Atlas Lab Day 1: Rats in the Maze

They changed the experience that I am going through from an ensemble to a lab. I feel like we’re rats, so we should either get cheese or fun ears to wear. Right?

Okay, gotta picket for that.

Anyway, I got there early, and while I offered to have bells on, I couldn’t find any and I do think I disappointed my boss. No bells. I was there, though, and we did a nice job of getting all the percussion equipment where it needed to be.

Okay, that is a total lie. Laurent Warnier did an amazing job of getting the percussion together while I just kept picking my jaw up off the ground because he was killing it so hard. Did you know that he is from Luxembourg? Did you know that when he isn’t in Luxembourg, the country is missing a huge percent of their population? I enjoy making jokes like that to him, and for some reason it doesn’t get old to me. And he is such a cool guy that it doesn’t appear to bother him in the slightest.

Also, the official meal of the country is a Luxembourger, and you have to order it because it isn’t on the menu.

So after Laurent watched me work super hard on the percussion (or not), we went to a rehearsal.

No, actually, there was a concert first that was jaw-dropping. Again with the jaw-dropping. I gotta think of another way to describe things. I’m telling you, this concert — which was for Sheng and Guzgeng — these musicians are stunningly stunning. I can’t believe how phenomenal they are and that I get to work with them. It is a huge honor.

After the concert, all of the Lab rats were allowed onto the stage. We were led in an incredibly fun session of experimentation and I just loved it. We talked about harmony — how harmony can lead to the framework from which a melody can be created (like in my “Solace of Blue”).

After this large group experimentation, everyone went to different areas for rehearsals.

I was with the Luxembourger Laurent, so you know I was okay. There were a few glitches with some minor things in some pieces, but overall it was a huge, huge, huge success.

I’m very excited for Official Day 2. Since the drums are out, I don’t foresee Laurent having to do too much. In my defense, he did go to college there, so he knows where everything is, all the shortcuts, the Dewey Decimal System. So, I mean…

Bottom line? I’m in Amsterdam. I love it! The people couldn’t possibly be nicer. With the exception of my landlord, who really needs to get me a fan.

Love you all,

Colin