been bored with the standard cello rep for a long time. Somewhere I still have an old LP version of his take on some Paganini and Kreisler - really not good times.
And that's the thing. Although I studied the cello, married a cellist, and generally love the cello, I just don't think it works out very well in violin rep - maybe with the exception of the Franck sonata, but even that's still better on the violin. The violin simply sounds much more natural scampering around, especially up in the stratosphere. Some of Ma's takes on the Paganini caprices are really frightening sounding, and I say that with all due respect for his tremendous abilities. It's just not music that works on the cello, at least not once you've heard it on violin. And so it was with the Saint-Saens (who did manage to provide cellists with one of the more cellistically satisfying concerti) - the Havanaise should remain a violin piece, if it must be heard at all.
[I've just realized I've taken quite a few little shots at Ma on this blog, which is unfortunate because I really admire him, yet I find him to be a rather tragicomic figure: so good at being a great cellist, but clearly restless, wanting to reach out and be something more. Even the over-the-top manner in which he performs standard rep suggests he can't just be happy playing the cello well - he seems too intent on making us believe how great the music is, even though his playing does that quite well. Generally speaking, I simply haven't been able to get interested in any of his well meaning projects. The "Inspired by Bach" videos seem too contrived. Some of his jazz experiments are just odd-sounding, as I mentioned here. And, of course, he annoyed me no end by participating in Prairie Home Companion's Hymn to Obama. I know this all sounds petty coming from someone who hasn't achieved a fraction as much. Maybe I should just be grateful that my skills as a pianist are finite enough that I'll never be bored with the music on my shelf.]
But getting back to yesterday's radio, I was grateful I stayed with WGBH because next came a scintillating rendition of Beethoven's overture to The Creature of Prometheus in a performance by pianist Cyprien Katsaris. I actually only heard the first part before I had to park and walk to my office. At first I wasn't too disappointed that it had already ended by the time I got the radio back on because I'd already resolved to download it as soon as possible. Sadly, it's not available for download or for purchase except as a cruelly priced ($68.10) used CD. But, trust me, it was pure entertainment. [UPDATE: You can hear it - and much more - here. Thanks, Tulsa Gentleman.]
Anyway, I continue to believe the piano-as-orchestra genre is wildly underrated, and am in the midst of planning some informal noontime performances of the Beethoven symphonies in 4-hand arrangements. There's just something exhilarating about the over-the-topness of that sound. So, if you're keeping score, this pianist/cellist is a big fan of symphonic sounds on the piano, but not such a big fan of violin virtuosity via the cello.
My other recent adventure in radio came Saturday morning on the drive to my daughter's orchestra rehearsal. I always try to be a good soldier (in what army, I'm not sure) and listen to WCRB's Kid's Classical Hour that airs at that time; it's generally painful on a variety of levels, but Daughter of MMmusing always likes hearing stories, and more than not (when Keith Lockhart isn't breaking out some bold classical word of the day like tempo) they just play one of those Classical Kids stories about wide-eyed youngsters developing spontaneous relationships with the great composers.
So this week we got Tchaikovsky Discovers America. Honestly, it wasn't so bad; there was a cute scene where various snippets from The Nutcracker are inspired by dessert talk (it really connected ideas with music), and there was a moment when an excerpt from The 1812 Overture was playing and I was reminded that, yes, even in that unfairly maligned bit of auditory cheesecake, there are melodies more beautiful than Haydn or Verdi ever imagined. But my favorite moment happened early on as the children usher Mr. T past some "truly American music." You can listen here since, fortuitously, this is one of the audio samples on iTunes. Aside from the painfully earnest dialogue, in which these imaginary 19th-century children of privilege are revealed to be wise beyond their years, we hear Swing Low, Sweet Chariot sung in the kind of polished, pristinely arranged tight harmonies that I'm sure one heard from railway men on every corner in ol' NYC.
Well, I think my snarky work is done here for the day.
So, what caught my ear first was the beginning of Saint-Saëns' pleasant, if not-so-interesting violin showpiece, Havanaise. I was trying to remember the title (Habanera? No. Pièce en forme de habanera? No, that's Ravel...Havanaise!) during the piano intro when I was surprised to hear a cellist swoop in with the solo rather than the expected fiddle. Within about two measures I was pretty sure it was a Yo-Yo Ma Production; he has a distinctive way of sliding around a little too purposively that seemed like a giveway, not to mention that the poor guy has clearly been bored with the standard cello rep for a long time. Somewhere I still have an old LP version of his take on some Paganini and Kreisler - really not good times.
And that's the thing. Although I studied the cello, married a cellist, and generally love the cello, I just don't think it works out very well in violin rep - maybe with the exception of the Franck sonata, but even that's still better on the violin. The violin simply sounds much more natural scampering around, especially up in the stratosphere. Some of Ma's takes on the Paganini caprices are really frightening sounding, and I say that with all due respect for his tremendous abilities. It's just not music that works on the cello, at least not once you've heard it on violin. And so it was with the Saint-Saens (who did manage to provide cellists with one of the more cellistically satisfying concerti) - the Havanaise should remain a violin piece, if it must be heard at all.
[I've just realized I've taken quite a few little shots at Ma on this blog, which is unfortunate because I really admire him, yet I find him to be a rather tragicomic figure: so good at being a great cellist, but clearly restless, wanting to reach out and be something more. Even the over-the-top manner in which he performs standard rep suggests he can't just be happy playing the cello well - he seems too intent on making us believe how great the music is, even though his playing does that quite well. Generally speaking, I simply haven't been able to get interested in any of his well meaning projects. The "Inspired by Bach" videos seem too contrived. Some of his jazz experiments are just odd-sounding, as I mentioned here. And, of course, he annoyed me no end by participating in Prairie Home Companion's Hymn to Obama. I know this all sounds petty coming from someone who hasn't achieved a fraction as much. Maybe I should just be grateful that my skills as a pianist are finite enough that I'll never be bored with the music on my shelf.]
But getting back to yesterday's radio, I was grateful I stayed with WGBH because next came a scintillating rendition of Beethoven's overture to The Creature of Prometheus in a performance by pianist Cyprien Katsaris. I actually only heard the first part before I had to park and walk to my office. At first I wasn't too disappointed that it had already ended by the time I got the radio back on because I'd already resolved to download it as soon as possible. Sadly, it's not available for download or for purchase except as a cruelly priced ($68.10) used CD. But, trust me, it was pure entertainment. [UPDATE: You can hear it - and much more - here. Thanks, Tulsa Gentleman.]
Anyway, I continue to believe the piano-as-orchestra genre is wildly underrated, and am in the midst of planning some informal noontime performances of the Beethoven symphonies in 4-hand arrangements. There's just something exhilarating about the over-the-topness of that sound. So, if you're keeping score, this pianist/cellist is a big fan of symphonic sounds on the piano, but not such a big fan of violin virtuosity via the cello.
My other recent adventure in radio came Saturday morning on the drive to my daughter's orchestra rehearsal. I always try to be a good soldier (in what army, I'm not sure) and listen to WCRB's Kid's Classical Hour that airs at that time; it's generally painful on a variety of levels, but Daughter of MMmusing always likes hearing stories, and more than not (when Keith Lockhart isn't breaking out some bold classical word of the day like tempo) they just play one of those Classical Kids stories about wide-eyed youngsters developing spontaneous relationships with the great composers.
So this week we got Tchaikovsky Discovers America. Honestly, it wasn't so bad; there was a cute scene where various snippets from The Nutcracker are inspired by dessert talk (it really connected ideas with music), and there was a moment when an excerpt from The 1812 Overture was playing and I was reminded that, yes, even in that unfairly maligned bit of auditory cheesecake, there are melodies more beautiful than Haydn or Verdi ever imagined. But my favorite moment happened early on as the children usher Mr. T past some "truly American music." You can listen here since, fortuitously, this is one of the audio samples on iTunes. Aside from the painfully earnest dialogue, in which these imaginary 19th-century children of privilege are revealed to be wise beyond their years, we hear Swing Low, Sweet Chariot sung in the kind of polished, pristinely arranged tight harmonies that I'm sure one heard from railway men on every corner in ol' NYC.
Well, I think my snarky work is done here for the day.
Man, this would've been fun to do...
You know, I don't post enough links here, so let's fix that with the following amazingly fantastic video of what really was going on during the Inauguration bow-synching:
There's so much to enjoy, but I think what really makes it work is how the music goes silent when the video cuts to crowd scenes, a very effective structural device - which means that whoever was directing for NBC that day should get some credit for this composition. Of course, what really makes it work are Yo-Yo Ma's hyperexpressive facial expressions, the intensity of which really didn't make much sense with the John Williams piece we were all hearing - but now that we know what was actually going on, it all makes sense. [Tip to Kyle Gann.]
There's so much to enjoy, but I think what really makes it work is how the music goes silent when the video cuts to crowd scenes, a very effective structural device - which means that whoever was directing for NBC that day should get some credit for this composition. Of course, what really makes it work are Yo-Yo Ma's hyperexpressive facial expressions, the intensity of which really didn't make much sense with the John Williams piece we were all hearing - but now that we know what was actually going on, it all makes sense. [Tip to Kyle Gann.]
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The dog that ate my homework
Wow, I've been a bad blogger of late. Primary causes:
*P.S. A great example of how stupidly annoying this project has been. I finally get the computer's virtual TV to work right, more or less (except that you have to reset the soundcard every time it starts up if you want sound with your images). It can now pause live TV, record to hard disk, etc. So then, this morning I decided to program it to record something coming on later, and the scheduling routine crashes the program. That's right, it can receive a TV signal, record it to hard disk, let you pause and then restart while it continues recording in the background, but it can't accept simple date-and-time instructions for recording. I've now got a new virtual VCR - and I can't program it. (Ironically, I've never had any trouble programming VCR's - of course, the inability of most people to program a VCR is what made TIVO so attractive in the first place.)
1) the purchase of the new Tablet PC has thrown me into a flurry of geeky projects as I juggle the various computers I own. I've never taken the initiative to sell old computers (we have quite a collection!), but I spend way too much time trying to devise new uses for them. For example, the new Tablet (my mobile/lecturing device of choice now) means I can use my school-issue laptop, in docked mode, as my primary desktop PC at work, which means the old Dell desktop I'd been keeping there came home with me. Well, I couldn't just let it sit in the basement, especially since it has a video capture card installed and we just started subscribing to cable TV (which, believe it or not, has not been a major reason for slow blogging). Sure, we could go out and get TIVO, now that our TV actually receives enough viewing options to make that desirable, but it's much more fun to turn the old Dell into a really bad, fourth-rate version of TIVO. So, I spent way too much time this weekend trying to get everything configured, with the added intent that this old computer would now be viewable on our bedroom TV. Imagine, waking up and turning on the TV to read this blog! The funny thing is that the old ATI video capture card and its included software have never worked quite right. I've tried getting something useful out of it several different times over the years and something always goes wrong. I've downloaded all the newest drivers and versions of software, etc, but it's still a computer trying to be two things (TIVO and a TV channel) it's really not designed to be. I could go on and on about all of this, but it would only get more boring and mystifying. Let's just say it's absorbed some of my free time.*
2) a recent Facebook binge. I wrote about Facebook back in October, but my usage has waned considerably since then, as I suppose it will again soon. But, for whatever reason, I've been on the 'book a lot lately. Still can't decide what I think, but I've passed the 100 friends barrier!
Anyway, to continue in the spirit of listing things (and, no, I will not be joining in that kooky Faceboook "25 Random Things About Me" meme that's mutating around) here are some fairly random things I've thought recently:
1) Tablet PCs are really, really cool. I can't believe they haven't caught on - I'm just waiting now for the inevitable Mac that uses tablet technology, not because I'd buy one, but because that's probably the moment when the technology will become cool.
2) I'm quite surprised by this, but I really like Windows Vista!
3) I did much better in my second live experience with the Airturn page-turning pedal. No jitters, no problems getting the turns to turn. I'm liking the whole experience more and more.
4) I will now list the pieces of music that I like better than Bach's Violin Concerto in A Minor.
That's it! This is significant because I just realized I somehow failed to include it on my list of "Favorite Musical Works" from a couple of years back. Bad job by me. I've long said to anyone who asked that the Bach Double Violin Concerto is my favorite-ever piece of music, and I think it still is, but if it's #1, then The Bach A Minor is #1a. The current great joy in my life is that Daughter of MMmusing was recently assigned the latter. Last week, there was a night when I came home from school having vowed not to talk at all, since my ongoing laryngitis was getting to be ridiculous (two weeks or so of never knowing for sure if words would come out). DoMM was practicing the Bach and, after miming gestures of greeting to my wife and the other two children, I slipped onto the piano bench just as DoMM got to the first "solo" section of the concerto and proceeded to play through the whole first movement with her. It wasn't perfect from either of us, of course, but what a great way to greet someone you love.
Anyway, I need to write much more about this music. I used to think the slow movement was too ponderous in the orchestra part, but I've come to see it as a sort of "Orpheus taming the furies" moment, in the same way the slow movement of Beethoven's 4th piano concerto is associated with fury-taming. Let's save that for another day...
*P.S. A great example of how stupidly annoying this project has been. I finally get the computer's virtual TV to work right, more or less (except that you have to reset the soundcard every time it starts up if you want sound with your images). It can now pause live TV, record to hard disk, etc. So then, this morning I decided to program it to record something coming on later, and the scheduling routine crashes the program. That's right, it can receive a TV signal, record it to hard disk, let you pause and then restart while it continues recording in the background, but it can't accept simple date-and-time instructions for recording. I've now got a new virtual VCR - and I can't program it. (Ironically, I've never had any trouble programming VCR's - of course, the inability of most people to program a VCR is what made TIVO so attractive in the first place.)
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