Rafael Hernandez: Composer, Teacher, Nerd - Blog

I'm a dick

2008-08-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

I like to watch YouTube videos and rate them 1 star if I don't like them even in the slightest. I consider it my digital duty as a champion of quality in an age of overzealous and unqualified praise.

Today, 10 videos have been righted by my 1 star vote.

Not bad

2008-08-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

As related to my last post, I finished a new piece yesterday. It's a short little number for solo guitar but quite respectable. In the piece, I wanted to see if I could write a piece in a flat-ish key - something that you usually don't do for the guitar - but still have it be idiomatic and enjoyable to play. I like the end result a lot, though there are a few spots I might revisit after a few days to see if I need to add a few bars. I'm also working on a piece for Orcheste dB, my new music ensemble that has no players or standard instrumentation right now (I'll get my younglings to play in it). And, I'm about to start a mellow-fanfare for trumpets and trombones (cuz they grow like weeds at my work) and a new band piece.

I'll keep it going fo sho'

I'm getting too old for this shit

2008-08-04T07:50:00.000-07:00

Much like Murtaugh sitting on the toilet, bomb beneath his ass, I've decided that I'm getting too old for this shit. What shit am I talking about?

Endless tinkering with technology without an end goal
Eating like I used to (before I used to)
Not writing any music

So, I've decided that today I'd begin to focus a little more on myself and the things that I not only like to do but should do. I started a guitar piece yesterday and am lining up a few other works to complete for the year. I'm also going to enter a composition competition - something I haven't done in at least 4 years (I still won't win).

Old habits die hard. Wish me luck.

Why the California killz Indiana

2008-07-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

There are no Jesus cats in California.

I don't make this shit up, I swear!

2008-07-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Air guitarist loses toe

Yep. You read it correctly. Watch the video at CNN.com - it gets even better.

If only that much energy was put into a real talent - like becoming a bowed piano virtuoso! Wait - maybe *air* bowed piano will be the next thing...

I'm angry

2008-07-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the wifer's purse was stolen. In it, all the things you'd expect: license, money, cards, checks, etc.). Luckily we caught this fact rather quickly and were able to cancel all the cards with minor damage (but MAJOR inconvenience. I have to tell you, blog, that I am incensed with anger. I can't stop thinking about how I want to wrap my gigantic mitts around the neck of whomever did this and introduce them to a level of nightmarish euphoria that approaches a religious experience due to the lack of oxygen to the brain. You see, this cowardly act cost us much more than the few dollars the crooks tried to spend at Chevron and Safeway:

- We missed nederland's wedding. I am quite upset about this as this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see two young kids (that I've been fortunate enough to witness fall in love) declare themselves to teach other is now in the past and I couldn't be witness to it.

- We have had to spend time on the phone with banks and the police, witnessing the electronic trail of the attempts of others to take our hard earned money and buy gas, chips, bear, and People magazine at Chevron and Safeway (they kept trying even after the cards were fucking declined!!!!!!!)

- We feel violated and have this sinking suspicion that the crooks live in our neighborhood. This last bit really fucking infuriates me as it is just another indication that respect for one another is a value simply not held in high regard.

The police said they are going to pull the surveillance tapes at Chevron and Safeway. You see, there are cameras EVERYWHERE at both of those places. So, asshole crooks listen up: you will be caught, we will prosecute, and while probably this will only be a misdemeanor if indeed justice is had, we will be sure that you feel the pain and sting of the law to the fullest extent that we can exercise it. I will take pleasure in posting your mugshot on Facebook and MySpace for all the world to see what a horrible bunch of douche bags you are.

IV-V-I hits Fresno

2008-07-26T12:11:00.001-07:00

Ok, there should be more fanfare to this, but there isn't.

I invented a card game. It will take over the nerd world as we know it.

The tweaker h8r and I braved the douche bag drivers of California in our fast and nimble craft: the yellow-cooper-mini-with-an-H-on-the-room (a better nickname is coming soon). Usually I'd post pics of this, but lately I'm addicted to Facebook and have decided to use that site for all my media posting (hey - no need to reinvent the wheel, right?).

If you know me, look me up with my email addy on Facebook and take a look at the pics. Oh - make sure you buy a copy of IV-V-I.

It's not what you think

2008-07-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Penisland.net

For when you need the write tool for the right job.

90 min or less please

2008-07-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

Went to a new music concert in the city last night. Hung out with K-fro who traveled all the way out from Fresno to hear a piece. Nederlands was also there (with his band). So, I know you are all dying to hear my thoughts on the concert. Well, if you know me by now, you know that I am one jaded motherfucker when it comes to new music experiences (it's what happens when you are let down more often than not by other's music).

Overall: The concert was hella long, yo. Three hours! Damn, dude. I mean keep dis' shit short so that we all can head to the Power Exchange for the early bird new music geek hookup special (there are more girls and guys with glasses to pick up). K-fro's piece was ight - I thought the group was pretty sub par (hence not doing his piece any justice). There was a solo clarinet piece that was entertaining enough - especially one movement that featured an ostinato with compound melody that totally p'wned the player. There were three pieces that were straight up re-tar-did. It was pretty obvious why they were being programmed (political) but helped to make the concert a totally tortuous experience (3 hours long - c'mon dude).

A tangent: overt quotation in music sucks. Yea, yea, you can throw out your Berg or Crumb card, but I counter with my Mindstab Thrull and peeeek your brain! Oh yea - overt quotation of Bach chorales is even more gay (and not the good Marvin or German lieder kind). Every time I heard this Bach being brought out and transfigured in this one piece last night, I rolled my eyes, looked up at the ceiling, and thought about how great it would be to stand up and sing - as if at church (you know, because that's what you do with Bach chorales when you aren't studying them for harmony).

Speaking of harmony - you need to get with it: IV-V-I.com. Buy a deck and get a free tritone sub shirt (The most badass of nerdy music shirts there is).

Retarded word of 2008 (so far)

2008-07-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

In light of all the financial problems in the U.S. right now, many are choosing not to travel away from their home states and towns when they have vacation time. I can understand this completely. However, in our marketing-saavy nation where portmanteau is the thing to do now (and believe me, I love a good portmanteau), I've heard the following word for this phenomenon:

Staycation

I now officially declare this word to be the most retarded word of 2008 (so far).

Customer service is a pain sometimes

2008-07-12T08:56:00.000-07:00

I run a business. The Wifer and I hoc our wares in the form of digital downloads and we see little bits of income here and there (enough to order pizza once a month). The downside to this business is that we have to field questions from customers who, uh how can I put it nicely, are lacking in interpersonal and critical thinking skills. This means I get occasional emails with irate folks asking:
"How does this thing work?!"
"I didn't get my download and now it's gone!" (when in truth, they did download it)
"My download is incomplete!" (when really, it isn't. they just think it is)

I've yet to issue a refund as I've been very courteous and patient with my customers. I hold on to their money with a tight grip as the way I see it, downloading our product is like driving the car off the lot: not my problem anymore (we don't have a warranty).

So - there is something coming soon that is going to knock everyone's socks off. Those of you who know me already know what it is. I swear, with this thing I will retire a happy man. More soon.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

I was treated to breakfast this morning, courtesy of AT&T. We went to an ol' standby - Mexican Denny's. The food at Mexican Denny's is just like the food at Non-Mexican Denny's: good'n'turrible. Of course, we weren't the only folks in Hayward/Castro Valley that had the idea to go to breakfast (it is Father's Day, after all).

We were seated in a booth right next to the restrooms. It wasn't an ideal location, but I typically don't mind as much where I'm seated as the food seems to taste the same. Wouldn't you know that luck would shine as bright as the Krypton sun in the form of two patrons dining at the bar across the isle from us. For Father's Day, I was treated to their guh-het-toh conversation about:

Some chick bleeding from the head (she apparently was wearing a nice thong).
One of the dude's daughter is 12 and apparently "fully loaded." In case you aren't hip to the terminology, she has big breasts and looks nice for her age. I was treated also to some talk about her vagina as well, but I'd rather just say that much and not go into detail (I'll spare you the horror I felt as I was eating my machaca plate).
The father of said daughter also said that he would kill any boy whom terrorized his daughter with their penis (what a touching sentiment for Father's Day).

Yea, it was a Father's Day to forget for sure.

Burning the candle at both ends

2008-05-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

It is Memorial Day weekend, which means it is the end of the Spring Quarter. Two more weeks of school and I can barely wait for summer to arrive so that I can relax a little bit. Lately, I've been working about 60 hours a week (due to many things beyond my control). As a result, I've developed a serious problem: I wake up at 3:30 and don't go back to bed (that is 3:30am, btw). This leads to me falling asleep at 6:30-7:00pm. Not a fun way to spend the evening. I've been hard at work on something I've yet to blog about but that those who read the blog will know what it is. Hopefully I can have a website up to blog about that will explain it very soon.

Off to bed.

jQuery is most excellet

2008-05-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

I'm using jQuery for so many things nowadays (XML parsing, complicated style rules, flexible layout - the list goes on and on). Recently I had to style an ordered list so it would use numbers for the first level, lowercase alphabetical letters for the second level, and lowercase roman numerals for the third (much like an outline in MS Word). Whereas before I'd have to create CSS classes for this (icky), I instead do it via jQuery like so:

$("ol").css("list-style-type", "decimal");//First level; ordered lists default to this anyway
$("ol ol").css("list-style-type", "lower-alpha");//Second level, use lower-case alphabetical
$("ol ol ol").css("list-style-type", "lower-roman");//Third level, use lower-case Roman numeral
//I think you see the pattern

1. First level
 a. Second level
    i. Third level
2. First level
 a. Second level
 b. Second level
    i. Third Level
    ii. Third level

(I had to fake the demo as this particular site isn't using jQuery yet)

I realize that my regular readers could give a shit about this. My hope is that this will find it's way into a Google search as that is how I find all useful stuff on jQuery and I just want to pay it forward.

From bad to worser

2008-05-08T16:00:00.001-07:00

Well, that person that I made quite mad decided to sail away early and leave the crew behind. Not cool but life goes on.

Teacher first, friend second

2008-05-04T15:28:00.000-07:00

This seems to be my mantra lately. I like befriending students and being 'chummy' with them but I've found that this tends to blur boundaries that need to be clearer. In my quest to raise standards of scholarship and study at my school, I've found myself being a bit more of a hardass towards our students and this has been a bit uncomfortable to deal with. I don't know if it is because it maybe seems unexpected from me ("he yelled at me! he's never done that before) or if it is because it is new for me (in the past I tended to flinch first). I'll cut to the chase: this week alone, I managed to express supreme dissatisfaction of effort and results to four students, two of whom I brought to tears. One of these episodes included a raise of voice that hasn't happened in at least three years (when I had to deal with a certain bull of a student who has turned out to be a mouse). I can't say that I wasn't justifiably prompted to be harsh and stern. However, I still am feeling very awful about how this week went down in general.

Spending a lazy Saturday amongst Ubergeeks

2008-05-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Maker Faire. This is quite the cool event. People show off lots of really cool gadgets, gizmos, contraptions, and other things that nerds like myself find interesting. Some pics:

Miss N, standing outside the lifesize mousetrap.

U man stands on the green of 'art' miniature golf.

A very cool Victorian house on wheels.

Bizarre computer-parts-skull-thing.

Dude with no talent and a MIDI wind controller. Just because you've got a laptop on a cart with Reason 3 doesn't mean you've got talent (I'm supa-hatin' now!).

What's up? A dream come true.

2008-05-03T19:02:00.000-07:00

In April, I was fortunate enough to attend a recording session at Skywalker Sound at Skywalker Ranch. Words can't describe how cool the experience was. I only wish that I didn't have such bad bronchitis at the time (I was hacking up a lung left and right). Here are some pics:

Outside the scoring stage, the anticipation builds.

Do you see all those vintage mics? 4 U87s and 4 U67s. See nerdy pic of U67 power supply below.

The Rock and the Canadian Kraut - just before a session.

A U67 power supply. Yes, I am a nerd.

My buddy Jim rehearses his group.

In the control room, a legendary engineer works her magic at the most awesome Neve 88 console.

I can only hope that this won't be a once in a lifetime event.

Some pics for kicks

2008-03-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics taken recently at events I've been involved with, attending, or happened across.

I judged a Battle of the Bands at campus two weekends ago. It was a lot of fun and wasn't as terrible as I thought it was going to be. I got to hear a pop-punk band (The Cult of Sue Todd, pictured above) and witness the slow destruction of a PA speaker throughout the course of the evening (because it is always smart to mix BEHIND the band).

I was at a convention in Sacramento this past weekend and caught this pic while walking to a very good-n-turrible brewpub for lunch with colleagues.

At the same convention, I got to play this interesting guitar from Yamaha. They call it the 'Silent Classical' guitar. Somehow 'silent classical' seems like a redundant name for a guitar to me.

Get a bodybag!

2008-02-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

Watching The Karate Kid on Comcast OnDemand HD. I haven't seen this in a while but I am reminded of my childhood when I do watch it. The color of the film, the wide variety of station wagons, and the pure tones of the FM synths in the soundtrack all provide a kind of time machine for me to revel in 1984.

Sorry that it has been a while. These things happen.

Check it: http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spores&show=karatekid

So I write fast - suck it!

2008-01-22T17:03:00.000-08:00

I'm not a good example for my composition students. They agonize over each note written. They struggle to get single phrases to work within a larger piece. I continually push them and tell them it's not enough. Problem is: I write pretty fast. I'll finally acknowledge this out loud. I agonize over notes. It's just that my agony lasts three minutes to three days - not three weeks to three months!

I sent off the first movement of my Clarinet Concerto today to the performers. Though it certainly started out wicked-hella rough, it ended up being a killer piece. I anticipate three more movements. Maybe I'll finish them all in the next ten minutes.

Shaolin

2008-01-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

Spent the weekend in Mass for the Gigantor! premiere. Had a fantastic time - got to meet some nice people, signed autographs (yes - I don't know why people ask. I just do it), and was treated to the most shaolin-influenced performance of a work that I've ever witnessed.

Here are some pics:

This is a picture of the hall that Gigantor! was premiered in. Just imagine it about 3/4 full.

This is a picture of the band on stage rehearsing. Shaolin all the way!

And another pic: this one of the band being grilled on counting! Count!

Here's a pic of some Gigantor! score pages posed with some true, homemade maple syrup given to me by a band director I helped out with project.

Title anyone?

2008-01-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

I've been hard at work on my long overdue piece for clarinet and piano. You may recall I agreed to write said work over 9 months ago. Well, after much procrastination accompanied by the usual fits and starts, I've got something that I like and I'll probably finish it this week. I seriously put my nose to the grind on Friday (two days ago) and have about 5:30 written. It is a bit more romantic than I usually write and I think that is because of all the Brahms I've been listening to in 2007 (lots!). The Inc. is asking for a title so that it can be included in the program for a February 12 premiere (yes - this upcoming February). I don't have a title except maybe Concerto for Clarinet: I. because the writing is very concerto-ish. But, I think that is a dumb title and it locks me into writing a goddamn clarinet concerto (which I am not sure I want to do).

Meanwhile, I've found this random abstract art title generator. My first three presses produced:

The Fatal Contrast
Season with Dimensionality
Objective Continuation

I don't really like any of those. The working title I've got now is Perpendicularity. But I have to tell you that I really hate that title. Maybe Perpendisticles? It goes with my penchant for titles with phallic connotations.

Cookie's Misfortune now on YouTube

2008-01-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

At the request of pretty much everyone who's seen it, I've uploaded Cookie's Misfortune to YouTube. Be sure to vote on it so that it has a proper chance to go viral.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxTwIDP76E
The original: http://www.rafaelhernandez.org/blog/2007/04/happy-2nd.php

Me und fridge und coop

2007-12-31T19:23:00.000-08:00

I like this picture. To me, it just says "California."

It's the last day of the year. What will I resolve to do next year?