It's been about a month since I last updated and life has been CRAZY! I finally get to share the news about Voices of Hope and the New Music Initiative for Black Voices! I'm super excited about these projects! Voices of Hope are prison choirs in the Minnesota Correctional Facilities. The piece I'm writing is for 2 voice parts (either S/A or T/B so it can be sung in both the men's and women's prisons), snapping/clapping, (optional) bass guitar, and piano. Have I mentioned I LOVE writing for voice??? I love having the structure and guidance of having a text. I've worked with my composition teacher about having more of an analytical process with my composing instead of just waiting for divine inspiration. There are ways to "properly" set a text. For example, you want the stressed beats to happen on the correct placement. When I was in high school, I went to a reading of students' choral works. It sticks with me because someone set some sort of text, I don't remember what, but he put the strong beats on "your" and "but" (sounding like your...butt). Funny the things that stick! I'm working on making the composing process more analytical, so I'm attempting to write out my text setting process:
I've been running a low-level mania (hypomania) since March or so. On one hand it's great because I don't need as much sleep and I'm hyper-creative, but on the other hand, I'm not sleeping much (takes me 3 hours to fall asleep and I'll frequently sleep 2-3 hours then can't get back to sleep) and eventually the downside of mania is the crash that typically follows the high. I'm churning out a ton of high-quality music, but this level of productivity isn't sustainable. While it feels great at first, the racing thoughts, obsessive working, and lack of sleep is starting to wear on me. I'm working with my therapist and psychiatrist to try and get things regulated again, but so far nothing is working. Stress is one of my triggers, so I work hard to live a low stress lifestyle. The problem is, good stress is a trigger, too, so every good news I get fuels the hypomania. I wish there was an easy answer. *Sigh* C'est la vie!
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October 2021
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