1st Round of the Edits are done thanks to Shonell Bacon. Time for the 2nd pass!  Let's get this show on the road!!!!

I've finished my manuscript for the novical.  I must say it's better than the first draft...WAY BETTER!!!! thankful to God for allowing me to do this.

Next stop, EDITOR!!!

Bessie Lee Henderson

My mother passed on September 9, 6:00am CST.  I miss her dearly.

I'm so grateful for the concert we had at the funeral.  There wasn't much crying.  Why?  I wanted to celebrate her life.  We had glorious singing by Kisma Jordan, awesome playing by John Douglas, Maurice Draughn, Nate Winn, and the Gabriel Brass Band.  All my aunts said they had never been to a funeral like that before.


I'm ready to get back to blogging regularly now.  She always said "I talked all day!" hahahah!  Love you too, Ma!

Dream Come True: Maurica

I haven't blogged in a while.  My mother has been sick.  She's been situated. AMEN!!!


I recently recorded a great singer last month.  She nailed the part of Pearl to a science on a song I wrote with Marcus and Steve called "Dream Come True" as if it was written just for her.  You'll love her! Her name is Maurica Roland and SHE IS A BEAST!!!!!

I guess you'll want this blog to be a little longer.
Well, I needed a singer, I gave her a FB message.  She said she''ll do the song.  I drove to Nashville from Detroit (8 hours via Cinci).  Recorded at 11:00am and we were done at 1:30pm.
That was it.

Love ya girl! I look forward to working with you in the future!!

Special shot-out to my brother, Dr. Bradford Mallory, for helping me pick the awesome takes on that song "Dream Come True"!

How to write a composition or story Part Three

Really, this should be called,"Don't have an ego"

Preface:
I'm an emotional artist.  I put some much into every note I compose, every phrase I arrange, and every word I write.  Therefore, I become attached to everything.


Blog:
With that being said, GET AN EDITOR.  Better yet, get an editor THAT WILL
1) Tell you the truth
2) Change words around i.e. reword a phrase THAT BETTER suits the audience
3) has an eagle eye!


A Pass is everytime the editor goes through it.  You'll need MANY passes.  AT LEAST FIVE!
That's right, FIVE.    I've lost count.  I've had to add backstory (Thank you, Althea) and more backstory (Thank you, Earl) and even MORE back story (Thank you, Dr. Amber V!)

I prayed for my editor.  She was in my lap the whole time, my cousin Jasmine. She uses so much red ink we have to go to three different stores to keep it in stock.  But guess what? She's GREAT at what she does.

Truth be told, I had people look it before Jasmine.  Kanika, LaKindra, Earl, Shiron, and MANY others.  DO THE SAME!! (If the Avengers, which earned a BILLION dollars [and they thought it would have made $500,000,000] can go through a rewrite, your manuscript can do the same!)

With this all being said, set a deadline.  I've set a deadline for my birthday.  No more rewrites.  That's it.
But guess what, I had an ensemble of EXCELLENT previewers that caught things that made Jasmine's job a lot easier.

Remember, leave the Ego at the door.

Production 101: Rhythm Section

The most influential album in my life is arguably Quincy Jones' Sounds and Stuff Like That.  In the liner notes (written by Alex Haley) Q calls Anthony Jackson, Eric Tee, Phil Upchurch, and Grady Tate the greatest rhythm section in the world.

As a youth, this was the first time I had ever heard the term "rhythm section".  And truth be told, this was an amazing rhythm section.  I even learned how rhy. sections would record first in EVERY studio section.  This means they have to be tight.

Things to remember:
1) Pick your rhythm section wisely.  They MUST gel.  If they don't, your recordings will reflect.
2) If you aren't rehearsing, make SURE they can READ!!!!!
3) Make sure they can play with a click track.  Yes, I have played with some that can't.  AARGH!
4) Make sure they can play the style you want to record.  (Yes, some people try to get a church              
           drummer to play afro-cuban and songo and they've never heard of it..)


I have recorded my rhythm section with NO rehearsals.  They came in a sight-read the charts to highest degree.  I believe I have been blessed with the greatest in the world!  Time for shout-outs:

I was blessed to have keyboardists Demetrius Nabors and Al McKenzie appear on four songs on "A Tale of Two Fools."   Man, they are phenomenal!!!

Guitarists Duane Collins, Sandy Love, Wayne Goins added that flavor that every album needs!  My wife's cousin, Don Vappie, will be recording soon.

Bassists Ibrahim Jones, Marcus Belgrave Jr, Bobby Scharmann, and Freeman Spills laid the groove done HARD.  People will be copying your licks forever!

The last two people were crucial to this projects:
Damon Warmarck aka Basso Profundo:  My friend since 1992.  My brother, thank you for your musical expertise.   You coming by to the house to record while I was taking care of my mom was priceless.

Last far from least, my friend forever, I thank you Nate Winn.  Out of eighteen songs with drums, you are on fifteen.  There is no way this project would be done with you.  You are a complete drummer. No style is out of your league.  You came in when it was just a piano, you, and a click track. We even came up with songs on the spot!  Superb musicianship.  The pocket is amazing.  The fills were immaculate!  This is why you'll forever be "Tightus Pocketus!"

How to write a composition or story Part Two

Length
When writing your story, one thing to perhaps keep in mind is how long will your story be.  I was CONVINCED when I first wrote my upcoming book that it was going to be a novelette.

Novelette?  Okay, let me explain.

In the whole fiction genre, there are generally four categories as it regards to length.   The Science Fiction Writers of America uses these measurements as their standards:

• Short fiction: under 7,500 words
• Novelette: 7,500-17,500 words
• Novella: 17,500-40,000 words
• Novel: 40,000 words and up

I wanted to write a smaller story in length (novelette) to tell my story.  Now if I were not self-publishing, this would pose a serious problem.  Why?

Most publishers stay away from the short stories and novelettes because of cost.  Too small to print and too small to make money.  Therefore, if you have a collection of short stories or novelette, it makes it more attractive to the publisher.  Since this is my first book, I don't qualify for that!

What about e-publishing?

There is a market for this, a great market actually; however, the upper-echelon awards require hard copies.  Depends on what you want out of it.   If think your book is Pulitzer-worthy, then get it printed. If not, Kindle it is!

So What did I choose?
Because of my word length, my upcoming project would be classified as a novella.  Contrary to popular belief, there has been MANY of novellas that have been erroneously labeled as novels:

·  "The Body" (Stand By Me, 1986) by Stephen King

·  "Rita Hayworth & "The Shawshank Redemption" (The Shawshank Redemption, 1994) by Stephen King

·  "Apt Pupil" by Stephen King

·  "A River Runs Through It" by Thomas Maclean

·  "The Bicentennial Man" by Isaac Asimov

·  "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote

·  "Heart of Darkness" (Apocalypse Now, 1976) by Joseph Conrad

·  "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

·  "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 1941) by Robert Louis Stevenson,

·  "The War of the Worlds" by H.G. Wells ·   "Call of the Wild"  by Jack London
·   "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
·   "Animal Farm" by George Orwell

Mind you , I didn't say "I want to write 30,000 words."  What I did say was that I wanted to make sure I clearly defined the plots and subplots in my story and I knew it would probably take that amount of words.

Construction

As in music, a lot of people miss out on a major thing: character development.   It's important that your protagonist and antagonist have development which captivates the readers.   In almost every great piece of music, literature, and film, these are developed.  (I can only think of one movie where the antagonist wasn't developed and that was Dark Knight.  The Joker's character wasn't really developed if you really think about it.  He was just villainously raw.  However, he gets a pass because a) the Joker is as old as our grandparents and most people already knew what to expect  b) because of Heath Ledger's passing, we came to understand that he was going to return in the third movie which was going to answer if this Joker was Jack Napier, Jack White, Joseph Kerr or neither.  So unless you've writing a character that we've known for eighty years, get to developing!)

In my case, at first, I did not develop one of my characters enough.  My beloved sister Althea (who is a better writer than I and one of the most talented in the family) told me I needed to give this character an out.  If I didn't, this character would be too vile.  Something as small as one sentence gave a hint into the character.

Enter Earl Brooks.
Earl was like a professor the whole time in my process asking me questions with a stern literary critique.  Although he did not ghost write, his questions provoked a lot of thought which were invaluable to my authorship.  He made sure I understood the ramifications of using certain colloquialisms.  Because of this, Earl made me see what my target audience was.  Another key point we had major discourse on was how deep we needed to go in character development.  Back to Althea's point, I went back and devoted a whole chapter to that character which answered everything Earl asked.  This is what happens when you get a bibliophile English PhD student to critique!


Why do I share all this?
The reason is to show that everyone needs help.  When you write, you don't have to show the whole world.  Just get a selected group of people just make sure you dotted "I's" and crossed your "T's".   Don't surround yourself with yesmen.  Surround yourself with people who can amplify your goals.


Part III Coming soon!

How to write a composition or story

Many people have asked me, "How do you write a story?" or "How do you write a piece of music?"

To answer the question directly, one must storyboard.

Traditionally, storyboard is defined as a sequence of drawings, typically with some directions and dialogue, representing the shots planned for a movie or television production.
In literature, you write out your main points or events.   In music, you may write out what melodic ideas you may have.

Typically in literature, you have three main events (like in music's sonata form, we have three events also): introduction, conflict, and resolution (exposition, development, recapitulation in sonata.)

Now here's the catch: you can write any part at anytime.

You may have at first, the resolution.  Let's say your resolution is "he's reunited with his father."  THAT'S OKAY.  Now that the time to write the rest of the book.
You may have the conflict first.  It could be "Johnny finds out his mom is not his mom."  So now, you have to write the introduction and how is this going be resolved.
Finally, you may have a beginning such "a cellist who wants to over his stage fright." Okay, now come up with the conflict and the resolution.

You can write any part you want first.   If you are unsure of how to connect the two, have people who are readers help you sort it all out.  I was lucky.  I had LaKindra Parker, Althea Hughes Willis, and Earl Brooks making sure I connected the dots.


The same goes in symphonic music.  You must have all three in sonata form.  It's funny how the correlation with art, music, and literature go hand and hand!


Whatever you do, just make sure you put it all together in the end!

The French Horn

I have received numerous compliments on my writing for the French Horn.  Although I am grateful for them, the truth is I can't take too much credit for it.  I was immersed into a culture where the French Horn was played at a high level.

When I first arrived on campus, I met Todd Shamaly, a fabulous musician.  He was the first to introduce me into the world of Horn.  He was very humble and told me a lot about repertoire.

However, the next year changed my life forever.

The freshman French Horn class of 1996 was IMPECCABLE.  These musicians were amazing and could PLAY!   I don't know what happened but everywhere you went, you would here Götterdämmerung played flawlessly anytime of the day.  I loved hearing Gregory Holt, Melanie Jahr, Julie Seidel, and my birthday twin, Mieko Hatano, practice.

Then there was Eric Kuper, Alex Ruthmann, and Kyle Hoyt.   I could always count on them for the composers' forum.  They were truly the most instrumental in my composing.  They taught me about Bb, B, and C and how to place it CORRECTLY (which I still use their teachings to this very day).

Other great players that would play on my compositions were Thomas Schnauber, a wonderful composer, and Jeff Suarez, a MONSTER on the horn.

By the time I graduated, other great players came in.  Rachel Parker Childers was there who is now playing with the Boston Symphony.
There was also Rachel Manea Vaduva, Will Wiegard, and Joel Wealer, who ironically played on my last recording at Michigan!

On a side note, I can't forget my HS section of Charles Van Hoy, Sean Smith, and Michelle Brown.  Charles was the first french hornist I ever met!!!

So it is not I naturally knew what to do, I was around musicians who knew how to play!

Video Part 1

I have recently filmed my first video production EVER!!! I must admit, I was nervous as all heck.
Nonetheless, it was a success.  I have to give much props to Kamal Smith for his invaluable tidbits.

This video will be used for my Indiegogo campaign and opening movie for my novical.



EXCITED!!!