performance - Modulus, The Mad Hatter, Tolworth

This was a very frenetic day, and I'm pleased it's over, if only because I can now catch my breath! I had managed to borrow a friend's PA and head for the gig. Although it hadn't been used in 18 months, I was reassured that it would still work. I headed over to the uni to test this equipment, along with the new PA that I'd just gotten for the band. To cut a long story short, the new PA didn't work, and the old one did. Therefore we elected to use the old one, but with some lingering doubts, plumped to temporarily 'steal' a third PA from the uni to cover ourselves.

We arrived at the Mad Hatter in Tolworth, and set up. We were due to be on at 9pm. The old PA was fine all the way through soundcheck. We started our set bang on time, and ... less than a minute into the gig, the damn thing cut out. Cue a lot of frantic looks and bar staff trying to help us out. There were actually two problems; not only had the old PA cut out, but the power supply to all our equipment had too! I made an emergency call to Adnan, who does sound engineering and mixing for the Cricketers pub. Luckily, by 10pm, we had the problem fixed and had Adnan's gear to use as well - for a fee, of course.

The gig started again at 10pm and we played our full set, avoiding any further embarrassment. After a little break in the middle of the set, we finished our performance just before midnight. Our final song of the night just had to be Car Wash, as it was at the Cricketers - the difference being that this was a rather extended 9 minute version getting a lot of audience participation! (Thanks to Jan for playing along with us on tambourines, fancy becoming a regular band member?) Although this gig did not in any way resemble our hopes or expectations at the start, the band generally agreed that the quality of performance was a reasonable one under the circumstances. We have learned our lesson to fully test all the equipment to be used in a live music setting, and will never be as naive in the future.

The band thanks everyone who turned out to support us, in particular our friends from Kingston Uni who had to sit around for an hour while we sorted everything out. The set list was as follows:

The Boys of Summer
California Dreamin'
Rescue Me
Stand By Me
Love Lifts Us Up/Your Song
Brown Eyed Girl
Fields of Gold
When I'm Sixty-Four
A Whiter Shade of Pale
I Say a Little Prayer
Love Is All Around
Dancing Queen
Moondance
Don't Stop Me Now
If I Ever Lose My Faith
Never Stopped Loving You
Too Much Love Will Kill You
The Boys of Summer (Reprise)
Car Wash

Modulus - Kingston Gate amendment

The band has elected not to play at Kingston Gate for the time being, in order to concentrate instead on a different upcoming gig at the Mad Hatter in Tolworth at the back end of April. We reasoned that doing things this way would be of more benefit to the band, because both gigs would have asked for a similar duration of set (80-90 minutes) and the extra preparation time would come in useful.

performance - Modulus, The Cricketers, Kingston

Firstly, the whole band would like to say a massive thank you to all who came to hear and support us. It gave us a real boost to take the stage (albeit way past our due slot!) and see so many familiar faces. We reckon that the turnout was around 35 of you, which is mega cool for our first gig. Here's a quick rundown of our set, in order:

1: Rescue Me
Ian played a quirky little riff on the bass while our wonderful soulful diva Dee introduced the band and got things underway. Keyboards were turned down a little for this one as I felt that the song is really driven by the bass and vocals.

2: I Say a Little Prayer
Slowed things down "a little" with this next cover. Overall I thought we had a nice, slick sound and all of us even managed to end in time, after five choruses! Shame we didn't have a gospel choir on backing vocal duty for us, but never mind. Tempo was good throughout and the song didn't feel rushed or hurried.

3: If I Ever Lose My Faith
Although kind of the 'odd one out' in our mini set, we included this at Emma's request as it still had some interesting chords and verse structures to deal with. We may omit it in future sets as this song takes quite a while to really get going, and it didn't really gel with the overall tone or style tonight.

4: Brown Eyed Girl
In rehearsal, I had briefly toyed with the idea of using the Rugrats theme as an intro here, because of the similarities in the piano writing - consecutive thirds abound. In practice, I just held a D7 chord for about half a minute as Dee geared the audience up. One of the more crowd-friendly songs, certainly in comparison to Sting just before it. One of us took a wrong turn in the second verse (not naming names!) but musically we were accomplished enough to just carry on and figure it out anyway.

5: Car Wash
This really got them off their seats and onto the dancefloor! Dee and Emma started them off with several bars of hand claps, filling in each instrument bit by bit until the whole band started playing. After Dee's war cry of "are you ready, Kingston?" it was time to launch into Rose Royce's most famous funky number. I added some extra triplets on a D7 chord to fill the harmony out a bit, and it worked quite well.

Conclusions:
Our first ever gig was well received on the whole, despite us having to play with the sheet music on stage due to lack of preparation time. It is definitely our aim to memorise the songs in the future so that we can appear more professional, which will in turn boost our image as a band and generate repeat bookings. Initially, we were the first of three bands scheduled to play tonight, but the other two had pulled out at late notice. It was therefore down to DJ Kripstar to liven things up before we took the stage. The "free drink" vouchers for band members were greatly appreciated afterwards, so a massive thank you to Laura and Dee for being our unsung heroes and organising many aspects of tonight's gig. We will continue rehearsals in our normal time slot, as we have to get a set together for our next gig at the Kingston Gate, and also Battle of the Bands.

Modulus - Coombehurst Studio and Kingston Gate

Modulus will follow up our stint at the Cricketers on Friday 20th February with an entry to the Battle of the Bands contest at Coombehurst Studio, Kingston University on Wednesday 11th March. Three original songs have to be performed; the first prize is £400 to spend on band stuff and the promise of headlining local gigs.

Also, thanks in no small part to our exceptional drummer Emma, I'm pleased to announce that Modulus will be performing at Kingston Gate in the very near future. A date has yet to be decided; however, we will be the only band playing, and we will play a full set. In terms of learning our repertoire, this may mean that the gig takes place after the Battle of the Bands contest detailed above. Stay tuned for some more details, teasers, etc.

MA Music - graduation ceremony

Earlier this evening was the graduation ceremony for my MA Music class, held at the Barbican Centre in London. It was exactly as I expected - that is, the usual cheesy atmosphere and bonhomie. The gong for most surreal sight of the evening must surely go to the choir conductor, who performed an impromptu version of We are the Champions on organ, ably assisted with rich twenty-part harmony backing him up.

At least there were vouchers for free wine. Ritchie was there and was as hilarious as ever, necking beer at breakneck speed. Dad, Catherine, Mum and Roger all came to see me graduate, which for my family is probably a world first - in the sense that they were all in the same geographical area and there weren't any fights. Roger gave me some money as a reward for passing my Masters, which I promptly used to go find the nearest watering hole with Ritchie, and drank heartily with him and his mum long into the evening.

I managed to get the last train back into Sutton and somehow stumbled home. It still hasn't really hit home that I'm now a Master of Music. I guess at some point I will look back upon this day with a certain nostalgia. For now, I'm Jamie Gray, BA (Hons), MA. Night :)

'Propagation I' - live in Italy

Hi all,

If you'd like to see my piece "Propagation I" in action, all you have to do is follow the link below. It's a DVD quality MP4 file in 640x480 resolution and is about 470 Mb big, so only do it if you have some time to spare!

http://www.deltastudios.it/taukay/scores/temp/V209_01.zip

As you know, the pieces have been merged to form a coherent whole. My piece is between [27:57] and [28:59]. Also particularly heartening was the 3 minutes of applause for the composers at the end! Soon I will edit the video in Premiere Pro and upload a clip of just my piece to my video section.

Happy new year to you all.

Jamie

'O! Lest the World' - text

O! lest the world should task you to recite
What merit lived in me, that you should love
After my death,--dear love, forget me quite,
For you in me can nothing worthy prove.
Unless you would devise some virtuous lie,
To do more for me than mine own desert,
And hang more praise upon deceased I
Than niggard truth would willingly impart:
O! lest your true love may seem false in this
That you for love speak well of me untrue,
My name be buried where my body is,
And live no more to shame nor me nor you.
For I am shamed by that which I bring forth,
And so should you, to love things nothing worth.

'FrammentAzioni' - press review

'Propagation I' - live on Italian national radio

Dear Composer,

The audio sequence of FrammentAzioni project will be soon available on taukay Web Radio.

We are working now over the possibility that RAI - the italian national radio - could broadcast the FrammentAzioni sequence. To do this we need a releasing declaration from every composer.

We also made a video recording during the October 11 2008 performance and we would like to produce a video DVD of the work and perhaps also an audio CD.

Please compile, sign and send us by e-mail or by ordinary mail as soon as possible, the releasing declaration that you can find in RTF and PDF format.

Thank you for your help.

Best regards,

FrammentAzioni project team


******************************
Gentile Compositore,
la sequenza audio del progetto FrammentAzioni sarà presto disponibile su Taukay Web Radio.

In questo momento stiamo lavorando sulla possibilità che Radio RAI (Radio 3 suite) possa trasmettere la sequenza di FrammentAzioni. Per fare questo abbiamo bisogno di una dichiarazione liberatoria da ogni compositore partecipante.

Durante la performance dell'undici ottobre 2008 abbiamo realizzato delle riprese video che vorremmo utilizzare per produrre un DVD del lavoro e forse anche un CD audio.

Le chiediamo cortesemente di compilare, firmare ed inviare prima possibile tramite e-mail o posta ordinaria, la dichiarazione liberatoria che può trovare allegata in formato RTF e PDF.

Grazie per il suo aiuto.

Cordiali saluti.

Il team del progetto FrammentAzioni

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEM - Taukay Edizioni Musicali
via del Torre 57/5
33047 Remanzacco (Udine) Italia
tel. +39 0432 649244
fax +39 0432 649575
http://www.taukay.it/
http://radio.taukay.it/

Modulus - change of lineup

Modulus have today replaced Emmanuella Grace (our former singer) with Dee McGruddy, on the grounds of creative differences. We thank Emmanuella for her time and efforts with us and wish her the best for the future.

'Propagation I' - final programme

Dear Composer,

You can find below the text concerning the "FrammentAzioni" performance.
Please, check the informations regarding your participation like name,
title of the composition(s).

(The english version is after the italian version)

Best regards.

Gentile Compositore,
di seguito troverà i testi inseriti nel programma di sala relativi
alla performance "FrammentAzioni"
La preghiamo di controllare che non ci siano errori per quanto la
riguarda.

Cordiali saluti.

Vittorio Vella

**************************

**********

The idea underlying this project has a broad international
perspective. It is based on the idea that brief “fragments” of sound
can be edited together to accompany movements, “actions”, in a
continuum where chance is able to construct a fascinating audio-visual
sequence.
Using the internet, artists were asked to send pieces of no more than
60 seconds in length to Taukay Edizioni Musicali, in order to
participate in a kind of collective musical composition.
The time limit was a substantial challenge for the participants,
calling for an essential nature which required complete control of the
sonic events in the search for the heart of the music.
The result is a phenomenal and multi-faceted compositional whole, made
up of 61 compositions chosen from 716 works submitted from 34
countries, to which the contemporary dance company “Arearea” has added
the expression of movement.

Arearea is a company of contemporary dance founded in 1992 by the
choreographer and dancer Roberto Cocconi who was a member of the
company Teatro e Danza la Fenice di Venezia under the direction of
Carolyn Carlson. He created the company Sosta Palmizi in collaboration
with the most important dancers of the modern authorial dance in
Italy. Since 2003 the dancers of Arearea work with the choreographers
Luca Zampar and Marta Bevilacqua, they both studied at the Accademia
Isola della Danza directed by Carolyn Carlson.

Arearea creates works for: festival of contemporary art, museums,
vernissage, happenings. Their art follows that direction and they
collaborate with all kind of artists (musicians, sculptors, painters,
directors, actors, photographers, videomakers and DJs) with whom
Arearea can experiment the mixture of different ways of expression.

FINAL PROGRAMME:

Panayiotis Kokoras - Lullaby,
Jesus Contreras - Hikari Kage,
Dawn K. Williams - Burst,
Roderik De Man - Wait a minute!,
Alex Shapiro - Flea Circus,
Alex Shapiro - Plasma,
Gilberto Assis de Oliveira Rosas - Com o passar dos timbres,
Anthony Catalano - Worried for nothing,
Philip Schuessler - Bicycle Etude No2,
Dorothy Elliston Hindman - Seconds,
Daniel Schnyder - Beep Hop,
Paul Bruinen - Haiku I: Lightning,
Marcel Wierckx - In tension,
Robert Scott Thompson - Bam Bloop,
Andrián Pertout - Sesenta cuatro campanas,
Tim Reed - He changed into his brown trasers,
Robert Scott Thompson - Ah,
Kala Pierson - Chilling Effects,
Victor Hugo Villarreal - Big Nurse,
Alphonse Izzo - Ground,
Stefano Alessandretti - Studio n. 2: Persistenza della memoria,
Giuseppe Rapisarda - Le voci di qualcuno,
Blake Samperi - Extraction,
Massimo Fragalà - Akatastasia,
Adam Caird - Going to the match,
Junya Oikawa - Plastic edge II,
Jeff Morris - RUhere x60,
Ilaria Liberati - Fear,
Benjamin O'Brien - cilq 1,
Jamie Gray - Propagation I,
Ioannis Kalantzis - Zer01 minute,
Adam Gusme - Untitled,
Massimo Varchione - Rota's walk,
Michael Roth - Henry Kissinger sings a little tune,
Michael Roth - Tilly warns us: people are turning into almonds!,
Federico Costanza - Venice II,
Antye Greie - Lettermood,
NoLogic duo (Angelo Conto / Igor Sciavolino) - Sdrok,
Gianmarco Caselli - Hydra II,
Andrew Stoltz - Umwelt,
Corrado Malavasi - Aquawork,
Corrado Malavasi - Natura Zen 1,
Alfredo Serafini - All'ombra in una stanza vuota,
David Heuser - Here's the shot,
Tatjana Böhme-Mehner - Cowbell Etude I,
Paula Matthusen - Anthracite,
Marco Dibeltulu - Omaggio a Velazquez,
Norberto Oldrini - Intermezzo,
Jimmy Behan - Ghost of a bird,
Monica Conversano - Horse dance,
Enrico Francioni - Mad hatter,
Ricardo de Armas - Freak cello,
Michelangelo Pepe - Playing with the clocks,
Miguel Urbano - Bordões,
Gilberto Assis de Oliveira Rosas - Uma vida en 60s,
Sebastiane Hegarty - Soliloqui #1,
Sebastiane Hegarty - Accents & descents,
Zygote (Antti Saario / Martin Iddon) - closed vessel: Ausstrahlung,
Nicolas Tzortzis - According to her,
Andrea Vigani - Met,
Andrew Peggie - The isle is full of noises #2

'Propagation I' - to be performed in Italy!

Udine, September 2008

TEM - Taukay Music Publishing House and Delta Produzioni Associazione Culturale announces the results of the FrammentAzioni project call for works.

The listening group is thus composed:

Michele Biasutti
Andrea Cera
Nicola Giosmin
Andrea Toffolini
Vittorio Vella

716 compositions from 34 countries are arrived at our office.
The listening group chose the following 61 works of 57 composers:

Stefano Alessandretti - Studio n. 2: Persistenza della memoria,
Gilberto Assis de Oliveira Rosas - Com o passar dos timbres,
Gilberto Assis de Oliveira Rosas - Uma vida en 60s,
Jimmy Behan - Ghost of a bird,
Tatjana Böhme-Mehner - Cowbell Etude I,
Paul Bruinen - Haiku I: Lightning,
Adam Caird - Going to the match,
Gianmarco Caselli - Hydra II,
Anthony Catalano - Worried for nothing,
Jesus Contreras - Hikari Kage,
Monica Conversano - Horse dance,
Federico Costanza - Venice II,
Ricardo de Armas - Freak cello,
Roderik De Man - Wait a minute!,
Marco Dibeltulu - Omaggio a Velazquez,
Massimo Fragalà - Akatastasia,
Enrico Francioni - Mad hatter,
Jamie Gray - Propagation I,
Antye Greie - Lettermood,
Adam Gusme - Untitled,
Sebastiane Hegarty - Soliloqui #1,
Sebastiane Hegarty - Accents & descents,
David Heuser - Here's the shot,
Dorothy Elliston Hindman - Seconds,
Alphonse Izzo - Ground,
Ioannis Kalantzis - Zer01 minute,
Panayiotis Kokoras - Lullaby,
Ilaria Liberati - Fear,
Corrado Malavasi - Aquawork,
Corrado Malavasi - Natura Zen 1,
Paula Matthusen - Anthracite,
Jeff Morris - RUhere x60,
NoLogic duo (Angelo Conto / Igor Sciavolino) - Sdrok,
Benjamin O'Brien - cilq 1,
Junya Oikawa - Plastic edge II,
Norberto Oldrini - Intermezzo,
Andrew Peggie - The isle is full of noises #2
Michelangelo Pepe - Playing with the clocks,
Andrián Pertout - Sesenta cuatro campanas,
Kala Pierson - Chilling Effects,
Giuseppe Rapisarda - Le voci di qualcuno,
Tim Reed - He changed into his brown trasers,
Michael Roth - Henry Kissinger sings a little tune,
Michael Roth - Tilly warns us: people are turning into almonds!,
Blake Samperi - Extraction,
Daniel Schnyder - Beep Hop,
Philip Schuessler - Bicycle Etude No2,
Alfredo Serafini - All'ombra in una stanza vuota,
Alex Shapiro - Flea Circus,
Alex Shapiro - Plasma,
Andrew Stoltz - Umwelt,
Robert Scott Thompson - Bam Bloop,
Robert Scott Thompson - Ah,
Nicolas Tzortzis - According to her,
Miguel Urbano - Bordões,
Massimo Varchione - Rota's walk,
Andrea Vigani - Met,
Victor Hugo Villarreal - Big Nurse,
Marcel Wierckx - In tension,
Dawn K. Williams - Burst,
Zygote (Antti Saario / Martin Iddon) - closed vessel: Ausstrahlung,

The selected compositions will be played continuously in a concert during the “Contemporanea” festival in October in Udine (Italy) and broadcasted from Taukay Web radio, the first Italian web radio station entirely dedicated to contemporary music (http://radio.taukay.it). A video recording of the concert is scheduled.
Over the sequence the dance company “Arearea” will present an expressly dedicated choreography.

Vittorio Vella
Manager of TEM – Taukay Edizioni Musicali

It is possible to receive further information at this address:
info@taukay.it
www./taukay.it
or at our office in via del torre 57/5, 33047 Remanzacco (Udine), ITALIA
tel ++39 0432 649244, fax ++39 0432 649575