New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

INSIDE MUSIC: There’s Music in Everything!


By Rosemary Conte

originally published: 04/26/2017


Say I’m crazy, but my kitchen can opener whirrs to Bb and might change pitches with each new can. My Betty Crocker blender is a more independent and versatile player in that it whirrs in several keys. My Epson printer emits vocal tones and word phrases with each new document it prints. And don’t get me started on my auto windshield wipers which have kept me in the creative flow as well as the traffic flow through many long rides home from gigs.

Music has been my saving grace, the thread running through every aspect of my challenging life. I learned to reframe what might be scary, boring and annoying. We are all Powerful with a capitol P when we use the enormous potential of our minds. And the reframe, with or without music, along with creative visualizing is a multipurpose tool.

I’ll never forget a reframe I created in 1993, the year the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield was the book to read for anyone big into a spiritual journey or just curious to find out what was it that could keep a book on the bestseller list for 165 weeks!

I was on a 300 mile, five-hour trip home to Matawan from Utica, NY. It rained all the way. Looking back, I’m fortunate I made it home alive, for I was hypnotized by the rain and the windshield wipers. Both spoke to me and managed my creative flow. During that non-stop trip I spontaneously “wrote” in my head an entire “Broadway” show with six songs based on Redfield’s book. It was “Celestine Prophecy the Musical.” The ideas just poured out of me as powerful as the driving rain; lyrics, melodies and storyline. I think an experience like that is called a miracle. (It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t good. It got me home!)

In no time, I was back in my driveway. It seemed like I was only on the road for an hour!  The unconscious mind is a funny thing. I’m a clinical hypnotist and I know that in a very relaxed state dramatic time distortion can occur. And people unknowingly, drive while hypnotized every day.  My conscious mind re-engaged as I turned off the engine, and the entire musical---book and songs were lost. That was my first and last composition for the musical theater! And it taught me to always carry a recording device to capture my ideas.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



At the hospital recently, I took advantage of my knack for finding music in everything to keep me calm in the MRI tube. I had many MRIs in the past, so I knew what to expect. Focusing on making music would take me away from the close quarters and the clanging and banging of the machine. The technicians always offer headphones and your favorite music radio station, but I’ve learned the sound you’ll get is mostly static, and static is, to me, more upsetting than the noise of the machine.  Reframe to the rescue!

I closed my eyes and took myself to a music hall where a large salsa orchestra was playing. I was at the imaginary WBGO FM radio Latin Jazz Cruise. Listening to the clang and bang I found rhythm that would take me away from the reality that I was in an MRI tube for which I was too wide! As I recognized the repeating patterns of clangs and bangs, they became percussion instruments and exotic sounding drums and cymbals. As rhythms changed, my melodies changed. The tube was my playground for 35 minutes.

Composers and songwriters have always been inspired by sounds and sights in nature and experiences of everyday life. As for me, I feel a kinship with the great violinist Itzhak Perlman who found he could make music with his VitaMix blender. Enjoy here his video performance on blender filmed in his kitchen.





Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here


FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Straight

Straight No Chaser - Summer: The 90’s Part 2

Tuesday, July 08, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Bergen Performing Arts Center (bergenPAC)
30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood, NJ 07631
category: music


 

Frisson

Frisson Winds

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
The Morris Museum Back Deck
6 Normandy Heights Road, Morristown, NJ 07960
category: music


 

Three

Three American Troubadours: A Tribute to James Taylor, Carly Simon, and Carole King

Thursday, July 10, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Axelrod Performing Arts Center
100 Grant Avenue, Deal Park, NJ 07723
category: music


 

Candlelight

Candlelight Concert: Tribute to Queen and The Beatles

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Monmouth University - Pollak Theatre
400 Cedar Avenue, West Long Branch, NJ 07764
category: music


 

Motor

Motor City Revue

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 7:30pm
Bell Theater
101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733
category: music


 



Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info





 

EVENT PREVIEWS

Jazz

Jazz Concert at Trenton City Museum will Feature the Joe Baione Vibraphone Experience

(TRENTON, NJ) -- Trenton City Museum will present a free jazz concert Friday, July 18, 2025 at the museum's Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park. Featuring world-renowned vibraphonist Joe Baione, the Joe Baione Vibraphone Experience is the first group to perform in a series of jazz events leading up to the museum's 2026 TRENTON MAKES JAZZ exhibition, in collaboration with the City of Trenton.



The

The Newton Theatre presents Tonight's the Night - a tribute to Rod Stewart

(NEWTON, NJ) -- Tonight's the Night - a tribute band that celebrates the music of Rod Stewart - will perform at The Newton Theatre on Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 8:00pm.



Hoboken's

Hoboken's Sinatra Park to Host Concert by Freedy Johnson and Karyn Kuhl and the Gang

(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Local events organizer, Geri Fallo, who retired last year, is inviting you to celebrate with her, as she embraces new and exciting endeavors. Come enjoy a free evening of music in Hoboken's Sinatra Park (525 Sinatra Drive) on Thursday, July 17, 2025. The evening is presented by Mayor Ravi Bhalla, The Hoboken Division of Cultural Affairs, and Geri Fallo. The event is free, and music starts at 6:30pm. Come early for the best seating.



An

An Interview with Dan Kurtz of The New Deal

Formed in 1999, Toronto, Canada based trio The New Deal, is a pioneer in jam-based electronic music. The group was founded by remaining members Dan Kurtz (bass) and Jamie Shields (keys), along with Darren Shearer (drums) who left tND in 2011. Since its inception, tND has remained committed to its improvisational roots and has served as a model for other jamtronica bands bridging the gap between multiple music genres as well as the border between Canada and the United States.



Two

Two NJ Jazz Musicians Will Play with The Jazz Ambassadors in Morristown

Pianist Anthony Pocetti grew up in Hamilton, NJ, studying piano, "doing sort of traditional piano lessons. I have an uncle who was always encouraging me to get into the jazz thing. He gave me the (Miles Davis) Kind of Blue CD, and he knew that the jazz pianist Jim Ridl was living in Hamilton."