Workshop Done – There’s Work to be Done
Another great workshop with Tina Shafer and Jenny Bruce. It was an incredible weekend which makes it difficult to go back to work (working my desk job, NOT going to work musically). I saw some familiar faces and some new faces (you were sorely missed Ari Zizzo!) but definitely again a wide variety of musical genres, great song writers, interesting perspectives and just a great time.
I think one of the best things I got out of the workshop was not to hold up or wait to have things figured out or for the perfect opportunity to GO for something. Case in point: Jenny asked us if we were signed up with a PRO (performance rights organization). I explained I wasn’t signed up because I was waiting til I had a contact at one of the organizations because I felt like otherwise I would just be another artist on their roster that wouldn’t really mean anything. Jenny said, “You shouldn’t wait.” First off, you can always change PROs if you’re not happy w/ one, and secondly there’s so much they can be doing for you. If you are a member of a PRO, you can always make an appointment to meet a representative and get help with any number of things from finding producers, collaborators, other songwriting organizations etc. They are there in the city and have resources to help you. All you need to do is go in there and ask for it.
So I think that’s a big step one for me. Step two might actually be prior to step one which is just to take a step back and breathe. This workshop, instead of coming in with my guitar and writing pad, I looked like I had luggage for a short weekend vacay out of the state. I had brought a portable amp, electric violin, delay/looping pedal, two guitar cables, mic cable, microphone, and mic stand. Trying to write a song for violin with loops and delays and playing and singing can really get tricky (to say the least)! I frequently want to do everything at once, do it now, and I’m eager to do so! Not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but maybe not the best for the creative process.
Some good thoughts I got about all this as I embark into the scary unknown of playing violin, singing, and songwriting all at the same time : P
Don’t worry about the loops and delays right now or even amplifiers. Work on the song. Have the song be what it’s supposed to be and get comfortable with just the playing and singing. Then you can start adding all the bells and whistles. That means just having the violin out and singing which is what I love to do anyway. I’ve just felt so silly about it; plunking away on my violin like a little miniature guitar and singing my songs. Just feeling small in comparison to other performers out there with their big guitars or keyboards and their full sounds. Rule number six. It would be a good idea not to take myself too seriously ; )
The other thought was to use the tools at my disposal and to record my songs or works in progress to help get my vision out of my head and into reality. As I work on the song that way, I can begin to see what it is I could do to perform the song live. Both of these are very useful and a way to help me unhamper (if that’s a word) the creative process and just to work on my music.
Finally, I want to start preparing to cut a demo. If I’m gonna do that, I’m gonna need to make some tough decisions including what songs to put on the demo, how I will perform them, and budgeting out the amount of money I need to get the project done. MAN it seems like a lot not to mention the continued practicing on songs I have, continued writing, continued learning, continued networking, and on and on and on. But in the end, that doesn’t bother me too much. I love this stuff. If I can get out of my own way, I know I can accomplish so much!
Really happy to have a songwriting workshop getting me pumped up about 2012!
Songwriting for Dummies CHEAT SHEET
So it’ s a brand new year and although the past can’t be undone, we can always choose to focus on the present and work toward the future!
That being said, I’ve been working a lot, though I may not have a song as of yet to show for it. One of the things I’ve been doing is reading. For Christmas, my beloved got me “Songwriting for Dummies,” although she assures me she doesn’t think I’m a dummy 
Songwriting for Dummies CHEAT SHEET
It’s been a good read so far, and if nothing else is gotten me to stop WAITING for the perfect song to come to me to just get down and just start putting ideas on paper (or rather my evernote app). I’ve finished 5 chapters of the book, have written 5 different verses, and 8 different songtitles/ideas.
This next weekend I’m going to be doing another weekend songwriter workshop with Tina Shafer and Jenny Bruce. Super excited and can’t wait to see some of the other songwriters again! This time it’s just me and the fiddle. No guitar. I have one song that works, but I’d like to try and write something new. Let’s see what I can do! . . . and . . . go!
Google+
So I recently started a Google+ page. I’m not sure what the advantage is to having one, but it keeps me busy 
Hoping every is doing well as we quickly close in on Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, New Year’s, and whatever else people choose to celebrate or ignore. Regardless, may you be blessed and well this year and next.
Songwriters Workshop
So this weekend I had an incredible time at a SongCircle Songwriters Workshop with coaching from Tina Shafer and Jenny Bruce. The other songwriters in the room were so talented as well! I felt my own song felt lacking in many ways.
To explain, what I finally decided to do literally at the 11th hour was to write a song based on conversations with other people around Zuccoti Park not part of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I had a lot of fear about going in that direction worrying I might ostracize other writers in my class or even for making bold statements. But my friend from work shared an essay her son had written as part of his application for Masters programs in scriptwriting. He said that he had to draw from his experience and write from his heart. I felt inspired to do the same and finished the draft while at work only having a vague idea of the melody and chord changes which I did my best to work out the morning of the songwriters workshop.
What I presented was . . . all over the place and had many great ideas but was not cohesive and very wordy. It was suggested to really know why I wrote the song, what I wanted to say, and to listen to other protest songs. I did my best with what little time I had (having dinner with Donna, going to Catholic Underground, escorting Donna home by train, having the cab driver not listening to me and getting lost). By the time I got to work on the song at midnight, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I decided to use a tag chorus after looking at some Dylan songs. It took me much of the night and the morning to condense my original thoughts, work out a tighter structure and rhyme scheme, but after a lot of work and about 4 hours of sleep (thanks to daylight savings time) I had something to present to class.
The next day, as I listened to other members of the class, I found myself feeling anxious about presenting. Each person that performed seemed to have much more polished songs than my song. I tried not to get down on myself and remember this was all about growing as a songwriter. That and (again) I truly had the pleasure of working with very gifted songwriters all of them diverse.
When I finally played my song, I was congratulated on the complete overhaul I did and given further recommendations to bring the song to completion. It was encouraging to know that songwriters like Paul Simon and Sting would have many revisions of their song before having a completed work. What surprised me the most was when I was asked point-blank why I’m not using my violin instead of guitar. Normally, this is a point where I would get defensive and deflect many of those questions with sure-fire confidence that I had been down that road many a time and found it leading to a dead-end. Instead, I was not put off by the question but simply spoke my truth: I don’t know how I would do that. A year or two ago, I spent about a week trying to be Andrew Bird (a violinist known for using extensive looping techniques to crested songs with just him and his violin) before deciding after becoming increasingly frustrated with the skill it requires to create interesting loops that I was no good at it (a frequent theme of my life, categorizing things I felt “no good at” as utterly hopeless). I mentioned this, and I was given a sampling of other artists that play violin and sing; artists I have never heard of before. I am eager to check them out and see if there’s anything I can glean from what they do.
In the end after the workshop had ended, I went ahead and played Broken World specifically for a young artist who inspired me a lot that weekend. I played it the way it was originally written: myself playing acoustic violin and singing. It must have made an impression and was well received by the remaining songwriters there as well as Tina and Jenny. I have always felt like what I needed was a full band OR an extensive training course in looping, with a pedal and high-tech equipment that would allow me to add, remove, and layer tracks into an amazing orchestra. In the end, what it really boils down to is I have a deep seeded belief that what I can do and what I have will never be good enough. This experience may have begun to peel that old wall paper away and revealed new possibilities.
If I walked away with nothing else from this workshop, I would have these moments of inspiration and connections I made with other artists out there; artists struggling to make their voices heard and trying to get what they’re saying across. What could be more important than that?
Bits and pieces
So as some of you may know, I like rhyminess and wordiness. (hence the band name UnSeen 13). So these little starts and stutters are bits of line that I liked the sound of. Sometimes these end up becoming full fledged songs and sometimes they end up as nothing more than merely scraps in a notebook. Tell me if any of them stand out for you. Titles given if any . . .
A hopeless romantic
A hopeless Catholic
But it’s God and love that give me so much to be hopeful of
Everyone needs a second chance
I’m hoping you’ll give me three
Mixed Signals
I hear you say yes, but then you tell me to no
You beg me to stay, but then you force me to go
Invent your own reality
Seek your own destiny
Live a life of endless possibility
Trying to be something else
Anything else but me
Sometimes you miss what you left behind
But you can never look back
No, don’t ever look back
I don’t how I got here
But I know what I believe
I can’t share that with you now
But you might share that belief with me
I long for a home I may never find
It may only exist in my mind
I tried to fix my world outside
To make myself feel right inside
Look to the future
I live the present
Informed by my past
I can’t change what I’ve done
Have little control over what will come
All I can do is live in each moment
And enjoy it as if it’s my last
It’ll work the way God wants it to
I hope I can want it to work that way too
It doesn’t matter if I disagree
Because that’s the way it’s going to be
That’s all I got for now. Feedback appreciated. Feel free to subscribe to my blog 
Songwriting Workshop
November 5 and 6, I’ll be attending a weekend songwriting workshop where I’ll be invited to work on a song I wrote in addition to working on a new song.
I’m not entirely sure if I should bring in one of my more polished works, push to finish an incomplete song, or try to write something entirely new for the workshop. I’m leaning toward the latter two. I have about three songs that have a chorus, guitar chords, but no verses or one verse. It’d be nice to get them into full fledged songs, but I find I can’t force it. On the other hand I have little bits of lyrics and various melodies that might lend themselves to writing a new song. So I’m still trying to come to a decision about that. So throughout the week I’ll be posting little lyrics I have and maybe even include video playing out songs I’m working on. This will help keep me productive and also will let you see my writing process and you can give me feedback. Any comments are greatly appreciated: here, on my Facebook, or email me at ScottTranMusic@gmail.com
If you have any thoughts about this, feel free to share them now as well! Thanks to everyone who have been supportive!
New WordPress Ap
I just downloaded a new Ap for WordPress on my phone. Hoping it makes it easier to keep my site up to date. May be doing a songwriters workshop the first weekend of Nov. OR I may be performing on an internet radio station in NJ with Nicole Holst. Either way I’ll let you know
Cafe Basilica
After a long hiatus, significant life changes, I’m ready to start writing again (both new song and new posts)!
Last Sunday, I performed with my girlfriend, Donna Nathan, at Cafe Basilica that featured live music by half a dozen different artists performing original music in addition to covers. This marks my second performance with Donna (my first being at the East Village Arts Festival which featured over a dozen musicians in both classical music and contemporary music). Speaking personally for a moment, I just couldn’t be happier to be with Donna and to also have Donna to not only share my music with, but to perform music with me. Donna is a Godsend in so many ways, and I just couldn’t have asked for more.
ANYWAY, forgive me for waxing romantic a bit. Included at the bottom is video at the bottom that I hope you will check out! In addition to my songs, I also performed some violin/fiddle with Mike Lahey and Kara Vertucci. We performed Gravity by Sara Barielles and My Love Follows You Where You Go by Allison Krauss and Union Sation. We’ll hopefully have more performances and more collaborations like that coming soon!
Rehearsals with Donna and I continue, and I’m speaking with other musicians about looking to book other venues for performance. I also have two new songs in progress that I’m hoping to finish up soon. I can’t put a timeline on these things, because it just takes time and you never know when it gets finished.
Do you have suggestions for venues??? If you do, please feel free to share them with me. Would love to get your feedback and hear from all of you. Also, take a moment to listen on YouTube and for those of you with accounts, please like what you see . . . that is of course if you like what you see
Playing at Bar 4 Tonight!
Hey all! I’m playing at Bar 4 tonight! I haven’t updated my blog in a while, because I’ve been busy working on material and just got done with a BUSY Easter season. It’s been great, though! Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter and look for a follow up about tonight’s performance tomorrow along with a live recording (assuming all goes well with the recording and the camera). Until then, here’s a link to my last performance at Bar 4
He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Sunday Music Happenings
World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra
So yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to some of the members of the World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra performing a few chamber works and solo performances. It was phenomenal! Many of the violinists performed solo Bach and solo Paganini works. One student stunned the audience with her solo performance of the Adagio from the Sonata No. 1 in G minor that no one clapped. It was such an awesome moment.
The penultimate work was a Passacaglia by Handel-Halvorsen for violin and viola performed by Alexis Kende, the director of the World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra, and her sister Crista Kende. I’d like to preface this next statement by saying I’m not a music critic, but I’ll say it was one of the most energetic performances I’ve ever seen. I was really wowed!
For more information on performances by the World Youth Alliance Chamber Orchestra and the concerts for young people visit http://www.wya.net/orchestra/index.html
Old St. Patrick’s Basilica
Sunday nights, I sing in the schola choir at Old St. Patrick’s Basilica on Mott and Prince Streets. The first Sunday of the month there is an evening vespers services where the choir sings the psalms in chant. The night mass then has traditional hymns beginning and ending the liturgy along with an offeratory chant done by the choir. The choir is led by Joshua South, and I have really learned a lot from him just in the few months I have participated in the schola. Jared Lamenzo plays organ for the choir and plays organ solo works as prelude, communion, and postlude. He is a monster player performing on a monster instrument. My personal preference has been contemporary works in liturgy, but I enjoy chant and organ both immensely when done well, and it is done so well at Old St. Pat’s.
http://www.oldcathedral.org/music.php
OK Back to work! =^P
