Ah, the joys of public holidays that occur during the middle of the week. Yesterday marked the final public holiday in Germany until October, which seems awfully far away right now.
Earlier in the week, I decided to take a "bridge day," where I elected to extend my weekend by consuming another vacation day on this Friday after Fronleichnam.
Taking a bridge day is a very common practice in Europe, but somehow I never have really done that myself. But, I had been reviewing my vacation usage for the year and realized that I needed to get a few more days booked, lest the vacation police (otherwise known as the HR department) come after me.
Wednesday night, I kind of smiled as I sat outside the pub, knowing full well that I had the next four days (including weekend) to do whatever I felt like doing.
Yesterday I did not do too much, though I did enjoy several episodes of a Swedish detective series on one of the German media networks. There is something about the quality of production that comes from Scandinavia that I really like; the plots and characters seem much more realistic.
The other thing I did on Thursday was listen to a little play list of music I have recorded so far in 2019. I kept the media player running for most of the day, even when I was sitting in another part of the flat.
Over the years, I have regularly played piano: pieces by various composers, songs from some of my favorite contemporary musicians, and from time to time my own improvisation. To anyone who knows me, this comes as no surprise.
In 2017 I concentrated most of my efforts on learning the music from the composer Ludovico Einaudi. Almost from the start, the music just grabbed me. It flows with such feeling and emotion. One of the best descriptions of his music that I ever read was that listening to his stuff is like taking a walk in your head. For someone who thinks a WHOLE lot, this is really fitting.
Despite my reluctance to play piano in front of others (Nadja can still attest to this), I made a little playlist of Einaudi songs for my Grandmother's birthday, and was really glad to share it with her and the rest of the family.
During 2018, I continued building my repertoire on piano. At some point, I also discovered another composer whose works immediately grabbed me. I started learning a piece from Luke Faulkner called "Daydreaming," and was glad to be able to play this, along with my other stuff, for my Grandmother in the lobby of her residence during Christmas vacation. As I have noted previously, this was one of the few occasions where I "performed" publicly. And lived to tell about it.
Another activity I worked on during 2018 was some vocal practice. My interest in working in the voice-over industry has returned with vigor in the past couple of years, particularly as I try and rediscover what I want to be when I grow up. A couple of colleagues had provided some suggestions to me, including the practice of "getting to know your voice." This could be done by reading an article, a news report, a blurb from a book, etc.
Though I did this from time to time during the latter half of last year, going so far as to make a recording of the exercise, I never really listened to any of the recordings.
In fact, I did not make too much progress on my voice-over development whatsoever. Like with many things, I tend to procrastinate, and this was no different. The common blocker here is me. I am really good at getting in my own way.
At the start of 2019, I encountered another piece by Luke Faulkner that absolutely knocked me over, a piece called "New Beginning." Chris is right, it is a bit technical, and proved to be a great challenge for me. I took another piece of advice from Kenny W where he reminds you that the music is not hard, it is just unfamiliar. It becomes easier as your familiarity increases.
I quite like the fact that the piece is aptly titled, but for what it's worth, it is such a wonderful work that it could have been just as easily called, "just another piano piece." That said, I have used the piece to motivate me to do things a bit differently than before.
In February, I realized that I was starting to play a few more piano tunes that involved vocals, not that I was singing. However, after a conversation with a friend of mine about her upcoming visit to her home country, along with my own brief moment with Heimweh, I challenged myself to add the vocals to one of my favorite Joe Jackson songs. Since my friend was going to be traveling very soon, I had jump into action and lay down both the piano interpretation and the vocals. I managed it without too much delay, and was able to share the song with her before she left on her trip. Back to her own "Hometown."
It was a good feeling to record it, and I listened to it over and over again during the next little while. About that same time, I realized that it might behoove me to start my spoken voice practice sessions again, so I started doing some daily diary recordings, which are really nothing more than me standing in front of my microphone in my living room, talking about whatever the hell is on my mind. Then, I save the recording and go back and listen to it a little later. This is a very beneficial exercise on two fronts. First, I get a chance to get a few things off my chest (e.g. "daily diary 2019xxxx" where I blasted away with all my frustrations about work) and perhaps more importantly, I get a chance to become more and more familiar with my voice.
On the technical side, I can listen to how I breathe, how fast I speak, how I enunciate, etc.
I do this both in English and in German, and it is still startling when I listen to the recordings later.
On the personal side, I can recognize when my voice sounds forced, or lacks in emotion, or is just plain goofy. Again, it is open to interpretation, and I am still pretty good at getting in my own way.
But, as Kenny W repeatedly says, the music (whether that be a tune or spoken voice) simply becomes more familiar. And furthermore, it gets easier when you simply believe that it's a great sound. And to believe it, you have to feel it.
As I have listened to the guys who gather each week in the pub to practice their music, I notice that the songs I like the best are the ones where I sense their feeling. Likewise, the young woman who sat down and sang a couple of songs with them the other month just amazed me, as she clearly was feeling what she was playing. She believes.
In a post from April, I mentioned that the guys had done a really great cover of a Waterboys song, and I had an urge to do my own interpretation, with vocal. True, it is still a work in progress, as is just about everything I am playing right now. But, I keep listening to it, and it becomes more familiar. And I believe more. I actually shared my cover with the guitarist of the group, and he was most impressed. (The other night he mentioned that we would need to sing it together one evening)
I went on to share it with a few other folks, and continue to be flattered by the feedback. True, I try to stay realistic, almost to the point of defeating myself. Too often when I share my work, I preface the mp4 with a statement like "thank goodness I work in repair ops" or something else that is a bit defeatist.
It comes down to interpretation, and I need to remember Pablo's words. You take the experience, your belief and your feeling, and it helps create your voice, not only how the voice sounds, but the actual expression.
Just last Friday, some other friends of mine played a one-off gig in the pub. Roland had been talking to me for months about how the band were nearing a point where they could do a performance. Roland is an Englishman who lives in the neighborhood, and always talked football until he realized that I had a bit of a musical background, and suddenly we talk more about music, as he is a guitarist.
My plans did not really involve making a late night at the pub at the start of the weekend, but I had bumped into one of the other members of the group on the street and he told me that they were going to play that night. So, I changed my plan and made sure I was there to support them.
By chance, an old friend was back in town to visit family, and she stopped by the pub before meeting a couple of other girls for dinner. Mona and I had a quick drink before she met up with Anne and Nadja at a local restaurant. Meanwhile, I stayed in the pub to listen to the guys play a few sets of rock and roll songs, Beatles and Rolling Stones, mostly. (Pablo, you would have enjoyed it)
Despite the fact that I am neither a Beatles nor a Stones fan, I really did enjoy listening to the guys play. All of them are a handful of years (if not two handfuls) older than me, and were playing just for fun. They all have their own careers outside of music, but clearly music has a great influence on them.
I certainly felt the personal connection, and really could see how much fun they were having playing and seeing. Of the four piece group, two guys are English and two are German. All of them invited friends and family to come fill up the pub and watch the performance. Thus, the guys had an appreciative crowd, which always helps in such situations. (How many concerts have you ever been to where the opening act sort of gets irritated because all the fans for the main act haven't arrived to the venue yet, or worse, are not bothering to come inside to listen, preferring rather to hang out in the bar? Yep, I have done that a fair bit, myself.)
As the band neared the completion of their final set, Anne, Nadja, and Mona came into the pub for an after dinner drink. We chatted a little bit as the band finished up. Anne knows the same guys as me, and once things were done, the guys all came outside to greet the guests (and to get out of the cramped stuffy bar).
I had a chance to chat with the singer James, and told him how much I appreciated getting a chance to listen to them play. Furthermore, I pointed out that I was not really a fan of either of band that they'd just covered, but was all the more impressed because of that. Probably Pablo understands this comment more than other people: it's not that I totally dislike either of those groups, and in fact, am very familiar with all their works, but my tastes are different.
The atmosphere outside the pub was pretty good and lively. The weather helped, and people just enjoyed standing around outside in the summer evening. Anne, Nadja, and Mona included me in their girls' night out, and we chatted about various topics that were certainly outside of my normal routine. This was a good thing, and I was enjoying their company.
Things rose to a new level when Anne, while hugging me as I told her Happy Birthday, exclaimed how much she liked the smell of my shirt (which was freshly washed). I will take this moment to thank my fabric softener for being such a entertaining part of the next 15 minutes, as suddenly all three women were having a group hug with me, sniffing my shirt.
Although I am about a head taller than all of the girls, it still looked a little like a rugby scrum. At one point, I caught eyes with some other lady standing across the patio and just sort of smiled and shrugged. What can you do?
Even singer James got into the action on sniff number 14. It was it this point I reckoned it was time to make my way home; I am not sure if it is possible to overdose on a Lenor product, but didn't want to find out. The girls headed in their direction, and I started making my way through the other pub guest to head home.
I ran into Roland, the guitarist, and told him how much I had enjoyed hearing them play.
He said, "Bryan, we made so many mistakes, so many different times. But we really enjoyed ourselves."
I responded that it really showed how much fun they were having, and that was precisely why I had enjoyed it so much.
This week, I did the vocals on another song, one from Peter Murphy. And I made so many mistakes, so many different times. But I really enjoyed singing it because I can hear my voice.
If you believe it, it really is the best sound in the world.
see you out there
bryan
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