Dearests,

By now, everyone should have received their package of goodies. If not, likely there is one of two explanations... (Though there may also be some bizarre belch of logic involving both.)

1) I never received your address, or
2) I am afflicted with ADHD and thus one of my Great Struggles is organization. I can make music, yes, but I cannot always keep the rest of life in order.

So, communication is the only balm to such plight!

If you have not gotten a package, or if there is a mistake with the package (no shirt, wrong size, etc) -- don't be shy -- message me right away and I'll fix things.

Much love,
Chris

Hey!

The first batch of CDs have arrived at my doorstep. Which means mailers have begun mailing. Goodies and treats and discs and shirts and scores and all around yummy cheer.

Caveat: the CD duplicators are sending me the discs in batches, so not everyone will receive their stuff this first round. I chose at random...

Much love,
-Chris

Friends,

As I write this... the CD bottoms are being dyed with my string quartet's digital, binary image. (A wannabe clever way of saying the CDs are being made.)

The packaging artwork is being printed. With sustainable earth-friendly ink, or something like that. I have been told the CDs will ship to me between the 8th and 14th. Which means I can deliver -- to you! -- shortly thereafter.

The timing of all this is interesting, as seems usual for me of late.

October 3rd, two days from now, marks the one-year anniversary of when I saw my dad for the last time. I think it's very awesome for the cds to be duplicated during this time.

And then, of course, October 28th is the one-year anniversary of his death. I hope to get the CDs (+ packages of rewards) out before then. But it may just work out that everyone receives the music on or near this auspicious date. Very interesting and very cool.

Somewhere, near, I feel he is very proud of this project. Of everyone involved. You.

More soon,
Chris

Hello!

Dare I say this project may be nearing completion? Maybe definitely? I think so.

Mr. Chris Walcott has been bunkered in his Oakland recording studio, mixing (making sure all the instrument levels are precise and correctly placed in the stereo left-to-right field), and mastering (making sure the final mixdown sounds consistent and wonderful as though in the Sydney Opera House).

So, yes, CDs may just be ready for duplication this week. Which means packages will soon be sent to all. Can't wait to share it all with you! Almost a year of really hard but fun work.

Ok, more as I get closer to CDs...

Peace and love!
Chris

Friends,

The recording hath been made! Soon to be on the playable discs and sent to all (with shirts where applicable).

Three movements. Each with five microphones: violin one, violin two, viola, cello, and a mic placed in the middle of it all, for extra scrumptious ambiance.

It was wonderful. Moving. And it was also seven hours of massive attention-to-detail-obsessive-compulsive work. The best kind of work. Music flow. Music soul. Music maths. Numbers and intervals and relationships and dream-speak.

What pretentious wannabe poetry with which I write!

So now a little time off not thinking about the music. To clear my head. I mean I was so tired after being in the studio... that night when I went to sleep I could *see* the layers of my wakeful consciousness being peeled away like an onion. Now *that* is tired!

But I was doing what I love to do the most. I was and am blissed out, completely.

Thank you again, for making dreams reality.

Some video and pics soon.

Love,
Chris

Four great words: Recording. Studio. This. Weekend.

On Saturday, musicians and composer alike will convene at Cedub Studio in Piedmont, Oakland. Mr. Chris Walcott, engineer extraordinaire, will preside. On the agenda is to record the string quartet hitherto known as 'Bluest Butter Larvae'. There are no other agenda items, though pizza may be added at the last minute. A consensus will be required.

In other news, there was a snafu with the ladies shirts order. Human Error # 6,392,344. I'll message concerned parties individually. But just know it will all be sorted out, somehow, someway, in this lifetime. Likely sooner.

Thanks again to all who came to the performance last week. I'm still basking in the sunlight of it all.

Love,
Chris

With gratitude overflow to our musicians: Ilana, Natasha, Shain, and Liana... the show today was beyond everything I could hope to know and feel. They played beautifully. Brilliantly. Many of us wept.

Wow.

I'm exhausted, so I'll have to be brief. Next up I'll be sending out the t-shirts. Then, we go into the studio to record. Then, I'll send out the cds and scores. I'm thinking all will be complete in a month or so.

In the meantime, please enjoy the low-fi video snippet of the end of Movement II.

I'll add more in the next few days!

Love,
Chris

Just a micro video snippet sneak peak of rehearsals this week. My mind has been blown by these brilliant music-makers. How they can read music like I can breathe air. Without thought. Just perfect action.

So...

The time has come. And, time has brought the most beautiful of gifts.

Last May, I had a fanciful little moment, where i thought it'd be so cool to hear my first string quartet played live.

From that... all the way to a community of 60 great folks, you, all rallying around and supporting me... such that, in two days, WE will hear music made manifest.

And who still believes that dreams don't come true? :)

I am stressed though. There are problems with the score. And since it's all new to me I've been having a hard time with it. Brings out whatever ADHD OCD WW3 tendencies I may have inside me. With all the shows I've ever performed, hundreds, this one is by far the most nerve rattling. Because it's ALL so new.

The positive is that I'm learning, exponentially.

Another positive is... well, actually it's all positive isn't it? :)

Peace,
Chris

Hey,

Just a quickie update.

The show is this Sunday at 4pm. Here are the details:
http://www.sfcmc.org/calendar/index.php...

And so, this being my first official music score, my heart is warmed to tell you that the musicians have spoken. I've been hungry for feedback, ANY feedback! And I got the kind of feedback that teaches me more about music than any textbook or classroom. Very, very cool.

Not that big a deal, really, but basically I wrote unplayable double stops-- both notes on the lowest string. Which would be like your left thumb touching both your right thumb and right elbow AT THE SAME TIME!

Like, now I realize that to pull that off one would need to transcend the third dimension. Common notions of space-time would have to be overturned. One would need to be literally in two distant places at once. Uh huh.

Oh, and, since the musicians are top-notch, I won't be conducting. Which means I can sit and enjoy the music with everyone. Which marks the first time ever that I won't be performing my own works. Cool!

Six days and counting...

-Chris

Actually... a title written in all cheerfulness! Death being a part of life and such.

I've been thinking about birthdays, because, my father's birthday was this week. So it's been a bit sad for my sister and I.

Little things hurt.

Like usually there's someone on the other end of the phone, who will ALWAYS laugh, when that crappy rendition of Happy Birthday is sung. And usually there's someone sitting at that one table, by his favorite restaurant fireplace, ALWAYS happy to see us for his hamburger birthday dinner.

Speaking of my sis, I don't believe I ever got to tell you guys that she was there -- when Dad died. She was on the trek with him to Sikkim. He looked into her eyes as he passed away. She said his expression was one of, "I'm so sorry for putting you through all this." She attempted mouth-to-mouth, as did Jamling Norgay (their guide, and son of famous Tansing).

She then climbed down the mountain, in the dark. Hours climbing. With my dad behind, wrapped in a blanket and being carried by Sherpas.

She later lit Dad's funeral pyre as part of a beautful buddhist ceremony.

I can't really imagine what that must have been like for my sister. And I cannot imagine how she's at all functional today after going through that. She's amazing.

I'm happy to have convinced her to speak at the show. She will tell the story of what happened that day, October 28, 2009. (The day before MY birthday, FYI).

So the performance will indeed be a special one. The Campbell kids onstage and lettin' it all out! :)

And, the quartet is assembled; rehearsals are happening. Happy!

Oh, and, I've been thinking alot about Shuyler, one of the supporters of this project. He wrote me and told me he's going through something similar with his father. It's wonderful how music connects us all, isn't it?

Cheers,
Chris

Friends,

"Bluest Butter Larvae". Hmm...

There have been many, many curious folks speculating on what the heck this means. So I now break the silence. All will be revealed.

Blue...
My father's eyes were blue. My baby son's eyes are blue. Blue like a gently lapping ocean wave. Theme: the two central figures of this string quartet both have (had) amazing blue eyes.

Butter...
A small, vulnerable blue butterfly once flitted around San Francisco's grassy hills. But... urbanization sent them all away. Recently however, a bunch of concerned people got together and reintroduced the butterfly. They nurtured it. Such that now the blue butterfly population is healthy and happy. Theme: making life (my baby) out of death (my dad).

Larvae...
Similar to the above butterflies, except a bit more generic. Larvae implies 100% potential. Transformation from something ugly (larvae!) to something beautiful: a butterfly. Theme: converting pain into something good, like a string quartet.

So, I do believe there's some kind of logic here. A bizarre logic, yes. Randomness no more?

In other news, this weekend I'll be handing off the score to the musicians. I've actually heard the cellist before -- he was in the Oakland Opera's performance of Akhnaten, by Philip Glass. And I worship Philip Glass. I feel very blessed.

Anyway, all for now.

Music soon!
Chris

Friends,

After a break dealing with mouth ailments (surgery, nasty) -- I'm back on the capital-'s' Score! Accounting for every last single little note. Articulating how and when and who should play it. And how long they should play it. And why. And even it's potential value to Greater History should anyone be willing to discuss.

Next up I'm consulting a Head Honcho Music Director (possibly Oakland Opera) to determine if my paper notes can indeed be played by real humans. I mean, hopefully I haven't conjured up some kind of gymnastic riff that only Iron Man could pull off. We'll see... but it's all fun nonetheless.

August 29 is still target for the performance.

I'll be requesting some stuff soon, like addresses to those who'd like music mailed, as well as shirt-sizes, etc.

Side crazy thought: if I wrote a computer program that played back every possible combination of note pitch, length, articulation, time, etc., what percentage of "enjoyable" music would there be?

I don't know why I'm thinking these thoughts right now. Sign me up for the next blast into space...

Alrighty I'll stop.

Talk to you soon.

Love,
Chris

Dear friends,

Please excuse a brief philosophical musing...

One of the things I love about Kickstarter is it's revolutionary ability to reconnect patrons and the arts. And arguably, of all the arts, music is becoming the least valued artistic product in history. I mean, any of us can instantly listen to countless unimaginable volumes of music, by typing some keys and clicking some mouse buttons -- all for free.

Now, I'm NOT an apologist for the music industry and its lust for the 'bottom line'. Nope. However, I also don't think it's cool to consume art for free. Nope. Both extremes, I believe, are criminal. Both extremes, I believe, tell the artist he is nothing more than disposable.

Happily in-between, lies Kickstarter: a universally accessible name-brand structure (i.e. the Kickstarter site and its growing prestige), combined with an extremely personal connection to the artist (i.e. pledges of variable amounts, updates, etc).

It's a wonderful hybrid which empowers both the artist and the consumer... Artists by the funding platform/organization that Kickstarter provides, and consumers by the ability to *really* own a creation of their choosing.

So, you've made a stand!

By supporting this project (and others), you've sent a message that art still matters. That yes, you love music and are still willing to pay for it.

And this, my friends, brings tremendous joy to an artist like me.

Thank you for making my string quartet real! Can't wait to play it for you.

Love,
-Chris

I'm humbled by our recent numbers: 80% funded. Close!

Here's a video about a death-defying, spleen-splitting trapeze artist (it relates, I swear!).