Hello, everyone!
It's been awhile, a few updates--
Break:
It was good. I had a chance to do a whole lot of nothing, but I got 2 things done on my list of things to do (the list had at least 8 things on it, but I'm just not going to think about it because it makes me frustrated with myself for being lazy over break). I slept a lot, played a lot of Pokémon with my brother and brother-from-another-mother (Trey), learned how to play guitar, and finished an arrangement for my a capella group.
The Present:
Life is good back here in Lincoln. Extremely busy, a teensy bit stressful, but good. I've been doing a lot of yoga recently and that's actually really really helped lower my stress level and center me in order to get through my long days, even though it means I have to be there by 7:15AM. In fact, I just bought a nice new yoga mat, because the idea of the Rec Center ones and all that sharing is really kind of grossing me out. Plus, the yoga instructor who teaches power vinyasa in the mornings is simply phenomenal.
The folk band that I started with my friends Molly and Jenny is going rather well, we're learning songs quickly and hoping to start gigging by mid-February.
I'm fairly certain that my schedule is the devil, but, even though my days are minimum 9 hours long at the music building, (excluding homework and a few groups that meet outside of SoM things) I still really love everything I'm doing.
As for sleep, I've been surprisingly (so far) getting a bit more of it, I'm up to 4-6 hours a night now, usually, and it feels great. I've just been managing my time better, and using MUCH less Facebook. I've cut down to maximum half an hour a day, and removed it from my phone. I don't have time to waste on things as trivial as that, and the only reason I still have it is because it's a powerful and indispensable networking tool, plus, I like posting funny things sometimes.
Work is good, I got all the shifts I wanted at all the times I wanted them for the semester, AND they're all in the building I live in, which makes me very happy.
I love all my classes, love all my teachers. Learning string bass and oboe currently, and I'll also have bassoon and another string instrument under my belt by the end of spring.
My ensemble situation is a little less than ideal, but that'll be fixed after this semester. Due to being Pre-Vet last year on top of all this, I haven't taken Women's choir yet, and after another series of unfortunate circumstances with my schedule, had to drop USingers. Hopefully it'll just be for the semester and Dr. Eklund will take me back, but it's just really unfortunate since we're doing Carmina Burana this semester. On the plus side, jazz choir is going rather well, and so is big band.
Also, some stress with the a capella group, but hopefully we'll work through it. Just part of being a brand-new organization I suppose. But, we've been taking it all in stride.
I love my friends (even though I don't get to hang out with them as much as I'd like to), school, making music. I mean, yeah, my stress level is usually ridiculous, but, again, that yoga is reeeeally starting to help. I highly recommend it to anybody, but especially people who live high-stress, busy lives. That time to meditate and reflect has been invaluable these past two weeks, especially when I got really sad that I couldn't make it an entire week without having to brew a cup of coffee at 9:30pm to do more homework. Oh well.
That's about it! Sorry that my life is boring, but I figured I'd post something.
Song of the day: "A Dustland Fairytale" by the Killers. Kind of an old one, but it's one of my most favorite songs of all time. So beautiful, and it has wonderful lyrics on top of wonderful music.
Also, here's my Soundcloud, again. It has music on it, 4 of which are original compositions (some latin and electronic music, along with some covers).
https://soundcloud.com/caitlingilmoremusic
Cheers,
Gilmore
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Sunday, December 9, 2012
The Ink is Never Dry
Hello friends,
I must admit, the crazy class schedule, the many sleepless nights, and the overall constant stress level wore me down a bit. I'm more ready than ever for this break.
But, holy crap. What a satisfying semester for me musically!
I'm still thinking of my education major as a fallback, but I'm a lot happier with this fallback than I was when I started it. I realize there's a lot more to education than most people ever think about in their lifetimes, and have a pretty general knowledge of what it takes to be a good teacher. But Holy applicable to what I want to do with my life, Batman! All of this has helped me look at music in a different way, and those skills classes where I have to learn all the instruments are DEFINITELY extremely helpful as a composer.
Speaking of composing, you know, the main reason I'm here and stuff, I'm very proud of the work that I've done. I still didn't get quite as much done as I wanted to because of the crazy class load, etc, but I still over quadrupled my output from this time last year, which is crazy. Not only have I quadrupled my output, but I feel that my writing from the beginning of my career here (crazy to think that it's only been a year and a half) has improved immensely. My music has more texture, more life, and clearly more musical knowledge in it than ever before. The leaps and bounds I've made getting to study under Dr. Lee are enormous, and I am so so blessed to have him as my professor. I feel that I still need to find some direction by picking what I'd like to compose for, but I can at least rest happy knowing that just because the quantity of the music I'm outputting has grown, the quality hasn't diminished at all. It's gotten better.
Every time someone performs my music, I am so immensely satisfied. Getting to hear it played by real musicians who put the emotions into your music that you wanted, and sometimes bringing it to life in ways you didn't think it could breathe and live, is just wonderful. The novelty of having it on paper has worn off a little bit, but it's still there when I stop and think about it. Which I usually don't, because once I finish one thing, I've been known to not even take a break and open up a new document to start on the next project. I feel that I can't contain all the ideas bouncing around in my head sometimes. Which is great, but, again, causes me to lose sleep a lot of the time.
The one thing I worry about a bit is that I might be pushing myself too hard sometimes, you know? This semester was my hardest semester of school yet (and that includes my first one where I was in marching band and doing pre-vet). All the sleepless nights have added up and really burned me out, and again, I cannot wait for this break to come. The worst part is, my semester next semester is looking even harder, with even fewer breaks and less sleep... Ugh. Oh well.
I mean, this may just be because I'm writing this at 3:45AM at the end of my Midnight-4am shift at work, and I'm thinking too much like I often do, but there are almost too many things I could do with my life, and I'm frightened because fewer things in this world scare me more than uncertainty. And thinking about my future, there's a lot of it. This is probably just me being a dork and overthinking it all, but I've always been the type of person who could spin a B+ on my high school transcript to possibly ending up homeless and destitute by age 40 (Yes, that really happened when I got my one and only grade below an A- in highschool, I was scared for weeks until I realized that the B+ was probably not going to make every future employer ever think I was a moron). The fact that I very well may not end up living in this country at the end of my schooling here at UNL scares me. The fact that I may end up staying here in the U.S. and possibly missing out on opportunities abroad also scares me. If I choose the wrong thing for myself, will I miss the right one forever? Will I always be second-guessing the choices that I make from here on out? The thing is, I feel that there are quite a few things out there that could make me happy, but the idea of not having the right combination of them is frightening. How many first-world problems here does it take to add up to a real one? Jesus.
But that's why I have to keep writing, working my ass off, and trying to be the best musician I can possibly be. Because there's so much uncertainty in my future, the one thing I can hold on to is knowing that I will never look back and say "I wish I tried harder." I will at least have the strength of knowing that I am working as hard as I can, and am physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of working harder than I do.
So wow, yeah, that post turned from happy to serious pretty quickly. Sorry about that. I usually don't let people see how I'm feeling. I don't like talking about feelings. Ick. But, it feels good to have that off my chest.
To lighten the gloominess of the end of this post, listen to this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDnPS6VyBJE
It's called Waltz for Richard by First Aid Kit. They're a sister duo out of Sweden, and their music is absolutely beautiful and relaxing and wonderful.
But truthfully, the song that's capturing my mood best is this song called The Boxer. Originally Simon & Garfunkel, but this version is by Mumford and Sons. Listen to the lyrics and you'll see why. And hell, just the music, it's perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAl-vZsswb4
Oh, as for everyday things, I had over 6 finals last week, on dead week (don't even get me started on how dumb I think that is), and only have one this upcoming week. It's a big one, but I can (hopefully) handle it with little stress. Also, I work until Saturday, will probably spend the night in Lincoln, and come back home to Columbus on Sunday. But the beautiful thing is, I'm not OBLIGATED to come back to Lincoln until January 4th. I mean, let's be real, I probably will, but the point is I don't HAVE to (except for to do schoolwork, which I will because I am so horribly lazy when I enter Columbus city limits).
Also, I've been SLEEPING this weekend. I've gotten almost 7 hours each night! It feels amazing. So I have that to be thankful for, too. :)
Alright, I'm rambling now, time to cut this off.
Cheers,
Gilmore
ALSO, SHAMELESS PLUG: I now have stuff on my SoundCloud and you should listen to it. Available for free downloads yadayada. Russia, Switzerland, Mexico, and Pakistan have apparently already been enjoying my music.
https://soundcloud.com/caitlingilmoremusic
I must admit, the crazy class schedule, the many sleepless nights, and the overall constant stress level wore me down a bit. I'm more ready than ever for this break.
But, holy crap. What a satisfying semester for me musically!
I'm still thinking of my education major as a fallback, but I'm a lot happier with this fallback than I was when I started it. I realize there's a lot more to education than most people ever think about in their lifetimes, and have a pretty general knowledge of what it takes to be a good teacher. But Holy applicable to what I want to do with my life, Batman! All of this has helped me look at music in a different way, and those skills classes where I have to learn all the instruments are DEFINITELY extremely helpful as a composer.
Speaking of composing, you know, the main reason I'm here and stuff, I'm very proud of the work that I've done. I still didn't get quite as much done as I wanted to because of the crazy class load, etc, but I still over quadrupled my output from this time last year, which is crazy. Not only have I quadrupled my output, but I feel that my writing from the beginning of my career here (crazy to think that it's only been a year and a half) has improved immensely. My music has more texture, more life, and clearly more musical knowledge in it than ever before. The leaps and bounds I've made getting to study under Dr. Lee are enormous, and I am so so blessed to have him as my professor. I feel that I still need to find some direction by picking what I'd like to compose for, but I can at least rest happy knowing that just because the quantity of the music I'm outputting has grown, the quality hasn't diminished at all. It's gotten better.
Every time someone performs my music, I am so immensely satisfied. Getting to hear it played by real musicians who put the emotions into your music that you wanted, and sometimes bringing it to life in ways you didn't think it could breathe and live, is just wonderful. The novelty of having it on paper has worn off a little bit, but it's still there when I stop and think about it. Which I usually don't, because once I finish one thing, I've been known to not even take a break and open up a new document to start on the next project. I feel that I can't contain all the ideas bouncing around in my head sometimes. Which is great, but, again, causes me to lose sleep a lot of the time.
The one thing I worry about a bit is that I might be pushing myself too hard sometimes, you know? This semester was my hardest semester of school yet (and that includes my first one where I was in marching band and doing pre-vet). All the sleepless nights have added up and really burned me out, and again, I cannot wait for this break to come. The worst part is, my semester next semester is looking even harder, with even fewer breaks and less sleep... Ugh. Oh well.
I mean, this may just be because I'm writing this at 3:45AM at the end of my Midnight-4am shift at work, and I'm thinking too much like I often do, but there are almost too many things I could do with my life, and I'm frightened because fewer things in this world scare me more than uncertainty. And thinking about my future, there's a lot of it. This is probably just me being a dork and overthinking it all, but I've always been the type of person who could spin a B+ on my high school transcript to possibly ending up homeless and destitute by age 40 (Yes, that really happened when I got my one and only grade below an A- in highschool, I was scared for weeks until I realized that the B+ was probably not going to make every future employer ever think I was a moron). The fact that I very well may not end up living in this country at the end of my schooling here at UNL scares me. The fact that I may end up staying here in the U.S. and possibly missing out on opportunities abroad also scares me. If I choose the wrong thing for myself, will I miss the right one forever? Will I always be second-guessing the choices that I make from here on out? The thing is, I feel that there are quite a few things out there that could make me happy, but the idea of not having the right combination of them is frightening. How many first-world problems here does it take to add up to a real one? Jesus.
But that's why I have to keep writing, working my ass off, and trying to be the best musician I can possibly be. Because there's so much uncertainty in my future, the one thing I can hold on to is knowing that I will never look back and say "I wish I tried harder." I will at least have the strength of knowing that I am working as hard as I can, and am physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of working harder than I do.
So wow, yeah, that post turned from happy to serious pretty quickly. Sorry about that. I usually don't let people see how I'm feeling. I don't like talking about feelings. Ick. But, it feels good to have that off my chest.
To lighten the gloominess of the end of this post, listen to this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDnPS6VyBJE
It's called Waltz for Richard by First Aid Kit. They're a sister duo out of Sweden, and their music is absolutely beautiful and relaxing and wonderful.
But truthfully, the song that's capturing my mood best is this song called The Boxer. Originally Simon & Garfunkel, but this version is by Mumford and Sons. Listen to the lyrics and you'll see why. And hell, just the music, it's perfect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAl-vZsswb4
Oh, as for everyday things, I had over 6 finals last week, on dead week (don't even get me started on how dumb I think that is), and only have one this upcoming week. It's a big one, but I can (hopefully) handle it with little stress. Also, I work until Saturday, will probably spend the night in Lincoln, and come back home to Columbus on Sunday. But the beautiful thing is, I'm not OBLIGATED to come back to Lincoln until January 4th. I mean, let's be real, I probably will, but the point is I don't HAVE to (except for to do schoolwork, which I will because I am so horribly lazy when I enter Columbus city limits).
Also, I've been SLEEPING this weekend. I've gotten almost 7 hours each night! It feels amazing. So I have that to be thankful for, too. :)
Alright, I'm rambling now, time to cut this off.
Cheers,
Gilmore
ALSO, SHAMELESS PLUG: I now have stuff on my SoundCloud and you should listen to it. Available for free downloads yadayada. Russia, Switzerland, Mexico, and Pakistan have apparently already been enjoying my music.
https://soundcloud.com/caitlingilmoremusic
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Life.
Hey everyone!
I'm alive! I've just been really really busy and doing a poor job of keeping people updated on things.
Let's walk through a typical day in the life of Caitlin Gilmore, so you can see how it is just NOT my fault that I haven't been posting anything at all lately...
My days/classes:
8:40am- Wake up, take a shower
9:30am- Class starts (either practicum on MWF or Keyboard Skills T/R)
11:30- Music Theory or Aural Skills
12:30- Flute/Clarinet skills or Digital Audio Recording
1:30- University Singers or Big Band
3:30(TR)- Studio until 4:30 every other week, lesson with Dr. Lee on the off week. Thursdays, Convocation at 3:30.
4:30 (MW)- Jazz Choir
5:30 (Every other Tuesday)- My lesson on the weeks I have studio.
I get done with class sometime between 6-6:30, either grab dinner (or don't) and either watch a faculty concert for convocation credit around 7:30pm, or practice flute/piano/saxophone for an hour or two.
And no, I do not have a single class outside of Westbrook Music Building this semester, and probably won't at all this year.
Get home sometime between 8pm-10pm. Eat dinner (since I usually don't have time to get dinner, and only have room in my lunchbox to pack lunch since I obviously don't have a lunch break there...)
Do homework/compose until 2am on a good night, but usually until 3am or later.
Do it all again.
Also, I'm helping start up a Co-Ed a capella group with a few of my buddies, so hopefully that gets off the ground and running. Rehearsals for that will probably be around 9pm.
Plus, I'm holding down a job. I actually enjoy it, especially the 4-8am shifts since it's just paid, uninterrupted homework time. Nobody ever comes down around then, so usually, I just get paid to sit at the desk and maybe say hello to 1 or 2 people. I work Monday mornings and every other Friday and Saturday. Sometimes I pick up extra shifts, but not usually because I'm already on the edge of overloading myself about 99% of the time.
As far as composing, I don't get to spend as much time doing that as I'd like to, but, I'm hoping I'll have time to just get ahead on everything and actually be productive during fall break... Even though that's always very difficult when I'm at home.
For those of you who keep asking, "Where are you finding all the motivation?" I keep telling myself "Get certified in all the things you can, because UNL is paying for most of it and it makes you more attractive for jobs and Grad school!" When that doesn't work, I use the standard "You can sleep when you're dead." Those have been my mantras to get me through everything the past few weeks.
So yeah. It's safe to say that I've been keeping pretty busy. I don't sleep much, and I'm usually fairly stressed out, but if I wasn't, I'd be doing something wrong as a music major. As awful as my schedule looks, I'm still extremely happy that I get to be doing what I love, and not paying UNL extravagant amounts of money to do so. I'm either in the right place or need to be institutionalized for being super overworked and still somehow enjoying myself, so I'm really hoping it's the former.
Also, for a person who never really liked coffee all that much, sophomore year of college has changed me. I'm slowly but steadily getting more addicted... I used to drink coffee maybe once a month, now it's closer to once a week. I know it still isn't that much by a lot of people's standards, but for someone with a low caffeine tolerance, it's making me sad that I actually think of coffee a lot, and would have it every day if I had time to get it.
Well, those are all the interesting things going on right now, I believe!
Song of the day:
Take a Walk by Passion Pit. It pumps me up when I need a nice little energy boost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZX6Q-Bj_xg
With love,
Gilmore
I'm alive! I've just been really really busy and doing a poor job of keeping people updated on things.
Let's walk through a typical day in the life of Caitlin Gilmore, so you can see how it is just NOT my fault that I haven't been posting anything at all lately...
My days/classes:
8:40am- Wake up, take a shower
9:30am- Class starts (either practicum on MWF or Keyboard Skills T/R)
11:30- Music Theory or Aural Skills
12:30- Flute/Clarinet skills or Digital Audio Recording
1:30- University Singers or Big Band
3:30(TR)- Studio until 4:30 every other week, lesson with Dr. Lee on the off week. Thursdays, Convocation at 3:30.
4:30 (MW)- Jazz Choir
5:30 (Every other Tuesday)- My lesson on the weeks I have studio.
I get done with class sometime between 6-6:30, either grab dinner (or don't) and either watch a faculty concert for convocation credit around 7:30pm, or practice flute/piano/saxophone for an hour or two.
And no, I do not have a single class outside of Westbrook Music Building this semester, and probably won't at all this year.
Get home sometime between 8pm-10pm. Eat dinner (since I usually don't have time to get dinner, and only have room in my lunchbox to pack lunch since I obviously don't have a lunch break there...)
Do homework/compose until 2am on a good night, but usually until 3am or later.
Do it all again.
Also, I'm helping start up a Co-Ed a capella group with a few of my buddies, so hopefully that gets off the ground and running. Rehearsals for that will probably be around 9pm.
Plus, I'm holding down a job. I actually enjoy it, especially the 4-8am shifts since it's just paid, uninterrupted homework time. Nobody ever comes down around then, so usually, I just get paid to sit at the desk and maybe say hello to 1 or 2 people. I work Monday mornings and every other Friday and Saturday. Sometimes I pick up extra shifts, but not usually because I'm already on the edge of overloading myself about 99% of the time.
As far as composing, I don't get to spend as much time doing that as I'd like to, but, I'm hoping I'll have time to just get ahead on everything and actually be productive during fall break... Even though that's always very difficult when I'm at home.
For those of you who keep asking, "Where are you finding all the motivation?" I keep telling myself "Get certified in all the things you can, because UNL is paying for most of it and it makes you more attractive for jobs and Grad school!" When that doesn't work, I use the standard "You can sleep when you're dead." Those have been my mantras to get me through everything the past few weeks.
So yeah. It's safe to say that I've been keeping pretty busy. I don't sleep much, and I'm usually fairly stressed out, but if I wasn't, I'd be doing something wrong as a music major. As awful as my schedule looks, I'm still extremely happy that I get to be doing what I love, and not paying UNL extravagant amounts of money to do so. I'm either in the right place or need to be institutionalized for being super overworked and still somehow enjoying myself, so I'm really hoping it's the former.
Also, for a person who never really liked coffee all that much, sophomore year of college has changed me. I'm slowly but steadily getting more addicted... I used to drink coffee maybe once a month, now it's closer to once a week. I know it still isn't that much by a lot of people's standards, but for someone with a low caffeine tolerance, it's making me sad that I actually think of coffee a lot, and would have it every day if I had time to get it.
Well, those are all the interesting things going on right now, I believe!
Song of the day:
Take a Walk by Passion Pit. It pumps me up when I need a nice little energy boost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZX6Q-Bj_xg
With love,
Gilmore
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Deux.
Bonjour mes amis!
It's been a really really long time since I last posted. I apologize. But, I would like to catch you all up on what's been going on since Middle School Band Camp!
So, I finished my summer classes with all A's, which was exciting. Gotta love having a high GPA to keep that Regents scholarship!
Sometime right before finals, I also had work training for my new job at the Harper/Schramm/Smith/Village night desk. I work 3-5 nights a week alternating weeks, but I'm hoping to cut that down to 1-3 when my boss hires more people. The job is great, I mostly work 4-8am and no one comes in, so I get to just sit there and catch up on homework/composing.
As for my classes now, they're going well so far in this first week. I had auditions all week and made it into every ensemble I tried out for which made me very happy!! I'm now an Alto I in Usingers, the lead vocalist for the UNL big band, and voice part undetermined for Jazz Choir as of now. I sang Soprano I last year, but that could change. I don't really care what voice part I sing for anything at this point, which is only helping to continue my vocal identity crisis that I've had since Junior year of high school.
Also, I'm learning how to play the flute. Learning that I'm not very good at it yet, but I guess we've only had 2 classes so that's ok. I found out that I really hate the fingerings from D to C on the flute, because they're the exact opposite of each other so I'm really going to have to practice later today after my work meeting at 7.
I've also figured out that life is a million times busier as a Music Ed major/Tech minor than just a performance major. Holy crap. I start at 9:30 every day and don't get to leave the building until 4-5 most days, and no lunch break. I went to the store this weekend and bought bread, peanut butter, and nutella for my locker so I can squeeze in lunch in the 10 minutes I have between classes. But, I would much rather be busy because I got into everything I wanted to be in than bored because I didn't, so at least I'm in a good place for that stuff.
As for what I'm working on compositionally, I'm arranging a chart to sing with for the UNL Big Band (It's my first jazz chart so I'm excited) at a later date. I also was hired to arrange an entire show for Minden High School's show choir, so this will mark my first show choir experience and first legitimate commission! As for semester projects, I'm writing an original flute and piano piece, and an original piano trio.
So that's the last few weeks in a nutshell. Sorry for taking so long to post!
Song of the day:
Free by Graffiti6. They're a really feel-good band out of the UK, and I love them like crazy. The music video cuts 45 seconds out of the song, but it's still wonderful regardless. Spotify the whole thing if you like it. (: Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FObmcZnoKM
Cheers,
Gilmore
It's been a really really long time since I last posted. I apologize. But, I would like to catch you all up on what's been going on since Middle School Band Camp!
So, I finished my summer classes with all A's, which was exciting. Gotta love having a high GPA to keep that Regents scholarship!
Sometime right before finals, I also had work training for my new job at the Harper/Schramm/Smith/Village night desk. I work 3-5 nights a week alternating weeks, but I'm hoping to cut that down to 1-3 when my boss hires more people. The job is great, I mostly work 4-8am and no one comes in, so I get to just sit there and catch up on homework/composing.
As for my classes now, they're going well so far in this first week. I had auditions all week and made it into every ensemble I tried out for which made me very happy!! I'm now an Alto I in Usingers, the lead vocalist for the UNL big band, and voice part undetermined for Jazz Choir as of now. I sang Soprano I last year, but that could change. I don't really care what voice part I sing for anything at this point, which is only helping to continue my vocal identity crisis that I've had since Junior year of high school.
Also, I'm learning how to play the flute. Learning that I'm not very good at it yet, but I guess we've only had 2 classes so that's ok. I found out that I really hate the fingerings from D to C on the flute, because they're the exact opposite of each other so I'm really going to have to practice later today after my work meeting at 7.
I've also figured out that life is a million times busier as a Music Ed major/Tech minor than just a performance major. Holy crap. I start at 9:30 every day and don't get to leave the building until 4-5 most days, and no lunch break. I went to the store this weekend and bought bread, peanut butter, and nutella for my locker so I can squeeze in lunch in the 10 minutes I have between classes. But, I would much rather be busy because I got into everything I wanted to be in than bored because I didn't, so at least I'm in a good place for that stuff.
As for what I'm working on compositionally, I'm arranging a chart to sing with for the UNL Big Band (It's my first jazz chart so I'm excited) at a later date. I also was hired to arrange an entire show for Minden High School's show choir, so this will mark my first show choir experience and first legitimate commission! As for semester projects, I'm writing an original flute and piano piece, and an original piano trio.
So that's the last few weeks in a nutshell. Sorry for taking so long to post!
Song of the day:
Free by Graffiti6. They're a really feel-good band out of the UK, and I love them like crazy. The music video cuts 45 seconds out of the song, but it's still wonderful regardless. Spotify the whole thing if you like it. (: Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FObmcZnoKM
Cheers,
Gilmore
Sunday, July 15, 2012
"This one time at band camp..." and other adventures.
Hello everyone!
Sorry for taking so long between this post and my last one!
This last week, I was camp counseling for the UNL Middle School band camp. It was a ton of fun, and it makes me happy to see how so many kids are excited about music. My duties included teaching a saxophone masterclass (with my good friend Michael), and teaching an elements class, which was basically a composition class. Also, I herded campers to where they needed to be, and stayed at the dorms to supervise them overnight. It was great seeing how vastly the kids improved playing their instruments in the short time we had, and how creative my elements class was, since they wrote 3 lines of music that were put on the final concert!
Plus, we had a ton of fun doing other stuff too... We threw a dance for the middle schoolers, and Michael and I got to play match-maker, and I attended my first middle-school dance (which, by the way, thanks to my fellow counselors, I had more fun at than almost all of my high school dances put together). We also played late-night sand volleyball against the counselors of the high school marching camp that was going on at the same time, and beat them for the first time in at least 4 years. It was also hilarious that the kids thought our fake lives were more interesting than our real ones, and by fake lives, they kept pairing the counselors off as boyfriend/girlfriend, or saying we were married to each other. I was either married to Michael by the end of the week or was his "Other woman" because he was married to one of the other counselors first. More embarrassingly, Michael and I somehow got coerced into playing some pop songs for the kids, and there are quite a few middle schoolers walking around with our voices as their ringtones. But, it was a really really great time, and I hope I get to do it again next year!
After all this madness, my cousin Jasmine came and visited me for a few days from Texas. It was super amazing, since I hadn't seen her in over a year in a half. We played music, hung out, and had fun until she left this afternoon. It was so good to see her and my Aunt Jean again this week, and it was a fantastic end to an amazing (and tiring) week.
As for how I'm doing in general, I'm fine. I finished my last 2 summer classes with A's, and started a new one when camp started, which is Philosophy 106. And, by the way, my teacher is absolutely HILARIOUS. She's very intelligent and interesting, and oh my gosh, her one-liners and examples and stories during class don't make those 4 hour lectures seem bad at all.
Musically, I'm in a jazz-indie band called Wind Armada that my counselor buddy from UNL high school jazz camp (Andrew Janak) invited me to be in, and, I gotta say, I'm really excited about how awesome of a group we have. The other guys (Drew, Kevin, Mike, and Michael) are just beyond talented, and I'm super lucky to get the chance to work with them. I mean, we're even doing a chart called "Great Lol of China." Just saying, we're awesome and funny and cool. No big deal.
Also, I'm working on writing music. So many projects going on right now that I think I might explode, and I really hope I can get them done by the school year because once again, I way overloaded myself on how much stuff I need to write. But, hopefully hopefully hopefully I'll have more time to be composing because I'm only taking one class now instead of two.
ONE MORE THING: I'm tutoring people for ACT English and Reading. Also, giving composition lessons, vocal jazz lessons, beginning piano lessons, tutoring elementary school kids... Actually, a better question would be what I'm NOT certified to tutor in right now. Sorry for the shameless plugs, but I just dropped a hefty amount of money on a microphone and other music-related things, and my bank account is definitely feeling it!
Anyway, the song of the day is called Star Scat by Caravan Palace. They're a gypsy electronic jazz group out of Paris, and their charts are SICK. Check it out!
Thanks for reading this very long post! Cheers, everyone!
Love,
Love,
Gilmore
Monday, June 25, 2012
Jayuzzzzz.
Well hey there, everyone!
As some of you know, I just got done camp counseling for the UNL High School Jazz Band Camp on Thursday.
Camp started Sunday, the 17th, on Father's day. I was able to make it home for the weekend to see my parents and some of my friends to celebrate father's day and my birthday, and was at Harper residence hall at 8am sharp, ready to move in and work with the campers. The first day was a lot of auditions for combo placement, followed by a jazz movie called Jazz on a Summer's Day later that night. If you're a jazzer and haven't seen it, I suggest you do. It has a lot of outstanding performances from a lot of the greats, and I'm sure all you cats would appreciate it. (:
Monday-Wednesday was a lot more of the same, shepherding students from place to place, making sure everyone was where they needed to be. There was jazz listening, jazz theory/arranging, combo practice, improvisation class, and a lot more for the kids to do. We got great seats at Jazz in June on Tuesday of camp, and my birthday passed on Wednesday with a lot of the campers singing me happy birthday and whatnot. My job was pretty easy, out of the 29 students, only 3 were female, and since I stayed on the same floor as the girls, all I had to do was knock on doors at 10:30 to make sure they were in bed, which was a much easier time than the men had. My friends took me out on Thursday night to celebrate my birthday a little late, so the celebration of me turning 19 wasn't a wash or anything. All in all, last week was a great week, full of great music, and a lot of great strengthening and starting of new friendships among my colleagues and fellow musicians in Westbrook Music Building. The greatest part about this camp was definitely the privilege of working with some amazing faculty and my 3 awesome fellow counselors. (:
BY THE WAY, look out for this new group I'm going to be in around the Omaha and Lincoln area, folks! We're called Wind Armada, and were formed by my fellow counselor Andrew Janak, who is a killer saxophonist. It's going to be great, we're doing jazz/indie-ish music, and it'll be really freaking sweet.
As for how classes and things have been going, it's all fine, I just can't wait for July and a lighter workload, and Middle School Band Camp! I know that camp is exhausting and a lot of work, but it's really great seeing young kids so excited about music, and watching talent develop. (:
Song of the day: Tea for Two, the Anita O'day version. This is from that Jazz Video I was watching, and I want to do a transcription of it. Her version is seriously SICK. You don't have to like jazz to love this. Promise. It's also on Spotify!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTk0pk6cFhE
Cheers,
Gilmore
As some of you know, I just got done camp counseling for the UNL High School Jazz Band Camp on Thursday.
Camp started Sunday, the 17th, on Father's day. I was able to make it home for the weekend to see my parents and some of my friends to celebrate father's day and my birthday, and was at Harper residence hall at 8am sharp, ready to move in and work with the campers. The first day was a lot of auditions for combo placement, followed by a jazz movie called Jazz on a Summer's Day later that night. If you're a jazzer and haven't seen it, I suggest you do. It has a lot of outstanding performances from a lot of the greats, and I'm sure all you cats would appreciate it. (:
Monday-Wednesday was a lot more of the same, shepherding students from place to place, making sure everyone was where they needed to be. There was jazz listening, jazz theory/arranging, combo practice, improvisation class, and a lot more for the kids to do. We got great seats at Jazz in June on Tuesday of camp, and my birthday passed on Wednesday with a lot of the campers singing me happy birthday and whatnot. My job was pretty easy, out of the 29 students, only 3 were female, and since I stayed on the same floor as the girls, all I had to do was knock on doors at 10:30 to make sure they were in bed, which was a much easier time than the men had. My friends took me out on Thursday night to celebrate my birthday a little late, so the celebration of me turning 19 wasn't a wash or anything. All in all, last week was a great week, full of great music, and a lot of great strengthening and starting of new friendships among my colleagues and fellow musicians in Westbrook Music Building. The greatest part about this camp was definitely the privilege of working with some amazing faculty and my 3 awesome fellow counselors. (:
BY THE WAY, look out for this new group I'm going to be in around the Omaha and Lincoln area, folks! We're called Wind Armada, and were formed by my fellow counselor Andrew Janak, who is a killer saxophonist. It's going to be great, we're doing jazz/indie-ish music, and it'll be really freaking sweet.
As for how classes and things have been going, it's all fine, I just can't wait for July and a lighter workload, and Middle School Band Camp! I know that camp is exhausting and a lot of work, but it's really great seeing young kids so excited about music, and watching talent develop. (:
Song of the day: Tea for Two, the Anita O'day version. This is from that Jazz Video I was watching, and I want to do a transcription of it. Her version is seriously SICK. You don't have to like jazz to love this. Promise. It's also on Spotify!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTk0pk6cFhE
Cheers,
Gilmore
Thursday, June 7, 2012
C'est la vie.
Hey there, friend;
Well, a good starting point would probably be the fact that I am no longer in Columbus for the summer. That's right folks, I'm back in Lincoln-land. My time at home was very refreshing and was a much-needed break, and I'm raring to put my nose back to the grindstone. Or at least, I keep telling myself that.
Some answers to a few FAQs I've been getting lately:
Q: Where are you living?
Q: Where are you living?
A: Well, I'm not going to disclose the EXACT details on the internet, thank you very much, but, I'm in an apartment for just the summer. I'm living with a friend and her two roommates, and I'm taking someone's lease for June-July so I can have a place to live during summer school. I'm moving back to campus with a good friend of mine from high school come fall.
Q: When did you move back to Lincoln?
A: Friday, June 1st.
Q: What classes are you taking?
A: Comm 109 and Food Science (online) during the merry month of June, and Philosophy 106 during July. This is to fill my ACE requirements that aren't being covered by my majors.
For all the people not familiar with UNL lingo:
Comm 109- A speech class. I apparently need to this to fill some sort of requirement, despite my 4 years of speech team experience in high school. Well, technically, it's "communications," not speech, but whatever.
For all the people not familiar with UNL lingo:
Comm 109- A speech class. I apparently need to this to fill some sort of requirement, despite my 4 years of speech team experience in high school. Well, technically, it's "communications," not speech, but whatever.
Food Science- A science class. It's pretty easy since I've been pretty good about doing all the work when I can. My first test for this 'un is on Wednesday.
Philosophy 106- Current issues Philosophy. It only meets 2 nights per week in July, but that means only 8 classes until the final. I'm excited for it regardless, I'm taking it with my roommate.
ACE requirement- Known everywhere else in the whole entire world except UNL as "Gen-eds."
Q: Are you working/Do you have a job this summer?
A: Yes and no. I unfortunately do not have a steady part-time job for the summer (which is looking like it's a good thing since my workload is surprisingly copious), BUT, I was hired to work for the UNL High School Jazz Camp (position and actual work I'll be doing unknown) as the only female counselor, and the UNL Middle School Band Camp (on saxophone). They're both about a week in duration and they both agreed to work around my classes, so I'm super excited for them! As Music Education/Composition, I'm hoping grad schools, etc., will eat this resumé booster right up... Plus, I'm super excited to work with these kids, AND I get paid. It'll be glorious, I hope.
ALSO, I am tutoring people over the summer. I have a job tutoring a girl in Norfolk in ACT English and Reading, and I'm doing things like giving music lessons, tutoring, etc., throughout the summer for those who want them. Especially ACT stuff and lessons. Sorry for the shameless plug.
ALSO, I am tutoring people over the summer. I have a job tutoring a girl in Norfolk in ACT English and Reading, and I'm doing things like giving music lessons, tutoring, etc., throughout the summer for those who want them. Especially ACT stuff and lessons. Sorry for the shameless plug.
As for how I'm enjoying the new apartment, it's fine. It's kind of an adjustment not having my mom make me delicious food and having to fend for myself as far as cooking goes. Don't worry, it isn't like I'm sitting here starving or anything. No child of Joy Gilmore has an inability to cook for themselves, rest assured. I have a huge bathroom all to myself, and a lot of closet space. If I could change anything about my bedroom, I'd have a larger desk. It's only 2 months though, so I'll be ok. HOWEVER, it seems that some boys upstairs have (hopefully HAD after today) bedbugs, so they kicked us out for 2 hours (luckily the 2 hours that I happen to be in class so it was no big deal), but it was still very annoying that they were knocking at our front door whilst I was in the shower.
As for classes, those are fine too. It's a lot of busy work but nothing super mentally taxing. I'm slowly getting into a composing schedule again. I'm also trying to work in a work out schedule (see what I did there?), and hope that motivation will come once I'm truly settled in here. There's still some unpacking that needs to be done.
ALSO, I plan on going home not this weekend, but the next. I probably would have gone back to Columbus this weekend, but I was hired to play piano for a wedding in Omaha on Saturday, so I can't really justify the trip.
I guess I kind of miss being at home, I mean, it IS summer and all, but for some reason, I am very unproductive at my house. Or in Columbus. I mean, it isn't like there's a whole bunch to do there, but I just get lazy when I go home. Hopefully these classes will give me a routine so I can kick things like composing and working out and being a productive member of society in the butt. That is, if I can get un-addicted to this new TV show my roommate got me addicted to within 3 days of moving in.
I have decided that I don't mind cooking for myself, but... I HATE WASHING MY POTS AND PANS AND DISHES. Cleaning up after myself, after all these years, still remains my least favorite activity. Oh well.
Song of the day in honor of the brand new blog layout/title:
Hallelujah. Originally written by Leonard Cohen, but this is the Jeff Buckley version. A very powerful song, with some of my most favorite lyrics of all-time ever. Which is exhibited by some of them making the new title of this here blog.
Hallelujah. Originally written by Leonard Cohen, but this is the Jeff Buckley version. A very powerful song, with some of my most favorite lyrics of all-time ever. Which is exhibited by some of them making the new title of this here blog.
Cheers,
Gilmore
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