Don't get me wrong -- as a composer, I'm constantly collaborating with editors and publishers on every conceivable aspect of the publishing process, from getting the piece initially accepted to finding mistakes in the proof. I suppose that, at least in my mind, it's become such a routine way of doing thing that I've sort of stopped thinking of it as "collaboration" and just started thinking of it as "the way things get done."
And of course teaching is a collaboration, whether public education like I used to teach, or private lessons like I still teach, or working with my son on manipulating his latest toy: I teach and show, and the student has to pay attention, try, and learn. Again, though, I've taught so much for so many years, it's ceased to feel like collaboration.
Playing music is a huge collaboration, whether it's playing or directing a handbell ensemble, or playing piano duets (something that, in my personal opinion, is about the most fun you can have on Earth without the aid of legal stimulants).
What makes these latest collaborations so exciting and noteworthy is the fact that they've both very different from what I usually do, and they've been in a medium I traditionally do very little with (and when I do, my output reaches new heights of awfulness): visual art, specifically video and graphic design.
I'll take them one at a time.
Video -- Almost two years ago, I wrote a handbell piece for the Raleigh Ringers entitled Escape Velocity. It was designed as a tribute to the Space Shuttle program, and followed a space flight from dawn breaking over Cape Canaveral, through the launch and orbit, and on back through to re-entry and landing. I was really pleased with the piece, and practically every time it gets played, someone makes a comment about it.
Here's the original video:
Enter James Kumorek. He attended one of the Raleigh Ringers' performances, heard the piece ... and decided he wanted to add video of actual Space Shuttle missions to it. In effect, he asked if he could create my first music video.
Needless to say, I jumped at the idea. I'd had a video running through my head every time I listened to it, but to actually see something on the screen, to see actual footage going along with the music ... well, that was just too much to miss.
Here's Jim's finished video. It's an absolutely stunning visual work, and still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it, even though I've seen it several times now.
But that's one of the beautiful things about collaboration -- it can create something that's more than the sum of its parts, something that is better than what either one of you could have done on your own. I hesitate to speak for Jim, but I doubt he could have written the music to go along with his stunning visuals. I'm sure I could have put some visual along with the music, but it wouldn't have looked anything near as good or impressive as what he put together, and probably would have taken me a good four or five years.
Thank you, Jim, for such a beautiful tribute to the Space Shuttle program, and for making my song "look" as nice as it sounds.
Graphic Design -- As any of you who have spent any time here at The Creative know, I'm not only a composer, but an author, as well. I'm working on a self-published series of young adult fantasy called The Sadonian Chronicles. The first book of that series, The Coming of the Heroes has been available for some time. The second book, Fealty and Fire, is currently available in electronic formats, and should be available in print format in about a week or so.
The problem with self-publishing is that you have to do everything -- write the book, edit it, typeset it ... and design the cover. For those of you who didn't see it, here's what the cover I designed for The Coming of the Heroes looked like:
Pathetic, right? So, I bit the bullet and hired Donna Casey both to re-design the cover for The Coming of the Heroes and design the cover for the new Fealty and Fire. Here's her work:
What made this so fun was how much input I had in the outcome, and how she could take the garbled and vague ideas I gave her and turn them into something that looked like what I had in mind, or, in most cases, better than what I had in mind.
On top of that, every revision of the cover came back with the instructions, "We can change whatever you want." No matter what I had a problem with -- a sword being a couple of pixels too far to the left or a plume of smoke conflicting too much with the number 2 -- she changed it, and always in a way that made it look like it had been that way from the get-go.
It's a sad fact that, when purchasing a book -- especially an electronic book -- the way the cover looks is a prime determinant in whether someone will even give the book a second glance, let alone whether they'll actually buy it or not. As you can see, thanks to Donna's hard work, I think both books now have a chance of getting noticed a bit more.
Another beautiful part of collaboration -- it lets you get done things you have no actual ability to do. It doesn't take a genius with an eye for art to see how much better Donna's covers are than mine. Again, I probably could have designed a cover that looked a tenth as good as Donna's ... if given about thirty years.
Thank you Donna for your hard work. I can't wait to get the next book done so we can work together again.
It's a very satisfying process for someone who spends so much of his creative life toiling alone (though perhaps "toiling" is a bit strong -- I do love everything I do!) to work with someone else on something fun, different, and outside-the-box. Whatever your creative project, look around and see if you can collaborate with anyone on it. It might just be the most fun you've had in quite some time!
Oh, and for those of you interested in The Sadonian Chronicles, here's where you can find them:
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