a day in the life of piano monkey

another end of the year is approaching, like a slow moving train across the midwest field of states- constant, graceful yet often amazingly noisy and upon close examination.  three more days, then it'll be another decade over, of twenty-first century. it seems not long ago that everyone was worried about y2k- which turned out to be a silly worry after all.  i wonder how many things we worry/fuss about share that nature of y2k- not really real, however becomes real due to the amount of attention we decided to give to the issue.  and with the imposed finality of the calendar turning, it is difficult to not to become part of the 'reflection and resolution' crowd.  what is it that urges us to make such commitment to make huge changes? i suppose different things to different people, but all i can say is that the gyms across the world are always much busier during january than april. i hear from one of my newly made acquaintance (it is a funny world of mine, often i...

i have many friends in the music field. some are performers, some are composers. some are both. but all of us take the role of the audience. in practice rooms. in transit, with our headphones.  in bed, reading a score, deciphering and recollecting the world of sound through all other senses. being a keyboard monkey, this means much of my musical sensations also involve tactile sensations.  have you ever sat down with your choice of instrument and start to bang away? the immediate joy (perhaps not your neighbours/familys) can often be so overwhelming that i often lose the sight of the practice, simply going through the fun of physical execution.  i try to do this less when i am actually practicing and playing now, but now and then, it's a great thing to play a 8-notes chords with both hands, letting it resonate through the big huge metal frame of the modern piano.  even better if i can get my hands and feet on a organ with 32-foot stops. often music comes in colou...

gabe, did you know that there is a tree growing for you in the faraway land of israel? there is. a young tree. hopefully. upward. green. living. gabe, so many people have sent you good wishes. even more have send me warmest thoughts.  it's been a real long two weeks, picking after you, including insurance folks, sketchy rental agency and the infamous cred card people. who know who else is still there. but i did laugh quite a bit with your bowling ball and 23 lighters so far.  of your little stuffy toys and silly pictures of you and your friends. i have not gone back home since last week. i didnt have much time nor i wanted to go back. i have decided that i also need to tend to things in my life, even with a great disruption. much like the recent volcanic eruption and the traffic logistical nightmare in europe. there are only so much one could do, but it still need to be done. ive been talking to a few people, especially my bassoon-related and trumpet-r...

hello world. we are in the listening room of the banff centre with the expensive, complicated, fancy, algorithm-weighted pre-amps, monitors, speakers, even a crazy room calibrating machine that looks like something straight out from the dr. who show. apparently it shoots out huge noise (really, think black/white salt-pepper old vacuum tube tv after the stations has gone to sleep, as sound...), then receives it back into the monitor, into mad calculation to recalibrate the room... into.. a proper. space. amazing. noisy. sounds like shooting shrapnels out to the room space and see how they fall. with the expansive soundscape and expensive ludwig mies van der rohe barcelona chair, 1928 (though it's missing its accomplice, the foot rest! that would add another thousand bucks no problem. oh how i love bauhaus furniture- and how ridiculously expensive they get!), we the three stooges- mr. bearcub, senior audio monkey and piano monkey (who has just been moved out of her spot by.. well, ...

banff centre musicians were trying to outreach the normal society of town of banff today through a small musical adventures at the local high school. but really, who is outreaching who? who are we to be so separated from the very place we are? or to be so far from the very seeds of our own supports- the people around us. see, it's a difficult subject, the death of arts music. it did die somehow and it is obvious that there isnt much interest from the general public as far as classical music is concerned. all these new release budget recordings are repress from the old days, with their royalties expired. the audiences are much older than the performers much of the time and when i see young kids, i know better to talk about kings of leon and 30 seconds to mars than john bull or robert schumann. to discuss the reasons or the mechanics of this present state of classical music would be way over my head. all i know that is once shown a proper example, most of people i know do not min...

nutty flutist from banff, who i dearly like, but have not had a real chance to get to know, posted something on facebook and i had to look. sometimes i read these things. sometimes i dont. i have no idea how i actually decide what/when/where to read posts, but i did. well, if you arent going to take the effort to go read this post (lazy! just highlight the url, ctrl+c(copy), ctrl+t(opens new tap), ctrl+v(paste), and you will be there)(yep, im still 'hot-key' generation. thanks to good old skull wordprocessors), i will give you a heads up. it's a posting re: el sistema, the current venezuelan effort to bring music to the masses, which eventually gave birth to the controversial and shocking band called simon bolivar orchestra. young youth orchestra. whats the big deal you may say. well, they play well. bloody well. and they engage. makes you listen. or something. you sit. watch. express. react. The Guardian's classical music writer, Tom Service, said: "It was fantast...

monkey's back in banff to play some more music. it's a strange thing in a sense, to be back here. so many things have changed since that time i signed the initial contract in december 2008. not only professionally but inter/intra-personally, which not only involves self but others as well. i went from having no plan, hoping that plan will fizz out and that i will be another average person with average wage, doing the average things to, well, being a monkey. calling self a monkey gives a great freedom somehow i think. just cannot take the self seriously. there will be much music playing starting tomorrow. already i have fit in a demanding rehearsal and there'll be plenty more. would i drown? i hope not! there are people who loves and believes in me which are priceless- it was great to see the old staff back, all smiling and welcoming. even when i had read the initial contract wrong and had to reprimand by showing up at the airport for 7am, ha ha. but the important thing is t...