Musicians spend more time than the regular folk (excluding the devoted musical fan) tuning into music and sounds, checking out new stuff, checking out old stuff, making new sounds, and so on. I theorize that we also spend more time than the regular folk tuning out various sounds to preserve what little hold on sanity we currently have. While I am exceedingly grateful to play so much music so many nights of the week, it has required that I have develop a real skill for ignoring the background noise that accompanies any gig at a restaurant or bar (especially when there’s a winning Chicago baseball team on the TV anywhere in the vicinity). All this being said, I spent some time this week tuning in to background sound in my life, albeit probably not entirely voluntarily.
Power Tools
On any given day last week, anyone walking by my place would have heard an eerie combination of piano work (ranging from Hanon to rhythmic exercises to actual tunes) and table saws and drills from the workmen upstairs. I resented the noise at first (and still do to some extent), but it has started me thinking about writing some sort of piece for piano and power tools. Perhaps I could locate a particularly offensive specimen of neglected piano and use the power tools on it for a grand finale…
Sirens
Bandera (see Events page) is a wonderful place to dine and hear music for many reasons, but one of my favorite reasons is that they often open the windows when the weather is nice. What a rare treat these days, to enjoy an open window in a large building downtown. That being said, tonight was good one for sirens on Michigan Avenue. At one point during a contemplative bass solo, a barrage of fire trucks and ambulances roared down the street below. Instead of tuning out, I was in the mindset to include the sound, which got me thinking about the amateur shows at Apollo, when an offending performer would hear a siren before being escorted off the stage. Could I carry a siren with me to use comment on particular solos, perhaps even my own?
Sammy the Dog
This past Thursday the Jo Ann/Mitch/Patrick/Ryan quartet played at our little neighborhood Bewyn bar (see Events page). Patrick’s wife Kara stopped in on a dog-walking stroll, bringing Sammy the dog by for a visit. Sammy checked out a tune or two, just chilling out. During one of Mitch’s soprano tunes, Sammy decided to join in, with a set of doggy-pipes that could be heard distinctly above a quartet and a train going by. We thought at first a key might be stuck on Mitch’s horn; turns out Sammy was feelin’ the spirit. He definitely could not have been categorized as background noise.