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      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!

ProfessorTomoe

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Posts posted by ProfessorTomoe

  1. Posted

    19 minutes ago, mlooney said:

    I liked it.  Not really my kind of music, but pleasant 

    Pleasant, eh? Hmm. Not really sure how to read that. In other news, I spent over 2 hours on the phone with my son last night talking about the piece, so there was no ambiguity once we finished with each other. ;) He thought he had a problem with a whole section, but it turned out he only had a problem with one note. I liked the note as is, so nothing got changed. Such is life.

  4. Posted

    No replies yet on the Bach or the Bruckner. Fingers still crossed.

    Meanwhile, I've taken it upon myself to enter an International Composition Competition with a $1,000.00 grand prize. The competition rules "suggest" that your piece should include parts for Trumpet, Trombone, and Bass Clarinet (plus Baritone male voice, but it's not required) - definitely an odd combination. Thing is, I like odd combinations in musical voices, so this competition is right up my alley.

    I would appreciate your, the 4um denizen's,  help in this. I'll be posting my works in progress at a private link on SoundCloud and will share that link here. I'll try to update the music at the end of that link every evening, but that will depend on how much progress I make during the day. In other words, if I only make one or two measures headway, I probably won't update for that day. When I do post an update, however, I'd appreciate it if you would kindly listen to it and tell me what you think. I'm not looking for a music theory breakdown: I'm looking for your opinion.

    I hope I'm not asking for too much. Please tell me whether or not you can help. Thank you, either way.

  5. Posted

    I'm home from the hospital. As far as I know, everything went without problems. I've got a bit of bleeding on my left big toe where the doctor trimmed a bit of bone off the tip, but it's nothing serious and should stop at any time. As for the right foot, well, I've got some throbbing with it elevated and a good deal of pain when I try to walk on it. It definitely hurts.

    They've got me in surgical shoes on both feet. I definitely look weird, and I feel sorry for Mrs. Prof, who's taking care of almost all of my walking duties for the foreseeable future (bathroom duties are still left to me). It's going to be a real pain when she leaves to take care of cat duties.

    Thanks for the support and well wishes! I appreciate them all.

    Darth Fluffy reacted to this

  7. Posted

    I'm finally going to have my sesamoid bone removal surgery on my right foot this week, knock on wood. I came down very ill the last time it was scheduled and had to call it off, so I'm hoping the same doesn't happen this time around.

    My pre-op appointment is scheduled for this coming Monday afternoon, with the surgery to follow sometime on Thursday. They'll do all of the blood tests on the day of the surgery. When the day comes, they'll remove one of the two sesamoid bones through the left edge of my right foot (I asked about removing both, and was told that it would be a very bad idea, so idea dropped). Recovery should take a couple of months.

    I'm hoping that the removal of this pesky sesamoid bone will eliminate all of the inflammations and ulcers that I've been getting from the unnatural compression caused by the bone being out of position. I'm also hoping for no post-op complications, since I seem to be prone to those.

    I'll keep you informed. Wish me luck and cross your fingers for me, please.

  11. Posted

    1 hour ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

    Many people insist the moon takes on the colour of blood at these events. The moon usually looks copper coloured to me.

    The moon normally looks orangish-brown to me.

  12. Posted

    13 hours ago, Darth Fluffy said:

    Oct 14 2023 Annular Solar Eclipse

    Visible in Oregon in the morning, through Texas around noon - I've lived along the path of this twice, no where near it now.

    Prof, this will pass over San Antonio, but not Austin. You're the closest that I know of.

    We won't see the "Ring of Fire" annular eclipse from where I am, but we will get an 81% partial eclipse. We've bought pairs of ISO-approved sun-view glasses so we can look at it, and so we can look at the Big One coming up in April of next year (since we're right on its path).

  13. Posted

    The Bach Prelude has been mailed to the director of the Austin Symphonic Band! I put it in the mail yesterday after getting it bound at a place called Dallas Bindery.(they don't have a web site). Along with it, I sent a thumb drive that had my two woodwind quintets ("Woodwind Quintet No. 1" and "Theme and Tangents") and the Bruckner 6th Symphony, 1st Movement. All had MP3s, PDF scores, and PDF parts. The PDF parts for the Bach Prelude are also on the thumb drive.

    Likewise, the Bruckner 6th Symphony, 1st Movement has been mailed to the conductor of the Wind Symphony of the University of Texas at Arlington (their top band), I also got it bound at Dallas Bindery (more on that experience in a second). Since it was so huge (11" x 17"), it had to go via a special 2-day postal rate that cost $9.00. I figured as much and was prepared. Again, like with the Austin Symphonic Band mailing, I sent a thumb drive with the woodwind quintets on it. However, I sent the score, parts, and MP3 of the Bach Prelude as a bonus feature this time, and included the basic PDF parts for the Bruckner at the top of the directory structure. In other words, the opposite of what I sent to the Austin Symphonic Band.

    Now, my experience with Dallas Bindery was interesting. The guy who runs the place is a character. He told us a few stories, listened to one or two of mine, and was sympathetic to what I was trying to do with my binding of the musical scores. In the end, I got the scores bound for no charge, on hopes that I might be able to bring him back more business. I hope I can.

    Darth Fluffy reacted to this

  14. Posted

    I've updated the recording of the Bach Prelude No. 7 in Eb Major on SoundCloud. Only the audio has changed, slightly - the link remains the same as in the above post.

    In other news, I'm getting ready to send off the Prelude to the Austin Symphonic Band to see if they'll play it. They're a high-level community ensemble that comes recommended to me by a fellow member of a professional music fraternity (Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia) who is now a Doctorate and a Professor at Texas A&M. (I'm quoting his recommendation in my intro letter.) They'll be getting a printed and bound score, plus a thumb drive with PDFs of the parts and an MP3 rendition of the music. I'm hoping this will convince them to take up the piece and play it. (See the cover of the score below.)

    I'm going to go get it bound today, along with the Bruckner 6th / 1st Movement arrangement, which by itself is going to cost me $15 to get bound. (It's due to the odd size of 11" by 17" - one place wanted to charge me $30 bucks to bind it!) I'll update here on the status as things proceed. Wish me luck.

    Bach-Prelude7-Cover01.jpg
    where can i upload photos

  15. Posted

    Long time no see update:

    I had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack - also known as a mini-stroke) back on 9/17. Wound up spending a night in the hospital for observation as a result.

    It hit me as a bad headache on the right side of my skull, with numbness on the right side of my face and difficulty controlling my speech out of the right side of my mouth. The symptoms lasted about 30 minutes and were relatively mild. I had to really sit and figure out if I was having a stroke or not. In the end, we called 911, who took me to the hospital with lights and siren going all the way.

    None of the physical tests showed anything, but I flunked some of the therapy tests they give you after such an event, mainly having to do with memory. My primary care doctor has me following up with a neurologist, plus he's got me getting a carotid artery ultrasound scan next week.

    I had a scare a few days ago, when my head generated a full-skull headache that was so bad it felt like my head was going to explode. I got sick to my stomach from it. It came in two separate, short waves. My wife called 911 on that, too. Fortunately, a hyper-dose of Advil calmed it down after about 90 minutes, so no hospital trip this time.

    I'm on a hair-trigger when it comes to stroke symptoms now. Not fun.

  16. Posted

    I've got a file up on SoundCloud for your listening pleasure of one of my arrangements for band. This one is of Johann Sebastian Bach's "Prelude No. 7 in Eb Major" from "The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1." Just like with the Bruckner 6th Symphony, it's been rendered using Dorico Pro 5 and NotePerformer 4.

    I'm hoping to get this polished and published on Sheet Music Plus soon, by way of the ArrangeMe.com service, so if you're in a band, be it high school or above, and you'd like to play this, keep your eyes on this thread - you'll probably get the chance if you can talk your band director into it! :)

    If you've got any questions or comments, drop them here or on SoundCloud. Thanks for listening!

    Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/lee-jackson-12/prelude-no-7-in-eb-major

     

  17. Posted

    I just got home from the hospital a few hours ago after spending the night there for observation for a possible stroke. Yep. Lotsa fun. Everything started at around 3:30pm Sunday. I got a headache on the right side of my head, the right side of my face went numb, and I started having some trouble talking out of the right side of my mouth. After about 30 minutes, I brought up the subject to my wife, Brenda. We discussed the matter, and then I finally called 911. They came out and took me to the hospital with lights and sirens going.

    They ran some blood tests on me at the hospital and did a CT scan, both of which came back negative for anything scary. Still, the doctor wanted to keep me for observation, so I was admitted for the night. There were the usual snafus with my pain medicines, of course, and the IV they stuck in my right arm back in the ambulance hurt every time I tried to bend it, so things were less than fun.

    The worst thing that happened was when they gave me a potassium chloride drip in my IV. IT HURT LIKE HELL. We're talking pain level 9 on the 0-to-10 scale here. Still, I toughed it out as long as I could, since the doctor told me my potassium levels were very low. (I'm wondering if that may have contributed to me feeling so bad on Sunday.)

    Anyway, they finally decided I'd had a Transient Ischemic Attack, or TIA for short. Basically a "mini-stroke." They've increased my cholesterol medication and have given me a 21-day course of Plavix blood thinner to take, just in case I've got a baby clot hiding in my brain.

    I'm glad the situation is over with for now.  I'm beginning to hate hospitals with a passion.

  18. Posted

    I'm headed out to a surgical center on Monday (Sept. 11) to have a procedure done - yet another Rhizotomy. I just had one a little over 6 months ago, and I've lost count of how many I've had, but man, am I in desperate need of another one. I can't stand in one place and do anything (like cooking) without my lumbar spine giving me excruciating pain after just a few minutes. They're going to zap my spinal nerves with radio waves and follow up with steroid injections, if I'm remembering the procedure correctly. I've been told by my physician's assistant at the pain clinic to ask for extra pain medicine on the left-hand side, since that's where the worst lower back pain is happening.

    I go in at 10:30 a.m. Monday morning and should be out in a couple of hours. With luck, I should be feeling relief within a week.

    Darth Fluffy reacted to this

  24. Posted

    There is a high probability that my second woodwind quintet, "Theme and Tangents," will be played during a rehearsal by an honest-to-"Bob" live woodwind ensemble tomorrow (Friday, Sept. 1, 2023). I am crossing as many body parts as I can manage to cross in hopes that this doesn't turn out to be a dud. Please wish me luck, folks - I'm interacting with the real world here, I think.

  25. Posted

    Work in Disco Porn...erm, Dorico Pro continues. I'm in the process of arranging a civil war-era brass band "gallop"-style march into a form that a modern concert band can play. I've already finished the brass and woodwind arrangement. All that remains, aside from tweaking the music itself, is to enter the percussion parts. I've left that for last because I don't yet know how to input percussion using Dorico Pro. Time to buckle down and open up the help file. The percussion parts aren't going to be anything complex, so this is a good piece on which to learn.

    Watch this space for more updates and mp3s.