Crossing Boundaries: Music as an Interdisciplinary Art Form

Music is ubiquitous and universal to our lives. But most often live music is still confined to the clubs and concert halls. In the past 15 or so years, I have been making a conscious effort to move out into different spaces and make what I do available to more and different people. Besides the usual performance spaces, I've played at stores, churches, conventions, libraries, schools, community centers, sculpture gardens, a wine cellar, and just about any place where I can interact with people.


Chilling in the wine cellar…

Photo Credit: MONA/Rémi Chauvin. Image Courtesy Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

 Recently, I've been making an effort to perform more at museums, art galleries, and similar spaces. Along with this, I've been actively working with artists in other disciplines, like dancers, poets, painters, writers, etc. I really feel that percussion, perhaps more than any other instruments, lends itself well to merging with other art forms. 
The minstrel in the art gallery, with typewriter…
Photo by Design 709

 Gone are the days when you could make a living playing in clubs 6 nights a week. To survive as a musician today, you need to think outside of the concert hall/club box. You also need to look for new and exciting ways to find and interact with an audience. I find it much more interesting and challenging to perform in a non-traditional space. 
Musician as story teller…

 Take a chance. Step out into a new performance territory. Shake up your comfort zone. You'll be glad you did.

 ~ MB


Deconstruct Yourself™

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tam Tam vs Gong

Image
I can't tell you how many times this argument of "A tam tam is not a Gong" comes up. It came my way no less than 3 different times this week. Actually, 'tam tam' (also tam-tam) was 1st used in symphonic music back in the 1800s to differentiate a flat faced Gong from a Gong with a raised center 'boss.' (There is no definitive answer as to where the term tam tam originated - some say it's Chinese, some say it's Hindi, still others say it's something else…) To add to the confusion, 'tam-tam' is a term often used for either an   African  djembe or talking drum. When a score calls for a 'tam tam' (like Messiaen’s 'Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum' or various works of Richard Wagner), then a flat faced Gong, like a Chinese Chau, is used. Flat Faced Chinese Chau Gong/Tam Tam When a score calls for a 'Gong' (like Puccini’s 'Madame Butterfly', or 'Turandot'), then a bossed Gon
Read more

What to Look for When Buying a Gong

Image
Today's blog is a revised & updated blog I posted 3 years ago on my old website. I'm always having people ask me about buying a Gong. Well, here's some tips: •••••••• So you’ve decided to get a Gong. The first thing to ask is, what will I use a Gong for? What type of music do you play? Do you want to use it in a rock band, a jazz band, solo? Are you looking for a meditation device? These are important questions and will help determine what type and size of Gong to get.  One important thing to look at is how big a Gong do you want? Gongs are heavy. Gongs are not easy to transport. If this Gong will stay in your house/studio, then that makes it easy to have a larger size. But if you plan to travel in a band with it,  you need to look at the impact a different size Gong will have on transporting it.  A lot of drummers want a Gong because they look cool and sound cool. They also want that type of sound in their percussive arsenal.  A good place to star
Read more

Music Notation for Gongs

Image
Recently, I was asked a question about how Gongs are notated in a musical score. Here are various examples of different ways they have been notated, from traditional classical, to modern musical forms. The first thing is to differentiate the 2 main types of Gongs: the flat faced, usually termed Tam Tam in a classical score, and the Bossed Gong, with a raised center boss (AKA cup, nipple). A good example of a traditional symphonic Tam Tam part would be from Gustav Holst’s, The Planets . This example is from Mars, the Bringer of War : We can see the Gong/Tam Tam notated traditionally on a single staff line.  The next example is from Puccini’s opera, Turandot . This is the Tam Tam part, notated on the bottom line. Example #3 is also from Turandot. The score also calls for Tuned Bossed Gongs. Unfortunately I was unable to find a score example of them. John Cage used various Gongs in his percussion music. This is an example of how he notated the
Read more