Klarinet Archive - Posting 000566.txt from 1997/01

From: Oliver Seely <oliver@-----.EDU>
Subj: First recital in more than 40 years
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 1997 19:49:02 -0500

Yeah, it's true. Our university sponsored a Teaching, Learning,
Technology Forum Wednesday-Friday of last week and I talked
our professor of electronic music into a joint presentation called
"Computer-generated music for amateurs and professionals."

The set-up was like this: we did our thing in the multimedia room that
houses about 20 advanced Mac computers. There is a monitor
at each corner to be used by the instructor for various displays and
examples. I was to welcome the participants as they entered with
one of my play-along MIDI files. Our music professor said that he'd
yank me off stage when he got his system up and operating, so
he started fiddling with things and for the purpose of back-up only
I set up my Packard Bell laptop with two 2.5 watt Jensen speakers.
He said, "What are you doing Ollie?" "This is just a backup," I replied.
"We'll never need to use it." "You certainly won't," he offered. "I'll have
things going before you get that thing turned on." So, I kept loading
files, and adjusted the output of my Roland PCMCIA sound board.
"Oh, Gawd," he gasped. "I just erased a bunch of files." "Hey, don't
worry," I counseled. "You'll get there. Just take it easy. You'll get it."
I muted the clarinet track and punched the "play" button on the first
movement of the Kegelstatt Trio. As the participants began to arrive the sweet
strains of that exquisitely beautiful piece drifted out the door and
throughout the
courtyard of the Educational Resources Center. He fussed and fumed a bit more
and finally got the second movement installed. He started playing it
at the appropriate time and the show went on, but now with a good sound
system. About half-way into it, one participant went around in back of him
and tripped on the power cord, pulling it out of the wall, so I punched "play"
on my laptop and continued. He got things back together in time for the
third movement which I finished without incident.

He still wasn't quite ready with his examples of how to teach the elements
of electronic music, so I had him load the first movement of the K.452 quintet
and started in on that. At the bottom of the first page, I felt the pull of the
shepherd's hook around my neck and he took over.

Anyway, for those of you who have toyed with the idea of playing something
as music-1 for a group in public, the venue of "using technology in the
humanities" cries out for exploitation. I highly recommend it. I'd certainly
not recommend it for a serious performance unless my MIDI file had been
carefully edited to include dynamics, tempo changes and articulation, but for
the purpose of illustrating new techniques in music presentation it
was perfectly appropriate. An enormous amount of fun, too.

Oliver