Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dum-diddly-dum

Well, I did a lot with music today. I recently got a new performance-quality keyboard, and while I"m still trying to figure everything out, I have managed to record bits and pieces of things.

What I've been working on most recently is a sort-of-a-kind-of-a-fugue, after listening to a bit of Bach. I figured out the left hand of the first part first, and now I'm polishing of the right hand for the same part. I just love fugues, really. They're the most thought-pleasing type of music for me. The way each bit fits together, how the base melody sews itself in....It just makes me happy. So that's how I'm going about composing this. I'm experimenting until I find something that makes me happy. Not the "proper" way, I suppose.

I really need a music theory class.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

And so it begins.

Hi there. I'm Gabe. This is where I plan to compile my various artsy-like thoughts. Everyday. For a good long while, if all goes according to plan. I've made this site using a few weird a/o bad puns. Woo! Allow me to explain:

The theme I have selected for the baseline of this thing is fish. More specifically, catfish. Even more specifically, walking catfish, which happen to be a pest in Florida (This also describes the URL. Catfish are the street-est of all fish. They literally walk down streets searching for water.). The taxonomic name of these fishies is Clarius batrachus. Hence, Clarius B. However, I also wanted to include some sort of theatre as well. So I chose a location of the theatre. Downstage. The end result is a blog title which sounds like one in a series of children's' books.

Clarius B. Downstage
Clarius B. In the Park
Clarius B. Goes to the Moon
Clarius B. Visits Ancient Greece
Clarius B. and the Carousel

And so on. Anywho, I should describe why I chose Clarius.

I recently had a dream involving hats, Mexicans, and catfish. I don't much remember the dream, other than that it was in Spanish, but I woke up thinking about catfish. And I remembered about that one species that can walk about to get to other ponds or bodies of water. So first I did some research, to find out the basic info. Then I epiphanized.

If we think metaphorically, what if we were catfish, and the ponds were the different moments and places in life? We hatch, and swim about in ignorance and bliss, not knowing that a world beyond this pond exists.And we grow up in that.
Then I suppose our schools could count as a pond. If you move, yet another. If you change, another. If you meet new people, another. And after you're done with that, you find a job.
Now, 'twould seem that many have the, quite logical, I might add, contentment from figuring out how to rule their own pond. It provides power, and good vibes, I guess. And honestly, some days I could go for that. Just knowing that you are awesome. The best, even. But anyways.
Once people find this pond, they stop their puddle-jumping. They stop exploring. There's where I run into trouble. For you see,
An artist is never content until they reach the ocean.

Now, interpret that as you may, but I believe that here the ocean is the concept of limitless possibilities, and of loss of control. You start having to actually work to make things happen because of you, rather than to you. And there is always the competition. The reasons to just keep swimming. But once you get to the ocean, you don't need to puddle-jump any farther. You have the whole world at your disposal, do with it what you may.



So there ya go. That's my concept. Now, I must include that this is nominally a school thing, but I'm gonna see if I can just enjoy it. If you've got any questions, let me know. I'll have an answer of some ilk.

-Gabe

P.S. Is the Blogger base in CA? The post time is listing it as such. Just checking. :P