Wife Dee and I were getting two of our grandgirls into the car after a sleepover. Their electric toothbrush went off in their overnight bag, humming a steady pitch. I’m working from memory here, but I’m guessing it was about a B♭ below middle C. Not that attractive a sound, pretty close to a bumblebee in a jar, but I commented that it might serve as a good solo instrument for a very short and simple “concerto.” Dee reminded me that I’d made the same suggestion when listening to her electric toothbrush.

There are two attractive things about that sort of project: 1) learning how to write for such an “instrument” would be the proverbial walk in the park, and 2) “…short and simple…” is a very attractive option right now. Although my current project isn’t that long as “serious” pieces go (14+ minutes is my current guess), it’s long and complicated enough to make its completion daunting and time-consuming, especially for a severe ADD sufferer like me.

In the world of selfies and TikTok, long-term artistic goals delivering longer works aren’t exactly rewarded. I get it, both the creation and listening is work, and the creative process has a million little artistic decisions to make and implement. I’m not always enjoying it — I listen to the playback so far, and it’s a coin-toss whether I’m excited, or appalled. But when things are done, I go back and listen to the results over and over again with pleasure, and the projects are well worth it!

Project update — I’ve only fleshed out the verbal descriptions a bit. I now have a short blurb on the “Reel,” which was actually where I started this whole project, only to postpone work on it as I assaulted the other dances. I’ve also updated some of the other pages. But, again, only description changes, nothing new to listen to for now.

But I should have a full rendering of my “Concerto for Toothbrush and Slit Drum” done in a few minutes…