Sorry that I missed my post last week -- I've been pretty busy with other things related to the Adah Kaplan-internet-management-system. I figured that in this post, I could talk a bit about the changes you'll be seeing fairly soon to the blog! If you didn't know, I currently have a bit of a personal website (www.keyofadah.wixsite.com/adahkaplan). I haven't had the time to work out the mobile layout yet, so I really recommend you look at it on a computer rather than a phone. Even still, it's sort of a rough draft. I've known since I created it that I want to merge that website with this blog, b ..read more

Guess what? I completed my piece for violin and looper pedal this past Saturday! No, no, you don't have to frantically scroll back through my posts to find out what you missed; you're right, I haven't mentioned this piece before. Why? Because I sort of started this piece just a week ago... This piece clocks in around 5 minutes and 30 seconds, being the longest piece I've written in just a weeks time. Since I was busy talking about my science project, I didn't have the time to write a post about beginning this piece; however, looking back, my process with this piece wouldn't have really been th ..read more

I think it goes without saying that if you missed out on actually reading about this little experiment, you won't quite comprehend all of what I'm saying here. So, if Monday was a bit of a mess for you and you missed reading my post completely by accident, check that one out first! I promise it'll only take a few minutes to read. If you've had a mess of a week so far, maybe brush up on the other article in case you forgot some pertinent details. I'll wait! If I remember correctly, I left off last time saying that yes, there was an impact on muscle tension, but no, it was not in the way that I ..read more

Being me, I dedicated my school independent science research project to music. I mean, it's the obvious choice! Behavioral science experiments (in almost all cases) are either off the table or lead to inaccurate results when done small-scale by a student, so unfortunately, my fascinations with the effects of music on the brain and all those exciting neurological phenomenons were off the table. Instead, I chose to dedicate my experiment to the advice that I'm constantly being told yet have no idea if there is any research to back this claim...if playing in a higher hand position on the violin i ..read more

I had 2 different posts I was deciding between publishing today, and ultimately decided to write a different one instead. Yay? Here goes. It's no secret that things get, um, monotonous when you spend the majority of days in your house. I mean, if you're reading this, you're someone close enough to me that I can assume you too are being safe and spending most of your time at home as well. Obviously, via zoom, everything feels just about the same. I feel like this definitely has something to do with location? I'm no longer taking the train to a different station than usual so that I can perform ..read more

In this pandemic world, virtual concerts are everywhere. The upside is that I'm able to see so many more performances because I don't have to, um, get to the recital hall...but of course, I'm always sad to find out that no, I can't make every concert that exists. However, maybe some of you can! Here's a few upcoming livestreams and/or published "concert" videos, so pick and choose as you wish. Today at 7 pm EST - Luna Lab Premieres Coming up real soon; don't miss this! For those who don't know what Luna Lab is, it's an incredible program that selects just a few young women and nonbinary compos ..read more

No, it's not just for show. For the first time in what I think is my entire life as a musician, I'm having to actually work on memorizing my music. I have some sort of built in memorization processes in my head, which I think is courtesy of my composition and theory backgrounds, and therefore I don't really ever have to work at "memorizing" as a part of my practice session (which is honestly amazing). My brain knows how a baroque, classical, or romantic piece typically goes, and then recognizes how the piece deviates from the traditional aspects of form. In more contemporary music, I tend to t ..read more

Back in one of my posts while writing my String Trio, I mentioned that I don't like to listen to the music of contemporary composers I admire, so that I can try my best to craft my own original ideas. If I listen to music, it's for a specific purpose...maybe to look at orchestration, manipulation of melodies, etc. However, when I'm in the routine of writing my piece, listening is one of the most important parts of the process. In almost every scenario, it helps to unstick me from the 60% finished and 90% finished writer's blocks. Unfortunately, the music that I listen to closely really matters ..read more

This past week (or maybe it was last Sunday, I forget), I learned about a Call for Scores for solo cello pieces (8 minutes or less) by composers in the Philly area due on February 21. I mean, sure, why not -- I can do that, I'm certainly eligible, and it would be nice to be writing with a clear deadline again! Without a deadline, I write 90% of the piece in 2 months and spend the next 2 months writing the final 10%. Then I spent another month making meaningless edits. Of course, I couldn't just write a nice 8-minute solo cello piece in my comfort zone. My brain had other plans, and besides, wh ..read more

This post turned out to be a short one, because it turns out that these ones sort of speak for themselves, so just a couple composer suggestions for today and you can get back to what you were doing! I like EDM -- Works of Mason Bates Mason Bates' whole claim to fame is that he used to be a DJ (of EDM), and incorporates aspects of DJing into his classical music. Bates has created a few miniseries (I don't entirely know how to make "miniseries" plural) that are very much inspired by his work as a DJ, including "KC Jukebox" and "Mercury Soul". I'm assuming the concept of these little shows is in ..read more