Bishops West

Category: Music

  • Happy International Artists Day!

    Happy International Artists Day! (Why does it have to be “International”? Why not just Artists Day?) Take a minute to admire a piece of art, or even better, to make a piece of art.

    And for my fellow music producers, here’s an idea: Choose a famous piece of art and let it inspire you. What’s the mood of the artwork? Can you match that mood with your music? And something even more fun: Can you create music that contrasts the mood of the artwork?

    For example, I’m going to use Georges Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, but I’m going to try adding something haunting or spooky to see if I can change the whole story of the painting.

    Artist Georges-Pierre Seurat Year 1884–1886 Type Oil on canvas Subject People relaxing at la Grande Jatte, Paris Dimensions 207.6 cm × 308 cm (81.7 in × 121.25 in) Location Art Institute of Chicago[1] Public Domain — 04George

    Have fun, and enjoy the day!

  • Random Acts of Poetry Day

    So apparently there’s such a thing as the “Random Acts of Poetry Day.” Who knew? And yes, it’s today, October 4th.

    So, to celebrate, I thought I’d offer you some original poetry, by yours truly, to use as fodder for your musicking. Feel free to use it as is, or to mangle it beyond all recognition… take it wherever your inspiration leads you.

    Autumn Moon

    Round, plump, gorged on lovers’ dreams
    Bright fruit of a Summer’s debauchery
    Hazy with the stupor of indolence
    Shining with gluttonous pride

    Chang E’s courage and sorrow
    Reunion a balm given once a year
    But too short the night, alas! cruel fate
    Luminous exile remains

  • This Week’s Project: The Old Rugged Cross

    I’m starting a new series of videos this week: Hymns. I’ll be taking several of my favorite hymns and adding some modern production techniques to see how they turn out.

    This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I’ve never felt confident in my ability to pull it off. To start with, this is going to require singing, and I know that I’m not the best singer. Also, most of these hymns don’t follow modern arrangement conventions, so I won’t be able to depend on the arrangement tricks that today’s songwriters make use of. But really, this biggest thing is that each of these hymns means so much to so many people… I’m afraid of performing a disservice to the writers/composers and the many generations who have sung these songs.

    However, I still think it’s worth a try. For me, it’s going to be a way to meditate on each hymn’s lyrics and message, and the related Scripture. But additionally, each of these hymns have been a part of me, and I want to share them with my kids. Most of these songs aren’t used in church as much as they used to be, so this might be the only time they hear them. And finally, my hope is that they will be a blessing to you, and that by sharing them, they become a part of your life, too.

    The first hymn I’ll be working on is “The Old Rugged Cross” by George Bennard, written in 1913. I remember singing this in church growing up, but for whatever reason, I haven’t heard it sung in church in many years. Despite that, it’s a part of me, and every now and then it pops into my mind, so I’m going to record this one first.

    The challenge will be the time signature and the style. If you look it up on YouTube, it’s been a favorite of country singers, but… I’m not a country singer or musician. So I’ll be trying to put my spin on it while still sticking very close to the spirit of the original.

    This will be an interesting project. I truly hope that the process and end product will be meaningful to you.

    -Russ

  • Resilience

    My daughter is the smartest 12 year old I know. I mean, I did okay in school, but she’s amazing. She consistently scores in the 90th percentile or higher on her state standardized testing, and she’s in her school district’s gifted and talented program.

    So when she got selected as student of the month from all the band students, that was no surprise. And when she got selected to represent her class in the school spelling bee, again, no surprise.

    But…

    On the day of the spelling bee, the teachers gave the kids a practice round, and they all did great. But when they started the first round and she got up to the mic, my daughter did the unimaginable, the unthinkable, the impossible: she misspelled her word. And as soon as she had finished, she knew what she had done. The pain and disappointment were written across her face, and she had to fight back the tears until the round was finished and she could leave the front of the room. And when she was finally able to come sit with us, my shoulder was wet with her tears, and my father’s heart broke for her.

    Here’s the thing, though, that I hope she’ll take away from this: We all make mistakes. Heaven knows I’ve made some really stupid ones. What really counts is what happens after the mistake. Do we slink away and promise ourselves that we’ll never embarrass ourselves again, or do we try again until we get it right?

    When my daughter’s band teacher sent the email saying that she had been selected as student of the month, one of the character traits that she pointed out was resilience, that ability to bounce back. After the crying was finished, I showed that email to my daughter to encourage her to keep taking risks. And I know that she will, because that’s just who she is.

    Now, it’s my turn. where have I hidden myself away, afraid of what people may say if I screw up? Am I afraid of what my Facebook friends or family will think of this weird music I’m making? Maybe it’s time to exercise my “resilience muscle” and let go of imagined fears. Maybe this is the time to put myself out there and take more risks.

    What about you?