!e Process of a Self Portrait

Alison ServisGraduate Studio IFall 2011, School of DesignCarnegie Mellon

Exploring My Relationship with the Cello

ContentsExposition

Project Overview

Brainstorming

Development

!eme 1: Musical Notation

!eme 2: When Music Was My Boyfriend

!eme 3: My On-and-O" Relationship with the Cello

Recapitulation

Final Poster

Re#ections

The exposition is the initial presentation of the thematic material of a musical compo-sition, movement, or section. The use of the term generally implies that the material will be developed or varied.

the Exposition

Project OverviewIn his book, Information Anxiety, Richard Saul Wurman identi!es !ve ways of organizing data into understandable and accessible information: location, alphabet, time, category, and hierarchy (LATCH), otherwise known as the Five Hat Racks.After being presented with the hat racks, we were then asked to gather personalize data and use the hat racks to organize and visualize that information into lists and other graphics.From our personal information, we created a self-portrait as a large format poster that incor-porate at least two of the !ve hat racks.

While using the !ve hat racks to gather data about myself, I noticed that amid the lists of books I loved, people I missed, places I’d trav-eled domestically and abroad, that music was a topic I returned to frequently. I made lists and graphs of my favorite musicians, my guilty pleasure music, which songs reminded me of di"erent people or times in my life, my favorite composers, or my favorite musical instruments.

At the top of my list of favorite musical instru-ments was the cello, which I’ve played the cello since age 9. Until college, my cello playing had been a main source of identity. I spent hours every week at private lessons, practicing, play-ing in a quartet, and in the school orchestra and met many friends through thes activities. I also spent hours upon hours in the privacy of my headphones listening to all kinds of music.

Brainstorming

Timbre refers to the qual-ity of sound created by different intruments and voices.

Now, however, I rarely pick up my cello. I decided it was time to delve into my past musi-cal experiences to !gure out how something that was once such a central part of my life had essentially become a party trick. My !rst in-stinct was to explore the music I had played and listened to for inspiration.

the Development

The development is the pro-cess throught which a musi-cal idea is communicated in the course of a composition. During the development, the initial material is transformed and restated. This process is carried out upon parts of the material being treated in different presentations and combinations.

Initially, I wanted to put my musical past into strictly musical terms using the sta". I tried to correspond the musical ideas of accelerando, ritardando, crescendo, and decrescendo to my personal progress as a cellist. Unfortunately, I found it di#cult to !nd the right way to incor-porate the personal story I wanted to tell.

I then looked for inspiration in the heavy mark-ings of my private teachers on my sheet music to remind me of dynamics, tempo, and !nger-ings. However, I was still concerned that given the inherent symbolism and the crowded space of the sta", I would have a hard time commu-nicating the information in an e"ective, under-standable, and aesthetically pleasing way.

I was advised that I could turn the words and stories into the lines and notes of the music, but when I began that process, I found it uninspir-ing and word heavy. I decided I was forcing parts and details of the story that were unim-portant, just to make sure I could bring out certain words of the story I wanted to tell.

While I discarded this concept, the process helped me hone in on the information I wanted to present, namely, the intense emotional range I experienced throughout the years.

!eme 1: Musical NotationAn accelerando signals an increase in tempo. A ritar-dando signals a decrease in tempo.

A crescendo signals an in-crease in dynamics, while a descrescendo signals a decrease.

Pictured Left: An incomplete sketch of my original musical notation idea.

Pictured Right: An unsuc-cessful attempt at turning my musical story into a staff made completely of words, using the notes to bring out keywords.

My di#culties using the musical notation forms led me to consider other options. I considered the advice given regarding visual-izing data:

1.When possible, turn words into pictures 2. Use macro/micro views 3. When possible, consider a time- based presentation

My !rst idea had been heavily text-based, but I struggled with how to visualize something so auditory and rooted in symbol so that it was understandable to a wider audience. I’d considered ways to include a visual representa-tion of myself playing the cello and I decided to return to that idea. I set the scene of my high school bedroom, where I most frequently practiced and re$ected on my playing.

To present other forms of information, like the pieces I played, the orchestras and schools I played for, the quartets I was a member in, and the trips I took with my cello, I looked for !tting visuals in the context of a room.

!eme 2: When Music Was My Boyfriend Musicians commonly decorate their cases with stickers to present both their musical “personality”, so I applied that idea to show the orchestras I belonged to and places I’d traveled to with my school orchestra or private teachers.

%e corkboard on the wall was meant to show my private teachers, and the close association I had with world-famous cellists through my relationships with them, as well as a “practice list” of pieces I played throughout my years as a musician.

Pictured: The original version of the “When Music Was My Boyfriend” concept.

Pictured Top Left: The voices in my !nal poster with their varied typefaces and opaci-ties.

Pictured Top Right: An ex-cerpt of the musical timeline and my personal notes on my most loved. pieces.

Pictured Bottom Left: The corkboard used to show my relative proximity to famous cellist and my practice list.

Pictured Bottom Right: A close-up of some of the bumper stickers decorat-ing my cello case meant to show my orchestral af!lia-tions and musical travel.

!eme 3: My On-and-O" Relationship with the Cello

Based on the feedback I received during the critique of my “When Music Was My Boy-friend” iterarion, I decided that I should better identify the di"erent voices present in the piece by using typefaces representative of the characters — “teacher”, mother, and myself, as well as the level of resonance each thought or conversation had. I narrowed my focus to just playing the cello and rid of the headphones and sound blast coming from them.

To make the title more informative, I changed it to “My On-and-O" Relationship with the Cello”. I also decided to return to the idea musical notation, so I added a a line of music coming from the cello itself, representing my years of progression and regression as a musi-cian.

In the timeline, I put measures from some of the most memorable pieces I played, as well as notes to myself about the pieces (feelings as well as playing instructions).

%e notes to myself are all in my voice type-face. I hoped this would make clear to the viewer the idea that my feelings about the music might be separated from the experience of playing the cello as an activity mediated by my relationships with other people. To rein-force this idea, I also moved the memories and voices closer to my head, to better illustrate the psychological and emotional aspects of my cello playing.

The recapilutation occurs after the development sec-tion, and typically restates the musical themes from the exposition.

the Recapitulation

You know, most of my students have an

internalized sense of rhythm. You don’t seem to have that.

HEY AAAAL! THAT DIDN’T SOUND LIKE IT WAS

IN TUNE!

I can’t believe how impressed Eugene and Jennifer

were with my playing this afternoon. They’re such

amazing violinists and if they think I’m good I must be.

This is unbelievable... How can Dr. McCormick seat Hannah in front of me? I’m a senior and

it’s the last semester anyway. She’s a freshman, anyway. he wasn’ts me to play a “senior” solo.

If only you had come to mewhen you were younger,you could have been an

amazing cellist.

You have perfect cello hands. You’ve got a right angle spread

between your fingers!

This is a called a“bow�push�up”.

It’ll make you fingers strongand your grip looser.

Q: What is the range of a cello?A: As far as you can kick it.

Most students come to me when they’re four or five�years

old, so since you’re 12 you’ll be at a disadvantage.

HEY AAAAL! DON’T FORGET

TO COUNT OUT LOUD!

Thank God I got out of the freshman orchestra. I’m so glad Dr. McCormick thinks I’m

good enough to be in the advanced orchestra.

COUNT!!!!

COUNT!!!! INTONATION!!!!

Watch the dynamics!

Play louder!

I love this piece. I wish I were upthere with the orchestra instead of

here in the audience.

I can’t believe it’s been over a year since I’ve practiced.

My arms are killing me.

Don’t be so scared to be heard.

My On-and-Off Relationship with the Cello

Alison Servis, Grad Studio I

I wish I had more timeto practice.I don’t want to practice.

I should reallypractice more.

Your father and I bidon !ve private cello

lessons at the auctionand we won. The teacher’s

name is John Kaboff.

I wish I got more solos in cello choir.

I’m so glad my parentsfound Mr. Kaboff. I can’t believe

I was going to quit.

Ali, I got an email fromMr. Kaboff. Because of your lesson

today, he’s “!red” me as a cello mom.He thinks we’re not committed enough.

Ali, I know you’re upset about Mr. Kaboff, but you should really

practice.

Ali, we found you a new teacher. His name is Mr. Yampolsky.

Please just come with me to see how it goes. If you don’t like him,

we’ll look for someone else.Mr. Kaboff is such a jerk.

Also, what’s with the teddy bear sweater?

I love Mr. Yampolsky’s stories. I’m so glad wefound him. I like that he focuses more on

musicality than just technique.

I don’t want to practice.Q: What is Beethoven’s favorite fruit?A: Ba-na-na-naaaaas

G Major Scale2 sharps,

play as quarter notes.

Practice slow. You finally madeit to the quintessential cellopiece. Remember smooth

bow strokes to bring out beauty.You have to master this so you

can show off to all your friends. Oh,and have fun at the end of the

song when it picks up-- but not too much fun.

1996199919981997 2000

2003

2007 20082009 2010 2011

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The Ash GrovePlay smoothly (legato)

HAVE FUN!

St. Anne’s Reel

Work up to fasterspeed by practicing

SLOWLY first.DON’T RUSH!!

Danse RustiqueW.H. Squire

Good song to playwhen you have a lot of

energy/feel mad.

Practive readingtreble clef.

Suite No. 1 in G Major, PreludeJohann Sebastian Bach

TarantellaW.H. Squire

Have fun to practicing! Just remember not to rush &

work on the intonation in thehigher parts of the piece.

Messier shifts between positions are okay.

40 Melodic StudiesOpus 31

Sebastian Lee

Watch fingerings butremember even

though these are technicalexercises, don’t miss the

musicality. Emphasize the music in the notes.

Sonata in C MajorOpus 43, No. 2

Bernhard Romberg

FORTE! Play loud andstrong. Very regal

quality-- own it! You area strong, independent

(young) woman!

The SwanCamille Saint-Saens

FORTE! Play loud andstrong. Very regal

quality-- own it! You area strong, independent

(young) woman!

Concerto No. 1in A Minor, Opus 33Camille Saint-Saens

Don’t give up and don’t listento Jason. He’s a terrible

teacher and even though hemay not like you, that doesn’t

mean you can’t do this.You’ve worked hard to get here,

so PRACTICE!

Chanson TristePeter Illyich Tschaikovsky

The saddest song.What’s the saddestthing you can tap

into while you play?While still bowing

smoothly and not crying,of course.

Elegie, Opus 24Gabriel Faure

This is probably the saddest,most beautiful piece you ever

played (and you know that’s yourfavorite). It’s even better than The Swan or Chanson Triste.

Tap into all that angst, girl.

Everyone is GoldenPortugal the Man

Do do do do do dooo dodo do do do dooo. Oh crap,don’t forget to watch for the

chord changes at the chorus! Why didn’t I learn thecircle of fifths better?

And why can’t I think of anythingmore interesting to play?

Need to work on my improv.

DON’TFORGET

TO COUNTTHE

RESTS!!!SILENCE ISJUST AS

IMPORTANTAS SOUND.

DON’T FORGET TO TURN THE PAGE

Degrees of Separation

from Famous Cellists

by Private Teacher

Miron Yampolsky

Janos StarkerMsitislav Rostopovich

Pablo Casals Jacqueline du Pre

John Kaboff 1

2

33

1

2

%e process of creating this self-portrait was very illuminating for me. As I began, I wasn’t sure exactly what picture of myself would emerge. Recollecting the conversations and experiences, I was surprised by the amount of negative emotion that emerged.

Much of the joy I found in cello playing came from my friendships that were formed around music and the incredible catharsis and medita-tion music facilitates both for the player and the listener. I found it hard to put many of these things into words, which is perhaps why some of the negative emotions dominated the conversation.

During the process, I faced uncertainties about my design, as well as the limitations of Adobe Illustrator knowledge. I pushed myself to learn how to use the pen and paintbrush tools, to apply texture e"ects and drop shad-ows to add dimension.

I feel more con!dent both with the program itself, but also with my ability to learn how to use new tools (and there are still so many to learn!) to make my work better.

Re#ections on my Self PortraitExecuting my ideas inevitably took longer than I anticipated, which is something I will remember to account for in future assign-ments. While I left myself plenty of time, this fact will undoubtedly be important to remem-ber when I face greater time constraints.

Finally, I think I e"ectively used several of Wurman’s hat racks, including location, time, and hierarchy. Using the stickers on the cello case to represent both time and location, using my musical sta" to show progress over time, as well as some personal hierarchy that may not be apparent to the viewer by choosing which pieces out of the many I played that I most enjoyed playing or found most memorable. Lastly, I used opacity and text size to show hierarchy in voices surrounding me.