TuneBlog

Recital Tracks/Update/TuneBlog Gets Absorbed By A .com Alien

Dan DiPiero — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:47:44 +0000

My MFA Graduation Recital was on Saturday, and it went pretty well. Big thanks to all who came/watched/played, and also to all my CalArts peers who have been so phenomenal to work with these past two years.

For those who missed the show, I’ve uploaded the tracks. I’m not going to post them to this page though, because after about two years, I am phasing out this blog. Perhaps as a reflection of recent, seemingly significant changes in my life, I am smooshing this blog together with my website, which is where all future updates will be posed. This is also where you can get my recital tracks, if you are interested.

I’ll be graduating with my MFA in May, but I’ll be coming right back to CalArts the following year to pursue an MA in Aesthetics and Politics. This is another reason for the blog consolidation; from now on all music/life posts will be updated along with writing I do in the program next year. More on this later. For now, check out the tunes.

Recital Preview

Dan DiPiero — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:53:28 +0000

The big show goes down one week from tomorrow (or today if you are on the cooler coast). Here is a preview of what will happen* Saturday the 21st at 2:00 p.m. PST in the ROD at CalArts. Check it out or stream it here.

This track: Steven Van Betten: Guitar, Patrick Kelly: Bass, me: drums/composition.

*The full program is four bands: Quartet (vilola, vibes, accordion, bass) Two guitar trios, and a nonet.

Darek Oles Band, Spring 2012: Noon Concert

Dan DiPiero — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 20:35:24 +0000

This semester I was in Darek Oles’ Faculty Ensemble, and it was definitely one of the most positive experiences I’ve had at CalArts. Here is the set from our noon concert on Friday:

Will Wulfeck: Trombone

Steven Van Betten: Guitar

Darek Oles: Bass

Me: Drums

Jazz

Dan DiPiero — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 17:12:48 +0000

Here is your obligatory jazz tune for a while, albeit with tuba/trombone lead. The recording gets cut off, but check out Larry Koonse on guitar for the bit you can hear him. That’s Stefan Kac on the tuba.

More of this soon, probably by next week.

Steven/Pat/Dan Trio

Dan DiPiero — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:52:03 +0000

I am really excited to be able to post music from my friend Steven’s BFA2 recital. Steven is one of my favorite composers/guitarists at CalArts, and we are continuing to develop music for trio, quintet, and nonet together.

Check out the tunes…the head out of ‘Sea Change’ is perhaps the most fun thing to play ever. More to come.

Some Tunes

Dan DiPiero — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 04:19:24 +0000

Here are some tunes from Phil Rankin’s recital last week.

There will be more in the very near future, because it is the height of recital season currently. Look out.

Phil Rankin-Piano, Lauren Baba-Violin, Rusty Kennedy-Bass, Myself-Drums

Dan DiPiero — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:40:26 +0000

Well just as soon as I announced a return, I stopped posting anything.

Good.

Story is, I’m trying to consolidate/change things up here again, and have been running into issues with my domain name registration that I don’t understand. Hopefully that will be fixed soon.

In the meantime, a short update:

-Alex Burgoyne has commissioned new works for his jazz ensemble at OU. I am excited to be a part of it, and hopefully soon you will be able to see/hear some of the work. How could writing new original music for improvising music students not be the best idea ever?

-This semester I am in a quartet with Darek Oles. We had our first rehearsal yesterday, and it was surely too good to continue this way. I will be making an attempt to record something for here soon.

-My MFA Graduation recital is April 21st. The tentative plan is a guitar trio, another guitar trio, an accordion, vibraphone, viola, bass quartet, and an octet.

-My good friend Steven Van Betten is having a recital this Wednesday in the ROD at 8. You should be there, for sure.

-I have continued to talk about things here. Don’t ask me why.

Return/Wiggle Worm

Dan DiPiero — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:20:23 +0000

This post marks my official return to posting here. I don’t know why I’ve chosen this time (being already neck-deep in finals), other than the fact that I’ve become motivated to do so.

To celebrate, here is a track I really, really like by my friend Will. I am mixing it for my “Reproduction of Sound” final, so let me know how it sounds to you.

Will Wulfeck: Bass, Vocals, Composition

Brice Albert: Guitar

Me: Drums/Mixing

October Update: Chris Speed In Class, Etc.

Dan DiPiero — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:49:40 +0000

Yesterday Chris Speed and his Endangered Blood Quartet visited CalArts before their gig at the Blue Whale. Chris, along with drummer Jim Black, bassist Trevor Dunn, and bass clarinetist Oscar Noriega played two tunes, and spent the rest of the time answering questions. The tunes, first a modal jam in 11/8 and then a groovy uptempo number with blistering horn lines, represented the pinacle of a style of jazz cultivated by Speed and co. in the decades they have played together in NYC. The talking, while it rambled on a bit, was sincere and articulate from each member of the band.

Much of what was said seemed aimed at young students struggling to find their way with music. What I got most out of it was Black’s approach to preparation, which is badly paraphrased below:

The only preparation I really do is when I have to overcome some physical limitation in order to play a piece of music. And even then, it might only be five minutes before downbeat here or there. For the most part I try to stay away from the instrument unless I’m making music with other people. I stopped practicing that way 15 years ago, because you play what you hear. You play what you are. I have gone months without touching the drums, and the next time I sit down and I’ll have improved just through listening and living and experiencing things away from my instrument.

In other news, I’m participating in a fairly good discussion in the comments section of this article over at A Blog Supreme. The subject is a new study that aims to uncover how jazz musicians get paid. I have been wondering the same thing for years. I’ll take this opportunity to once again declare my belief that taking free gigs undercuts everyone who attempts to play music professionally, even though I am guilty of it myself. Increasingly, players seem to have adopted an attitude of resignation, as if playing free gigs was the only way to play at all.

I am having a short article published in the November issue of Percussive Notes on how to put together an electronic press kit. I am working on a piece for Aaron’s nonet, and it’s driving me bonkers. Speaking of bonkers, I spent the weekend without my computer, but now have an adapter cable again. I think the worst is over. It was dark times. I wrote about my experience at #occupyLA here. I’ll be posting a photo essay within the hour on good meals I’ve eaten recently, if you’re into that kind of thing. Later this week I’ll be posting an interesting practice concept for drummers/nerds on this blog. Excuse me, I have to drink a lot of coffee now.

Feist-Metals

Dan DiPiero — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:57:18 +0000

That I’ve had a longstanding reverence for Feist is no secret. Let It Die and The Reminder redefined what was possible in pop music for me, or at least gave unconventional pop music a new heroine at a time when it badly needed one. “Unconventional” is a little abstract, but essentially what I mean is that there is an incredible depth in Feist’s music. Effortless, easy, insanely catchy tunes are bolstered with unusual orchestration (Feist, like Fiona Apple, appreciates the underestimated vibraphone in pop music), smart arrangements, and seriously surprising songwriting chops.

All of what I admire about Feist is present on her most recent, Metals, but in a more understated way. This record has more of a living room feel than her previous ones, with slow and subtle songs making up the bulk. Metals strikes me as very much a part of the history of female singer songwriters–Feist alone with an acoustic guitar, as opposed to Feist with a crazy orchestra and light paintings. It is this quality that at first made me balk; after all, what I have come to expect from Feist is revolution, that “new” quality her first two records possessed that destroyed everything in their wake. Metals is not revolutionary, but in the proud tradition of folk records, it stands near the top. It took a rainy day in LA for me to appreciate this album for what it is. It didn’t blow my mind open like The Reminder, but its subtle charms are already like an old friend. Worth owning, possibly on vinyl.