Finishing a long-term project is a bag of mixed emotions. I’ve been walking around for the past eight years with tunes in my head, ideas for arrangements, brainstorming…all related to the same project, a musical titled “Serena in X-tremis.”
The past eight years have gone something like this, in fits and starts:
Standing in the shower, an idea hits me. Usually a melody.
Go to the piano. Improvise for a few minutes.
Pencil in hand, pencil on paper. Chart it.
Go into the studio. Record temp tracks.
Send said temp tracks to my collaborator (Ted Shank) for his feedback, lyrical revisions, and the like.
Revise. Re-record. Re-arrange. Re-mix. Over and over and over.
After eight years, I’ve accumulated over 80GB of sound files related to the same project, along with countless reams of staff paper.
And then suddenly, I’m done. Right before the deadline, a week-long workshop at the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj in Romania. But really, now that the composing part of the project is finished, is it over? Not exactly.
That’s the beauty of music and of theatre. Writing (in my case, composing) is just the beginning. A project continually evolves, and slowly takes on a life of its own. Unlike in other art forms, where the creator has control over the creative output from start to finish, music and theatre are dependent on other participants to make the creation come to life. This is where the fun begins. What will happen next? Who will be cast? What will his or her interpretation be of a particular character’s tone? Did I do my job right, by successfully communicating what I wanted to convey?
It’s a scary cliff to jump off.
Let the adventure begin. More to follow from Romania!
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