#angelicstrings

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The concert harp in the sanctuary #merrychristmas #harpATX #angelicstrings (at Central Christian Church, Austin Texas)

[angelicstrings]

Romantic evening wedding 12/09/16 at Mercury Hall. Bride's music was 'Be Thou My Vision', 'How Deep the Father's Love for us' and 'Ode to Joy' as the recessional. #harpATX #angelicstrings #viola #love (at Mercury Hall)

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Christmas music! Frosty the Snowman🎄🎻🎼🎄😇 #harpATX #angelicstrings #haveharpwilltravel (at Town Square Park, Steiner Ranch)

[angelicstrings]

Viva La Vida

We’ve learned the Coldplay song ‘Viva La Vida’ for an upcoming wedding.  Recently I learned ‘Love Walks In’ (Concert harp) by Van Halen which was a request for Entrance of the Parents. 

Belinda is doing a lot of solo viola weddings on the weekdays, and she’s brilliant at it.  I’m so proud and happy for her.  She still prefers duets with me, but is also spreading her own wings which is wonderful to watch. 

Life is very, very good.  We will be performing at a wedding this evening, and currently are experiencing thunderstorms and heavy rain.  But, looking at ahead we may have clear skies at Stone House Vineyard which would be wonderful.  They do have an indoor option, and that’s the current plan.  Venues with indoor options are at lot more convenient this year than in previous 3 years or so in Austin which was mostly near-drought conditions. Best wishes always from Angelic Strings.  :)

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#angelicstrings #bridalextravaganza #beautifulmusic #beautifulharp (at Austin Bride Magazine & Bridal Expo)

[angelicstrings]

Will the triangle be unbroken?

Practicing guitar tonight because I’ll be doing “Book of Love” by Magnetic Fields for a wedding tomorrow.  They didn’t actually ask for guitar just vocals.  In fact it would be my first solo vocals gig, but "Book of Love” sounds a bit better with guitar added (according to my wife)...  It’s a nice guitar.  :) 

It’ll be my first use of a guitar at a gig in about 25 years...  Back in the saddle again...

I’m also learning “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, a song that had also been requested, but dropped...  Looking through the lyrics, it’s not a very good wedding song, so I’ll suggest another if they really want a hymn.  “Wherever You Go” is a lot more appropriate.  Whatever works though...

As a Ph.D. Physicist, I have a decent grasp of 2 & 3 dimensional geometry.  So I was wondering, “Will the square be unbroken?  What about the trapezoid?  How about the triangle?”  Of course “Will the circle be unbroken” is more a theological than a geometric question, but since I’m willing to postulate that the circle is unbroken... what about the other shapes?  Did they survive?  Did they become irrational?  Are they even real?  What broke them?  News at 11.

[angelicstrings]

super-mario :)

I'm finally getting "Super-Mario Bros. Theme" down for Concert harp.  Very slow tempo, but it sounds cool; just a bit leisurely (obviously not being chased by Bowser while playing my version).  I have the entire song now working on Concert harp, from a piano arrangement by the amazing Aaron Ackerson.  (Song by Koji Kondo, if you ever wondered who to blame for creating this iconic music).

I seem to have the only copy of this music currently, as the website that originally posted it (themushroomkingdom.net) does not have it available.   Aaron Ackerson of course does have it (last I check with him), but on an older computer which isn't easily accessible. 

Tempo is marked q (quarter note)=100 with style of FUNK.  Currently my tempo today is q=54.  Lots of chromatic foot pedal maneuvers on this song (Concert harp), so a slower tempo is needed...  I imagine my max tempo without changing the music will be q=65 or so because one foot pedal maneuver requires more than two legs above q=65.

I had the first part of "Super-Mario" worked out about 7 years ago back when Viva Chocolato, a chocolate bar at the Domain was hosting our music.  The chocolate bar was gorgeous and fantastic, and we have many fond memories of that establishment.  So just as a promise to myself (even though I have no venue currently where Super-Mario would fit), I wanted to bring the song back... & maybe record it for youtube for posterity.  :)

[angelicstrings]

Christmas Time is here....

Our December is nicely booked-up.  We do have some odd availability here & there, but it's nice to have our regular full Christmas schedule.  Our Christmas customers return to book us each year, an experience which thankfully does not occur with weddings. :)  We sort of have 'return customers with weddings', but generally it's multiple weddings within a family (older siblings walking down the aisle to our serenading strings, then 'rebooking' for younger siblings)... 

We had our first request today for the "Jurassic Park Theme" for a May 2015 wedding.  That shouldn't be hard, & will add to the 20-30 movie songs that we know.  More commonly requested movie music would be "For a Thousand Years" (Twilight).  The other day we were asked to perform "Young & Beautiful" from "The Great Gatsby" which went well.  "Safe & Sound" is another relatively new piece for us (from "Hunger Games"). 

Our first Christmas party is this Saturday, and I'll begin Christmas music this evening (Tuesday 12/2/14) at the retirement home, "Parsons House", at which I've performed for over 12 years.  I have quite a rabid "Parsons House" following (which is an odd thing to say I know, but if you were there, you'd see what I mean); they are such a fun & lively crowd.  The Parsons House residents also love my new bagpipes (outside, of course).

Wishing you all the best this holiday season!!!