Rain, Rain go away...

Days like today are one that remind me of odd parts of my childhood. The Bronson household was always a respectful and polite place, although days like today are the ones that Ken Bronson would wake up, look out the window and say,"Well it looks like generally shhhhhhitty day out!" It's funny how I can still hear him say this in my head even though I don't think I actually have for years. 

So on this generally shitty day, I decided I should try to get some things done. I've been pretty productive about practicing, and felt that today was an appropriate time to focus my energy on a few things other than percussion. I started getting my out of season clothes ready for Minnesota. Washed and packed all my jeans and cords, sweaters and long sleeve shirts. Since I won't wear them now, I figured now would be a good time. For someone who doesn't have the best fashion sense, I sure as hell have a butt ton of clothes ill tell you that. Lucky for me moving somewhere cold...the majority of them are long pants, long sleeves, sweatshirts, and boots. I suppose I've been sub consciously preparing for some time now. 

As I start to make headway on that, I'm also starting to attempt to make a few new lifestyle changes. Eating healthier, running almost every day (except when there's rain like this!) and I'm trying to get into reading. There is so much media and Internet in my life, I want a get away that will benefit me intellectually. I picked up Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughter house five." I'm a hundred pages in and I don't love it yet, but I haven't wanted to stop reading it yet which is good. Ideally, since I've recently been experiencing knee pain from running (had the same problems in high school) I'm hoping I can use work out bikes in the gym at Minnesota and read simultaneously. Kill two birds with one stone. 

On an unrelated note, lessons are going great with Ben Bilello, and I'm heading to Brooklyn for a group lesson with Shane and Ben Scanlan Saturday. 

Until next time! 

MB 

Insomnia strikes back!

Well hello there 1:36 am, it's been quite some time since we've said hello. It's actually quite interesting that on a day like today I'm finding it hard to get to sleep. I spent a good portion of the day practicing and even went on a short run. I've been attempting to consistently wake up at an hour that isn't too late. Somewhere between 8-9 am. This seems like the best time that shouts "I'm unemployed but productive!" 

I've had a lot on my mind as far as what I think I want to accomplish once I get to Minnesota, as well as what I want to have prepared for when I arrive. I'm currently working on a few things, some recital esque pieces if you will on snare drum. I'm going to push myself to complete a few if not all of these before I get to Duluth. The first two are Joe Tompkins pieces. They are "March" and "Walkin down Coolidge." Both really groovy pieces I'm excited to play. The last is a classic by zivcovic - pezza de concerto. 

As far as marimba rep goes, I am torn! I initially had a goal to complete as many intermediate level marimba solos I could to increase the amount of rep I have to offer. Now I am debating wether I want to start a piece I admire very much entitled Evergreen by Benjamin Finley. I have completed learning the notes and need to chunk together Blake Tyson's "A cricket sang and set the sun." Not the most challenging piece, although I think it's very pretty and learned it in almost it's entirety in three sittings. 

Now comes to my current favorite area of percussion! Hand drumming. I've had a ton of fun Studying hand techniques with Shane Shanahan and really hope that there is as strong of an emphasis on this as I think there is at UMD. It took me some time, but I have finished learning syllables to John Bergamo's "Piru Bole," I'm hoping by the end of the summer to have a diet arrangement of this with my pal Ben Scanlan. If you're not familiar with the piece, Gene Koshinski has a great arrangement on his CD "Klung." 

I've also started learning strokes on doumbek and it's coming along much faster than anticipated. 

So where am I now? It's a hard place to asses. Although I've finished my undergrad, I feel as though I'm just starting. When I came into my first year at wcsu I was immediately humbled and hope to have the same experience at UMD. I am hungry! Hungry to work hard and obtain as many skill sets as I can. Hopefully along the way I will strengthen the ones I already have as well. 

Some other goals I have for myself are in my lifestyle. I've been making a conscious effort to run every day if not six days a week. I hope to keep this up in Minnesota. I currently weigh in around 212 pounds and would love to drop that down to about 185-190. I recently (today actually) discovered that morning workouts were tiring me mentally and draining my focus to practice. Today I simply practiced all morning and afternoon, and worked out before dinner. Problem solved! ....I think. 

Looking forward to all these exciting things, and it's causing my sleep to be deprived. 

Until next time friends, just remember- Hockey pucks make good tam tam beaters! 

Best, 

MB

New toys

With grad school approaching I took some money I have set aside and made two pretty big purchases. The first being an Alexandria mother if pearl inlay doumbek. It's beautiful! 

Also made a purchase I've been waiting to make for quite some time, a custom made 18" Cooperman tar. This is a really excellent frame drum that's made from one steam bent piece of wood. 

Looking forward to getting out to MN!

Catching up on my live music fix

For those of you that are unaware, its quite hot outside. I decided this summer that i wanted to get on a daily running schedule, and i'm quite happy with how well i have stuck to it so far. That being said....I did not run yesterday...But for good reason! Summer rehearsals are beginning and that means i'll find myself teaching front ensemble keyboard and auxiliary percussion at many area high schools in Connecticut. Yesterday was Southington high schools "Mini Band Camp." It was a cool opportunity for the whole band to come out and read through their marching band show music.

But don't you worry, that wasn't the most exciting this i did all day yesterday. I picked up a 5 octave marimba rental from my former teacher Rich Guastamachio at his semi new store Dynamic Percussion. For those of you that don't know, Dynamic Percussion has been THE PLACE FOR DRUMS in CT for quite some time, and about a year ago Gus purchased it from its former owner. They have a great new sales floor, tons of private study areas for local teachers and students to take lessons. I am very fortunate to have a great relationship with Gus as he was a great teacher and mentor of mine (And still is) and he has done so much for me to help me through my undergrad, and now grad degrees.

In addition to that, i saw one of my favorite Jam bands last night, moe.! They were excellent and i recommend anyone to check out one of their shows, especially if you can get tickets as cheap as we did. Tickets were 24 bucks and a really nice stranger who had to leave the show after the opener was nice enough to give us his seat tickets which were about 75 feet away and in the center of the stage. It was such a nice thing for him to do and myself, my friend Tara, and my friend Liz were very thankful.

moe. had a great set. They played a lot of their stuff with Frank Zappa influence and those are some of the songs that feature the most percussion. All in all, the show was great and despite having to drive an hour and twenty minutes to get each way it was great to see them as well as catch up with two close friends from school, as well as many others.

On a side note, i am going to attempt to keep up with this blog as i travel to Minnesota and keep everyone update on the rep that i, the grad percussion group and percussion ensemble are playing. This summer i am trying to slowly (Leisurely if you will) put a couple of things together. Simply because it is beautiful, i will be learning "A cricket sang and set the sun," by Blake Tyson on marimba. I just put the finishing touches on learning the over the bar line rhythms in Joe Tompkins "March," for snare drum and pedal bass drum, and i am keeping up with hand techniques on Congas, Frame drum and Riq, AND i am trying to memorize the "Bols" to John Bergamo's "Piru Bole"

Cheers!

MB

The last year of my life in a short review

Its only every so often that i find myself with enough time to inform the cyber world about my endeavors, and so much has happened since i wrote on this blog last. It makes me very happy to announce that i am now the proud new owner of www.Matthew-Bronson.com ! It seems like forever ago that i decided i need to find a page to promote myself on and now its official! Excited to keep everyone up to date on everything i am doing via that site, as well as more personally here.

These past few months, actually this who past year has been an incredibly busy time in my life (What else is new). I made the decision that pursuing my masters in music performance was something that would not only be enjoyable for me, but could be incredibly beneficial to my career. As i continue to pursue higher education i find myself more and more inspired by the professors and teachers i have been exposed to at the college and university level. It is a new found ambition of mine to possibly one day find myself teaching and inspiring students at the university level. This all being said, i searched and searched for schools with TA opportunities, until i narrowed it down to ten schools. After i narrowed those ten down to five, i narrowed THAT down to three schools. Those three schools were Queens College (Flushing, NY), University of Minnesota Duluth (Duluth, MN) and Towson University (Towson, MD). All great programs with incredible teachers. Long story short, after a trip to Duluth, MN hanging out with their current grad students as well as Gene Koshinski and Tim Brosicious I decided UMD (University of Minnesota Duluth) was the best option financially as well as the best fit for me as a player. Currently i am scheduled to move into a house 1.4 miles away from UMD's campus where other students are living, as well as an English Mastiff named "Bacon."

In the meantime while preparing for the auditions i had for grad school, as well as student teaching and attending wednesday night seminars, doing the occasional gig, AND teaching the indoor program at Norwalk High School, I began frame drum and arabic percussion studies with an Incredible teacher named Shane Shanahan. He is truly an incredible player and teacher, and i look forward to pursuing studies in this area of percussion with Tim once i find myself in Minnesota. This summer in addition to my monthly lessons with Shane, i am studying Jazz drum set with a great local teacher named Ben Bilello.

So the whole wrench that got thrown into this mix was wether or not i could spend another summer marching with my beloved drum corps family, The Cadets2. For those of you that do not know, i truly was given a life changing experience last summer committing my time to an excellent group of people who participate in the Drum Corps Associates. I could go on and on about my experience, but what i will say is that deciding not to march because i made the decision to move to Minnesota in August is to date the hardest decision i have made in my life. It sounds dramatic, but you need to experience something like i did last summer to really understand the emotional attachment i created for the corps and everyone i shared that experience with.

I am looking forward to a new and exciting chapter in my life, and i cant wait to see what is in store for me at UMD and my new found goals and aspirations.

Best,

MB

Good People DO exist.

This year's PASIC was one that was very special to me. I was unable to go last year for a few reasons, some financial, and some scheduling. Although i was not able to attend for the whole weekend, i could tell that this year i really needed to go. It seemed as though half way through my Junior year, it was time to  Recharge my batteries, regain some inspiration, and most of all have a great time. Fortunate to have two great friends also attending from the studio at WCSU, we were able to plan flights appropriately, and split the hotel cost.

The first night was incredible, seeing Steve Schick perform as well as So Percussion was an amazing experience. After a long day of traveling we went back to our hotel the "La Quinta" (Very affordable Place to stay next time its in Indy) and crashed. The next day was exciting, two great drum set clinics, Billy Martin's "Life on Drums" clinic, and John Riley's clinic, "The Art of Improvisation." Both Clinics were fantastic, and i recommend both artists books if you haven't checked them out yet. Billy's book interestingly enough, is in non western notation, its pretty cool.

Before both of these clinics, something amazing happened. Me and my roommate Matt, after spending a few hours in the showroom, were sitting outside of one of the clinic rooms looking over some music we had purchased. While waiting for doors to open,  a man came up to us both and asked if we would mind if he sat with us. We of course said it was okay, and he proceeded to sit and talk drums with us. This is one of my favorite parts of PASIC. Tons of drummers and percussionist congregating together simply because they love playing, teaching and learning. As he sat down, we began talking. He had never really been exposed to Billy Martin. A big fan, i began telling him about his new DVD and book. After i told him about this he asked if i would be at the John Riley clinic happening later that day. I told him that i would definitely be there, and that I hadn't had a lot of exposure to John Riley, but had heard a ton of great things. After this, he asked me if i would watch his things for a moment and i told him no problem. He literally went sprinting off. Some time passed, and as soon as i looked at my watch wondering where he had gone, he returned. He had Both of John Rileys books, "The Art of Bop Drumming" and "Beyond Bop Drumming" in his hands. He handed them to me and said, "You'd better check these out."

It all happened so fast that when i looked down for a moment to look at the books, he was already on his way into Billy Martins clinic which was just starting. I yelled Thank you and he gave me a thumbs up. I quickly got up and grabbed my things to tell him again how thankful i was. When i entered the room, there were already so many people inside that i had lost him. Determined, i looked around for a while before i gave up and the clinic was officially starting. Amazed at this experience, i must have told everyone i knew that day about this incredibly generous man i had met.

The next day while browsing the Malletech Booth i recognized him and was able to finally shake his hand and formally thank him.  John Riley was at the Alfred Booth later that day and was also able to sign both books for me. Having a terrible memory, today i cannot remember this kind mans name, although i want to remind everyone in the Percussion world how fortunate we are to have events like PASIC to bring us all together as a community. Experiences like the one i had are ones that make the world of percussion unique.

If the man who did this for me happens to read this by any chance, I want him to know how much his kind gesture touched me. Also, that I've been tearing apart "The Art of Bop Drumming" ever since i got back from Indy ;)

My experience as an Undergraduate musician has been one of many experiences that i like to look at as  "Stepping Stones". One of my first was practicing Technique exercises my first semester, then finally having a short marimba piece to work on second semester.  Then Moving on from snare drum Etudes, to actually playing snare drum pieces and multiple percussion chamber trio's and quartets. There are many things in our lives, as well as our undergraduate careers that make us feel that we have, and are continuing to mature as musicians, future educators, and as people. 

As I am about to enter my second semester of my Junior year, i have picked, and i am beginning to prepare repertoire for my next step, My Junior recital. As i prepare and practice my rep, as a tool to further understand the music on a deeper level as well as give you all insight on to what i'm playing. I am going to Do a separate Post on each piece i am Playing. The first of which being my Marimba Solo... 

Variations on Lost Love, By David Maslanka-  

Variations on Lost love in a Muli-Movement work for solo marimba composed by David Maslanka. Although he has spent some time as a faculty member at a few colleges and universities, David Maslanka is a composer who has been working soley off commission since 1990. Currently living in Missoula Montana Maslanka is best known for his compositions for wind ensemble, as well as his eight symphonies and one full mass. 

When interviewed about his composition style, Maslanka had this to say. 

You ask about the soul nature of music, and are music and soul the same thing. Music is one of the expressions of soul. A person does not have to be consciously aware of soul connection for soul force to be expressed through that person. The conscious mind and the deep unconscious are two different things, but everyone has both of them. The unconscious can push its way into consciousness unbidden. Often this makes people do neurotic or crazy things – compulsive behavior of one kind or another. If a person is prepared artistically, then a sudden eruption of soul force might appear as a composition or a powerful performance. The person may have no idea where the force came from. This was my experience as a young composer. As I gained technical skill there would be sudden bursts of music that 'appeared.' There was always the hard work of getting it composed properly, but fairly early on I learned to follow my instincts when something powerful began to happen. The impulse to write, having a 'true voice', and having the necessary technical equipment are all different issues. There are fine technicians who have no true voice, and people with true voice who have struggled with technique.

—(Maslanka 2005

My first experience with variations on lost love was hearing it at a Percussion master-class at school. A fellow student at the time performed it extremely well and i was immediately inspired to be able to play it at some point. It had many challenging technical aspects, as well as a hauntingly beautiful and mysterious melodies. Starting slow, a melody is introduced and then there are many variations on it (Hence the title). 

After some further research, i was able to find out this piece is based off of the poem, "Lost Love" by Mr. Robert Graves. As i read the poem I found that this piece is actually very fitting to my life. I will spare you the details, but i went through a tough break up this summer, and i cant think of a better way to express myself musically than to add real emotion to a piece of music i am performing. The Poem, (Listed Below) speaks of a man who is on a forever long search for "Lost Love." 

His eyes are quickened so with grief, 
He can watch a grass or leaf 
Every instant grow; he can 
Clearly through a flint wall see, 
Or watch the startled spirit flee 
From the throat of a dead man. 
Across two counties he can hear 
And catch your words before you speak. 
The woodlouse or the maggot's weak 
Clamour rings in his sad ear, 
And noise so slight it would surpass 
Credence--drinking sound of grass, 
Worm talk, clashing jaws of moth 
Chumbling holes in cloth; 
The groan of ants who undertake 
Gigantic loads for honour's sake 
(Their sinews creak, their breath comes thin); 
Whir of spiders when they spin, 
And minute whispering, mumbling, sighs 
Of idle grubs and flies. 
This man is quickened so with grief, 
He wanders god-like or like thief 
Inside and out, below, above, 
Without relief seeking lost love. 

The Second Movement, which ive been working the most on lately, can be listened to here. 

Enjoy! 

MB