{"id":18912,"date":"2015-05-07T14:55:14","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T18:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=18912"},"modified":"2015-07-19T21:29:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-20T01:29:34","slug":"mental-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/05\/07\/mental-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

UMW graduate Becky Brown ’15 has been baring her soul onstage for what seems like forever \u2013 through the strings of her harp. A recent piece she created put that honesty to the test.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the subject matter turned out to be very personal,\u201d Brown blogged about her electroacoustic composition, Hold Still<\/a><\/em>. \u201cOpening up to a room full of strangers is daunting.\u201d<\/p>\n

She claimed her voice, though, at last month\u2019s Research and Creativity Day, revealing her senior project \u2013 and much of her persona \u2013 to a roomful of students and faculty. An intimate tangle of technology, poetry, music, and more, it taps into Brown\u2019s deep pool of talents \u2026 and also her soul. It\u2019s the ultimate self-portrait, painted with No. 2 pencils and modern effects, a mixed-media masterpiece of her innermost thoughts.<\/p>\n

This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p>

<\/div>\n

A camera captures the picture of Brown\u2019s drawing, while her original poetry and spoken-word compilation play simultaneously on two different tracks. Her words swirl around her as she works, leading listeners on an emotional maze through the life of a girl coming to terms with the insecurities of middle and high school.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s personal and raw, but still so electric. Alligator clips link copper fittings to a programmable controller called an Arduino, and then to Brown\u2019s laptop, where a patch processes the data. While she\u2019s sketching, she\u2019s shaping the audio and video by sliding the copper along thick pencil lines. Paper becomes a controller, graphite a sensor.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an intricate setup with a powerful punch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt encapsulates an insecurity that women deal with, and she does it so well,\u201d said Assistant Professor of Music Mark L. Snyder \u201997. \u201cWhen I listened to it, I had chills. It really is superb.\u201d<\/p>\n

A music and computer science major, Brown was seven when she picked up a harp at the Washington Conservatory of Music. Not that she always<\/em> enjoyed it. It\u2019s lonely onstage for a harpist, and there\u2019s the investment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like buying a car,\u201d she said of her 60-pound concert grand harp. \u201cThere\u2019s a loan involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stuck with it, though, and by high school, spent summers with the American Youth Harp Ensemble. After graduation, she interned there, teaching students and playing with the group in London and Austria, and at Carnegie Hall.<\/p>\n

But Mary Washington \u2013 and a chance to study under harpist Jeanne Chalifoux \u2013 was calling. When Chalifoux retired, Brown, who\u2019d been energized by Snyder and his dynamic approach, turned her college career in a different direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when the music major really cemented for me,\u201d said Brown, who spent hours in Pollard Hall learning the art of recording. \u201cI don\u2019t think I stopped laughing in class for three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now technical director of Snyder\u2019s Electroacoustic Barn Dance, an annual event that draws big names in music, Brown leaves Mary Washington this weekend with the Anne and Sidney Hamer and Mu Phi Epsilon Sterling Achievement music awards.<\/p>\n

She\u2019ll take with her much more, of course, including the freedom that comes with finding your voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what writing [Hold Still<\/em>] has meant to me,\u201d Brown blogged. \u201cYou have a voice. It is different from mine, and I want to hear what you have to say. Please don\u2019t hide.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior project helps music major find her voice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":18913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMental Notes - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/05\/07\/mental-notes\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lisa Chinn Marvashti\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eab3b9dd084c2488474792f0c391b8e7\"},\"headline\":\"Mental Notes\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-07T18:55:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-20T01:29:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/Rebecca-Brown-6.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\",\"UMW Home Page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/05\\\/07\\\/mental-notes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mental Notes - 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