ABC bought some music from my band, Djinn, and will be using it on a documentary tonight by Michael J. Fox on optimism: http://abc.go.com/specials/michaeljfox/index I can only assume they needed our music to represent the forces of pessimism. It's at 10 eastern time. I don't know which tracks they bought, so I don't know if they're ones that include hg or not. I also don't have a TV, so I won't know unless someone watches and reports back to me. ABC bought some more of our music a while ago and used it in a documentary about the Sistine Chapel, and I haven't seen that one either.
Now back to the email I started composing a while ago, in response to Michael, who has probably dropped out of school by now. I had to rush to catch a train to play at a festival, so I'm behind on my emails: Yeah, Meryl Streep keeps bragging that she was once in a play with the famous Melissa the Loud. As for the unplayable music: It required a chromatic set of trompettes, which could each be turned on and off several times each measure. She just didn't have the concept of drones. It also had dynamic markings all over it telling me to, for example, play very quietly on all strings, then play very loudly on one string. Stuff like that. I tried explaining again what a hg can and can't do, to no avail. I faked something that sounded decent. Melissa the Loud I really have to update my website: www.melissatheloud.com www.djinnnyc.com --- On Fri, 5/1/09, Michael Opp <[email protected]> wrote: From: Michael Opp <[email protected]> Subject: [HG-new] Re: Schools? and a first time poster. To: [email protected] Date: Friday, May 1, 2009, 11:27 AM Melissa, Heh. I wont, after I talked to that prof the other day, I went and learned three new tunes that day. I hate saying things like this but: I've only been playing for like 8 months or so, and I'm already better at it than any other instrument i've played in my life. I play trumpet in wind ensemble, and have been playing trumpet since i was 11 or 12, and im miles ahead of my trumpet playing. I'm not exactly sure that any of the professors know just how much time I put into HG. not including the nightly dreams and everything else. If it turns out that i dont have the money or those things to move right away, my goal is going to be to do things to spite him. He is the audio prod. teacher, and he mostly expects us to do commercial-style music. I'll just make a deal with my music history teacher and record a bunch of harpsichord and organ stuff ^.^ ( I think i want to record specifically early music stuff in a professional setting, when i graduate.) On the performance note, so how did you play it? did you just kind of BS your way about it? thats how i play difficult trumpet parts =P ? My bass instructor paid me to play in his highschool's (he's the conductor) and i played 4 tunes. i think i was on stage like, 10 min. max, but that was my first ever paid gig, and i was in a band for 3 years playing bass, and we played a ton of shows, never got paid. it was exciting! please forgive the typos and whatnot, Michael Opp Ps. Like Melissa the loud?! On Fri, May 1, 2009 at 10:03 AM, Melissa Kacalanos <[email protected]> wrote: Michael, Don't let closed-minded professors get you down. Just play whatever instrument you like, and you'll be happier than if you're playing something just because you think the money will be better. Those professors are wrong anyway. I'd bet that a higher percentage of hg players make money at their instrument than, say, guitarists or violinists. Yes, there are more gigs for guitarists, but how many guitarist wannabees are competing to fill those slots? There's much less competition for hg gigs, which might explain why hg players tend to be friendly and helpful to each other. If you want actual anecdotes: a composer, Jeanine Tesori, needed a hg for a play. The best one she could find was me, which was remarkable considering I had only been playing for a few years, had no music degree, had no experience playing in orchestras, and wasn't even a member of the musician's union. I was totally outclassed by everyone else in the orchestra. But there I was, being paid good money to play music in a play starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline. Questions of my talent for hg proved to be moot, since the music she wrote was completely unplayable by me or anyone on any hg, but whatever, I got paid anyway. Melissa --- On Thu, 4/30/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: [HG-new] Schools? and a first time poster. To: "hurdygurdy" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 3:50 PM Hey there. I'm fairly new to the instrument, (last September) and this is my first post so, hello! I'm from Jamestown North Dakota, but I currently live in Fargo, ND, attending university in Moorhead Minnesota. I am majoring in music/audio production. The purpose of this email is to see if anyone knows of any schools ( that aren't super expensive) that have an audio production program but also has something of a more accepting, or even any early music scene around. There is no place for my instrument here. I've been told by multiple professors that; 'yeah the gurdy is cool, but its really not that important. Also that I should concentrate on an instrument that will make me money.' Not liking it is one thing, but these guys are starting to bug me, and its time to go somewhere else. - Sorry about the rambling, but I thought that I would give some back story.- If anyone has any advice that would be cool, also if there is anyone around the area... like 200-ish mile radius that would like to play, I'm up for traveling. I'm getting anxious to play with other people. Thanks, guys! Michael Opp --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. 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