LCSMC Stringed Instrument Ensemble Live @ “A Hundredfold for the Lord Music Festival” 03/08/2014

Yours truly on classical guitar, first guitarist from the left

Last Saturday’s “A Hundredfold for the Lord Music Festival” at UCCP-Ellinwood Malate Church was absolutely wonderful! I played as a lead guitar player for the group I now dub as the LCSMC Stringed Instrument Ensemble. All instrumentalists, solo singers, choirs, and support staff gave their all for the Lord. For the many people who have missed it, here’s the LCSMC Stringed Instrument Ensemble’s short set:

1. “Introduction” (Improvisation by LCSMC Stringed Instrument Ensemble)
2. “Rock of My Salvation (Music by Teresa Muller, instrumental arrangement by Joel Gervacio)
3. “Salamat Musika” (Music by Gary Granada, instrumental arrangement by LCSMC Stringed Instrument Ensemble)

Some of the things that I hope to have done in the concert include play one of my original compositions on solo piano and perform some piano as well for the ensemble (although this would equate to completely missing the point/concept of the ensemble). Anyway, there were at least six pianists around during the concert, and so it would have been redundant had I been plucked out to play some piano (plus there were much superior pianists around like Rev. Leo Rempola and Rey del Rosario).

I had initially planned to record the entire concert straight from UCCP-Ellinwood’s Main Sanctuary audio board. Unfortunately, technical limitations only allowed me to record the set where I played in. What sort of technical limitation was that? The sound guy only hand one RCA cable which he had to use to hook up mp3 players for first musical offering acts (Christian Pop). Since the group I played with was part of the second musical offering, I could only ask the sound guy to record my group’s set.

However wonderful the concert was, here’s are two items that I think could have made the concert a lot better:

1. Improved promotion. Search the Internet for this particular event and my blog shows up as the top result. LCSMC doesn’t seem to be keen on promoting their concerts except using limited exposure via Facebook. I’m not sure if this was done, but perhaps they could have also advertised the concert at 98.7 DZFE, NCCP, etc. You get the drift. I do think that the LCSMC should promote such events to a wider audience rather than to just member churches.

2. An LCSMC House Band. I am very much peeved by the preferences for backing tracks (what we call in the Philippines as “minus ones”) over live musicians by the majority of the pop singers (no offense, okay?) that performed in the concert. Such music could have been performed to a professional standard by a group of musicians available within the LCSMC. I do think that LCSMC has an abundance of instrumentalists that could have been commissioned to become a sort of house band that would play all sorts of Christian music ranging from contemporary to even classical.

Anyway, the most important thing about this concert was it was done as an expression of worship to the Lord through music. It is my sincere prayer that those who have witnessed the performance be blessed.

Palawan Trip – Day 01 – 02/27/2014

My son and I woke up 12:00 a.m. to get ready for the trip. We picked up my wife at 1:00 a.m. and we proceeded to the airport. The plane ride went well, except that the altitude change caused some degree of discomfort in the form of mild sinusitis. I was expecting things to go well until we landed at Puerto Princesa Airport.

The tour operator’s (La Attraccion de Turismo) driver picked us up, and I was expecting that he would then immediately drive us off to our accommodations. It did not happen. We had to wait for three other groups to show up. It didn’t help realizing that the van’s seats were built for ectomorphs only. The driver then drove us to the Puerto Princesa Coliseum to get permits for two other groups to get permits for the subterranean river tour. Rather than getting us settled and refreshed from our flight, the tour operator thought best to immediately send us to the underground river tour. It was the start of what seems to be one of the worst vacation experiences I was about to have.

On our way to the subterranean/underground tour, we stopped by a roadside souvenir shop. I got some snacks and chose to ignore the usual touristy stuff. It was an opportunity to stretch. We then moved on.

Upon landing at the port where we were supposed to take a boat ride to the underground river system, we had our buffet lunch. It was okay. My wife found it to be substandard. I liked the kilawing tangigue (mackarel ceviche) plus fried breaded assorted veggies. I also had the opportunity to have fresh tamilok (shipworm) served with lime juice, onions and chilies. It tasted like oysters with a hint of wood pulp. These clams are dubbed the termites of the sea in other countries. In Palawan, it’s finger food. So, if you want to get rid of your sea termites, hire a Filipino, more specifically a coastal Palaweno.

The underground river tour is perhaps the best thing that has happened today. It was a wonderful, majestic, and pristine looking place. The river was so clean and clear that fish were abundant, even in its shallowest portions. This must be probably due to the place being a protected area by the government. It also helps that the place has been dubbed one of the new seven wonders of the world via an online poll.

Our river tour boatman was wonderful. He functioned as the boatman, the tour guide of the underground river and cave system, and stand-up comedian. His jokes based on the cave’s structures and wildlife were spot on. Some of the other folks who were in the boat with us were half-wits, having questionable intellectual capacities. Anyway, I found the experience very fulfilling.

We drove back to Puerto Princesa for *sigh* another opportunity to buy souvenirs. Snacks were of higher importance to me, and so I chose to buy those, something that my wife did as well. Afterwards, we met another driver who then drove us off into our accommodations at El Nido. The five-hour drive was less than desirable.

Finally, we got into our room. It had automatic air conditioning beyond our control, had no power outlets for our gadgets, and no hot water. At least it was a place good enough to sleep in. Although this first day seems to be lacking in some spots here and there, I’m still thankful for this trip. It’s a privilege to be able to go and do so. I do hope tomorrow would be better.

Cycfi Inc., Neo Pickups Coming Out…Soon!

I happen to be one of the few people who have tried out the prototype of Cycfi’s Neo Pickups, and so I have first hand experience of how awesome they really are. With its flat response, Joel (Mr. Cycfi Research himself) and I were talking about sculpting and shaping its sound to whatever we want, only to be limited by the capabilities of a parametric EQ and one’s imagination. I remember saying that one of the most basic things you can do with it is mimic an acoustic guitar. A few days later, we now have this video demonstration:

Notice that this guitar player is assuming a classical guitarist’s seated posture, playing Francisco Tarrega’s “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” on a Fender Strat, but it does not in any way sound like your typical quacking Strat! (I would know how a Strat should sound like because I grew up with one). Matter of fact is that it sounds eerily close to a concert classical guitar. I’ll be first to admit that (having had some classical guitar training) certain nuances like the sustain and attack of the notes would give away that it’s not a classical guitar, the timbre is very close that only classical guitar nuts (like some of the people I know) would be able to tell that it’s not. Perhaps there is some form of bias on my part that I know it’s not a classical guitar (having physically manipulated that guitar), but it would be safe to assume that a casual listener might not be able to figure it out.

This is a point that was proven in a blog post by Roy C (http://royconguitars.blogspot.com/) regarding the Neo Pickups. In this test, there are four clips and the challenge was to try and identify what sort of guitar and/or pickups were used in each clip:

Is it a MIDI guitar, a Martin, a Taylor, a Gibson, EMG 81s? None of the above, folks! It’s just a Fender Strat with Neo Pickups. Heck, the guitar could have been a cheap knockoff and it would have sounded like some of the most expensive guitars in the world with those pickups. I suppose it would be safe to say that what the E-Bow people call “string synthesis” could be easily done with Neo Pickups. Who needs MIDI guitars when you have these, right? And it is very obvious that I am GASsing for one of those that I already envision taking out the EMGs on my ESP LTD and replacing them with these. Without a doubt, I will soon write a composition utilizing these pickups (with the side effect of fulfilling one of my composition requirements at the university, hahaha!).

The Cycfi Neo Pickups target release date will be somewhere around March 2014. For more details, visit http://www.cycfi.com/projects/neo-series/.

Going Cold Turkey on Facebook

I have deactivated my Facebook account about two times in the past and last weekend was the third time. I probably am deactivating my account for good. Maybe I’d go as far as deleting in completely.

As Facebook went on to become the biggest social network, I have been constantly bombarded by ads that I could not get rid off to the point of major annoyance. Ads ranging from a variety of spurious products to things as despicable as softcore pornography coupled with all sorts of useless information have invaded my account. My privacy and my data are at risk over Facebook. It opens up the to door to so much temptation. This is one good reason to quit.

Out of the few 200+ Facebook friends I have, how many of those are really my friends? I would bet that only a tiny percentage. It is a meaningless demographic.

Facebook has also become a big distraction that it takes away precious hours that I could have used for other more purposeful activities. It is like the gossip column of your local daily newspaper, only bigger!

The last time I used Facebook, I was exposed to so much negativity that I decided to quit. Isn’t Facebook supposed to be a place where people share each others thoughts, ideas, and experiences? Apparently, this is a double-edged sword. It has become a space that is toxic with hateful and judgmental speech. I couldn’t stand it anymore because it has become such a depressing place. I feel like I’m devolving rather than improving when I’m on Facebook just because of so much hatred.

Because of Facebook, every person on the planet feels entitled to spew out random thoughts, some of them useful, some of them downright hurtful.  Tactlessness has become the norm, and because of this what little ties people have with one another become severed. One instance of this is that my wife and two of my friends whom I have grown up with now hate each other. Rather than connecting people together, Facebook has become a medium for people to sever ties with one another.  I could no longer stand how both of them exchanged such hurtful words.

James 3:3-10  reads:

“3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”

Facebook has indeed provided many with too much freedom to say what they want and express what they want. People have gone wild over that social network with their words that it does not in any way reinforce thoughtful conversation. Rather, it has become an avenue to slander each other. This I believe is my biggest reason why I have gone cold turkey with regard to Facebook.

“Fair Use” Policy is Unfair

Let’s say you’re at your favorite pizza joint and you order a pepperoni pizza. The restaurant owner says that there is no more pepperoni pizza available. The proper thing that the restaurant owner would say is that, “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have any pepperoni pizza available today. Would you be interested in any of  our other menu items?” The decent restaurant owner will not ask you to pay full price for that unavailable pizza and then take a slice or two from somebody else who has also paid full price. The basic concept of fairness (and justice) shows that you exactly get what you pay for.

Apparently, Philippine telecoms like Globe and Smart/PLDT don’t understand the concept of fairness. If you happen to be a subscriber of these companies like me or one of my friends (who provided the screen shot above), you probably have heard about this so-called “fair use” policy. To keep it simple, the “fair use” policy dictates that you are only limited to a certain amount of bandwidth per day (in this example 1 GB). Once you have exhausted that limit, they set your account to a snail-pace-slow connection as to give way for others to experience a faster internet speed. They call this fair. I call this crap! Why do I call this crap? Simple. I signed a contract that guarantees me that for a fixed monthly fee, I get unlimited use at a certain speed (like 1 to 2 Mbps, still sluggish compared to international standards). And all of the sudden, companies like Globe come up with this “fair use” crap that indicates you can only enjoy a sort-of-fast connection up until you consume 1 GB or something like that. Hey! I paid for unlimited use and not for this kind of crap.

Now, this reminds me of my restaurant scene analogy. “Fairness” according to these sneaky Telecom companies is like this: I order a pepperoni pizza for full price and they give me one. Sure, that’s what I expect. Halfway through eating my pizza, they decide to forcibly take my remaining slices and then give it to the next customer, who apparently has also paid for a whole pizza. Is this fairness? This is similar to how communism works: everybody gets the same amount of money whether or not I work harder than the next guy or do nothing at all and receive compensation while the next guy does double duty. It’s the same way how the Philippine government operates: The employed middle-class sweats it out for a certain wage, get taxed at least 30% by the BIR, BIR then decides to pocket some of that money for whims of the politicians (starting from the President downwards) and then hands out a little bit of that money as dole-outs to the lazy majority (armed with a bloated sense of entitlement and limited intelligence).

I work long and hard hours. One reason why I do so is for the benefit of getting a good and reliable internet connection, something that is necessary in the kind of work that I perform. I expect that the money I shell out would guarantee that I get the kind of service I paid for. The “fair use” policy is an injustice to honest, hardworking people who pay money for proper internet services. If Globe, Smart/PLDT, etc. were serious about being fair, they would expand their capacity in a faster rate than they acquire subscribers. It’s not like they are losing any of their profits if they would do such a thing. It’s only proper. With the way that the “fair use” policy goes, it seems to me like Globe and Smart/PLDT do not know any sense of propriety at all.

To reiterate my point, here’s what I think the “fair use” policy is all about:

I urge you all of you to go to this link at Change.Org and sign the petition. Thanks!

The Never-Ending Quest for Tone

Every musician wants to sound excellent, hence we find the never-ending quest for tone. You see it everywhere: at the NAMM and Musik Messe shows, musician’s forums, and music stores. At the dawn of the internet age, everybody can call himself or herself an expert, even without qualification, and thus we see conflicting information about how to achieve great tone as a musician. What is it that can really lead us to achieve that perfect tone? As far as musical instruments are concerned, I have come to the conclusion that there are two general things that lead to great tone: musicianship and craftsmanship.

I once learned from a short video tutorial by guitar giant Steve Vai that great tone starts at your fingertips. I do believe that to be true. My piano teacher, Prof. Richelle Rivera, had always stressed that proper hand positioning, correct wrist motion, and exploiting gravity produce the desired full tone over the piano. This is the reason why seemingly thin-framed pianists like Franz Liszt as well as my teacher (a rather petite woman) could achieve a sound like thunder over the piano even though they are not muscular like John Petrucci. This is one reason why my piano teacher wanted me to practice those wrist motions as I play through pieces over and over again against a constant metronome beat, something that would result in impressive tone and robot-like precision. Guitars and violins also follow the same principle that training results in the best possible tone. Although I can find whatever note I want over a fretless violin fingerboard, I could never bow a violin properly unlike my son who years of training developing his bowing hand. It was only after a number of years of practice on the guitar that I could achieve the kind of tone I wanted on that instrument. This is why they say that every great musician will be able to play great music even on the crappiest of instruments.

Craftsmanship is the second ingredient towards a great tone. You cannot really justify that tone comes out of tonewoods. Even if you give a mediocre luthier excellent materials like hard and flamed maple, ebony, Brazilian rosewood, and cedar, all of those expensive materials will still yield an instrument that sounds like crap. Hand over plywood to an excellent luthier and he will produce a cheap $75 guitar that sounds like $3,000 one. I have a Greg Bennett CD3 that can rival the tone of an expensive Gibson Les Paul. I also have a Korean-made Axtech Stratocaster copy that sounds like a Fender Strat and have tested a Chinese-made Jay Turser guitar modeled after the Fender Thinline Telecaster that can give the original a run for its money. The point is that excellent craftsmanship will always yield an excellent tone.

We can all sum up my ramblings as follows: To acquire excellent tone, practice on your instrument regularly and listen to yourself. Afterwards, when you are about to buy your next guitar, inspect for craftmanship and test it to see whether or not it can provide the best tone you can possibly have.

Early Evening at Cycfi Research, Inc.

Last Saturday, I got invited by the man behind the Cycfi Alpha, Mr. Joel de Guzman, to visit his facility somewhere in Quezon City to discuss ideas and possibilities regarding music as well as the innovative projects he undertakes. Realizing that this was one of those opportunities that I should not miss, I gave Joel my schedule and when I would be able to go visit. Fast forward to around 5:45 p.m. yesterday, I was with my son at the gates of what appeared to be a 21st-century-state-of-the-art residence, complete with tight security, a laboratory, and a properly built and well equipped studio. The first impression I got was he pushed the concept of SoHo to the extreme. The gate was opened and Joel welcomed us into his home office and conference room.

(Mr. Joel de Guzman)

Joel de Guzman is one of those rare, forward-thinking individuals. He is an IT consultant, software developer, musician, instrument maker, and open-source advocate. It’s not off target to say that he’s the local Bob Moog. He strongly believes in give-and-you-shall-receive philosophy so much that he posts his designs and concepts freely on the web which include his hexaphonic pickup design and the carbon-fiber/glass truss rod. He is a living testimony of a person who has been blessed so much because of his belief in giving. One could easily see that the gates and storehouses of heaven have opened up for him because of his unselfish attitude in life.

We talked about a lot of things, mostly exciting and forward-looking ideas for making music. Right there and then, I realized that I was in a presence of a genius. The things we were talking about were mindblowing to say the least. Joel was particular about how he could use waveshaping to explore new timbres and techniques when using the full-range hexaphonic pickup that he has been developing. The math of it all was mind-boggling to me (being a person who has struggled with math) but I guess I had enough knowhow to understand how I could use it. The idea of synthesis using the guitar’s strings and pickups as an oscillator has been expored by a number of other institutions. Companies like EHX have played with the idea by developing the POG and HOG pedals and Moog Music even has its own guitar for that purpose, but Joel made me realize that you could do more than that with his full-range pickup, a parametric EQ, and a waveshaper. He also had the idea of hiring me as his child’s music theory tutor. Sadly, I could not accommodate his request, given the distance I would have to travel to go there and give lessons.

After discussing ideas about how we could work together, Joel gave us a tour of his facility. The Alpha prototype was in the process of a paint job so he was not able to demonstrate how it sounded like. We went into his recording studio and he showed me a Fender Stratocaster with the prototype hex pickup installed. The pickup sounded rich on a Marshall combo that the guitar was plugged into. More than that, the hexaphonic output of his pickup was also connected to his Logic Pro based DAW. How it sounded like was something I have never heard on any other guitar. It was phenomenal! Imagine having individual control over each string having its own excusive output routed to a dedicated channel. Andres Segovia once said that the guitar is an orchestra unto itself. Joel’s hexaphonic pickup pushes that to a whole new level. I was very fortunate enough to have tried it for myself.

(The author smiling like an idiot with Joel’s Fender Strat and the Cycfi Hexaphonic Pickup)

It sounded crazy good with each string having a different position in the sound field starting with the low E string panned hard right and the high E string panned hard left. Since the pickup had a flat frequency response of 20 to 20,000 Hz, you could do all kinds of things with it and a parametric EQ. One of Joel’s intentions in developing this pickup is to disprove the idea that a full-range pickup is brittle sounding. Upon strumming my first chord on his guitar, I realized that he was right. Noodling with Joel’s Strat for a bit made me see all sorts of things that you can do with it. Some of the more basic things I thought I can do with it is faking an acoustic guitar with a solid-body electric (without the need for piezo saddles) and simulate any kind of pickup. That’s just the tip of the iceberg! Applying distortion to it while it is rigged in a hexaphonic manner was very interesting: full triads sounded very nice and very different. Rather than the aggressive high gain sound you usually expect from your typical humbuckers running into Marshall stack, it sounded more like a guitar orchestra. You could actually play your thirds with the gain all the way up to 10 without sounding harsh or dissonant. I could already imagine setting up six amps in a room or hall, surrounding both guitarist and audience, with each string’s signal going through each amp, exuding music like you’ve never heard before. An added bonus is that the pickup is so quiet even with distortion that the only thing a noise gate would do in this instance is to turn down the ambiance from the amp itself. Another thing currently in development is for this pickup to function as a sustainer. Once Cycfi Research finalizes the design of this pickup, I’m very sure that the serious musician will have to rethink about how to make a sound with a guitar. The question of single-coil versus humbucker would not matter with this kind of pickup. Rather than getting a pickup installed to give your guitar a certain kind of character, you can get the exact kind of voicing you want with this hexaphonic pickup by just using EQ.

(Cycfi Research Hexaphonic Pickup Prototype)

To cut the story short, I was very happy and honored to have met Joel. I hope that this will be the start of a mutually beneficial working relationship. More important than that is the fact that I have met a new friend who has the same sort of passion that I have for something new in music, finding ways to make music that’s really progressive.

To find out more about Joel and his projects, visit http://www.cycfi.com.

Billy Joel Was in a Metal Band

I’m pretty sure that hardcore Billy Joel fans already know this, but I only found out about this tidbit early this morning. And so, out of curiosity, I found out about this silly looking band called Attila. It’s an organ and drum duo. Here’s a YouTube clip showing the duo’s fondness for barbarian outfits and tons of meat going hand to hand with some of the silliest lyrics on the planet:

Okay, as far as my limited knowledge goes, three men spring to mind as individuals who properly used a Hammond organ in a heavier rock kind of context: Jon Lord, Keith Emerson, and Rick Wakeman. Billy Joel’s attempt was laudable although it seemed like there was too much processing going on that it sounds like a lot of noise most of the time. Perhaps he should have listened to stuff like “Tarkus” or “Highway Star” to figure out how organ in a heavy rock context should be done. Coupled with those atrocious lyrics, I’m not surprised why Mr. Piano Man called it “psychedelic bullshit”. Attila’s album though is remarkable as a sort of template for keyboard and drum duos. Perhaps Billy Joel in a proto-metal band sounds and looks so kitschy and so bad that it can actually be like a pug or a bulldog and end up being cute.

Guitar Sustain Beliefs versus Luthiery and Science

Conventional guitarist knowledge dictates that neck-through guitars have the best sustain followed by set necks and then the bolt-ons at dead last.

I used to believe the above statement, especially since my set-neck (Greg Bennett CD3) and neck-through (ESP LTD MH-300) guitars have very good sustain (to my ears at least). However, I now doubt such beliefs.

Science says otherwise with some researchers even claiming that bolt-on necks have the best sustain. There’s even a test that shows a Fender Strat (with a bolt-on neck) has better sustain than a Gibson Les Paul (set neck).

And so, is it just placebo that we tend to perceive neck-thru and set neck joints having better sustain?

Why is this an important question for guitar enthusiasts? We want the best possible instruments at the lowest cost. Take note that set-neck and neck-thru jointed guitars are typically more expensive than ones with bolt-on joints. Links to articles and experiments regarding this can be seen below:

http://liutaiomottola.com/research/sustain.htm
http://www.cycfi.com/2013/11/sustain-myth-science/

Perhaps sustain is largely dependent on craftsmanship, no matter how cheap or expensive a guitar is. Maybe excellent craftsmanship would always equate to excellent sustain rather than the kind of wood or the kind of neck joint used.

Some Musings on Education, Creativity, and Music

I have always believed that there is something miserably wrong with education, especially here in the Philippines. Growing up, I had to go to school every day, wear my uniform, pin my ID in a very specific manner, and keep a hairstyle exactly as described in the student handbook for discipline. The one thing that baffled me was why did I have to look like everybody else in order for me to have a good education? Does that exercise in conformity lead to anything beneficial? I have always thought that the answer was no. I have always thought that such rules were of no value and they only contributed to a superficial sense of order and discipline. A prescribed haircut never contributes to knowledge within my head or the life skills that I should possess. Matter of fact was it even encouraged me to rebel, seeing how utterly useless such rules were. Looking at the bigger picture of things, it seemed to me that schools (yes, even private ones with expensive tuition fees) are hell bent on producing “cookies”, mass producing students who eventually become part of a grand industrial assembly line. This cookie-cutter-style education, as Sir Ken Robinson puts it, kills creativity.

I can remember how many times I’ve heard something like I should be this or I should be that. It can become really frustrating because many people try to put you in a mold where you don’t really fit. I’m guessing all would agree that with the exception of art schools, the arts (music included) are of a low hierarchal standing in many educational systems. It’s good that we do have to place good regard for math, the sciences, and language studies, but shouldn’t we put the arts in equal footing? It’s really sad to see in this part of the world where I live that music is lumped together with other arts and physical education into a single subject. It’s just wrong! What happens in the end really is that these schools produce students who have some semblance of athletic ability, standard curriculum knowledge, zero knowledge about and appreciation for art, and almost nothing about music except some form of dancing to it and barely carrying out a tune. It really is sad given that one of the primary ways of learning is through listening, the primary sense that music appeals to. By lumping all of the arts into a single subject called MAPE and then placing it at a category lower than all other subjects, the present education system in the part of the world where I live is indeed killing creativity.

One thing that I have to say, however, is that in order to translate creative ideas into tangible output, discipline still is necessary. I remember my classical piano training in that regard: I would have to say (without any offense to my wonderful piano teacher) that it is the farthest anyone can go from exercising creativity in terms of music. It’s the kind of training that expects you to become as accurate as a MIDI player, and unfortunately I don’t seem to be very good at it. You have to follow the whims of the composer almost 100% of the time. One thing I would appreciate about it, however, is that it builds the skills that are necessary for me to be able to execute or communicate to others my own musical ideas without needing the assistance of a performer. Even something as free-spirited as jazz or the Blues requires knowing how to play a pentatonic scale. While the creative impulse has to be fed, it still requires discipline to execute properly.

The discipline we get out of schools is much appreciated, but if we lose touch of any attempts to become creative then such discipline is worthless study. The discipline and order we get out of education should go hand-in-hand with exercises in creativity, and therefore education shouldn’t be a lopsided affair where we push math, science, and linguistic studies to the top and regard music, dancing, painting, sculpture, etc. as mere extracurricular activities. It is true that you cannot produce creative output without the means to execute it. It is also true that without any semblance of creativity, all those means of execution obtained from rigorous discipline is unusable.