"geeking out" in concert

Hi, Gang!  Returned but a few short hours ago from the Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds symphonic concert, which kicked off a world tour in Minneapolis last night at the Orpheum.  For those of you who have read my fuller bio on the Cantus website, you may not be surprised that I am a bit of a gamer, and a huge fan of Final Fantasy soundtrack composer Nobuo Uematsu.

While the majority of the music on these epic games has been synth-oriented, the more recent Final Fantasy soundtracks have included full orchestral and choral arrangements that rival Orff, Liszt, Tchaikovsky, and other classical greats.  As a genre, the game soundtrack has certainly gained more respect over the past few years, graduating from the chintzy 8-bit days of Atari and Nintendo.  Game soundtracks are now being recorded by groups like the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and London Symphony.  The gaming public demands sound design comparable to a Hollywood picture, and Uematsu has been known for composing masterful songs and themes for twenty five years.

At home, we know a lot of this music by heart because my collection of game soundtracks actually far exceeds my collection of games--there are often multiple albums released with arrangements varying from fully orchestral to celtic-inspired, pop, and solo piano versions, and I have acquired quite a few of them.  

The show

I was happy to run into some Cantus fans in the audience, beginning not more than three minutes after I walked into the theater lobby!  Met four students over the course of the evening that we had taught: one from Iowa State glee club, and three from Sartell and Como Park, where Cantus has worked as clinicians and artists-in-residence.  (I think the kids were very surprised to see me as excited about the show as they were).  

The orchestra featured a lot of players I recognized from gigs around town, including a bunch of SPCO members.  Macalester College provided the chorus, and at one point some colleagues of mine got up on stage to perform a tongue-in-cheek rendition of "Maria and Draco" an opera that takes place in one of the games.  Of course I am completely jealous--not begrudging anyone,  I just wish I could have found out who was contracting the darn show!  A local classical guitarist made a technically sound and very musical appearance on two pieces.  

Here's some footage from the show provided by another fan from last night's show:

 

It really was a festive atmosphere, with fans young and old (like me) cheering throughout the show.  New arrangements of some old favorites were fantastic, and the stage-mounted video screen displayed cut-scenes and gameplay throughout, often with comedic or heartfelt effect.

One down-side to the show, however, was the decision to blast the band through speakers on each side of the stage.  It made it seem as though the music was piped in, rather than being performed right there on stage.  It was disappointing to have the acoustic sound of players obliterated from only ten feet away.  Also, it highlighted a few loose seams in under-rehearsed parts (you can't get anything past the gamers--they know every note).  The concert would have been a better fit at Orchestra Hall, though a similar concert was cancelled there a couple of years ago because of lack of ticket sales.  The Orpheum's size and advertising push did help in that regard, even if the acoustics there are poorer.  the tour will soon be visiting the Baltimore and Dallas Symphonies, so I imagine the aural experience will be nicer at those venues. 

After the show

Uematsu made a few appearances on stage during the show (he's a very funny guy), and sat in the audience watching throughout.  After the show (because I had splurged on the good tickets!), we got to visit with both composer Uematsu and conductor Arnie Roth backstage.  The receiving line was long, but eventually we talked with them for a few minutes.

We got autographs and a picture, and passed on some Cantus CDs to them as gifts, expressing a wish that if Nobuo-San ever wants to write music for men's voices, that he please consider Cantus!   Both men were gracious, and patient sitting for photographs with all the fans coming through the line--a few hundred people for sure.  Audience members ask for Cantus autographs after shows pretty often, but it was neat to be seeking one myself.  

Hopefully the continuing tour of Distant Worlds will pick up steam (they actually encouraged recording and non-flash photography during the show--maybe we should take a clue here...), and bring some kids over who wouldn't normally attend an orchestral concert, and vice versa--bring a few classical concert-goers over to the genre of video game music.  

Bad Babbitt

OK. This youtube video is sick. It has great dancing, great modern classical music, and a great jazz combo. What more can one ask for within the span of about a minute and a half?

Bad Plus' arrangement of Semi -Simple Variations by Milton Babbitt

Three P's

Wow, two posts in one night, watch out.

I thought I would upload a few of my favorite photos from the last two tours. I call this post the Three P's (and yes, I know that this is technically an incorrect use of an apostrophe. Call it, "folksy.")

The first P stands for Pretzels. I love soft pretzels and in Amherst, MA I had the biggest soft pretzel ever. It was covered with melted, smoked cheddar cheese and served with spicy mustard. Mmmm.





The second P stands for Puppets (technically marionettes) . We stopped at a truck stop in Illinois that has this glass case full of dancing marionettes. The restaurant at the truck stop had amazing baked goods, including french pastries. I'm sure most truck drivers appreciate an eclair, Napoleon and a quick puppet show before hitting the road for another 15 hour shift. . .


The last but not least P stands for People. We've spent the last couple of days in Cedar Falls, IA. It's a cute, little river town that is also home to the University of Northern Iowa. The folks here have been very hospitable and we've had some great restaurant experiences. While in charming downtown Cedar Falls I happened upon a travel agency that bears my last name! I've never met anybody outside of my family with the last name, "Humble" so I was pretty excited!

We head home tomorrow to put together our collaboration with the James Sewell Ballet. Peace!

Aaron

Hello Everyone

Oh boy. I have never created a blog entry, so I hope this goes OK. Paul, one of our younger and more tech-savvy singers suggested we upload videos. I would have probably uploaded a video of the wall with just my ear and no sound. So for now, I'm sticking to basics.

Here is your introduction to, yours truly, Aaron Humble

1. General: Aaron David Humble, I'm a Tenor and I've sung with Cantus for Four Seasons

2. Past: I was born in Ravenna, Ohio and grew up in a tiny town called Diamond, OH. Actually, it was the township of Palmyra but out mailing address was Diamond. When I was in college my parents moved to Kent, Ohio. I usually just say Kent because some people actually know where Kent is--or at least that it exists. BUT, Dashon doesn't like it when I say Kent so now the truth is out--I'm from Palmyra/Diamond, Ohio.

3. I grew up in a house where music was part of life. Whether it was Peter, Paul and Mary on the radio in the car of singing hymns around the piano. I really started focusing on music in High School and, of course, in college. I attended Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois for undergraduate and continued on at Indiana University where I earned my Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees. I have majors in vocal performance and literature and minors in theater, musicology, and choral conducting (across all of my studies).

4. Cantus: I decided to audition for Cantus after seeing an audition notice. What I like the most about singing with Cantus is the high level of artistry. Peformers rarely have the opportunity to sing a program as many times are we do. Over this number of repetitions, we have the opportunity to refine the product over and over again. It's a really gratifying experience.

5. Personal: When I'm not busy with Cantus there are a variety of things I like to do. I pick up extra gigs here and there and study and prepare solo repertoire as well. I enjoy cooking, baking, film and movies and enjoying the Twin Cities. One thing that is very cool about Minneapolis is that there are lakes and of course a bunch of parks right in the city! I love enjoying all of the natural beauty Minnesota has to offer while also enjoying the great urban lifestyle Minneapolis has to offer. It's a great place to live.

Well that's more than you probably ever wanted to know about me. Now that I've cut my teeth on all of this blogging business, hopefully I can get back on here more regularly. Take care and thanks for reading!

Peace,

Aaron

Changing Spaces

We have ended our long New England tour successfully, and as usual, we have been met with unfailing kindness at every turn. We are so grateful to our fans and supporters, and will continue to bring you the highest level of music that we can, as our way of saying thanks for believing in us.
This has been a very interesting tour in terms of singing in different spaces. As many of you may know, the physical setting in which a group sings brings all sorts of benefits and challenges. The greatest challenge of all is adapting to each new room! A marble cathedral obviously sounds different than a conference room with padded walls and carpet, but it even goes beyond that. The size and shape of the room, instrumentation, ambient noise, size of the stage, and number of people in attendance, among other things all affect the sound that the audience and performers hear. For example, we just performed at the Northeastern Music Educators’ National Conference at the Providence Convention Center. They had to pack about 1,000 (rather enthusiastic) fans into the Grand Ballroom, which was the widest space that we’ve performed in recent memory. There were three sections, one directly in front of the stage that was flanked by two sections that had to watch us on live telecast in the same room! And on the very same tour, we sang in an intimate recital hall built especially for chamber music and smaller recitals, which was great for hearing, but since we don’t get to sing in spaces like that often, we had to adjust for the new sounds of different musical lines, or even different voices that we don’t hear every concert.
So, how do we deal with the ever changing scenery? One of the most important things for us is having a flexible and adaptable plan for performance that we’re able to implement during the rehearsal before the show. On an average concert day, we will have a two hour rehearsal before each show to figure out all sorts of technical elements of the night’s show. The other purpose of the rehearsal is to listen to the sound of the hall as our voices (individually and collectively) figure out how to fit into the space. We’ll make sure that we listen from stage as well as a few guys individually in the hall (when they’re not singing an important part on stage, of course) just to get a sense of what an audience member would hear.
Some important things that we try to remember as we are figuring out the acoustic: we try to sing with how our body tells us, not necessarily what we hear. The spaces can give weird feedback, so it’s not always to our benefit to “give ourselves voice lessons” as we sing. If something is not going well, we also try to stop often so we are not tiring ourselves out with things that aren’t working. On the flip side, we also try not to stop too often for every little strange thing that we hear, it’s important for us to try to simulate the experience trying to sing through clicks in the hall, or funny noises from our own voices during the show, when we can’t stop!
Once we’ve gotten through all of that stuff for the rehearsal, we just try to be as flexible during the performance as possible. Until you start the concert, it’s not possible to know how the sound is affected by the number of people in the audience, what you might feel like under stage lights after an hour, or even how your voice responds to a triple thick strawberry milkshake right before you go on stage (well, I suppose there are some things you can guess at).
The trust that we cultivate, and the amount of time that we spend together gives us the ability to know a lot about the voices of the other eight guys in the arc. We’re very lucky to be able to spend this much time together, but the amount of listening and connecting can start immediately in any group of musicians, if you work at it.
If you have any questions about the way we work, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You’ll find our contact information at the “Connect” heading of our website.

Cantus at Trinity Wall Street

Hey everyone,

This should have been put up a while back, but here is a link to the Trinity Wall Street concert in NYC a couple of weeks ago. It's only an hour long show, but it still has the eclectic mix of our touring program, and all (or most) of your favorites on it! We had a great time in both the educational outreach prior as well as the actual concert. Enjoy!

Trinity Wall Street Concert

Why Music?

This speech, written for the incoming freshmen of the Boston Conservatory, explains clearly and vividly why music is so important to culture and to humanity. It is not just entertainment: It's a necessity. Thanks to my friend Katherine Griswold for posting this link on facebook. It reminded me of the reasons I continue to pursue what many people believe to be a "dying art".

Please read...you won't regret it.

Karl Paulnack's Speech to incoming freshmen