Circle of Fifths

Friday, September 22, 2017

Composer/Inventor Wintergaten

You cannot miss this: Genius! The famous Marble Machine expertly performed and recorded. Continue to his channel to see more.

Schlieren Photography

Yep! We did it again! We wrapped up another Sound Waves summer camp session and had a great kickoff to the new school year.

Here is the message I sent to parents after session 1:

"Thanks for sending your kid(s) to camp this week! I felt so much great energy from these kids. We did the coolest science today! I heard kids saying it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen. I admit I was pretty floored myself. We refracted light with a telescope mirror so that we could see things that were otherwise invisible, like heat, cold, breath, handclaps, butane vapors... it was awesome! If I can figure out super slow-mo photography I'll be able to catch sound wave vibrations but as it was we were pretty astounded. Kids acted like we had discovered light for the first time. We worked hard on the setup. It was very very hard to do as the angles and focal lengths and the precision has to be perfect for it to work. It was also very hard not to bump the table because it was so precise that the SLIGHTEST change to angles really messed it up. I had Kurt Glaser, a sound engineer coming who promised to help if I got stuck, but I got up at 5:30 to do all my housework so I could try to get it setup before the kids came or at least before the engineer came. I was working on it at 7:15 AM, and when the kids came at 9:00 I still wasn't done. But I was lucky I had them: They brought all their problem solving heads together and at 9:45 when the sound engineer came in we were all yelling "coooooooll!!," at the images we were recording on the camera, and he didn't get a lot of attention when he walked in!! But he's exactly like us. Crazy about science. He came over to what we were looking at and started joining in with coooooool!!

Then we had a lecture on microphones and cables and a test on the materials presented, (think transducers, high M, low M, 96/24bpp, vs. 48/16bpp) then he taught us about record setup and showed the kids how to record in real life. He connected very well with the kids.

"After that, the poor starving children ate lunch then we made covered boxes, (think colored tissue paper, note stickers, music paper, tons of glue being applied with bristle brushes and everybody asking each other for one of the four pairs of scissors... next time I need 20 pairs) then we went through the fascinating process of making french bread (think awe-inspring monstrously-swelling dough threatening to overtake the mixing utensil left in the bowl during the resting period and a very cloudy-looking kneading party,) which may have been the messiest the kitchen has ever been... sigh! But when most of the loaves were safely in the oven, I put them all to work and they faithfully cleaned up quite a bit of our giant, floury janitorial catastrophe. Anyway, the house smelled wonderful even though it was terrible to look at. 😄hope you enjoyed the bread and don't wait to save it because it won't be so good tomorrow. Remember honey and butter! Though we tackled some big projects today we even got a couple rounds of our two rhythm games AND some quality round robin ping pong!

"I include a tiny clip of our schlieren work at the end of the message. The video is looking at the camera taking a video! I haven't posted any longer videos of our science experiment, but what we were doing was a lot like this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QpP4qM8wcNM

Ok, I know they are waaay more high tech than we were, but they could not be having more fun than we did.

Please show your kid this video so they can see more about how schlieren flow visualization can be."

Session two included a lot of food from Europe! We made French Crepes, Norwegian Lefse, German potato soup, and REAL BELGIAN WAFFLES. I searched and found a recipe and it looked authentic. I took a bite and memories of Belgium and walking the shopping streets and stopping for "luikse wafels" flooded through me. It was authentic, all right. My daughter put one in her mouth and her eyes popped wide open. "I'm there!" she exclaimed, and ran for the phone to call her dad and tell him we'd pulled it off. Don't let making pearled sugar put you off: I was way more causal and less refined about how even that was done, and it turned out fine.

Session two also included a hand shadow play called "The Bunny Wedding" which I did not videorecord and post for you, because I was either playing the piano for it, or I was laughing too hard. This generally younger set of kids did very well in their final presentation for the parents. The play was mostly written by kids, produced by kids, tickets printed by kids, audience welcomed by kids, extra scenery cut out by kids... We also got a chance to admire the pros! You need to see this amazing video!

In both camps we drilled rhythms for hours... and hours.... and hours!

We also kept illustrated journals and had recording engineer sessions, and a pipe organ field trip at Faith Lutheran Church in Redmond, and two recitals at Peters Creek Retirement! It was a very busy and productive time!

I will need to set next year's dates very early: I have inquiries already about joining next year.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Don't miss hearing this

Teddy Emanuel is very, very good at describing layers of music! He may not know how to read music, but music is in him, nonetheless. You see, reading music is as useful to performing as reading books is to storytelling or learning a language. It is very helpful, but you can actually learn more in some cases by simply surrounding yourself with music.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Rhythm Game

Here is a Group of Music Camp students participating in the Rhythm Game! Game rules are written out below.

This group game teaches rhythm skills, sight reading and mental focus in a fun and competitive way! Here is how to implement it in your own studio or music camp: The players are seated around a circle of cards upon which are written rhythms of a similar meter. The seating are ranked: seat number 1 is the best spot to be in and is called the Starter's seat (because that one starts each new round) and to his left, 2 (next in line to be the Starter) and on down around the circle to "the bottom of the totem pole," the person who sits directly to the right of the Starter.

The Starter and starts by counting and clapping his own rhythm then any other player's rhythm. That player must then count and clap his own rhythm without missing a beat then counts and claps another person's rhythm of his choice. And so on.

If anyone misses a count or a rhythm, he goes to the bottom of the totem pole and the ones below his former spot move up to fill the empty space.

The point of the game is to maintain your spot in the starter's chair for five turns straight, after which everyone moves to the right one chair in order to allow for a fresh rotation. This way no advanced players are allowed to permanently dominate the game to the disadvantage of younger players. Teachers make good referees as well as participants. (It's particularly hilarious if the teacher spaces out...) Metronomes make good standards and tempo setters. Before actually playing the first round, it's good for the teacher to demonstrate each rhythm around the circle, then have each student demonstrate their knowledge of each rhythm.

Don't be surprised if at first students struggle keeping the beat during the game: it's a lot to manage at first so give them a comfortable tempo and lots of warm up time. After a while they get more comfortable and can police themselves like the students in the video. The game is a variation of "fruit basket," another call-and-response circle game

Monday, October 20, 2014

Here are some Studio photos from our Asian and Russian Concert (programs and Program notes included) These students really made a special musical evening!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2014 at Stage 7 Pianos of Kirkland 6:00 PM

A Russian and Asian Music Recital given by students of Bonnie Debu

Satyen Subramaniam, 11 Etude in A minor Op. 27 No. 3 –Dmitri Kabalevsky (Russia)

Matthew Ng, 6 (duet with Daniel Ng) Swan Lake – Tchaikovsky (Russian)

Aadi Agrawal, 9 Chinese Kites – (Gem Fitch)

Jab Koi Bat – Rajesh Rohan (India)

Sriya Pratipati, 9 Chura Liya – (India)

Sriya and Sowmya, Trepak from the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky (Russia)

Suriyen Subramaniam, 11 Chatushka No. 89 no. 25 (Russia)

The Russian Chatushka is a poem with a sometimes satirical or political twist

Andy Ye, 8 Competing Horses (China) This authentic melody from China truly describes the energy of athletic horses!

Kamarinskaya – Tchaikovsky (Russia) The Kamarinskaya is a Russian Traditional Folk Dance

Daniel Qian, 8 Tibetan Plateau (Korean Author) In this beautiful tone poem which is originally a song, you can hear the great expanse of the high plains of Tibet. It is easy to imagine the thin air and the cold wind blowing the grasses and the manes and tails of the grazing horses.

Aditya Balasubramaniam, 13 After the Ball – Alexander Grechaninov (Russian)

Song of Twilight – Yoshinao Nakada (Japan)

Emily Zhao, 12 Cowherd’s Flute – (China)

Sowmya Pratipati, 12 Pehla Nasha – (Indian cimematic theme song)

Andrew Hall, 15 Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker Suite – Tchaikovsky (Russia)

An Ancient Tale – Bohdana Filtz (Ukraine)

Aidan Lawler, 11 Mandarin Orange (in the Chinese style) – C. Michael Erhardt

Rebecca Zhou, 15 “Harp” Prelude Op. 12 No. 7 – Prokofiev (Russia) This beautiful piano solo is often performed on the harp. Prokofiev’s music often contains sarcastic and bitter harmonies, which can be heard briefly in the angular and rhythmic middle section of this Prelude, but the first and last themes are refreshingly harmonic and light.

Daniel Ng, 12 Rush Hour in Hong Kong – Abram Chasins This hilarious piece is by a Jewish composer living in New York who admitted his qualifications to compose in this style are limited, as he has never even set foot in the orient, but the clever imagery of super busy street traffic in an imagined Chinese style is enough to warrant its placement in this program! The piece was tremendously popular in the earlier half of the 1900’s and was performed in concert by the great pianists of the day including Rachmaninoff and Moiseiwitsch and is enjoying a comeback in our day.

Please feel free to stay for the second recital which is also open to the public, (7:00-7:45 PM), after which we will have a short reception. If you have to go, please snag a cookie by the door on your way out!

Postcard From the East SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2014 at Stage 7 Pianos of Kirkland, WA

A Russian and Asian Music Recital given by students of Bonnie Debu 7:00 PM

Raymond Guo, 11 Qingjiang River (China)

Pranati Dani, 11 Sun raha hai na tu (India)

Melissa Lin, 11 Dark Sky (Folk Melody from Taiwan) A Winter Melody - Yoshinao Nakada (Japan)

Dhruv Srinivasan, 10 Song of the Cavalry and Toccatina – Dmitri Kabalevsky (Russia)

Amber Debu, 8 Prelude in D flat Major - Gliere (Russia)

Ashwin Chintalapati, 9 Bagatelle - Tcherepnin The author was Russian, married to a fine Chinese pianist and was very influenced by Chinese music

Chloe Wu, 9 "Silver Clouds Chasing the Moon" (China) This mysterious piece is a favorite melody in China and is performed by the preeminently popular pianist in China: Lang Lang

Siri Mellem, 15 Concerto No. 2, Mvt. 2 Andanto Sostenuto, Sergei Rachmaninoff (Russia) Full of wistful longing, this middle movement of the famous second piano concerto unfolds into a longing melody that is exchanged between the piano and the orchestra. It is typical of the very long lines and multilayered textures of Russian music.

Dan Ho, Prelude Op. 32 No. 10 in B minor – Rachmaninoff (Russia) This was Rachmaninoff’s own favorite Prelude, full of a dark sadness, a desolate landscape. It fills out in the middle section into tremendously rich and sonorous chords. The incredibly thick texture and long lines is typical of Russian composition.

Moment Musicale No. 4 in E minor – Rachmaninoff

“I want to especially express my appreciation to each of my students who has worked so hard to prepare for this evening of music! I have so enjoyed hearing this music developing in the studio this past summer, and learning new things with you!” -Bonnie Debu, NCTM