Day13-14: 1st weekend with kids

And that is why I missed a day of blog posting. And you might understand why there is little entry before June, hardly every 3 months or less! When you have young kids, something like 'blogging' goes way down on to-do list :)

On Saturday I recorded some simple sound samples for one of the researchers at IRCAM to take a look; I am interested in improving sound quality of some stuff I'm already using, and since they told me that they haven't really looked at how violin works with this particular function I wanted them work on it while I'm here :) Then I headed to IRCAM for a talk the Realtime Interaction Team, the people I'm working with, was giving for the public, on the last day of Agora Festival's La Nuit Du Prototype. They demonstrated gesture follower and interaction, but the session was cut short because there were too many people who couldn't get in, and the administration decided to divide the session in two so the first audience had to be ushered out. It was fine for me, as I knew most of what they were going to show. Here is Norbert Schnell, one of my main collaborators at IRCAM showing his graphic interface and controller demo.


I also heard a bit of outdoor performance by a French Percussion ensemble Les Percussions de Strasbourg performing Iannis Xenakis's Pléiades in front of IRCAM in the square. A very fun spectacle, old and young sitting on the ground listening to Xenakis on this cool Paris day in June. The performance was electrifying; at times I thought that the bizarre acoustics of this plaza, two concrete/stone walls in 90 degree angle, was throwing them off a bit for this very tightly synced rhythmic work.

The kids were coming from Picardie arriving in Paris so before the talk, I went to Les Halles, a shopping center near IRCAM, to buy some long sleeve tops/sweaters for them. Paris has been low 9-10C (50F) and windy/rainy. Husband went to Au Vieux Campeur, a camping gear store he knew since his childhood, to buy sleeping bags since the kids are going to French summer camps "Colonie Vacances" in July. I was expecting our reunion, first time since our arrival in Paris on June 7th, to be somewhat operatic accompanied by tears, but it was very sweet and light; they were just very happy to see me. Then we went to a park behind Notre Dame to play a bit, headed to brother-in-law's house where kids were united with their cousins.


At my brother-in-laws, I had my own operatic reunion. Not with my kids, but with Reblochon de Savoie au lait cru!!! (Note: the link is in French, but you can enjoy the video and get the idea). I have missed it ever since it was banned in the USA; Zabars stopped carrying it, and now sells something that labeled "Missing Reblochon? Here is your alternative!" I forgot what it is called.

The weekend continued today with the family, chez another brother-in-law minus the brother himself, but the kids were able to play with the cousins.
I am absolutely flabbergasted with both my kids' French. My daughter is also learning cursive in French, and I overheard my son is talking to himself: "Qu'est-ce que c'est que ce TRUC là..." (what is this thing...). I am also flabbergasted with all this thing we ate. Understandably husband and I only had one slice of bread tonight, with salted butter though... Merguez with Kir (with Mûr Sauvage, blackberry syrup instead of Cassis), barbecue marinated with Sauce Béarnaise, homemade Far Breton by my sister-in-law, and it went on and on... a typical French Sunday family festivities celebrating a family reunion.

Day12; Paris, people, music...

I'm continuing to orient myself in terms of our working strategy and planning, and it is, as I expected, coming together and building as we go. And things do happen when I show up at IRCAM in person and sit next to them. It is as if when I see their faces and talk to them, ideas and thoughts come flooding out of my head. And their reactions, questions and responses inspire me to come up with more ideas. It is this human interaction that is so important, and this summer residency at IRCAM is so priceless for our work.

After two productive meetings today at IRCAM, I hit BHV---look, it is my commuting trajectory. I literally walk through BHV from Cités des Arts and IRCAM. Today I went to their famous crafts section to buy some things for my children, who are coming tomorrow to Paris to visit; we are spending the weekend together. I am nervous. Will they fall apart, screaming for mommy? Will they look at me and start blaming me for abandoning them since June 5th? I am putting them through a lot, together with my parents-in-law in Picardie where they live now. I like to believe that it is for the good of my children, learning French and get to know their grandparents who normally live an ocean away. They see the cows everyday, run around in the safe field, etc. all things hard to do in NYC's upper westside. They are studying math in French, reading in French thanks to the grandparents. But it is a long time. It's the entire summer. It will mark their lives and the only hope I have is this experience to be the good one for everyone. I might be projecting my own experience, as the similar thing was done to me. When my father, a solar energy specialist, worked at the National Research Council in Ottawa, I was put into a Canadian school at age 4 and a half for two years. Because of this experience, my life was profoundly affected; my life became more international than most Japanese.

The crafts section of BHV is where you can find just about anything to do with art supplies, and I joined many French mothers, who are also buying art supplies for their children. Then, just like them, I went up to the BHV's cafeteria overlooking the fabulous Paris landscape for lunch. Not many tourists are there, but mostly local Parisians who come here for lunch, without much fuss. The food is great--and I have to remind myself, it is a given in France :) This is a salad with cheese that I really should not have eaten, since that Brie-looking cheese was nothing but a glorified butter. French butter. I can hear the cows, and I can hear my extended Yoga session calling tonight.

I came back and practiced my scales for quite a while (which my husband calls "Mari's torture exercises". It is not pleasant to listen to for sure!). Then remembering what the face of the cheese in BHV cafeteria looked like, I was determined not to have a huge dinner. Then I received an email from my dear new Parisian friend, a Norwegian composer I met in a concert of percussionist friend Lê Quan Ninh, named Ida Heidel. She came to my talk at IRCAM a few days ago and she kindly thought of inviting me to her goodbye party, as she was leaving a residency staying at a beautiful apartment the Norwegian Composer's Association owns near St. George in the delightful 9e. Former flutist, she had invited perhaps half of Paris' flute community, and I had an honor of meeting and having dinner with Pierre-Yves Artaud, Professor of Flute at the Paris Conservatoire. It was my first Paris 'soirée' in French, well almost, as they were so kind to switch to English whenever I had problem finding my vocabulary. The dinner table was however, not only French--there were Chilean, Bulgarian, another Japanese composer, and Norwegian Ida. Typical musician's get-together, very New York, very Paris. Again I have to say, because of music, musicians I know and met here, Paris makes me feel very at home, almost as if I'm still in New York, except for the language, different subway smell, and different quality of butter. And certainly a lot more in-your-face chocolate. Whoever invented the combination of dark chocolate and orange? When did it start? Is there a research on the history of chocolate and orange?

Day11: Pistache and Berio

The recording I made yesterday should be OK, the data is all there; we will see what my bright team will find out---I made a very simple phrase with simple contrasting expressions using same notes, just to start simply :)

As I was told on the first informal meeting, I complied my first 'wish list', things I was always dreaming about. I immediately did answer a 'big one' off the top of my head on the spot, an equivalent of a "Holy Grail", then I saw from their facial expression and reaction, that it is a big subject (and a great one!) which might derail the purpose of my visit this summer---our work on gesture and expression. But if we don't think about these "big questions" nothing will go forward. So, today my wish list to the team contained some of these 'big' dreams, as well as what I called "Cracked Holy Grails", things that are already done, but not good enough in my opinion, for example some pitch tracking, or sound quality issues etc. These "Cracked Holy Grails" are just as important, if not more, than the 'big' Holy Grail dreams for me as a performer/composer using the interactive technology. Anyway, I'm very excited, and so grateful to be given this opportunity.

In the afternoon, I dropped by at IRCAM's Médiathèque, the library inside IRCAM, to check some Luciano Berio score and CD out. I listened while watching with TF1 France vs. Mexico in the background (with no sound, no B-flat). Sorry Mr. B... but I'm really liking some of the duos which I never played before. Their online catalog is a bit of a pain (I have to write exact words or else it's hard to find it---for example a word "Duetti" instead of duo) Then it turned out my team has already used some of the very same Berio duos for experimenting with the system! It's pretty clear we are on the same wavelength and we think of the same thing. I think I will continue on their path regarding this particular 'score following' experiments using this Berio.

I passed through BHV to get some stuff; this Saturday I'm seeing my children for the first time since June 5th! We are currently debating who sleeps where--we are getting together at my brother-in-laws's house, but I will probably have to take one child with me, likely my younger one. This could be very good or very traumatic. He will want to stay with me for the whole time, and his integration and assimilation to French will be interrupted. But we miss each other, so this has to be what a friend said about separating with kids: "Short and Sweet". Dragging out a 'Wagnerian' never-ending tragedy is never good...

The picture above is an Eclair Pistache, and a Tarte aux fruits rouges. I meant to share with my husband but he flew to Nice today to visit his former colleagues at INRIA Sophia Antipolis. I ate half of the Pistache one, which was so good, and thought he has to taste it. Then a friend skyped from LA and reminded me that my husband is French, he speaks French and he can very likely make his way to get his own Eclair Pistache. So I ate the rest of the half just now. Our fantastic 'Boulangerie' is not even a block away. I need to hit some Yoga tonight...

Day10: No excuse and Sweet family

So we start; one week ago Monday I arrived, and now that my talk is out of the way, Frédéric Bevilacqua's team, Realtime Musical Interaction Team and I have started our experiments on music and gesture. Here is Frédéric setting my newly repaired computer up with video/sound/data recording, in what they call "aquarium" at IRCAM, Salle Luigi Nono. It's just below the entrance level and facing an underground courtyard, maybe that's why it feels like an aquarium.


Then I came back to my studio and ran it; I created two contrasting musical scenarios, which I recorded several times with three synchronized way: gesture data, video and sound. My hard drive was very full, so I spent some boring time today cleaning up my hard drive and finally using "Time Machine" to backup my data. Here I am in my studio, the screen-capture of today's recording. At this moment I'm sorting the data out for us to look at them tomorrow. BTW the T-shirt I'm wearing is about 20 yrs old. I got it at Juilliard Bookstore when I first arrived in NYC, and I remember they had it for other instruments as well. It reads "String of Excuses", for string students. My kids love reading it.

"String of Excuses: I haven't had time to practice - It sounded better at home - I have a different edition - The editing is awful - I practiced it faster - I brought the wrong glasses - These aren't my fingerings - The page turn messed me up - My nails are too long - It's the dryness - It's the humidity - My bow needs new hair - I didn't know we were repeating - I have new strings - My 'A' string is false - I don't like this piece anyway"

Before I came home, we had lunch together with my husbands' brother Frédéric who lives in Paris and sister Anne who was on the way to her medical conference in Rome. Plus a sonogram of "le 8me", or "the 8th grandchild" of their parents, Frédéric and his wife are expecting. This is the same crêpe place in front of IRCAM where I have eaten already for 3 times! But my family-in-law is part Bretons so it's suitable. Paris was rather chilly today, low at 10C (or 50F) so there was a outdoor heater just above us. Husband said that is "not real Breton" but it was comfortable for me.

So what about this French melon, sweet, sweetest and the most orang-est of melons. Husband bought it at a local store and it is so juicy, I had it for dinner with a thin slice of Viande des Grisons (this is in French), Swiss smoked/dried beef, which he also got at the same store.

Day9: B-flat!

My talk at IRCAM went well, I did say that I am not crazy about using an ear piece or headset during electronic music performance, but didn't forget to say "BUT THAT IS JUST ME" :) I have been seeing more people putting click-track headphone/ear pieces on performers, and had to speak out. For me, as a string player, it is quite disturbing to have binaural hearing semi compromised. And I don't like the fact that players have to meddle with microphone AND headset on stage. But THAT's JUST ME :) In my demo today, I ran a piece with automated score, while I 'play along' with the changing effects. If you have to somehow synchronize with electronics, how many senses does one have to dedicate? I think one (seeing the screen) is enough, no click track necessary.

After the 5-page fax to FedEx, my computer arrived at IRCAM, just as my talk finished using husband's computer. I'm typing today's post from my own computer, and also our first test is the "TF1 Direct", soccer match between South Africa and North Koreans. They are talking about Vuvuzela, that stadium horn that reaches 130dB!! And indeed it drowns out everything, and it is in B-Flat! A soccer match in B-Flat :)


The Sake I served (two bottles) after my talk went quite fast (about 15-16% alcohol). Here is me during and after the talk at IRCAM, with my heroic husband who fought courageously with French bureaucracy to get my computer back without paying taxes. He so deserved this bottle :) Then we went out for yet another Crêpe with 'my' team, so we decided to go easy on dinner at home with salad and these cherries. Well the crunchy-outside-fluffy-inside baguette couldn't have been ignored....

(IRCAM pictures taken by wonderful administrator Florence Quilliard, who has been taking wonderful care of me making me feel at home here)

Day8: one week in Paris

So it has been only one week since we arrived and it feels like a month!
My computer is held at Paris customs (Douane) sent from Tekserve in New York via FedEx. They warned me we will have to fight to get the computer without paying the sales tax, since it is an old computer. I have all the documents to prove so, husband wrote a hand-written letter as requested, and with all the forms one can possibly think of, I faxed it from IRCAM this morning. We will see what happens.

Then I spent all afternoon getting ready for the presentation tomorrow. Things are working except I'm using husband's computer which is bigger (17") but slower. I have some audio interruption problem, but will have to live with it for tomorrow. I am starting to like the Keynote (slide) presentation, as it keeps me on track and will go through things that have to be said. My last slide will show a picture of the Sake (Dai-Ginjo) bottle I got in the "Japan town" in Paris, which I am serving tomorrow for those who will make and stay through my talk :)

I am also preparing for our first recording/experiment on Wednesday with Frédéric Bevilacqua, using the gesture follower in a musical context. We will start simply but try to get some concrete results; I am in the hands of one of the most brightest group of people, being so well situated; I feel so responsible and obligated to get things done as much as I can, while I can. Especially when my parents-in-law in Picardie are taking the heaviest load of the summer, the KIDS...

Husband came back to Paris so we went out for dinner. I spent all day working so it was a nice occasion. We decided to eat out as I hadn't done so since he left. We wondered into Jewish town; a lot of Kosher bakeries here--then went into Marais and found a restaurant. Husband did his usual menu evaluation, approved, so we sat down. When we were first married and lived near Antibe/Cannes (he worked at Sophia Antipolis, the 'silicon valley' of France) he used to drive me crazy looking for a place to eat. While I was starving and ready to dive into MacDonald's, he would read each and every menus of rows and rows of restaurants and do a detailed and comparative study: "This is for tourist, this one is too chic, this is too pretentious" etc. But I always trust the outcome, so no matter how hungry I am, I wait. Today he relatively quickly said 'yes' to this one, and he was right. It was perhaps the heaviest meal I had so far since arriving to Paris, but I took Piccata de veau with mushrooms; heavenly, heavenly "pleurotes" oyster mushrooms (and no doubt the second 'heaven' came from the obscene amount of 'beurre'). Then just to go all the way, just because I have a talk tomorrow, I had my first Crème Brulée this year, which was of course the best I've had in a long time. The cream part wasn't like a hard custard which they usually are, but was creamy... how do they do that? They recommended Cahors, which was just right. Then husband did what any tipsy French mathematicians would do at this point--show his wife "Caustics" (Caustique).

Day7: First Sunday, heavy thoughts, heavy butter

Today I'm almost finishing my Keynote (slide) presentation for Tuesday. I finally have some chance to do things I didn't have time for. For example I just created a way so my score and interaction are coordinated; i.e. I don't need a music stand with a paper score now; I just watch the score scroll on the computer screen on its own! How convenient it is! Well, I am speaking specifically a piece written for my by Jean-Claude Risset, "Varients". It is made with carefully designed delay and pitch shifting schemes Jean-Claude wrote in MaxMSP with pre-determined timing. I just play along with the automatically changing effects, sort of like a play-along Karaoke with effects. It is a lot slicker than wearing a click-track headphone which is not necessary, and you can make it sound completely interactive by just watching the screen carefully with timing coordinating with the automated score.

After practicing, I went to Agora Festival at Cité de la Musique. I was remembering very fondly I was there at the opening of the center in 1995, invited to be the date with Jean-Claude Risset. Boulez conducted and I believe Mitterrand was there. Afterwards we went out for a crêpe outside, where my future husband met Jean-Claude for the first time. They quickly became friends as they are both 'Normaliens' - a French equivalent of Ivy league boy's club for those who attended the prestigious Ecole Normale Supérieure, or "Normale Sup" as they call it (I call it "Normal Soup"). I remember Jean-Claude told anecdotes such as when President Charles De Gaulle showed up for a formal dance party there. They had a broken staircase which they had no funds to fix, so they left it purposely uncovered for him to see. After his visit, it was fixed :)

The concert was the last day of Agora festival's 3-day focus "Tristan Murail", performed by Ensemble InterContemporain. It has been a while since I heard the ensemble. The concert was full; I first couldn't get the ticket so I waited until cancellation. The program included Murail works, Feldman's "Duration III", and a young Italian Marco Momi's electronic work. The performance was impeccably prepared and executed, as expected. However, I came home with rather a heavy heart. I couldn't shake the instinctive feeling of how us, musicians in this particular world of contemporary music, are becoming. For one thing, in France they call performer "interpreter" (interprète). But I feel the contemporary music today has become such that there is hardly any room for musicians even to "interpret", but we have become a vehicle to "execute" what has been commanded of us. From that point of view, Momi's extraordinarily prepared electronic piece entitled "Iconica" was brilliant. When a viola player made a slight noise by accidentally touching the microphone on her instrument, seemed to me like a criminal offense :) It's a joke, but I had to ask myself; what is the "raison d'être", the reason why performers should even exist anymore? I must be overly sensitive as a violinist/performer. But I still felt it. Oh and another thing, the audience seemed a lot more 'intellectual' than I'm used to, not to say NYC audiences are not! LOL! I'm saying this maybe because I overheard an audience member congratulating one of the performers, "Bravo, très bien, très INTELLIGENT". Maybe it means differently? Double meaning? But I for one haven't been congratulated after my performance for being "intelligent", and that is totally my fault. Now I have a goal to accomplish :)

Not lighter than this thought, is the pic for today. An unapologetic block of salted butter! "Beurre salé d'Isigny". It is not me, but my husband got it, and you will have to excuse him. After all he is French and has Normandy blood in him. I have seen the unsalted one at Zabars (they are very expensive), but haven't seen the salted one.