We As Art, We As Artists 2013 – Drawing Breath

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Corey Stewart

drawingbreath

Recently I was honoured to be asked to be part of this years We As Art, We As Artists project for the 2013 Adelaide Fringe Festival called “Drawing Breath.”

I accepted the challenge which has then enabled me to be working with such artists as Mary Webb, Leon Hewer, Fergus O’Regan, Kelly Breuer, Michaela Burger and Sarah O’Brien.

I love them all, they’re a fantastic bunch of musicians to work with.

As mentioned on the Fringe website…

“Drawing Breath’, chapter two of collaborative project ‘We as Art, We as Artists’ blends original music, visual art and movement to provide you with a wholesome arts experience. Bathe in gorgeous six part harmonies, live art and story through movement. “…the best live music I have ever seen.” (Fringe Benefits).”

The main aspect about this performance that intrigued me the most is that each songwriter chooses two songs which are then re-arranged for Cello, Violin and up to 6 voices with each of us having to do the re-arranging ourselves using a notation program such as Sibelius or, its open source equivalent, MuseScore.

I chose “Jigsaw” and “Half Hearted Man” as my two songs and because of some time constraints I also wanted to re-arrange them myself using MuseScore.

I had to dig deep into my brain to find my Year 12 music theory knowledge but thankfully it was there where I left it and after I got the hang of operating MuseScore (which had its own steep learning curve) I was getting back into the swing of things again.

This whole exercise has re-ignited my interest in orchestral music in general.

We’ve got some intense rehearsals to get through before the opening night but from what I’ve heard so far it’s going to be a very inspirational time for me. I’m so far away from my musical comfort zone it’s scary but at the same time incredibly satisfying.

The three performances are on February 16th, 21st and 22nd at a new venue called Howl The Moon located at Dunston grove, Linde Reserve, Nelson Street, Stepney from 8pm.

Tickets are $21 with $15 for concession/fringe benefit members and $13 for kids.

For more information or to purchase tickets go to the Drawing Breath page on the Fringe website.

I’m so looking forward to this, I hope to see some familiar faces in the crowd.

Peace,

Corey

Sting’s Songwriting Process – An Insight

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Corey Stewart

I stumbled across this old video on YouTube of Jools Holland interviewing Sting (circa early 80′s) recently and it gives a brilliant insight into the way that Sting gathers, processes and demos his songwriting ideas before introducing it to the rest of the Police band members

Even though the video primarily focuses on how he came up with “Message In A Bottle” (one of my all time favourite songs) there are plenty of pearls of wisdom to be had if you listen for it.

Look out for the introduction of Dennis as one of the central characters in his songwriting process.

Jools Holland interviews Sting (The Police)

I loved every minute of this video especially the old recording technology I mean, I used to have a Tascam Portastudio (ahh, memories). I hope you enjoyed it too, let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey

The RPM Challenge 2012

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Corey Stewart

I’ve just signed up for yet another songwriting challenge called the RPM Challenge. This time you write and record an album (defined as a minimum of 10 songs) during the month of February.

I know some people that for some reason find these concepts as anti-inspirational but personally, I use these songwriting challenges as a great way to just immerse myself into the spirit of unbridled creativity.

It’s a great way to stand up to your inner critic and besides, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with writing songs just for the sake of writing them.

If you’re interested in checking out some more info regarding the RPM Challenge, just go to www.rpmchallenge.com, have a look for yourself and perhaps sign up and have a go. What have you got to lose?

I know I will be tackling it and I’ll keep you all posted with my progress.

Peace,

Corey

Getting Ready For FAWM 2012

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Corey Stewart

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

Man, we’re at the end of January already… Where did it go?

I don’t know where it went but I do know that the beginning of February is also the beginning of FAWM which stands for February Album Writing Month.

I’ll cleaning up my creative space, contacting all of my collaborators and sharpening my pencil for this one.

I know I’ve mentioned FAWM (and my lack of success in it) before in the past but for those of you that don’t know FAWM is a songwriting event that challenges the participant to write 14 songs in the 28 days of February.

However, seeing that 2012 is a leap year the challenge is now to write 14.5 songs in 29 days. The other 0.5 being an extra collaboration with someone new.

Here is some more information about FAWM taken from www.fawm.org

“The FAWM challenge is simple: 14½ songs in 29 days. Why?

If it is inspiration you are after, then FAWM is your club. Each February, this website forges a collaborative community of thousands of musicians worldwide, from all walks and skill levels.

We take on the challenge of writing an album’s worth of new music in the shortest month of the year.”

Interested? Then go to www.fawm.org and join up, immerse yourself into the community and enjoy the ride.

I know I will.

Peace,

Corey

Creating Ambient Music

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Corey Stewart

Relaxation music, meditation music, ambient music…

Call it whatever you like, I’ve always wanted to create, record and perform this type of music ever since my ears heard Brian Eno’s “Music For Airports” and “Music For Films”.

For a start I love Brian Eno and anything he touches however, I was always entranced by his notion that music could be created specifically for the background but, it was artistic at the same time.

A muzak free zone of beautifully blended ambience in which you can say goodbye to the Kenny G inspired Soprano Sax melodies.

I recently completed a project for Pam Mitchell, recording and doing the graphics for a series of five Guided Meditation CD’s. It was a lot of fun and it gave me the opportunity to really muck around in my home recording studio composing some ambient music of my own starting from scratch.

I also did all of the CD artwork as well which turned out pretty well if I say so myself.

Below are some music samples. It’s not Brian Eno, but it’s a start…

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