No, not a kidney stone. I passed my exams. (although it was probably as painful as a kidney stone) I am a mere 2 small steps away from being Dr. Seth Ward. Oh good lord does that sound old. It just looks weird. I think I'll make people call me Dr. Ward for at least a week. Maybe I'll put "Dr. Ward" on my underwear to make sure mine don't get mixed up in the laundry.
My mom used to put my name on my underwear to not mix them up with my dad's. However appreciative I was for my mom's efforts to help me to NEVER slip on a pair of my dad's underoos, it still made life a little hellish for the old gym class locker-room.
"Ha! Is that in case you get lost and some one needs to call mommy? Is your phone number on there and your favorite candy?"
That kind of stuff. All I could think to say was... "quit lookin' at my ass." But that didn't stop the tidal wave of ridicule. Lets just say I learned to put my pants on by practically thinking it. If I ever had a Napoleon Dynamite moment that one was it.
Anyway, enough about that. Ahem.
So thanks for your prayers and encouragement. The hardest part of my degree is over. Now all I have to do is write a mammoth orchestra piece and that is just fun. Got any good ideas for a theme? (I work well with themes)
I was thinking about making the compositional process of my orchestral work a part of this blog. Post the process of writing a work for orchestra the whole thematic development stuff.... Anyone interested in that or is it up there with listening to a running toilet?
Thanks again my friends.
13 comments:
Congrats Dr. Ward!!!!!
Congratulations Dr-to-be Ward!
Has anybody ever done an orchestral work with the Internet as a theme? My 30 seconds on Google, the fount of all human wisdom, yields only The PI Symphony. I've no idea how that would work, but then I'm no doc. What would the Internet sound like anyway? Hmm. Way too early for that kind of rumination.
I assume your PhD. is in music. What area? Just curious.
Idea #1: write a symphony where each movement is about the different cities you have lived in. Springfield, Waco, Houston, and to be...NYC.
Idea #2: write a symphony where each movement is themed on certain compadre's of yours. 1. Nate, 2. James, 3. Joey (my personal favorite, or most feared ;))
Idea #3: don't write a symphony, write a broadway show obout the silliness of the Christian music business. Show the side of the business to those who never get to see it. I'd really enjoy that.
Drumm ROLL!!! FINALE'!
EVEN BETTER!
Idea #4: Write a broadway about a pastor, or music minister in a baptist church. What a plethora of material you have there!
of course I'm not saying that the CM scene is necessarily ALWAYS silly, but it has a hell of a lot of moments. ;)
and churches...They have a hard time not being funny!
Huzzah for the good doctor!
How about a symphony with execution as much in mind as composition? Say for instance an orchestral interpretation of a sunset. You set up a live feed for webcast of your performance. You then ask friends and bloggers across the time zone that will be experiencing a live sunset during the piece to point their webcams at the sunset as it's happening during your piece. You project those sunsets one after another on a screen over the symphony so that you have a continual series of live sunsets during your piece.
Spark any ideas?
Congrats on finishing out your exams for the time being. You are going after that second PhD, aren't you?
I've never known anybody who got a PhD in music before. It would be fun to listen in on your progress.
Ideas for a mammoth orchestra piece? Keep in mind these ideas are coming from the mind of a guy who couldn't read music to save his life.
1) How about writing one about a guy who loves to share what he's learned(ing) about early church history with others and ends up offending people half the time. Bouts of excitement when people go off and read the stuff for themselves, even if they disagree. Bouts of depression when folks get offended and take him wrong. Eventually, he gives up talking about it altogether for 20 years. He returns a much wiser and gentler person and dies a peaceful death, surrounded by former enemies.
2) How about one on the life of Paul. Great ups and downs. Plus, there's lots of material if you need it to be of mammoth size. Just think of all the phases in life he went through. Persecuter of Christians. Meets the Lord in a bit abnormal way. Meets the apostles. Tries evangelism and fails. Goes off to the desert for awhile. Gets blessing of apostles and is sent off with comrade to try evangelism again. 3 missionary journeys with too many ups and downs to count. Ends up in Rome where he is martyred by Nero.
Well, the engineer's brain is exhausted. Thinking about music is hard work. I don't know how you do it. Time to go kick back and relax with a nice indefinite integral.
Doug
Congratulations, Seth!!! Amazing.
I'd love to read about your symphony composition. Maybe you could write one based on "The Family Guy?" Or, more seriously, you could have each movement be a different phase of life (birth, adolescence, adulthood, death).
Douglas, that was too funny!!
Congrats, Doc! Way to go! By the way, can I ask some advice? I've got this rash . . .
Oh, hey, there is an idea for your grand opus - "The Rash Symphony" (you can even use the name if you want, no charge). Just no orchestration of the peepee toilet. I think The Naked Gun movies took care of that just fine.
Did you not take any inspiration from my Geek post? Its all there: love (of science), hate (of math), fear (of equations).
Hey guys!
Pend., No I don't think anyone has written that on yet. Hmmm. Although there have been quite a few electroacoustic peices done like that...
Vitamin z, I am finishing up my Doctorate in Compostion at Rice Univeristy.
joey, cach, COOL ideas. Only it HAS to be a traditional orchestra peice. Kinda rules out a bunch of that stuff. Unfortunately. I'm not even allowed to do a concerto.
Doug, the life of Paul might work. I've thought about that in the past. The whole conversion thing has A LOT of possiblities. I also toyed with the Jericho story as well.
Susanne, I like that Idea as well. Phases translate well in a multi-movement orchestral work.
Euphrony, that's just gross. A rash symphony. But, if it could acutally be done, I would probably do it. Try some aloe for that rash. And quit rolling around naked in the poison ivy. You are too old for that.
Mom, if you're reading this, did you ever hear of a black dot? Did you have to scar the poor kid?
Congrats, Bro!
rash: adjective
1. full of life and vigor
2. characterized by or proceeding from lack of deliberation or caution : acting, done, or expressed with undue haste or disregard for consequences : imprudently involving or incurring risk
(Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (13 Feb. 2007).)
Seth, I'm surprised that you misunderstood me so ;)
Congratulations, friend.
This is so awesome.
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