new women's trio arrangement

I suppose I've never been a huge fan of women's trio literature. I was in a children's choir, so I've sung quite a few SSA pieces, but I love the fuller sound and increased chord options available with only one additional part. But some type of bug must have bitten me the other night, and thus I arranged Father in Heaven for SSA women's voices. I'm really happy with the result. Get the sheet music at http://gratemusic.com/songs/Father_in_Heaven.html

not dead

It has been quite the hectic few weeks, and I'm taking a slight pause on both this blog and the music websites in order to take care of some small administrative tasks. Like what, you ask?

• Submitting music to a particular publisher for wider distribution.
• Beginning my last semester of undergraduate classes before student teaching.
• Tangling in red tape while trying to apply to student teach.
• Fiddling around with the mandolin.
• Replacing my hard drive and trying to find all the information it contained in other, non-crashed places.
• Rubbing my wife's back while she prepares to write her honors thesis. Very important.
• Getting another job, this time at the library, where I will sit behind the circulation desk during hours when nobody comes to the library.
• Directing the Institute Choir in Stake Conference. By the way, I love them. They sang very well after a grand total of one hour of rehearsal on the song we performed.
• Preparing extra work for the time off I take in February for the Church Music Festival.
• Trying to organize time off in April to sing in Columbia.
• Organizing and hosting an invitational speech and debate tournament this weekend with 21 high schools currently registered.
• Reading and writing submissions for the writing contest held at my university.
• A secret project I cannot currently divulge, but which is very important.

So if you don't read much from me in the next few weeks, it is not for lack of noteworthy activity - it is for lack of time and energy to report.

noisebox

The site redesign is finally complete! I can't believe it! Check it out. http://gratemusic.com

Here is the new Noisebox:

Noisebox 15 December 2006 - Volume 1 Issue 18

New design, new carol

Sorry for the long delay in releasing new music. We have been quite busy on the technical end of things. Gratemusic.com has been completely redesigned for easier navigation and future growth. Have a look around and contact us with your feedback.

We proudly announce the release of a new Christmas carol, Peaceful the Night, available through our Christmas page. With lyrics by David Macfarlane and music for SATB voices by Nathan Howe, this carol addresses not only the nativity of Christ, but his role as our creator and redeemer as well as his second coming.

Grate Music, LLC
http://gratemusic.com
http://LDSmusic.us

fame and fortune

(By fame and fortune, I mean fortune in the sense of good things happening, not in the sense of money in pocket.) It was a good day Friday. I showed the new arrangement of Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains to my choral conducting professor, who is also the director of the Women's Glee Club at the University. He wanted to use it for his women's choir for a concert on December 3rd. Great!

Yes, great. But he wanted an SSAA arrangement with piano accompaniment. No problem. Finished it this morning. Well, actually, I worked from midnight to 5:30, then gave up and finished it at 10:00 after a class. Those easy little projects never are, are they? But I am thrilled that the Women's Glee Club is going to sing this piece, and the annual Christmas concert is a fairly big one. They also rebroadcast it closer to Christmas on KUNC, our local public radio station, where I do my internship. Yes, I'm living high on the hog in the lavish lifestyle of a choral composer. I think we may even move into a place with a bathtub and a dishwasher next year!

Don't take the last part of that last paragraph as whining. I love my life. I love doing what I do. Money means nothing. I just visited some friends whose new baby is having a bit of a rough start. I am reminded once again of the fragile nature of life and the blessing it is simply to breathe. If you are reading this and you are a religious type, a prayer for little Austin couldn't hurt.

noisebox

New noisebox. I am quite fond of the compound meters in this piece. The author of the text is actually related to David somehow, which is neat.

Vol. 1 Issue 16
Merry Christmas, Part 1

December is too late to start working on Christmas music for those who perform. Thus, we present today our Christmas page, an easy way to access all the Christmas music we will release in the coming weeks. We also proudly present our first offering of the Christmas season, Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains. This well-known text by John Menzies Macfarlane has been set to new music for SATB chorus by Nathan Howe. It features jubilant compound meters and a memorable melody. Access the sheet music and hear a MIDI demonstration through our Christmas page or our Choral page.


Grate Music, LLC
http://gratemusic.com
http://LDSmusic.us

a couple of very interesting pieces on the power of thought

From Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, these blog posts are definitely worth reading:

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2006/10/in_over_my_head.html

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2006/10/affirmations.html

nanowrimo

I started my novel today. By today, I mean this morning. I literally looked over at the clock and realized, "Oh. It's National Novel Writing Month. I guess I'd better write something." The working title is "Archie Frey and the Other People in my Inbox." It's stupid. I just need to make myself write it, because who knows when I'll ever write another novel? I'm up to 1,052 words. Goal is 50,000 by the end of November.

friendship

Recently, I have been thinking about the idea of friendship and how I want to develop it as an attribute in my life. I added as one of my 43 Things "Be a friend like the ones who have changed my life." Here are my thoughts on that:

I do not forward cheesy e-mails that talk about true friendship and threaten certain death if not sent on within ten minutes. I don’t do “just thinking of you, Friend” greeting cards. I want to be a friend of the caliber of those who have found me in my dark times and helped me identify the light I was seeking.

• I would be a friend like those I have had who made work a joy and sorrow a short affair.
  
• I would be a friend who understands that the welfare of a soul is worth far more than a few extra minutes of sleep or a few extra dollars in the bank.
  
• I would be a friend who does not change people, but liberates them to change themselves for the better.
  
• I would become a friend by accident to hundreds of people one by one – standing in line at the grocery store, waiting for a bus, browsing at the library.
  
• I would be a friend to those who blatantly disagree with me. I would be a friend to those who are too much like me. These may be the same.
  
• I would be a lifelong friend, even if not in the sense of face-to-face contact. I would be the friend that old friends could call after ten years of silence and pick up the conversation as if we had never parted.

This is the friendship I would develop as a portion of my character.

noisebox

Here is the latest Noisebox. I am quite excited about this recording. I did it several months ago, and it's nice to have occasion to post it.

Grate Music Noisebox
Volume 1, Issue 14
23 October, 2006: New MP3 for Emulation from Psalms of the 21st Century
_________________________________________________

We recently posted sheet music for Emulation by Nathan Howe, and even for accomplished pianists, it is difficult to get a realistic sense of the piece without hearing a choir sing it. To present it to the world, Nathan Howe has recorded Emulation with a choir composed of some of his closest friends - his alter egos. Head to the Recordings page to download and listen. Then feel free to Tell Us what you think.

a brief LDS music rant

The niche entertainment business geared toward Latter-day Saints is booming. I suppose I am part of that boom. A few big companies dominate the market - Excel Entertainment and Deseret Book (each with several subsidiaries) are the biggest for recorded music. In LDS sheet music, Jackman and Larice are big, and Deseret Book has a big segment of that market as well. Little, independent publishers have sprung up in LDS sheet music, like Sally DeFord (who offers her music for free download), Craig Petrie, Choir Works, and of course LDSmusic.us. I like many of the offerings of each source I have listed here. My problem comes when the desire for a popular style causes the music to slip into speculative doctrine, casual reference to Deity, or bad taste.

Casual Reference to Deity
Maybe I'm a stick in the mud, but I don't remember any stipulation in the scriptures where lowering the status of God or Jesus Christ is allowed for artistic purposes. Yet culturally we have become accustomed to songs referring to Deity as "you" instead of "Thee" or "Thou." I understand that it's harder to fit the formal references into the flow of a song. That is the necessary challenge of the skilled songwriter. Of course, many songs have been written that teach principles of truth without referring to God in the second person at all. I prefer that. It's easier. But when I do include a literal prayer, I make an effort to be formal in addressing Him.

Speculative Doctrine
This is going to make me unpopular. I don't like songs like the ever-popular "O Lord, My Redeemer" and "I Heard Him Come." Why not? They have nice tunes and nice messages. There is plenty to like about them. But I am uncomfortable inserting fictitious characters and situations into the scriptures. I am fine with expounding on the truths found in scripture and recounting the events and parables used therein, but I feel like some songs treat those stories as just stories, open to free and careless interpretation.

Of course, some songs take the speculation much farther, such as the show Saturday's Warrior. This includes some blatant doctrinal mistakes as well as sketchy speculations. For example, a concept of predestination is presented in which there is only one "right one" for a certain man or woman to marry, chosen before birth. This is clearly unsupported by scripture and modern revelation.

Bad Taste
Finally, this boom in the popularity of LDS media has brought with it some reeking examples of bad taste. Taking phrases from religious service and mocking them in song may entertain momentarily, but often crosses the line to mock the sacred. Consider the soundtrack to Sons of Provo, a movie about a fictitious LDS boy band. In one rap, the background singers shout repeatedly "Will all those in favor please make it manifest?" a la Eminem. Sure, it's for fun in a film parody of Mormon culture. But isn't the process of sustaining our leaders vitally important in a religious sense? If a teenager listens to the song only a few times (it only took once for it to get stuck in my head), will he think when he hears that phrase in Church about sustaining people who have been called of God, or will he smirk and remember the mocking song?

Another genre of bad taste which is currently popular is to take a hymn or Primary song and remix it in a modern style. Some of these are really good and tastefully done. Some of them cross the line. For example, one version of the Primary song "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" has been recorded in a sort of punk style with a grinding voice and driving guitars and percussion. To hear the name of the Savior and the Church as performed in this recording grates my nerves. The name of Christ is holy, and should not be yelled for entertainment purposes.

After saying all this, there is much of good in the LDS music world. I am just disappointed in some of the offerings of our "best and brightest" who know better and can do better in creating music of faith. The major LDS music companies should encourage this. We as consumers should encourage this. We are getting to the point where we as LDS consumers do not need to buy a CD or DVD just because it's made by members of the Church - many entertainment offerings by Latter-day Saints are now available. We can afford to use discretion and decide even within the so-called LDS music market what is appropriate and what is not, and when something is not, leave it alone.

my 43 things

Well, I've restarted my page on 43 Things. Hopefully with the whole world holding me accountable, I'll be pressured to overcome procrastination and reach some of my less immediate goals. If you have suggestions for what some of my 43 Things should be, e-mail me.

national novel writing month

I must say, I take on too many projects. This is an established truth. However, I am completely intrigued by National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWriMo, affectionately) which is November. The basic idea is that you write a novel of 50,000 words or more entirely in November. I am actually thinking about doing it. After seeing some things that get printed and sold as books these days, I'll bet I could spit out 50,000 words with some degree of coherence, even if most of my writing was done at 2:00 in the morning. Most of my writing on this blog is done at 2:00 in the morning, and it's completely coherent, right? Don't answer that.

Also, I think it would be good to have a similar event designed for musicians - say, a National Musical Writing Month, or a National Oratorio Writing Month, or a National Album Writing Month. Maybe I'll look into starting one of these after I finish my novel. And start it.

noisebox

We just sent out a new Noisebox. It represents hours of labor - it took ages to get Finale to do what I wanted with this piece. It was really a good learning experience. Anyway, check out the piece. I'm going to bed.

By the way, if you want to subscribe to the Noisebox, details are here.

Grate Music Noisebox
Volume 1, Issue 12
10 October, 2006: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
_________________________________________________

Sheet music for Nathan Howe's new choral arrangement of the beloved hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing is now available on gratemusic.com and LDSmusic.us. This arrangement is designed for more advanced choirs, and features optional solo sections for bass and soprano and an advanced piano or organ accompaniment. This is an updated version of an arrangement made in 2001 by Nathan Howe. Access it through our Choral Music page.

Sorry for the delay on this week's update - we have been ironing out a few technical difficulties and planning some excellent things for the coming months on gratemusic.com and LDSmusic.us. If you know of anybody who would want to know about our new music, feel free to forward this Noisebox.

the briefcase

I've been struggling the past few days to finish Miracle of Faith, a newly commissioned recording. In the process, I have had ample opportunity to explore the struggles associated with the use of older recording equipment. I am truly amazed at the quality of recordings made before the advent of virtually silent digital recording devices.

I have been using a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder - a very nice, fairly professional model at the time it was made. I have used this device several times, and I can always hear the hum of the motor in the background. Arrgh! So this time, I devised a plan.

The room in which I was recording did not afford the opportunity to set the recorder outside the door to minimize the noise, so I stuck the whole unit inside a leather briefcase I found at a thrift store. I pressed record, slammed the briefcase shut, and played my parts. It worked remarkably well, although it looked like I was smuggling a bomb or something - there were wires and cords sticking out three of the sides. Wearing the headphones attached to this contraption, I felt like someone in an old spy movie.