Farmers Market

My brothers and I played at the farmers market the other day. It was a fun and exhausting four hour gig. The nice thing about playing at the farmers market is you get a huge basket of goodies collected from all the vendors.  We ended up being joined for a few sets by Frets, a ukelele player.

Onwards!!

So it has been a while since I have written on this blog and I really need to give a bit of an update on my life.

Travel
I got back from New Zealand on March 27th after an exhausting flight home.  It took 48 hours but it felt like a week.
College
I have been working on raising money for college.
I am deferring my acceptance to Berklee for a year and looking at other college options.  I am very interested in Hampshire college.
Work
I have a job...working with the Bixby chocolate company!  Making (and eating) chocolate all day long sure isn't the worst job I've had.  It is a nice five mile bike ride to work.
Teaching
I am teaching fiddle accompaniment on the piano to one adult student and beginner sight reading and chord theory to a younger student.
Performing
My brothers and I are playing at the Farmers Market this Friday!
Ultimate Frisbee
Been playing some hard disc four days a week and loving it!

Best,
Clayton

Accepted to Berklee!

Hey all,

I have been accepted to Berklee School of Music in Boston!  I had to wait an extra week to find out due to being at a music festival with no internet access.  I managed to survive the festival even knowing that the email was just sitting in my inbox but the night after we left the festival all my dreams were about opening my email account and I sat bolt upright that morning with an intense mixture of excitement and dread, itching to make use of the Library's internet.

Unfortunately, although being accepted has taken a certain amount of apprehension off my shoulders actually being able to attend the college depends on the amount of scholarship the state awards me and likely how much debt I am willing to go into for the sake of this school.  I am honestly not sure what the answer to that is.  I truly want to go to this school but taking out massive loans is not a direction I want to go with my life.

Bikin' in New Zealand

Hey!

I have been in New Zealand for the past two weeks.  My friend J'rae and I have been biking down the North Island from Auckland through numerous mountains and valleys and are nearly in Wellington where we will be working on a farm for a couple weeks before heading to bike around the South Island.  We have met lots of amazing people, explored some caves, hiked some volcanoes, bummed in McDonalds for their free Wifi, and are looking forward to many more adventures in the next 3 months.

We have lots of photos up on the internet!
http://barefootbellestudio.smugmug.com/Other/NEW-ZEALAND/

Cheers!
Clayton

P.S.  I have been rocking out on the Mandolin which I brought on this trip.  I am so glad to have a musical outlet to vent some creative energies and I am actually getting better at it.  Miss the piano!!

Film Scoring Course: Week 12

And this week ends the film scoring course with Beklee.  What a great experience it has been.  Now I must cross my fingers and hope that the College accepts me and gives me lots and lots of scholarship!  Yay for big dreams and no money!

This week's assignment was to compile the music we composed during the course into a 3 minute demo track...so here it is!

Film Scoring course: Weeks 10 and 11

Here we go! The last scoring assignments of the course.

Served up today we have a delightful mix of Comedy and Fantasy
Week 10: We scored a comedic scene from the movie Raising Helen.
Week 11: Magic and Fantasy!  I was very much looking forwards to this one.  Unfortunately the scene wasn't very magical or exciting but it was still fun to score.  The scene was from Lady in the Water.

Piano and Poetry

Last night I collaborated with the wonderful poet, Elizabeth Garber, improvising on the piano as she read her poetry.  We organized the event as a fundraiser for Mary Weaver's children's theater.  I have acted at the Playhouse for many years and was happy to have a chance to support her.

The collaborative experience was quite successful.  I have never played so well, the poetry inspired melodies streaming from my fingertips like rain in a summer downpour.  I was aware of every note, my brain somehow working faster than usual, allowing me to place each finger exactly where I wanted it with the perfect touch.  What causes this inspiration?  It is not something I can force.  When I push record my mindset shifts and mistakes work their way into my fingers, my mind clogs up with trying to play well.  I wonder if it is something you could master through meditation; easing into the right mindset with breath and awareness.... I'm going to go try that right now.... Hm, interesting.  I had some success however I shall need to try a few more times to make sure that I don't just happen to be in the right space already.

A big factor is change.  If I play on a new piano or in a different setting I am usually filled with inspiration.  If I stop playing for a while and then start again I feel like I have improved as a musician.  When I was in Ecuador and could only infrequently touch a piano I played like I never had before. 

The other big factor is, I believe a large reason for my attraction to film scoring.  My best pieces come out when meshed with a story, either in my head, on the screen, or in a poem.  Still one of my best musical experiences was at the teen meditation retreat; improvising on my keyboard as a young film director enthusiastically narrated a cinematic tale while a crowd of onlookers added in details and cheered us on.

I have more videos from the Poetry event on You Tube which you can find if you follow this here link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcjQPd87YMg&feature=plcp

Best,
Clayton