Nathan Hubbard/journal 2003

Skeleton Key Orchestra recording may-july 2003

The pre-production for this recording started in the early part of 2003 with rehearsals/improv workshops held fairly regularly at the Space. It usually worked out to two or three people playing and then talking afterwards. The most regular people to attend were Al Scholl, Isaac Tubb, Steve Vertigan and a few others. I had slowly been accumulating all the equipment I needed to make this recording happen, and I started recording in March, mostly small things, sometimes demos. The first recording was at DHCC and was a improv quartet for the beginning of Don't Look (which didn't turn out to well) and the double rhythm-section groove section of A Murder Of Crows. We also recorded the electronics section of AMOC at the Space a few weeks later. In addition to the rehearsals and recordings, we had several SKO gigs and I started the "splinter groups" project, forming smaller groups based off different sections of the large group and setting up performances for these ensembles. I decided to split the recording into two parts, the medium size pieces in one session and the large pieces at a later date. Most of these pieces were to be used for the SKO CD and a few were to be recorded for the san diego cycle recording. I made final decisions on arrangements and ensembles for the medium size pieces, sent out a million emails figuring out schedules, found a horn player, never got ahold of the second cello player (he did walk past the room we were rehearsing in - story for another day), reorchestrated Ty Constants percussion parts, found a harp player and copied parts. We had one rehearsal and then a gig at Dizzy's the night before the recording. The gig went amazingly smooth for what i was trying to do and considering there was a different line-up for each piece. The recording session went fairly smoothly (i was conducting, playing and engineering) with a few temper tantrums and missing trombone players along the way. We did around three takes of each piece, fixing small problems and adjusting mics as we went. Here is the schedule - 10:00am- San Dieguito River, 11:00am- Sand, Wind and the Vast Pacific Ocean, 11:45am- Making My Way Thru It/Waiting In Vain, 12:30pm- Sleeping Against Other Warnings (first section), 1:15pm- Next Love, 2:00pm- Is That You (Earl)? After the session I packed up, dropped off all the equipment I had borrowed from various people, picked up Curtis Glatter, drove home and crashed. We left the next morning with Jason Robinson for the Big Sur Experimental Music Festival.

NMH, Damon Holzborn, Darren Evans, Stephanie Robinson

NMH conducts A Murder Of Crows

After my truck breaking down on the way back from Big Sur, i got home and got down to work. I had two and a half weeks to finish inking the big scores, copy parts and get everything else together. Started pulling all day sessions of writing and copying - once a section of score was done i'd start on the parts. Listening to a lot of System Of A Down. Decided to do a weekend of recording, two days, almost everybody could make it. We would record at DHCC, a warehouse in San Marcos. The place is big enough for everybody (see above right), we'll make the lunch room the control room (see above left), and there is a soda fountain and popcorn machine plus a large cow head on the wall. Making a million phone calls/emails, changing schedules, got Eric Sbar and Harris Eisenstadt to come down from LA for the session. No percussionists. Found the solution in Jon Szanto, who had shown up at the last SKO gig to listen, sent me a very nice email. Funny, i would have never thought he would be interested in playing my music. So Jon came in to play the mallet parts, and then Jon, Curtis Glatter, Andy Burton, Marcos Fernandes and myself ended up overdubbing quite a bit of stuff later. Set up brass, woodwind and string rehearsals plus one rehearsal with everybody. A couple last minute flakes. Borrowed a marimba from Danlee, brought my kit, congas, vibes + full recording rig. Trying to find time to build a few more dopplerophones, we ended up with six. Got my brother and uncle to move my prepared piano to the warehouse for Steph and Scott to record with. Checking my sanity. Driving around borrowing equipment, mics, music stands and chairs. Set up most of the stuff friday afternoon, I did all the engineering, set up the mics, ran cables etc. Darren Evans came in to (save my ass) watch levels and press record. He also ended up playing percussion on a few things. Here is the recording schedule - Saturday June 14th - a murder of crows (section 1 and 4), sleeping against other warnings (sections 2 and 3), lunch, east on 53rd street (opening section recorded outside), don't look says the crow (ending section recorded outside). Sunday June 15th - don't look says the crow (section 3 and 4), raincastle (section 2 and 3). A totally insane recording session, we had electronics and Szanto on Saturday, Angela and Harris on Sunday, Lee made popcorn, Marcos and my brother took pictures on saturday, Kelly took pictures on sunday.

Earl Howard Thursday April 17th 2003

pre concert lecture
7:00
mandeville recital hall
processing - taking peoples sound
play the music - it's a lot of fun
processing - the traces of the music
decide - well, i wanted to go on
- ah, lets play with this
alternatives that they didn't think of
the confined of what you're going to do
seen thru the eyes of someone else
another level of interaction
they get to discover it
Anthony - certain predictable outcomes?
they do certain things - logical things
i've prepared
processes that are made for specific contexts
fixed. its not
take that into account - what its going to sound like
its going to determine what I'm going to do next
they don't know they're open, but they are
clouds of sound - those things can be generated
this doesn't exist
Ann - harmony
you're just a little part of the machine
can't make motifs - its made out of blocks
that's all right - i'll drive it into the ground
submerged by a flood of something else
stories or not
don't want to make a mistake
the difference between the beginning and the end
contrast and blend with the instruments
geometric constructs
- from one harmonic construct to the next
if you set up a field of sound
hopefully it varies
there is no keys - thank you, that's good
i don't need to constituent harmonics
fields of sounds (linear processes)
it was gorgeous
its really old
spectrums - to keep them so its not always a bed of sound
i should be more precise
what i mean

sound that shifts in context all the time