THANKSGIVING

A holiday that celebrates cooking, family and the opening of a new Muppet movie is my idea of the perfect day. I found this Muppet clip (as a demonstration of my love for the holiday). It's also a great example of musique concrète, the idea that music can be made by any source.

ARRIVAL!

It's been an exciting day. A book that I have been trying to get my hands on for over a month has ARRIVED! The Obstacles have been Overcome!

 

Although my dining room table is covered in technology (computer, iPad and scanner), books, and cds- It would seem like I have it all. But I don't! I needed this book. It fits perfectly with my research. And I feel especially proud because I had to inter-library loan the book from Australia.

 

The book is entitled Divine songs from Four Major Religions: Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, giving the essence of the Bagavad Gita, Bible, Dammapada, Koran by K. Mallvaganam. For those who have been keeping up on my research, you can see why I am excited. The book encompasses the religion and music correlating with my Interfaith Rituals and Sound Amalgamations.

At first, I tried to view the book on google books, which I love. Usually it lets me view at least a partial portion of the book. Other times I can view the full book. But this resource had a cover page only. Tragic. I then looked into buying the book, but the only location the book existed was in the National Library of Australia.

 

After speaking with the JSU librarians, Carley and Debbie- (who have helped me more than words can say) I emailed the Australian Library and asked to see the first few pages. My concern was the book was not a typed written document but rather a musical score. Within a few days the Australians scanned and sent me via email the preface. One of the opening quotes by Swift, "we now have enough religions to hate but not enough religions to love." Quite poignant- I was hooked.

 

The book arrived today without a cover but as a series of haphazard copied papers rubber banded together. So simple and yet it was like opening a present. I lovingly took the book to the print shop, to have the papers put through a scanning feeder and saved as a PDF, allowing me to take the book with me on my iPad.

 

I've been working with the app called Good Reader. It lets me mark up documents and PDF's with underlines, circles and notes. Although I am still trying to get a little more familiar with it, I've enjoyed it so far. Now I just need to calm down enough to read at a thoughtful pace.

SACRED SOUNDS

It's been about a month since my last posting. Between teaching full time and holding down Raffe Reeds (my private reed making business), my private studio and my goal: Research- I have had little time to write. After submitting the paperwork for a grant, my computer video card died and needed repair, creating a cacophony of adjustment; updating software, buying a much needed iPad, and scanner. Sidenote: My goal is to scan my documents so I can read on-the-go and continue to research. A must for anyone also trying to hold onto orchestral gigs.

My mother would tease me that the last paragraph sounds like an excuse train. This would be followed by “wooh-wooh” noises. Enough!

 

SACRED SOUNDS from Eryn Oft on Vimeo.

While listening to podcasts this summer, I became entranced by the religions and the music that accompanied the podcasts. My preconceived notions of Vodou, Islam, China, and more were all destroyed. The sounds were based in faith, calling gods, and reaching past the ego. I realized, I needed to know more. I listened to recordings. I inter-library loaned, accessed google books, and watched every movie I could find. I was hungry, driven, and in love.

 

Let me just say, I have only ever felt this way about one other thing- playing bassoon. So there was a certain amount of shock, disbelief and excitement. AND- fear. What would this mean about bassoon? I have since come to realize that I still need bassoon. And being a true libra, it is all about balance.

 

My goal is to flip Ethnomusicology on its head. Currently, ethnomusicology studies the people of a region and the sounds they create. Rarely is there a discussion of ethos behind the music, the cultural cross currents, or the blending of religions and sound. It lacks the human element of merging cultures. The subsequent blending; people falling in love with people of different cultures, people traveling abroad and not going home, or what happens when missionaries go home.

 

I took my four greatest interests African Vodou in the Americas, Islam in Africa and Mystic Sufism, Hinduism in the Americas and Christianity in China and wrote a proposal for further research, lesson plans for a future class, and made a movie. The grant requires a performance (a sermon, artwork, etc). I realized a recording of my playing bassoon would not fit the need- so I made a movie.

 

It is my first multi-media amalgamation, I hope you enjoy! My intention is the video will start a dialogue. Music tracks and credit will soon be posted.

This week a student and I were chatting, when she burst open with her dream, about moving and setting up a new life for herself. It was exciting and she beamed as the words tumbled from her lips. A magical encounter without limits or judgment.

 

Later in the week, I was in yoga class. And before class began the teacher had each of us mentally set an intention for the class. Whether it be to relax, to heal, to release- the intention was ours, personal and didn’t need to be verbally shared, just held in the mind. It was a chance to dream about who I would be at the end of the class.

 

These experiences got me thinking about dreams and intentions, similar ideas, both free of boundaries. Like the intentions of the yoga class, dreams were directional, like a road map to a destination.

 

As children, we are always asked to dream, reading fairy tales, given play time to act out fantastical worlds, and nap time to relax and reflect. People ask children about their dreams, “What do we want to be when we grow up?”, allowing dreams to exist outside the child’s mind.

 

As an adult I find people less available to dreams, to change, and fantastical ideas. I find many grown ups are moving through a world of ROUTINE without intention and fearing dreams of others because they might bring change.

 

Dreams are beautiful and give dimension to life, a purpose and meaning. Maybe as an adult, they should be shared in hushed tones between best friends so they can be carried on wings to the heavens, like a prayer.

SUMMER'S END

It's Labor Day, marking the end of summer in Alabama. Sigh, maybe the heat and humidity will subside but there will be less time, as school starts back.

I took the summer off from any blogging to reacquaint myself with Inspiration, the driving force behind all curiosity and creativity. Here are the odd place I found my inner desires lurking.

 

Hours on end were spent canning tomatoes. I eat a diet that is preservative free, so any long term planning of winter food happens in my kitchen and my summer garden. My need for tomatoes is greater than I can grow, so on the hot days in summer, I head out to visit my local farmer, Butch Haver, which always proves to be an adventure.

 

As we wheel and deal on the price of 200 lbs of tomatoes, I pet the dogs (he has 9 at last count. Mostly strays or dogs that were dumped out of a car along the highway he lives off of). When I arrive up his winding narrow concrete driveway, which he will proudly tell anyone he built himself so he could eat more, the dogs act as a welcoming committee surrounding the car barking. The rottweller is the first to get his head in my door for some love, he’s a sweet heart and bossed around by the midsize poodle.

 

I leave with a car full of whatever surplus he has on hand; potatoes, peppers, or eggplant, and then the chaos begins.

On return home, it becomes a race to see if I can process the tomatoes into juice, marinara and canned whole tomatoes before they begin to rot. I stand in my kitchen halving and peeling tomatoes, almost in a meditative trance. The tomatoes move from the water, into my giant antique bowls, to hot jars, while I am entertained by podcasts. My favorite podcast is from APM: On Being . The show traces religions, societal impact and theology. I’ve found it brings an integral role into my ethnomusicology teaching, not to mention- I find it fascinating. As I process each jar of tomatoes, knowing they will be a jar of sunshine in winter, I travel the world, learning about religion in communistic China, Haitian Voodoo or Einstein’s view on God- all from my kitchen.

Photo: Student Dylan Holiday and his first reed.

Another form of inspiration takes hold when I teach my reed making seminar to bassoon students in the summer. I take students through all of the steps of how to make a blank and then begin scraping the reed for response. As the students learn the steps- I am reminded of how far I have come and how to be gentle. Learning a new skill always take a strong amount of patience. The students find, it can be frustrating to watch the steps and then attempt to execute the steps, finding difficulty. As I remind the students to breathe and take their time, it is a tender form of teaching, a reminder (gift) I myself need many a time. It is soothing to be as gentle to myself as to the students.

By the time they clip the tip of their first reed, the room fills with crowing and large amounts of success, no matter how the reed turned out! The spirit of excitement enlivens my own reed making, and drives me toward my own reed experimentations. More to come on that subject.

The summer is a reminder to return to basic principals. As an educator and a performer, one can easily fall into the exhaustion (uninspired) mode. The lifestyle can lead to burning the candle at both ends. And at times it seems that there are more people with negativity of spirit than positive, people that create an atmosphere of “what’s the point?” It seems they breed their disruptive spirit through complaining and creating excitement because they have lost their own inner inspiration. Death of the inner artist (soul) is the most tragic death. The beauty is the curiosity can be resuscitated through careful thoughtful desire.

INNER VOICE

The contractors are late to repair my kitchen, giving me a few moments between pounding and sawing to hear my inner voice. Maybe it’s the rain, but I feel wistful- nostalgic, it always reminds me of home.

 

As a side note- I must admit, I’ve been hording a couple of Blogs in my inner mind. It’s been a time of Scholarship Auditions, All State Auditions, and Ensemble Auditions. For a month it felt like I was teaching the same lesson every hour. “Count off a bar for nothing, breathe in time, and then start.” And currently an epidemic of cutting notes and air stream with the tongue, students using TOT instead of TAH, seems to be spreading like wildfire.

 

These are future articles I will write for the Student Resources portion of my web page, but today I blog for me. And today while watching the rainfall outside my window, drinking coffee and reading Vogue, my inner voice had much to say.

 

Picture of Lady Gaga from February 2011 Vogue with my inner voice notes.

I was reading an article about Lady Gaga. The author was juxtaposing the high class Lady opposite the innocence of Gaga. My inner dialogue chirped in with- “This is why I create, to make sense of the chaos that is life”- to add the ridiculous to the rules, fun and flare to regulation. Sometimes art is ridiculous but I would rather live in the ridiculous than the pretentious and inaccessible.

 

The inner voice is a gift- for me it is inexplicable wisdom. When I create it is strong and present. It has always appeared while practicing and performing, guiding me through direction of phrases, colors, and textures. Lately it has been guiding me through soft vulnerability in sound and textures- and the strength in the vulnerability.

 

When I began teaching, I was shocked; the voice was as present while teaching as it was in my own personal practice. On thinking back, it is logical- teaching is another form of performance. But just as the inner dialogue would guide me through my creative process- it would answer student questions. Often, my intuition heard the question before it was asked verbally.

 

Many of the talented artists I have worked with have quit. Often, I have reflected on these artists as more talented and with a greater capacity for greatness than myself. They blame the quitting on finances (always understandable), job market,.. The list goes on and on…

 

I keep listening to the voice- I think it is the sanity that keeps me from falling into the abyss of emptiness.

 

For all the creative entrepreneurs who are curious where my inspiration for this blog came from:http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/lady-gaga-our-lady-of-pop/

 

KEEPING INSPIRED DURING DARK DAYS

As noted by mass media, this past week is "the most depressing week of the whole year". They note fallen resolutions, cold weather, and dark days. When I hear this, I feel as if it is an obligation to be depressed.

 

Usually the winter is mild in Alabama but this year we've had snow several times, creating icy roads and snow days. I threw my hands up in the air, like my garden gnome, Atlas, who was covered in snow and gave into this creative time.

 

For me, I find this time of year one of my most productive and it always has been. The cold weather keeps me inside practicing, making reeds, researching, and growing.

 

The challenge I find- arrives in the form of keeping creatively inspired. So I've decided to blog about the ways I keep delight in life- leaving me inspired.

 

I love to eat. About four years ago I was diagnosed with food allergies, changing my life forever. Like all life changing moments I've experienced, I was initially overwhelmed and then I realized the blessing within the diagnosis. Now I cook all my food from scratch, opening fantastic doors of creativity and inspiration. I love the rhythm of the chopping, the scent of stock boiling away on the stove, and the nourishing comfort of a home cooked meal.

 

My favorite recipe in the Summer is my Fresh Lemon Sorbet, which balances sweet and tart like a lemon drop. In the Fall, I never seem to make enough 1 pot Ratatouille. This Winter I have been perfecting my soup recipes using many of the fresh garden tomatoes I canned this summer. My favorite has been my French Lentil Soup which takes flavors from home cooked stock, bay leaf, fresh basil and thyme- exactly the flavors needed to brighten a winter day. I can hardly wait to see where Spring will take my pallet.

 

Other joys have come from attending auctions in the neighboring town of Attalla. This month I found a great antique mahogany music cabinet, perfect for my in home studio. Auctions are full of excitement. There is the waiting for the choice item to come up to bid- a great time for people watching and talking with the locals- their Southern personalities always spark my curiosity. Then there is the heated moment of bidding, and hopefully the win. I've realized that I must set my highest limit and know when to bow out, so as to not accidentally over bid in the heat of the moment. Auctions can be dangerous and emotional in this way.

 

 

And finally my delight in laughter from Coco, my faithful puppy who refuses to allow my intensity to get the better of me during hours of lessons, reed making or practice. Lately, as my students will attest to, she has taken to growling and barking at the dog she sees in the studio mirror. It reminds me of Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror. I imagine she's asking that dog "to change his ways". Her interruptions are always a reminder to relax and laugh.

 

 

Hopefully this helped you remember the little delights that can occur, even in the cold winter months. It has helped me to stop and take notice. Before we know it, it will be Spring and I'm sure my life and yours will be filled with new adventures.

For all the creative entrepreneurs who are curious where my inspiration for this blog came from: to remind you summer days will soon arrive...

 

Lemon Sorbet Recipe

• Dash of Kosher Salt
• 1 Cup Sugar
• Zest from 1 Lemon
• 1 1/2 Cup Water
• 1 Cup Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

Bring water to a boil with dash of salt, then add sugar and boil until dissolved. Remove from heat and add lemon zest. Let cool, then add lemon juice. After cooled, add to ice cream bowl and freeze to required ice cream maker directions. Then enjoy or freeze for later.