Fashion Life Drawing- 2 minute gestures

The object of the 2 minute gesture is to get down the essence of the shape, the volume or the gesture...a shift in the hips, the upwards tilt of the jaw or the drop of the shoulder for attitude, in 2 minutes or less. I haven't done this in years (20+), and I loved it. I actually realized that I love drawing clothes far more than drawing the nude. Who knew!

2 minute gesture drawings. june 2009
London

Jun- Playlist

May- Playlist

INTERVIEW: Martin Case: ”Repetition to Grace”

Composer, Producer, Performing Musician
Boston, MA

Martin Case is a well-versed performer, composer, and multi-media/audio producer. Martin’s history of dance clients includes The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, The Mark Morris Group, The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the Paul Taylor Dance Company. In the Boston community, Martin helps in the creative work of Harvard University, MIT, Boston Conservatory, and the Boston Ballet. Martin has composed numerous film/television/dance scores, and produced over a dozen full-length albums, in his own recording studio and in others around the globe. He is presently operating MartinCaseMusic and Sandpaper Studios, a customized music composing/producing company, performing with his group The Lee, and serving the global community though composition, production, and performance.




BACKGROUND
I first met Martin in 2001 when we collaborated on the Altis Ballet, an original dance work created by choreographer Rebecca Rice. Martin created and performed the original score during it's premiere.

NOTE: Martin has graciously provided TMCB with audio tracks and video links. Many of these pieces were created site specific and he asks that you listen to the works with headphones to enjoy and experience his music in its most pure form.

How would you describe the Martin Case 'sound?'
M: I would describe it as ethnic electronica with heavy jazz and classical flavorings.

When did you realize that you had a talent for composing music?
M: I was writing [music] at 12; I was hearing music in my head and it was a beautiful place to be.

Were you noticed or singled out from a young age?
M: No. Around 15 people starting noticing and no one was surprised when I went to university for music.

Did you have any creative influences within your family?
M: No. Interesting, that.

Where did you go to college and what sort of student were you?
M: I graduated from Berklee College of Music. I thought I was the least educated student going in and that gave me a sense of humility. I drank theory like water. I considered myself a monk; a dedicated student.

Is there a period in your life that you can say that your musical language was established?
M: After college. I felt like a secular math puzzle had been solved. I now could write any style of, and could play anything that I could hear, using ear training. Sounds cocky now, but the “what is the point of this?” question raised its head. Then I met Kwabena Owusu, who exposed me to West African music, and to the portal of music having a function, and a purpose in our lives. I then started learning West African percussion.

Could you tell us a bit about ear training? What is it?
M: Ear training is a technique where one attaches syllables to notes to determine pitch without an instrument, and to be able to play what one hears in all keys. "Do, a deer, a female deer, Ray, a drop" these are the pitches that are attributed to notes on the scale. Me Ray Do Ray Me Me Me is the first few notes of "Mary had a Little Lamb."


ON CREATIVITY
Can you share with us the space where you work? Where you are the most creative?

Martin's desk.

Detail of his desk.

Tell me a bit about how you approach creativity or how you come up with your next idea.
M: I feel like there are ideas to make manifest in my mind all the time; presently there are 3 in my head that must be created, then there are the ‘snippets’ that I want to create/explore, and this mentions nothing of what is done on the hard drive or, God forbid, there is a commission due…What I do now is capitalize on applying synergy. If I am hearing 15 drummers in one ‘snippet’ in my mind, and then a choir, and I want to explore this electronica aspect, and there is a commission due….I synergize all of these elements so they are all incorporated in the present work. I also allow a Darwinism to occur on what I hear in my mind. If a composition stays in my mind for a while, then I know that sound, melody must be made manifest. Because I have applied distillation/synergy process to what I create out of all that goes through my mind. Applying this distillation/synergy process has sated and channeled any creative desires that might arise; I am calmer about what I am working on, and now work on fewer pieces simultaneously.



Do you use anything visual as inspiration to create a sound? Meaning if you want to create a tribal sound...have you pulled tear sheets of indigenous people playing drums, etc. which is linked to my next question…
M: Fun question. I recently finished a piece for the Davis Museum in Wellesley College that was presenting a traveling exhibition from Dartmouth College entitled “Black Womanhood”. We were allowed into the museum to sit with the pieces, and a book articulating this collection was published with the same name. In the past, I have created scores for art galleries, and I would sit with the pieces or representations of them (photos, etc) and would be inspired by them. I think of my works as audio landscapes, so how the sound is placed and how it moves in space is inspiring.

Is there anything you do to prepare yourself before starting a piece...does it start with a few notes, anything that you can share with us? In other words, can you share the "birth of a piece" with us?
M: In many cultures, musician is the same word as magician, as shaman. One of the responsibilities of the shaman of a village is to travel to various spaces and bring back the knowledge and experience received.

Another function is to create sacred space. I use this function in my work to create a space conducive to particular thoughts and meditations. By creating a ‘room’, if you will, a musician creates the safe, sacred space for the listener. Using the room metaphor further: when one enters a room, one notices the surroundings, but, after spending time in a room, one begins to have thoughts and feelings that the room/sacred space evokes. This production technique is in contrast to the contemporary “notice me!” production technique, and is a theme through out the enclosed scores.



When creating a piece, how do you structure it? For example, when I make a fashion illustration, I always start with the head and work my way down. Can you tell me the process of where you start and where you end?
M: Many times in the building of such score, I will create a succession of ‘rooms’ or worlds. Each ‘room’ or world can contain many tracks; the attached screen-shots display the 2-track masters of each ‘room’ creation (A), and how these ‘rooms’ are attached together to create a whole (B). The concept of ‘room’ is synonymous with ‘world’ in the following text. I will go into detail within the composition Chan to illustrate this concept. Again, this architectural template is of interest, as it uses the creation and definition of space to guide the creation of the work.

Illustration A: Chan whole structure digital audio

Illustration B: Multiple Times, a sub-world of Chan

Illustration C: Notation excerpt from illustration B

>>Click here to play audio track of CHAN.
"Chan brings us through a cycle, from levels of innocence to cognizance, and to then re-begin the meditation (multiple times). This concept springs from the Mayan Calendar and aspects of Buddhism, in addition to countless other sources that acknowledge the cycles of living and being.

A fun compositional aspect of Chan was the incorporation of multiple time meters, as illustrated in the enclosed scores. A segue was designed to bring the listener from one world to the next, a holding space to center, before moving to the next world. As Chan develops, production value and the sonic palette consciously becomes more dense."


As space is an integral part of these compositions, I implore you to listen to the works with headphones or an otherwise wide stereo field. Some stereo fields are designed for particular theaters where they were performed to maximize effect.


What's your favorite part of that process?
M: Hearing it real for the first time, and the practice to create the music to that level.

Do you have any influences that you draw upon?
M: I-Ching, Buddhist thought.

How would you describe your work process?
M: A great pattern has been emerging lately: I will start writing a piece purely for the joy of it, not boxing it into a commission or my ensemble, The Lee (Martin’s own ensemble), and…..the next commission asked for precisely that work! That has been great, because I am creating work freely and it is being received. I am trying to find balance in the business and the creative side of being a modern musician. Both sides could consume your entire consciousness, and it is difficult to dive into either fully. The present answer is to ‘check out’ for longer periods when creating the basis of a work.

What was the path you had to go down to get your work to the level you wanted it? Have any of your tools changed?
M: Practice, essentially. I read somewhere that art is repetition to grace, which is why there can be an art to making a sandwich. To create audio worlds from your head from scratch, there are a variety of skills to learn, the least of which is engineering, producing, composing and being a decent performer, not to mention the business aspect that allows your work to be heard.

Wow. What an amazing quote…”repetition to grace.” That’s a mantra all creatives should meditate on.

Do you collaborate with others to do what you do?
M: I collaborate a lot with choreographers, and it works in a variety of ways. Sometimes they ask for the music first, based on our conversation. Sometimes there is a movement that acts as a motif, or they have set some dance to a scratch track. The beginning is dialogue. The most recent work, a dance score entitled Chan, Christina Chan wrote out a few ideas, and feelings, concerning how she wanted the mood, and listened to a few of my albums, picking work she liked for us to have a basis to begin with.

Is there anyone that you've had a long term collaborative relationship with that really gets what you do, and therefore enables you to shine?
M: The musicians I grew up with as a young adult, who were my age but were already in the West African drum core that I trained in when I arrived. They watched my transformation, and know what I’m doing. They are phenomenal players. I consider myself lucky to be considered a djembe player by them. Their names are Brandon Klarich and William Noel. Look them up.

A studio session

Do you maintain personal work? If so, can you tell us what you're working on?
M: The Ancestors is an example of creating, and then the placement occurs. Ancestors was partially created when choreographer Samantha Cameron called with a commission from the Davis Museum this fall. The piece was to talk about the ancient, colonial, and contemporary spirit of Black Womanhood. The score title ended up being the title of the full work.

>>Click here to play audio track of Ancestors.
The Ancestors Are Moving Through Us. "The score represents and creates for use the entering and receiving aspects of inhabiting sacred space. Background singing is an African chant; translation is “I praise Him with dancing.” Low bass and panning are used to create sonic depth. This score allowed me to play with creating bass tangibility.

As a performer and a composer, I believe in ‘getting out of the way’; to train one’s body and mind to fitness, then allow the music to come forth. Hence, this piece was of significance for me to create, and to build something I feel honors this experience was quite an opportunity. "


This is fascinating on so many levels. What connections did you need to visualize in order to connect with “black womanhood?”
M: There is a book Entitled "Black Womanhood" that accompanied the traveling exhibition; well written, and offered a great deal in articulating the various perspective the curator was trying to express. The choreographer, Samantha Cameron, and I were allowed into the Davis Museum soon after installation and 'sat' with the work together. Very fun.

How has authoring CD's influenced your creativity?
M: It helps one get a cohesive sound for a body of work. Not that I have been terribly successful at that, but it reminds one of that direction. It acts as a natural producer; the last album, first draft, was 3.5 hours long, and it had to be whittled down to 80 minutes. That will change when we abandon the CD.

What projects are you working on now?
M: Chan is about to be onstage in the spring of 09. Presently I am creating new work for my ensemble, The Lee, to celebrate our CD release party for Beyond East. Beyond East was just released, so there is a lot of marketing to do.

[You can purchase Beyond East on iTunes (martin case beyond east) and http://cdbaby.com/cd/martincase4]

How does living in a city like Boston influence your work?
M: It is an intellectual city that is attached to the world. People here are less sensual than other parts of the world, and maybe that is why so much gets done here.

Are there reoccurring themes that you pull from?
M: The responsibility of holding and creating sacred space, to get out of the way as an artist and let spirit come through.

The 2 following pieces (Thailand Outdoors Part 1 &2) are some of my absolute favorite works of Martin's. They are both stunning and incredibly powerful. It gets no better than this. Please listen through your headphones for maximum enjoyment!


Thailand Outdoors Part 1


Thailand Outdoors Part 2

What's your favorite piece of music, not of your own, and why?
M: Let Forever Be by the Chemical Brothers came right to mind. Isn’t that funny? Used to listen to it in the morning. Every morning, for a few months.

What is your favorite piece of music that IS your own, and why?
M: Ellen’s Coming is a beautiful work, and the video dance from Min-Tzu Li is stunning. Ellen Owre, the vocalist, did the vocals in one take. Improvising. Very cool, because there is definitely structure in what she is singing. Again, a beautiful example of ‘getting out of the way.


performance of Ellen's Coming

How do you see your career evolving or how would you like it to evolve? In other words, what is the ultimate dream that you have for your music?
M: To acquire composing work in gaming, film, and museum-style venues, and to have the Lee with an annual European tour.

What has been your most important inspiration?
M: Pure beauty; knowing what is right viscerally; my mentors. Really beautiful music that stuns you, or makes you feel elated. That reminds me of the right path, and floods me with energy (I’m listening to Let Forever Be right now).


CRAFT
What's your instrument of choice to work with?
M: Djembe Sax in performance, keys for composing.

Was it something that came natural or did you have to perfect it?
M: Playing! Jimi Henrdix says he never practiced, just played all the time. So if I would burn out on an instrument, I would go to another, that I was now charged about. That does not mean not to work out certain aspects of mastery, but it is to be heartfelt all the time.

Tell us about your studio set up?
M: I have temporarily shut down my large facility (2300 sq ft) and am working very much ‘in the box’ right now, and setting up a few mikes when I need live playing. The studio got to feel ‘Blingy” and I wanted to strip [it] down and get to base work. An article about BT’s set-up inspired me. There was almost nothing there- a keyboard and a monitor. And that felt so…clean. We will be rebuilding the studio in 18 months (24 track board, grand piano, drum kits, etc) but right now it feels impish not to have that over my head, and just to be working.

A view of the Artist's composing room

Do you employ any digital techniques to your work, or is it all analog?
M: It is a hybrid, between the worlds.

Are there trends in music that influence the way you approach a new project?
M: I try to stay plugged into the gestalt of the time. There is a reason we all luuved disco and then…we didn’t. The Mayans have this mapped out in 12 year increments over thousands of years, called tuns and baktuns.

What sounds or influences interest you most right now?
M: Electronica. I feel it covers a lot of ground, and a lot of people who couldn’t be labeled are here.

As a musician and composer, you aren't under the constant threat that your tools/ materials will disappear perhaps like with photographers; but having said that, are you noticing changes in your profession that may force you to work in a different way?
M: My profession has really been empowered by technology. The first reaction to all of this (the downturn in the economy) has been the freezing of even thinking dialogue about commissioning new work, so now is the time where everyone is saying hi and getting ready for the next wave. This too shall pass.


10 THINGS WE ALL WANT TO KNOW (okay, 13, couldn't edit down to 10)
1. What's the first sound you can remember?
I was 8 years old and would crawl behind the upright piano, and there I would listen to a young woman practicing ‘The Rose” and I was totally inside that sound.

2. How many instruments do you play?
Saxophones, piano/keys, djembe, djun-djun, flutes, mbira, melodica…these I keep to a professional level, and employ them all in performance weekly. With technology, I can now play broken glass and children’s laughter. Very cool.

3. What’s your favorite?
Piano, saxophone and djembe. On an island, piano. With a tuning assistant!

4. Which talent would you most like to have?
I have been blessed with creativity, so organization is the discipline that is the focus.

5. What’s your motto?
To be, rather than to seem- the Berklee motto. To become a better being by listening to ancestors, teachers and staying on the path.

6. Is there anything quirky that you do while you're working or being creative?
Ha! Yes-I roll up my pants to about half calf and can’t have anything on my forearms. I light incense to give thanks and to invite the help of spirit and ancestors.

7. What music are you listening to?
Field recordings; classical- love the harmonies. I have a 2 terrabyte library now with 2700 albums, so I put it on party shuffle and let it wash over me.

8. What are you most shy about?
My voice.

9. Whose diary would you most like to read?
Hmmm….I think Abraham Lincoln’s, on how to be a good leader. Seeing if that is available online now….(answer: no, but Booth's is…)

10. What was the most valuable lesson you've learned in the past year?
To have constant connection to teachers and ancestors for guidance. That linear thinking, logical thinking, is like the surface of the ocean as an analogy for thinking and consciousness, and to develop the tools below the surface of the water.

11. What do you want people to remember of your music?
That it spoke to them, and that they can ‘remember’ this music as part of them. To remember what thought/feeling was provoked while listening, and what it inspired.

12. What do you wish people understood better about your work?
What Martha Graham told us; not to get in the way of the work coming through you, but to create. It has been a mental task to pigeon-hole your work with a label while still allowing variety of ideas, and styles to be created. “Ethnic-electronica with heavy jazz and classical flavorings” means I can create a 15 piece drum ensemble, or 5 people pouring water in bowls with a flute player. I can create a waterfall of broken glass, a soprano voice, and an acoustic bass player. I just walked out of a meeting with advisers where I said “I am a composer whose music can be applied to dance, film and gaming, and I lead an ensemble that is sexy groove-based electonica that makes you proud to buy a $25 martini in a classy place” and they don’t get it. An artist has to be both good at his craft and articulate about what it is and why. Good time to be alive as an artist; good to be challenged as such.

13. what the next thing on your to-do list once you finish this interview?
Cook breakfast. Pack for Mexico. Going to see a teacher and friend in Arizona, then south.



WEBSITES
http://www.martincasemusic.com/

www.myspace.com/martinleecasemusic

Martin’s music and videos can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/martincasemusic

You can purchase Beyond East on iTunes (martin case beyond east) and http://cdbaby.com/cd/martincase4

WHERE YOU CAN SEE MARTIN CASE PERFORM

Martin Case/Christina Chan: Tetris

Who:Dancers under the direction of choreographer Christina Chan, to score by Martin Case.

When: April 18th, 2009 8-10pm

Where: The Boston Conservatory Theatre 38 Hemenway, Boston MA USA

Concert information: please call 617.912.9222

Concept Ballet Costumes- 05

click image to see other drawings from this series

The costumes for this ballet were again based on the modified tutu and leotard. However, in this one, I've created a round, pleated and shortened version of the tutu for the bottom, but playing with various ruched and grosgrain applied chevron effects for the tops. The corset or waist cincher is zipped up the front with supporting chevron panels laid and stitched on top.

April- Playlist

Hong Kong

24 March, 2008- 7:53am- A panoramic view of the storm brewing over Kowloon Harbor, as seen from my hotel room, The Renaissance Hotel, Hong Kong. CLICK on image to see panoramic view of the storm in the harbor.

Last week was a whirlwind trip: Singapore, Hong Kong and China... all in 5 days! The weather was horrendous, blustery and rainy, but what I always find amazing is the architecture in HK. HK is the petrie dish for each and every style of archecture that has existed in the last 20-25 years. I find it a unique experiment in the sense that HK has always had the financial stability to realize its projects, but also they have been able to create buildings on such a scale that it makes skyscrapers in New York City look like church steeples.

I have been going to HK (and Asia in general) since 1988, and with each time, I am just in gaga over the architecture, its people and the Blade Runner- like feeling of the city. Very Inspiring to still be able to feel its electric energy.