So instead of musing about the nature of music and universal experience (and my universal I mean on our pale blue dot), I'll stay a little more on topic on write about my experiences with Composition 4100 so far, and the feedback I've received.
Now all I can think about is if life exists on other planets, does music follow.. since it uses the harmonic series which is naturally occurring..
Okay, stay focused.
I missed the first few classes because I was away on a trip, but the first thing I brought to class wasn't quite in the vein of the assignment. Too many ideas, too many characters. I need a one mood character piece. I always feel tentative when writing for piano; I can't play piano. Not even a little bit. It's embarrassing to watch me try. I don't have a good understanding of the capabilities of the instrument. Note: look at more piano scores.
With the impression (and delight!) that our pieces would be played on a composition concert, I finished up the first piece fairly quickly using limited pitch material and a palindrome form. Class feedback mostly came from visiting composer Dr. Karim Al-Zand and Dr. Ross but I later had comments from classmates that it seemed lazy, and too sparse. Of course it is hard to judge color from a midi playback. The live performance went well I think - the benefits of a living, breathing player (sorry midi, maybe sometime in the future. along with skynet.) I enjoy a sparse texture as long it is contrasted eventually, which I think it was.
The next thing I brought to class was a cheesy little dance thing which was also met with mostly silence. That is very reassuring, of course. It was really the bare bones of a piece but I did get some good suggestions, again from the doctors in the house; fast 3/4 time can be a great opportunity to obscure the beat and play little tricks of 'slight of ear' on the listeners. I agree! I haven't finished this one because it's not really something I connect with and I'm mostly trying to wrap it up at this point. Although, I've found that adding tricksy dynamics can do wonders to something called a "goblin polka."
Third piece! I'm on a replay of Final Fantasy IX and therefor I've had a lot of Nobuo Uematsu in my ear.. it's easy to tell. This last/sketch piece is done now with some tinkering after the comment session. It's more dreamlike, simple, and has a sense of "naivete" (I especially like that last descriptor - thanks Dr. Ross!) I extended the second of the three "phrases" (or maybe sections is a better word) to give it a more even pacing, and launched the right hand even further into the stratosphere. I did have a suggestion to go down into the bass clef but I enjoyed the willowy feeling of the double treble staffs - it sounds more youthful and plaintive. The triplet quarter notes were pointed out as seeming awkward in the steadiness of its surroundings - I agreed but I also liked it. So to make it more coherent, I added more so that it didn't stand out as mistake. It was also suggested that the end be more of a question than a statement, to fit the nature of the piece. Again, a good idea, so I also changed the ending. I'm happiest with this piece - it fits most into my preferred aesthetic (dreamy, modal, lots of major seconds.)
Off to tinker with audacity.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest. Your first piece was not my cup of tea. Not the fact that it was sparse or lazy--I just did not know what it made me feel. I thought the idea of using palindromes was pretty neat, but (I think this was mentioned in class) only you, anyone familiar with the score, and hopefully the performer will know it is a palindrome. If you used short phrases, and had them invert on themselves some audience members might start to pick up on the this, or even they will start to wonder abou the form.
Your second piece. I loved. I think you received a wall of silence, or in my case, I was a little intimidated by the guest composer in the room. Having one doctor in the room is enough for me. I was fascinated the polka like piece you presented. And you are right, the things you do to obscure the listeners subconscious attempts to find patterns is what kept me listening through the whole thing. If you are going to have the idea of a "goblin polka"--here's an idea--you know how if I were to ask you the theme for the goblins and orcs in LOTR (Lord Of The Rings...) you can probably recall the bass register of the theme. I think this works great as goblins are linked to evil/dark nature.
AND for your lastest presentation, I totally know what you mean when you get Nobou Uematsu stuck in your head and you compose, his influence is definitely present. I would like to hear what you did with it after you tinkered with it. ALthough I forgot to mention in class, that even Uematsu's pieces that sound like lullabies or piano pieces with both hand in the treble register, he contrasts it with a section of harp like passages with some lower notes. Not necessarily very low notes, but enough to contrast the high passages.
And that's it for now, I typed as if I was speaking... so you might see a lot of run on sentences. I apologize for it.
tl;dr: You have quite an imagination. Can't wait to hear your newly tinkered piece on Friday.
There's no such thing as a tl;dr on a composition blog, Asdru!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts - they're much appreciated. And I agree with you about the first one - it has an emotional staleness. It's more of a technical exercise than anything else.
Another fine and thoughtful post, which I much enjoyed! And this one has a thoughtful response from a colleague as well, which is awesome!
ReplyDeleteHaving taught composition courses using a workshop format for a ridiculously long time now, I can say that responding to a piece with silence can mean a lot of things, but hardly any of them are negative. It can mean people's heads were elsewhere while the music was being played — sometimes we have stuff on our minds that takes over our brains as we are trying to focus on something else, like listen to music! It can mean people enjoyed it, but are trying to figure out something more meaningful to say than "yup, I liked it, sure!" but are having trouble finding the right words. It could mean people are thinking, "yup, I liked it, but there is something I am not sure about in the middle, but I have no idea what that is or how to articulate this thought!" It could mean people are self-conscious because there is a visitor in the room, as Asdrubal mentioned.
Or any number of other things. But, as I say, it hardly ever means something negative about the music.
And, if people aren't very quick to jump in with comments, that's my cue to jump in with comments, which hopefully makes up for any reticence others might be experiencing.
Finally, I strongly disagree that your first piece was "lazy," "sparse," or "emotionally stale." I like that piece and thought it sounded great on the recital. Not every piece has to connect to the deepest recesses of the soul!