A synthesized synthesizer

Some Google Doodles are better than others, but today’s is my favorite so far. It is a synthesizer in honor of what would have been Robert Moog‘s 78th birthday (he died in 2005). I’m sure it’s quite simplified in comparison with real synthesizers (doesn’t that sound a bit like an oxymoron?) today, but it’s certainly good enough to have fun playing around.

An article at the Christian Science Monitor explains how to play the Moog Doodle. I was very frustrated when I tried to play it earlier in the day, on a computer where I use Internet Explorer as my browser. I don’t know if the problem was IE, or the settings on my computer, but I couldn’t play a single note. All that happened when I clicked anywhere on the graphic was that it performed a search on “Bob Moog.”

Now I am using Firefox, and it works just fine. (It did take me a few moments to find the link to do the search on Bob Moog, which is to the right of the picture of the synthesizer.) Using the computer keyboard, rather than using the mouse to click on the synthesizer keyboard, makes it possible to play the notes more quickly. But it does require remembering what letters and numbers play what – or (as I do) just playing notes kind of at random.

It’s been a very long time (almost forty years) since I played around with a synthesizer. One of the choices in music class in sixth or seventh grade (I forget which) was a brief course in electronic music. We learned how the synthesizer worked, and got to try using it. I wasn’t interested enough in the subject to try to really understand what I was doing, but I liked being able to produce weird electronic noises.

Today I have a slightly better understanding of what the oscillator controls, filters, and envelope controls do. But I still am more inclined to just play around and enjoy the strange sounds I can make than try to methodically produce any particular kind of sound. If I had lots of time on my hands, maybe I’d try out some of the examples given in the CSM article.

But at heart I like words even better than music. So instead I’m writing a blog post.

Awake, my soul

There are many things I like about Easter, but one of the best has to be the glorious music. When I was little, the older children’s choir at our church always sang “In Joseph’s Lovely Garden,” and I always found both the music and words very moving. (Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough for that choir, the music program had changed and that choir no longer existed, so I never got to sing it.)

Once I was old enough to join the adult choir, I got to sing the Hallelujah Chorus for Easter. As the lone high schooler in the group, I struggled to learn the alto part while the adults easily sang through it from many years of practice. Once I had learned it, though, I was disappointed to discover, over the next several years, that most churches do not perform it every Easter, as did the church I grew up in. (Adults in most church choirs seem to consider it too difficult, and I have to admit that in some cases they may be right.)

Even so, there are several wonderful Easter hymns to sing. There are “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” and “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today,” two hymns by Charles Wesley that are so similar that unless I have a hymnal in front of me I tend to intermix the words and music of both hymns. I never heard “Low in the Grave He Lay” until I was a teenager at a fundamentalist church, and I have to admit that it has never become one of my favorites, but it provides an effective contrast between the disciples’ grief, and the joy of the resurrection, that few other hymns do.

Today, at the early service (I am reluctant to call anything at 7 AM a sunrise service) at the Methodist church, we finished with “Crown Him with Many Crowns.” Like the Hallelujah Chorus, it speaks more to me of Christ’s Lordship over all than specifically of the Resurrection, but if one is fit for Easter then certainly the other is also. What struck me as we sang it this morning, though, was the first half of the third line: “Awake, my soul, and sing.”

Music: Trans-Siberian Orchestra

I had never heard of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra until my husband mentioned, a few months ago, how much he would like to go to one of their concerts. When I found out that they would be performing in our area, and that my company offered a discount on the tickets, I made arrangements for Jon and me to attend.

When I read that their style combines elements as disparate as classical music (which I like) and heavy metal (which I dislike), I wasn’t sure how well I would like it. Someone told me that the mix leans more toward classical than heavy metal, which sounded promising.

Yesterday evening we went to the group’s production of “Beethoven’s Last Night“. I don’t know enough about rock music to say what parts of it were heavy metal, but classical was definitely not the dominant style. Some of the earlier numbers had quite a bit of classical sound, but as the concert progressed there seemed to be less and less. (And the encore numbers, presumably chosen to best exhibit the band’s virtuosity, were all rock.)

From what I read today, the band’s style would be considered progressive metal (which according to wikipedia is a subgenre of heavy metal), and their productions are rock operas. What I can say from my own experience last night is that it is way too loud for my taste. Even classical music isn’t appealing to me if the decibel level is too high.

Playing with food

Along with keeping up with major news stories, I like checking out the “weird news” category. Today one of the stories that caught my eye was about two Chinese brothers who make musical instruments out of vegetables.

Intrigued, I did a search to see what else – if anything – I could find on the topic. Somewhat to my surprise, what those brothers do is not as unique as one might think. There is a Vegetable Orchestra in Vienna. According to their website they are the only vegetable orchestra, but the World Carrot Museum website provides links to others.

They also provide instructions on how to make a carrot kazoo. And if you don’t want to limit yourself to carrots, here is a site that tells how to make some other vegetable instruments.

Music: Old-time music

Until this evening, I had no idea that “old-time music” was a distinct style of music. I really didn’t know what label to give the music I listened to while eating supper this evening. But when I did a Google search on it, I quickly found it described as old-time — or even “old-timey.”

There’s an old-time music jam session every Monday evening at the local Pizza Ranch. Since two of our friends are among the musicians who sometimes play there, once in a while we go there to listen – and maybe eat some pizza.

One of our friends plays a hammered dulcimer, an instrument I had never heard of before. This evening I sat near someone else also playing a hammered dulcimer, and noticed the name Songbird on his instrument. My Google search also revealed that Songbird hammered dulcimers are made right here in Muscatine!

As another friend (she is one of the organists at church) whom we were sitting with  commented, several of the songs seem very familiar, even if we had no idea what they were called. One of the few that I might be able to name (if my memory were being cooperative) is “Turkey in the Straw” (I overheard one of the musicians say the name just before they started playing.)

I don’t know any of the other titles, but it’s all fun music to listen to. (At least I think so, though I also enjoy Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi, and I know there are some people who would consider them boring.) It’s so upbeat and lively — even if it does get stuck in my head for the next few hours.

At one point, one of the fiddle players took a break from playing, and she and the man with her actually started dancing in the open area near the cash register. My parents used to go square dancing regularly, and while the extent of my knowledge of square dancing is from one family night at my son’s elementary school a few years ago, I’m guessing that’s the sort of dancing they were doing.

I’m sure there are lots of places you can listen to live music while you eat. But I don’t know too many I’d enjoy as much as listening to old-time music at Pizza Ranch.

Ditch the workout?

This is the seventh consecutive Saturday I have gone to the Y to work out, but today I didn’t start with the elliptical machine. When I made up my mind on my birthday (seven weeks ago) to work out regularly, I had missed the deadline to sign up for the current session of classes at the Y. I wanted to be sure that this time (sessions start Monday) I found a class to join.

I’ve always found it works better to have someone else to exercise with. Besides having someone to talk to (before and after exercise if not during), I have a much stronger motivation to show up because I know someone else is expecting me. When I was younger I ran regularly with a few other people, but I kept getting shin splints and having to take a break from running while my legs got better. I decided running was not the ideal exercise.

I like walking, and for a long time have wished for someone to walk with regularly. (My husband does not like walking for exercise; he much prefers racquetball, which I tried to learn but did not really care for.) For a while there was a group of women, from the church I was attending, who would walk together at the park (in warm weather) or at the mall (in cold weather). But too often no one would show up besides me.

I walk every day with my dog, but she is a far from ideal companion. She is totally unresponsive to my attempts at conversation, and she is constantly wanting to stop and sniff at something. Plus she poops in people’s yards, requiring me to stop and collect her poop into a bag to take home. Walking with a bag of poop is not my preferred way to get exercise.

The Y offers a variety of classes, but most of them are during times that do not fit in my schedule. After looking through all the possibilities (which were not very many once I ruled out anything before 6 PM), I decided Zumba looked like the best one to try. I had no idea what Zumba was, but the fact that the Saturday morning class was for the whole family seemed promising.

Music: Pilgrims’ Hymn

This evening the community choir I sing in presented a concert of American music, mostly from the time of the Civil War. (I think this was at least in part related to the Sesquicentennial.) My favorite piece from the concert, however, is “Pilgrims’ Hymn” by Stephen Paulus.

The text by Michael Dennis Browne (adapted from a prayer of the Russian Orthodox church, according to rehearsal notes by the composer) fits perfectly with the music by Paulus. Every time we rehearsed it, I felt moved by the fusion of words and music, and absorbed as much by the prayer as the notes and rhythms.

A recording played on computer speakers hardly does justice to the beauty of the piece, but you can get an idea of it from this performance at the Saint Paul Seminary Chapel by Kantorei, an acapella chamber choir in Minnesota.

Music: Go Fish

About ten years ago, some friends of ours in Michigan introduced us to the music of Go Fish. The group quickly became a favorite with our family, especially my husband and older son. I’ve always preferred instrumental music to vocal, and I have more trouble appreciating the close harmonies commonly used by acapella groups, but I certainly preferred Go Fish to some other contemporary Christian groups.

A few years ago, my husband was thrilled to find out that Go Fish was performing in the Quad Cities, and we purchased tickets for him and our older son to go to the concert. They returned with a pile of CDs they had purchased and the surprising news that Go Fish now creates music primarily for children. I would have said exclusively, but while it is aimed at children it is also intended to be enjoyed by the children’s parents. As they put it, it’s “great music for kids that won’t drive parents bonkers.”

When we found out they were giving a concert in Muscatine, naturally we wanted tickets. As the tickets were free, that was even more of an incentive. Of course, when tickets are free, a concert like that is quickly “sold out” (we got three of the last seven tickets). We made a point to arrive half an hour early for the concert yesterday, and the line of people waiting to get in already stretched half a block.

I had expected local families to come with their children, and perhaps groups from local churches. I hadn’t realized just how many groups would drive from an hour or two away with a large group of children. I’m sure well over half the audience was children, many of them with name tags hanging on a string around their necks to help the adult leaders keep track of them all.

Later, I found a description of their concerts at ChristianMusic.com, explaining that “For children, Go Fish may be their first real concert experience, complete with lights, backdrops and fog machines.” Hmm, I never knew that real concerts required fog machines. (My first impression when I saw the strange white mist coming up from one machine was that it had overheated or otherwise malfunctioned.) My idea of a “real concert” has more to do with an orchestra conductor wielding a baton (and usually wearing a tux, but I would consider that optional).

I was disappointed to see that the group was not performing a capella. They had a drummer (whose drum set must be illuminated from inside – it would occasionally light up in different colors) and two guys playing electric guitar. I have nothing against instruments – as I said above, I prefer instrumental music – but somehow drums and electric guitars always end up being too loud. I could barely make out more than a few of the words on most of the songs.

But the kids were clearly having a great time. Many of them knew the songs, probably from having them played over and over in the CD player in their parents’ cars. (One of the Go Fish guys explained that is one big reason they make these albums, since parents are going to have to have some kind of music for the kids, and so much of the kids’ music is so annoying to the parents.) They sang along, did motions to the songs, and went nuts at some of the extra special effects.

I was curious, when one of the Go Fish guys gave a brief salvation message, whether it was aimed more toward the kids or their parents. As brief as he was, I suspect he had lost a lot of the kids’ attention by the time he got to that point (after telling the parents a bit about why they do what they do). But it was very clear that this is definitely a ministry to them, to reach children with the truth of the Gospel. They emphasized the importance of the Bible, to the point of saying at one point that if there was one song that kids were going to learn the lyrics of, they wanted it to be the one that simply lists the names of all the books of the Bible.

If you have kids, check out the group’s music for children. They also have put out some VBS curricula, which I suspect have much more “singable” songs than a lot of VBS programs I’ve been involved in. While I can’t say I really enjoyed the concert yesterday, I think the albums they have put out are good, and their message is certainly good.

I have to wonder, though – was I the only one in the audience who had to keep shutting my eyes when one of the spotlights (there were four of these which frequently changed color, and instead of being trained on the singers were constantly moving around the room) was aimed right at me?

Experimental musician

I don’t like to go three days without writing a blog post, but I also see no point in blogging for the sake of blogging, so I have to find something that interests me enough to want to write about it. Fortunately the Life & Culture section of WSJ.com is just the place to find such things.

Just take a look at the photograph at the top of this story about musician Sxip Shirey, and you’ll see why the headline calls him a “mad scientist.” (He does have a background in physics, by the way.) I am intrigued as much by his use of brightly colored toys as by the fact that he uses them to make music, conglomerating them into contraptions that allow him to be a one-man band.

I haven’t listened to his YouTube channel yet (I’ll try that tomorrow on a faster computer), but from what I’ve read I expect I’ll enjoy it. Not the same way I enjoy Bach’s Air on the G String or Toccata and Fugue, or singing Handel’s Messiah or Mozart’s Coronation Mass. But I do have fun playing around with toy instruments (years ago, I picked up a Fisher Price Crazy Combo Horn Set at a yard sale, which I think I had as much fun playing as my son did). And Sxip can do real music with his toys.

In fact, it makes me wonder what I could do with a bunch of toys. (I haven’t got the money for yuppie toy shops, but this time of year there are some great yard sales…) But as I’m much better at imagining how things might work together than actually making them work, I’ll probably stick to enjoying Mr. Shirey’s unique musical style.

Games: Dance on Broadway

I’ve been thinking for a while about getting a Wii dance game, to have some variety of games that give me a chance to get somewhat active even if I don’t want to really tire myself out. But every one of them has some negatives mentioned in reviews, and most of them cost more than I wanted to spend when I wasn’t sure I would really like it. I considered renting one from Family Video, until I found out how much that cost.

I finally picked Dance on Broadway, partly because it only cost $20, and because I’m actually familiar with some of the songs:

“Aquarius” (Hair)

“My Favorite Things” (The Sound of Music)

“Little Shop of Horrors Theme” (Little Shop of Horrors)

“Fame” (Fame)

Al and I tried it out tonight, and found it somewhat challenging to follow the moves, but still enjoyable. (Neither of us is particularly coordinated – we tried Dance Dance Revolution when we bought it for Zach on the PS2, and while he quickly excelled at it, we couldn’t even get through the tutorial.) With each attempt we improved, but I doubt we’ll reach the point that it’s too easy for us anytime soon.

One thing I don’t like is that the perspective doesn’t stay the same throughout a song. I’m trying to follow the motions of one of the dancers (so far we have stuck to easy songs that had all dancers doing the same motions), and then the “camera” zooms out so that the dancer is further away and not at the same angle. But I suppose in time I’ll become familiar with the different moves (there are only so many different kinds of moves, and a little icon near the bottom of the screen shows what move is coming next), and that won’t be a problem.

I can’t say it was much of a workout, but then we did pick only songs with the lowest level of both difficulty and effort required. By the time I feel ready to try “My Favorite Things” I would guess I’ll be getting a little more of a workout. (Instead, I switched to Wii Sports and played four matches of tennis, of which I only managed to win one.)

But who knows? Perhaps in time I’ll actually start to feel just a little bit graceful.