Busy Bee

Hi y’all!

So, I’ve had a rather busy and exciting two weeks, but it may not be so exciting to read. Well, you’ll find out!

I have an update on the job situation. I am officially a barista at Starbucks. I did all my training and started my first shift on the floor yesterday. It is a very hectic job, but I love it. It gets me moving and is challenging. It fits well around my schedule and gives me a break from the composing brain to allow time for my energized and restless body. And the free coffee at the start of my shift doesn’t hurt. 😂

Two major things have happened in the last few weeks at school. We had our first recording session this past weekend! Our assignment was to transcribe a cover of the Van Morrison song, Wild Night, and write parts for a small brass ensemble. We then had those parts recorded to that same cover. It was a very unique and fun experience. I definitely walked away feeling like I under-composed. I was hesitant and nervous about writing brass under vocals. Especially since I’m used to writing for a live setting, it felt strange to have fewer limitations. But this was a great way to be introduced to the recording process. I feel much more comfortable moving into the next arrangement assignments and comfortable taking more risks in my writing. After all, we have three more sessions. There is lots of time to experiment and grow!

The first years also got to have our first film-scoring “club” class with Jeff Beal! Mr. Beal usually puts together three voluntary scoring classes in the first semester of our program since we don’t have many assignments involving scoring to picture. It’s a great way to get prepared for our scoring techniques class in the Spring, too. We got to re-score a scene from Apple TV’s Raymond and Ray. It was fun to explore a bittersweet yet humorous scene. And I loved how different each one of us did the scene. I ended up going on a jazz route, which led to some great success and some, perhaps, over-exploration of harmony. Mr. Beal gave us such great feedback and is such a fun composer to learn from. I can’t wait for the next one!

Until next time,

Rita Veneziale

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