Upcoming Performance

Monday, January 18 Filed in: concert

Come join me at the Missouri Music Educator’s Conference and Workshop Friday January 29th at 10:30am. The Lee’s Summit High School Symphonic Band will be premiering a new piece commissioned for this performance.

When I set out to write it, I knew there had to be a secret nod to Lee’s Summit High School. The first thought that occurred to me was to focus on their mascot, the tiger. Unfortunately, they rejected my first submission which Mr. Finch accurately called, “A sub-par arrangement of Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger.’”

I went back to the drawing board and created Spectrum, which is based on a vaguely “recognizable” harmonic foundation that is first established in the percussion section. Overall, the piece develops on two concepts: the blending of an unexpected idea with a pre-existing idea, and the modification of one or two subtle components as a phrase repeats.

There’s an incredible amount of “dissonance” in this piece that should sound unusually consonant, and there’s a driving rhythm that develops by blending accents of 6/8 and 3/4. I've really enjoyed hearing the Lee's Summit Symphonic Band play this piece and I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

Join me at MMEA for a great performance!

2010 Marching Shows

Monday, January 18 Filed in: marching

Contact me soon to start planning your 2010 marching show. I have a limited number of spots available on my arranging schedule for next year. Please let me know if I can help your band reach a new level of success in the new decade!

Final Cut Pro Certification

Tuesday, December 22 Filed in: digital media

I recently took the Level One Apple Certification Exam for Final Cut Pro 7. Because of an error on the part of an intern I actually got to take the test twice -- once in October and again in December. Many thanks to Future Media Concepts in Chicago for taking good care of me throughout the process.

I’m a teacher and by no means a professional video editor, but I found the level one test to be simultaneously challenging and easy -- if that’s even possible. My advice to anyone looking to take the exam is to use the software a lot and use it in a variety of ways. Don’t get stuck in a series of habits and miss out on the depth of the program; or at least a depth of knowledge of the program.

I might even go out on a limb and suggest that its possible to know the answer to every question in the Peachpit book - the “official curriculum” of the training series - and still have trouble passing the certification exam. It’s one thing to know the facts, but it’s another thing to be able to apply the knowledge to the questions on the exam. There will be a couple questions that seem to come out of nowhere, and there are a couple of questions where your brain will say, “I know the answer they’re looking for, but I’m not sure which of these choices will fit the bill.” Sound crazy? Perhaps. I guess it’s just well written test.

All the questions are multiple choice. Some allow you to select more than one answer (careful with some of these!), and many of them use graphics (screenshots from Final Cut). The most interesting questions are those that ask you to click on a graphic to answer a question. This feels a little odd at first. You’re used to getting feedback when you click your mouse on something, but in this case you just place a red “target” icon when you click. You can click again to move your target so if you’re prepared for clicking on a plain graphic it helps.

Tags: video, fcp, apple