,w w A Iw ww- Music from Page 1 in the country and there are University graduates in almost every major U.S. orchestra. Students, however, are well aware this does not guarantee them a spot on any stage. Instead of worrying about grades, music students are concerned about how they play, whether it's during a private lesson, a class, a rehearsal, or a performance. They often spend their entire day-seven days a week-inside one building, moving from room to room with their flutes, trumpets, and cellos. But it goes beyond lessons and and forget the material, Ruple says he works on a piece of music, then plays it over and over again for himself, his classmates, and finally his instructor. Adds Laura Wyman, a junior majoring in flute performance, "You can't really cram for a music lesson or a recital the way you usually can for a test." Thus, to the music student, time is a precious commodity. "It's not just the time in class, it's the time you spend getting ready for class or for rehearsal. There's never enough time to practice just for myself," says Wyman, who of- ten has as many as five rehearsals a day on top of her classes and private practice time. Some music students are so desperate to get in extra practice time.' they resort to sneaking into the locked k ............ . ................... .......... . .. ...... ............ .. . . ......... ..... . . . . .... .. .. .. ........... I S, ,. YV V C O 'The students learn by competing, just as they will in the real world.... The enormous stress drives motivate the students.' -Paul Boylan Dean of the School of Music Piano: The keys to success up.', What drives these students to spend up to eight hours a day in claustrophobic practice cubicles and resort to breaking and entering to prac- tice the same musical passages over and over again? In one word, pressure. Pressure that comes from all sides-the other students, the professors-but most of all, from the students themselves. "There's a lot of pressure on music majors just because of the nature of the performing arts," says music school Dean Paul Boylan. "The school is built on competition amongst one's peers." "The students learn by competing, just as they will in the real world," he says. "The competition is fundamen- tal. The enormous stress drives, motivates the students." Yet students differ in their opinions as to where the competition really begins. "The only pressure I feel in music school is self-imposed," said Jim Walters, a junior majoring in music education. "I compare my im- provement against myself, my own playing, instead of comparing myself to other students." Other students say the pressure students impose upon themselves is fueled by the competition that exists among their peers. "You want to play well when playing with others, like an accompanist or an ensemble. You want to be ahead of everyone else," says Wyman. "But you try not to be too competitive or be jealous if someone else plays better." "Competitiveness exists," agrees Velich. "It's not vicious, though. You work together and help each other out." Still, for some students, the pressure is inescapable. "You have to prove yourself each time you play," says Paul Hess, a graduate student in piano per- formance. "One lousy performance and it's all over," he explains. "If you don't per- form well it reflects poorly on you men- tally, emotionally, and physically." According to Boylan, music students must learn how to deal with the pressure that is a given for most professional musicians before they leave the relatively safe confines of the music school. Because of the fierce competition for choice opportunities such as the lead in an opera or the first chair in an or- chestra, students are well aware of where on the scale of musical talent they fall.. "I'm not hung up on ranking-at least I hope I'm not," says Velich. "But I'm aware of our ranking. There's only eight places for flutes in the top two or- chestras and there are 30 flute majors, classrooms. At the music school, solitary confinement isn't a punish- ment, it's a necessity. "I practice a minimum of three hours, but usually it's about five hours per day," says Eric Ruple, a doctoral student in piano performance. "I'm here from nine until midnight every day. I leave maybe for dinner." According to Ruple, music is dif- ferent from other disciplines because "the work is never done. You don't just take a test and it's over," he says. Unlike academic courses in which students can study for a test, take it, building during the Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. "One person will find an unlocked or propped open door and we'll all break in and practice," says one clarinetist who asked not to be identified. "Security eventually comes and makes us leave." Says junior oboeist Vicky Velich, "I have to practice between four and six hours a day and I work at least as hard, if not harder, than any other student." It's not something you can put away. All the other students may go on break, but there's no summer vacation for a musician or we'd never be able to keep Midnight Oil 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Columbia By Larry Dean S NOWY WEATHER: great for lis- tening to music. A sure-bet pleaser is Peter Gabriel, who's wonderful in the snow. Or Joy Division. How 'bout Keith Jarrett? Yeah, real snowymusic. So imagine my trepidation at having to review this Aussie quintet Midnight Oil on the first snow day of the year. No promises here. Just me and my Manufacturers Equipment & Supply mug (gift from a wayfaring friend of some years past) brimmin' full of hot java, and the swirling whiteness of im- pending winter to my right. All that, and the music. I'm a bit skeptical about Midnight Oil. Not necessarily about their music which has its good and bad points-but about their politics, flaunted without abandon. "Short Memory," in par- ticular, drops quite a litany and names-South Africa, El Salvador, Hiroshima, Cambodia, and Afghanistan-most for the sake of trite rhymes, forced rhymes. Hey, it's one thing to be politically aware, and another when that awareness becomes fashion. Midnight Oil are too new to the scene to dismiss right away, but they are fast headed toward entropical straits. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 is a weird album. Highly touted by megacorp Columbia as the "next big thing," it hits a lot of marks, but never quite booms like its countdown-title would lead you to believe. Like I said, too premeditated-not enough. Starts off on a promising note with "Outside World," which is surprisingly subdued and pretty (unlike the frantic XTC tune of the same name). Lots of unshowy synth, imagistic lyrics, and one solid throughline- Leaving all my problems in the outside world. Maybe not your traditional opening track at first listen, but it does set some sort of precedent for the rest of what's to come. The one palatable thing about Mid- night Oil 'is their music. Jerky, stop- and-start, intricate, _ and often energetic, their songs start with one flavor and quickly shift to another, sometimes a totally opposite one. "Scream In Blue," for instance, begins with a ruthless aural assault and halts in mid-musical-orgasm, segueing into a simple piano melody. An old trick, but one that occasionally works. And while the shifts are often complete tur- narounds, there are times on 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 when the songs display both aggression and passivity equally. "U.S. Forces" starts off with a somber passage enunciated by syn- thetic keyboard bursts and then kicks into flagrant acoustic guitar strums; by the time the tune is well-underway, it is firmly situated in a vaguely Latin/folk beat, complete with distor- ted guitar breaks. The same is basically true for "Only the Strong," which also kicks in after a slow build- up, and "Read About It," with its dreadful rhyme, The rich get richer/The poor get the picture. Tell me about it. "Power and the Passion" has a killer hook, bubbly quasi-reggae bass, and the put-up-yer-dukes concluding line, It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees. (The old man in Catch-22 would disagree.) The middle section is a handclap-and-percussion bop-off, neatly encapsuling the Mid- night Oil call-to-musical-arms; at its conclusion, a rousing horn section comes in to carry the listener away like a wounded soldier on a stretcher. Musicianship is good in Midnight Oil. Guitarist Martin Rotsey (ROTC??) comes up with some interesting licks, and most often puts himself in the role of the guitar player, rather than a straight lead or rhythm player. . . that way, he doesn't limit himself, and the music is all the more complete. Same is true for keyboardist Jim Moginie (who also doubles on guitar). The rhythm section of bassist Peter Giddorf and drummer Rob Hirst is kind of plain, and Hirst occasionally plays in an an- noyingly straight style; however, they are tight and muscular. But my chief complaint comes from possibly the most important aspect of the music-the vocalist. Peter Garrett isn't awful, but he's so artfully tense that he overdoes the expressiveness to the point of wincing. .. not him, mind you, but the listeners. Well, maybe time'll be Read and Use Daily Classifieds 0 i i ANGELL HALL UNIVERSITYOF MICHIGAN Se~~a* 5(e 4c*ewg Pen and ink drawings are engraved on cot Scenes include the Michigan Union, James ton Memorial Tower, and the Law Library. Excellent for every-day correspondence, a for alumni get-togethers, and holiday greeti 7?Vwact Paf e'' 20 printed and 20 seconc matching envelopes; 101/2" x 7%"; price $1 7" 5"e e .44 20 cards with matching enve price $9.50. e raitiac 10 writing papers with seco note cards, both with matching envelopes; All prices include U.P.S. shipping charges. Ohio residents add 6% sales tax. on his side. I am at a loss to either recommend or blow off Midnight Oil. There's a lot of nice things going on here musically, but they're all drawn from obvious sour- ces-the Boomtown Rats, XTC, and the Who, amongst others. The ease of discerning that lineage of influences depletes the positives somewhat, but it's not a total wash-out-I even find myself putting 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 on the turntable more often these snowy days. It's just the damn pose-and while this bunch is rather faceless to me so far (the media hasn't gotten to them for their hype-potential yet), they are poseurs-that gets me. Talking politics is one thing, and doing is another. The visions on this debut are bleak little tone-poer vastness are they even botl slator or, And wha An empty where the self. Mid pictures with the unopinior their job. A quot seems to breasts throbbir was neve: Record We accept & ship orders in the 48 contiguous United States only'. Send order form below with check or money order to: SC P.O. Box 5E (4 Y -D 'O quality copies - binding instant passport photos 540 E. Liberty St. 761-4539 Corner of Maynard & Liberty Q WRITING PAPERS, $12.50 Q I Q COMBINATION, $11J NAME ADDRESS CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE I 3 W~ ..,,...,,_ _ ._.. ._... a fA "tt_ 1__'r. . ,~, ' - 3 -W-t 10)Wee-ea Novembler 18: t983 . ___ _.