“Time Now” is ‘Ohana’s original score for Lizzie MacKenzie’s newest choreographic work “Time Now”, which she is currently rehearsing with Extensions Dance Company in Chicago. The eight minute score is actually a collage of two new ‘ohana tracks. The first and third sections of the work are from the track “Time Now”, and the middle section is a collaboration between ‘ohana producers Dan Agosto and Johnny Nevin called “Some Time”. This is Section I, a two-minute-thirty-second arrangement in 3/4 time for two grand pianos and string orchestra.

Composing original music for dance is always an exciting challenge; it requires a complex collaboration between two different artistic visions -- that of the choreographer and that of the composer --- and those visions are not always easy to communicate. The choreographer may have an idea of general direction and mood, or she may have a more specific sense of a work she can visualize. But to communicate that to someone who is not a dancer is a start-and-stop process requiring as much courage as patience. The composer may have an idea of tempo, arrangement, and mood, or he may already have the beginning of a musical idea. But to communicate that to someone who is not a musician is a stop-and-start process requiring as much open-mindedness as optimism. (more)

There are many different versions of this experience, and working with Lizzie MacKenzie on “Time Now” was one of the very successful variations. Choreographers are always most sensitive to the kinds of texture that we as music producers think of as the end of the process -- the final details of arrangement, the mix, even the mastering. If I play a musical idea for Dan on a piano, he can hear it as electronica, acoustic guitar, or symphony, and the same notes arranged for very different musical textures will still sound like the same music to him. For most choreographers, completely different compositions (notes, chords, tempo) played with the same musical textures (all on piano, say, or all electronic) will sound more like the same idea, but change the texture or the instrumentation, and choreographers and dancers will usually hear it as very different music.

This could be an insurmountable challenge, unless you work with someone who can work through it with you. Lizzie was open to many ideas, but I’ve learned from talking with her and from seeing her choreography that she is often inspired by simple music with complex emotions, often arranged for piano and strings. There’s a lot of this story that would probably be interesting to tell, but to start with, to give some idea of how the very challenge of communication and collaboration can itself be a source of creativity, here’s a brief introduction to the process, from working on “Time Now” with Lizzie MacKenzie.

By way of background, I should say that trying to fulfill a musical idea with two pianos and string orchestra can be difficult, because the kind of drive and excitement that you get from drums, percussion, bass lines, or electronics is just not available. During one meeting, as we were listening to a passage from this first section, I asked Lizzie if she didn’t think that the arrangement needed more fullness, more support, or more development. Her response was “No, I love it. It’s so simple, like a dancer standing still on stage.”

This one comment actually changed my whole concept of where to take the track, changing the way I thought about what to add and what to leave out. This can often be the case when working with someone else, whether choreographer, co-writer or co-producer. Their decisions can often save you from some of the uncertainties you face when only you can decide, and those choices, once made, can lead you to other, richer choices, that you could never have found alone. So here’s the first section of the score to Lizzie MacKenzie’s new work, “Time Now”.