March 4, 2021:      My oldest/newest composition. And a contest!

No, this is not some sort of Zen koan.  It’s a bit of a stretch, but you could make the case that this is vaguely analogous to the famous “sister daughter” scene in the movie Chinatown, albeit without any sinister overtones.  But bear with me while I explain.

The Back Story

The summer of 1980 marked the high point of my so-called rock & rock “career” in the recording of an album featuring singer/songwriter/guitarist Rick Dufay.  The album was produced by Jack Douglas who is most well known for producing John Lennon, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, etc.   After this experience I returned home to New Jersey bursting with creative energy.   At the time I was still trying to be a famous rock & roll keyboardist, but I was already in my early 30s – and rock & roll is basically a young  person’s game.    I knew I could go back into the corporate world and make a decent living, but I wanted to give things one more shot.

Long story short, I ended up collaborating with a lyricist trying to write hit singles.   This project generated some material that I was & still am very proud of, but things fell apart.  In the midst of all this, Joe ( the lyricist) had one of these old fashioned living room style organs – the kind where you could press one key and the organ would generate a whole rhythm section with bass and chords.   Joe came up with this goofy combination of sounds that I liked.  I played around with it and came up with a concept that I really liked. I recorded a few different versions and pieced together a 15 minute version. 

Fast forward 40 years . . . .  

When I started composing I had trouble coming up with titles for my compositions.   It is fashionable in classical music circles these days to come up with evocative titles that somehow explain what the piece is “about.”  I do not relate to this at all – I have no idea what my compositions are “about.”  So early on I was simply naming my pieces “Exercises.”

My fellow composers gently suggested to me that perhaps I might want to come up with some better names. 

With this in mind I decided to name a piece “Bounce”.  But then I came up with another piece that was also sort of “bouncy” so I called the first piece Bounce #1 and the second #2.  BUT – I then remembered the thing I had come up with back in the 1980s – and that was sort of bouncy as well.  So I decided to keep things in chronological order.  The piece from the 1980s became Bounce #1 and the other numbers got pushed up by one.  Eventually Bounce #3 made it onto my album.  

But meanwhile Bounce #1 was still in a rudimentary form – with this goofy organ sound doing the lead line.  So back in late 2018 – in the middle of recording I played a little bit for Jack.  Long story short, Jack suggested using muted trumpet to start off the lead line in place of the goofy organ sound.  I fooled around with that a bit and finally came up with a combination of muted trumpet, oboe, plus a little bit of flute an octave higher.  

But then other things came up and the piece went on the back burner yet again.   Sigh.

Finally with the new year 2021 I decided that I needed to get this off of my plate.  Or as they say here in New Jersey – “S**t or get off the pot.”  So for the last 2 months I’ve been heads down finishing this up.   I’m very happy with the result.  You can listen to it here:   Bounce #1

About Bounce #1

Thematically this piece is more compact than most of my other work; it’s constructed around a recurring phrase which is re-used in different contexts.  I had one additional section just before the recapitulation & fade out that I really liked, but it was just too much so I reluctantly cut it.

This is the most complex arrangement that I have written to date.   As I was pulling this together it felt like it needed different textures in certain places.  I ended up using a full orchestra including woodwinds, brass, saxophones, strings, percussion, piano, organ and 3 different bass sounds playing in unison.  And – as always – I am not 100% satisfied.  There are still some scattered chunks of music and textures that do not quite capture what I’m hearing in my mind’s ear.

Meanwhile I find this piece particularly hypnotic –  I love the way the melody floats over the rhythm.   My friend Rob says that listening to this makes him feel like he is floating in outer space. 

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a reference, you can think of Bounce #1 as a 21st century cross between Ravel’s Bolero and the Theme From Rocky.

I’d love to get some feedback on this.  In particular, there is a very high background part played on marimba or piccolo that sits inside the mix.  Given the combination of my tinnitus and age related loss of high frequency hearing, I’m not sure whether the balance is correct.

TV Theme Song Quote Contest!

Hidden in here there is a short reference to an equine based 1960s sitcom.  I will give a gift certificate to a restaurant of your choice (within reason) to the first person who can identify this.

January 28, 2021:      New Material

I’ve been on a creative tear for over a year now and have a number of new pieces to show for it.  It’s been exhilarating & exhausting. 

I’m pleased that I’m composing music that pleases me.  And there are those rare moments during the composing process when I finally solve some particular problem and get a very brief “Aha Moment”.

But it requires a whole lot of intricate detail work (sometimes tedious) combined with a lot of emotional exertion to finish a piece. 

I agonize over how long a section should go on.   “Should I repeat this 4 bar phrase one more time, or have I gotten the point across?”

Do all the different musical themes work in the context of the full piece?   “Is this particular 8 bar section really necessary for the piece to work – or should I take out and save it for another piece?”

Rinse and repeat many times. . . .

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Anyway, the odds on any of these pieces getting a performance and/or recording in the future are slim to none.   When live concerts open up I anticipate that a few of the works for piano (with or without violin)  may get performed, but that does not hold true for this piece that I’m making available for listening this month:

Suite for Strings & Bass Guitar

The Back Story
This 35 minute piece for a large string orchestra supplemented with electric bass guitar is the “largest” piece I’ve composed to date.   The music was developed and composed over a 5 year period, but it was not until 2020 that the pieces pulled together. 

The initial inspiration came out of a piece I had written for a New York Composer’s Collective concert.    The piece – Elegy in Rhythm for Strings  – was performed by the 18 piece string orchestra The Shattered Glass at the New York Composers Collective’s The Rite of String!concert in March 2019.    

After this first performance I was not happy with what I heard – if felt like there was just too much crammed into one piece.   I started re-writing it late 2019 and by January 2020 I had chucked maybe 2/3 of the piece and re-written much of the rest.   The only part that was preserved relatively intact was the opening 2 minutes or so.   In the process of doing this I re-named the piece Celebration for Strings.  

But as I was finishing up this re-write I recalled some pieces that I had written years earlier as assignments for my composition classes at the Juilliard Evening Division.   These pieces were written for the standard string quintet instruments of 2 violins and one each viola, cello, and double bass.   Not coincidentally this is the same instruments in a string orchestra – only in a string orchestra there are a lot more people playing those instruments.    With this in mind, I resurrected these pieces and played them on my computer – only this time using my string orchestra software.  They needed a lot of work (sigh) but the overall effect was great.

Now I had the makings of a 3 episode piece.  But as a started the re-write of the 2 Julliard pieces I felt that this new Suite 4 Strings needed at least one episode that was much slower than the others.   A so yet another episode was born.

Sp where did things finally end up?  Celebration for Strings became Episode 3, the two Juilliard pieces became Episodes 1 & 4, and the latest arrival is now Episode 2.

And – of course – I am still tinkering with this.  There are still some scattered chunks of music in here that could be better.

A couple of trivia items of interest.

Bass Guitar??
As I was re-working the material (and listening to the recording of the concert) it felt to me that the double  basses just did not have enough “punch” to them (for want of a better word).    Perhaps a more technically proficient composer might have found a solution using the standard string instruments, but after trying more than a few different approaches my solution was to add an electric base.

Now some of my fellow composers in the New York Composer’s Circle have tried to convince me that I could get plenty of “punch” from the standard orchestral double bass – and – that what I was hearing was an artifact of the computer software – and – that this would not be a problem using real instruments.  However the computer simulations (while they do not capture many nuances) are adequate enough to satisfy me that I’m making the right decision.

But I’m nothing if not flexible on this.  The odds on this ever getting a public performance are roughly the same odds on my winning the millionaire lottery.  But If I should ever be so fortunate as to have that opportunity I would keep an open mind on this deep topic (sorry for the bass pun).

LIttle “Intermezzos”
You’ll notice a little wandering melody played by a solo instrument in between each episode.   This could be a false memory, but it feels like this melody has been echoing in the back of my mind since my childhood.  It sort of loops around since each iteration starts in a different key.  Anyway, I just felt like I had to get this thing out of my system.  

I think it has worked. 

I no longer hear it.

Chopin Quote
Near the end of Episode 2 I have incorporated the opening of Chopin Mazurka Opus 17, No. 4.

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And finally – stay tuned.  In the months to come I will be delivering more new material.

December 18, 2020:      “Flappers”

In Jonathan Swift’s satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver visits the strange island of Paputa.   On Paputa, if you wish to speak to the king you have to first speak to his servant.  The servant carries around a “flapper”, which is bladder filled with dried peas or little pebbles attached on the end of a stick. If the king’s servant deems that you are worthy enough to speak to him, the servant will hit the king with the flapper.  This gets the attention of the king – and he will then listen to you.

The servants are also called flappers.

“Gee Eric, this certainly is a fascinating piece of trivia.   Why are you interrupting my busy day of worrying about the pandemic?  (I hear you asking)”
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Composers want to hear their music played/performed – and they want people to enjoy/appreciate their creative efforts.  Yeah, there may be some rare exceptions – some isolated hermit composers living in remote log cabins who create music for their own ears only and never want anyone else to hear their work.   But for the rest of us regular creative types, it is a struggle to get your music heard by anyone apart from your close friends & family.   There are literally 100s of thousands of us out there – all competing for an audience.

In my case, it’s doubly hard because my music does not fit into any clearly defined category.  It’s sort of classical, but it’s not your standard European classical – there’s all sorts of stuff going on that you will never hear on a classical music station – rock & R&B & funk & African influences in there.   And it also does not fit into any standard rock or R&B platform.

But there is a platform for my music out there on (of all places) NPR.   New Sounds, hosted by John Schaefer, is an hourly show that has been on the air for decades now.   New Sounds features all sorts of oddball music that does not quite fit into your standard categories – it is the ideal place for my music to be played.   In adding, New Sounds now has a Live Stream on this internet thing.

So great – let’s send an e-mail to John and get cracking.  Right?  Nope.

You cannot get through to John.   There are  literally 10s of thousands of composers & musicians who would like to be on the New Sounds playlist and/or show.  One person cannot possibly listen to 10s of thousands of recordings.  Instead John has flappers who filter what reaches his desk.  

So OK – send an e-mail to John’s flappers?  Right?  Nope.  You still have the same problem.  The flappers won’t listen to your music – there are only have so many hours in the day – and there are still those 10s of thousands of creative types clamoring loudly at the flappers trying to get their attention..

So how do you get through to the flappers?  You need a “flapper whisperer” – AKA a publicist – who knows how to get the right people to listen to your music.   I have just such a person working for me – Alanna Maharajh Stone – who is diligently working behind the scenes to get my music in front of the decision makers.

Now just to be serious and clear for a moment.   I’m not disparaging Mr. Schaefer or the people who work with him – it is the nature of the beast – I doubt that I would run things differently if I were in that position.

Music is intensely personal – there is no computer algorithm that can pick out “good” music from “bad”.  Ultimately a human being must listen & decide what works for them – and there are only so many hours in the day that a human being can listen.    Finally, I have it on good authority that New Sounds is more of collective effort – and that the New Sounds team are all doing their best to bring a variety of interesting & different music into the public’s eyes & ears.  

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In other news, my album just got another nice review: Take Effect

November 17, 2020:      “Where is Eric” – a brief history

I am terrible at at this whole publicity thing.  I find the very notion of having to promote myself “awkwardness inducing”.  It feels like bragging.

 “Hey! Look at me! Ain’t I great!?”

Nonetheless, in 2009 I started up a small mailing list to promote any gigs I was playing on. In the Subject of the emails I put “Where in the World is Eric“.    This was a take off on a children’s show in the 1990s “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego”. 

Taking a slight detour here.  In the mid 1990s my kids were in elementary school.   Like all dutiful parents, Lisa & I carefully monitored their TV watching in an effort to shield them from the corrupting influence of commercial TV.  With hindsight this was a pointless exercise.   Anyway, there was a late afternoon show on PBS called “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego” (to be hitherto referred to as WitWiCS.)  WitWiCS was a sort of kids geography game show and was very cleverly put together.  The ‘object’ of the contest was to locate master criminal Carmen Sandiego and her evil hench people by answering geography-related trivia questions which would reveal the location of one of  Carmen Sandiego’s cronies and eventually Carmen herself.  An a cappella group – Rockapella – was the house band for the show and also contributed to the comic relief.   You can google it if you’re curious.

Truth be told (as should always be the case) I think I enjoyed the show more than the kids.  I was (and still am) a big geography buff.  When I was in middle school I knew the capitals of all 50 states as well as most countries in the world – and I still enjoy looking at maps.

Meanwhile back to 2009.   After the first few e-mails I sent out, I shortened the Subject to simply “Where is Eric”.

Now fast forward to 2017.   After diving into this crazy world of composing I joined several composer groups and my compositions were being performed in small venues in NYC, so I decided to send out a “Where is Eric’s Music” email blast – to the same folks that were already receiving my “Where is Eric” e-mails.

And then, just to make my life more complicated, I wanted to invite some of my fellow student composers – but just to the concerts.  So I set up yet another email list using this Mailchimp app for promoting the classical concerts.  And this was also called “Where is Eric’s Music”.

With old age I am trying to simplify my life and have consolidated these various endeavors.  Hence what you are now reading.

Hopefully this was not TMI.

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Meanwhile, my album got a nice review in Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review.  I especially liked the opening line:  “Who is Eric Heilner?”   I ask myself that very same question on a regular basis.  To this day I still haven’t gotten a clear answer.

October 23, 2020:      Modern Sounds in Classical Music

I am excited to announce that today, October 23, 2020, an album of my so called classical music – “modestly” titled Modern Sounds in Classical Music – is being released to the general public.   

The album was produced and engineered by two industry legends, Jack Douglas, producer (John Lennon, Aerosmith, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, and more) and Jay Messina, lead engineer (Eddie Palmieri, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, KISS, Mikes Davis, John Lennon, and more).

With the exception of a very small number of people I have kept this thing under wraps.  The album has been in the works for over two years now, but I just couldn’t talk about it publicly –  the odds on it ever getting out seemed so remote that I felt like I would be setting myself up for disappointment.   The whole thing has been (and still is) bizarrely fantastical and it still does not feel real to me.  

The album is now available on all the usual digital platforms – Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes, etc, etc, etc.  You can also purchase a digital download on BandCamp.

For the moment, I am not selling physical CDs.   However I do have a small number of CDs hanging around the house that were made for publicity.   If you would like a CD, you can email me at eric@ericheilner.com and I’ll send you one.   Make sure to give me your address.

October 23, 2020:     Changes

To:  All you long suffering folks who over the years have put up with my erratic musings and vaguely entertaining e-mails

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I hope this finds everyone in as good health & sprits as is possible in these uncertain times.   Needless to say I have had no live gigs and/or concerts since the this thing kicked into high gear.  

However,  I am entering a new phase in my career (to be announced shortly).

In line with this new phase I am boldly entering the 2000’s.  To get these e-mails distributed?  I  am switching over to using one of these so called “Web Marketing Platforms” – in my case Mailchimp.  I have just spent the better part of 3 days doing mortal combat with their bizarrely confusing interface, but I have survived and believe that I have tamed the beast.

So – assuming I have actually mastered Mailchimp – you should be receiving a second e-mail from me shortly.  If you are a tech nerd like me, you will notice that it is coming from a different e-mail than before.  I now have a second email – eric@ericheilner.com – for just this purpose (among others).

To be continued shortly (I hope) . . . . . . .