In Which Ryan Is Briefly At Home
August 2023 | 4:8
Koopa says it is hot out there, so make sure you find some shade.
What's Been Happening
Perhaps the most notable thing about this month is I'm writing this close to when I'm sending it since I'm actually at home for a few days. That said, I'm also not fully recovered from spending the last week or so rehearsing and travelling from San Antonio to Atlanta, so I make no promises about things like grammar or linear thought.
Highlights from this month are a loooot of teaching drum corps, a really fun wedding weekend down in Texas, and now finally having a week at home to enjoy Chicago summer weather. I can also tell I've had a bit of a break from writing since I'm starting to get neat ideas again, so note to future self that September is reserved for personally fulfilling weird art. In the meantime, I'll be joining Koopa in the shade.
May your masks smell pleasant and your packages arrive without incident,
Ryan
Chart O' The Month
I'm actually a little surprised I haven't featured this chart before since it's one of my favorite charts I wrote back in undergrad at the University of Akron, with the irony that now I listen to it and want to update it. The original impetus for this chart was two very specific things:
1) "Hunting Wabbits" by Gordon Goodwin had just come out, and I loved the premise of emulating cartoon music but thought he got too far away from the original intent of the chart within his arrangement... which makes it that much more interesting that I totally did the same thing here.
2) I was on tour teaching the Bluecoats and saw some ants on the ground and thought, "I wonder what an ant farm would sound like".
The narrative aspect of me picturing ants building their civilization gives me a little bit of an excuse for over-developing the ideas, but regardless this would be a fun re-write to see if the answer is to drop an idea or keep them all but tighten the pacing. Either way, I still think it's a fun chart and a nice reminder to myself that cool ideas are cool ideas, and learning to implement them musically is a continual process.
Look, Nature!
In a concerning pattern, this is the second month in a row that I'm using a picture I took myself. While I promise to use better pictures my wife took starting next month, I found these roots of a fallen giant sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park to be mesmerizing even if the picture fails to capture the scale and scope.
Education Notes
Part of my last DCI tour stretch was giving a clinic with the Phantom Regiment brass section at the Texas Bandmasters Association Conference in San Antonio. A huge thanks to all involved, but especially to my friend and colleague JD Shaw for including me in what was a really fun presentation. The clinic was sponsored and recorded by the fine folks at Ultimate Drill Book, so I'll share that once it becomes available but in the meantime a link to my clinic notes can be found here, and as always please reach out with any questions.