28 September 2009

Back to Ghana & Ludwig van Taffy

An old friend returns to Ghana. It was in Scott DeVeaux’s seminar at UVa that I learnt what I know of African drumming, an experience which has had a seminal impact on some of my composition ever since. And here, Scott’s going back.



Beethoven goes ambient:

9 Beet Stretch is Ludwig van Beethoven’s 9th symphony
stretched to 24 hours, with no pitch distortions.
Stretching the Opus 125 is a beautiful thing; call it Heaven in D Minor.



Take-away from the weekend: Practically anytime I have heard scorn poured on others for their alleged distaste for change, the words came from someone quite visibly comfortable in his own worn routines.

Reinforced lesson from long-ago: Walk a mile in the other fellow’s moccasins, first.

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