The end!

It has come to an end.

It was actually a good experience. 

If I could tell anyone anything about this course it would be:

- stay on top of everything.

- make sure you have performers for the instruments you write

- be open to criticism!

- write what you want to write, even if it's really hard to play! (someone out there will be able to play it!)

I'm nervous for the advanced composition class but I feel more prepared than I did for this course.

Thanks for listening to my sweet tunes! :)

Have a great Christmas everyone!

Presentation day

So I presented today. (duh)

I had no idea that Phil had gotten an accordion. 

I wish my stupid printer would stop being crappy so we could've played it in class.

I did a lot of work on it in the past day or so. I added all my edits to the first few pages, I cleaned it up a bit, and added a new section at the end.

My idea for the end was to keep modulating and to gradually get faster and faster. 

I was told that perhaps I could make it incredibly chaotic, which I had intended to do.

Another suggestion was to create longer lines and to have a more broader range in the violin. 

I had actually tried to expand the range in the violin last night, but I guess I can keep going with that.

Someone also said to add chords for the accordion. I'm not sure exactly how you notate that, but I'm just going to put block chords in sometimes, while still retaining that line I have right now.

I'm really hoping to finish this as soon as possible. The last concert caused me so much stress, so I'm hoping to avoid that by being over prepared!

That's a bit impossible though considering the giant heaps of work I need to do in all my other courses.

:(

Wish me luck!

M.

So little time!

So we have a week left to finish our compositions.

Eeeek!

There is so much work to do outside of this class!

Anyways, so I presented my piece this week and received some good ideas.

I was told to make the transition into atonality longer because it seems a bit abrupt. 

I'm going to take a look at that, because I'm not totally sure.

I was also told to perhaps change the time signature because the pulse isn't exactly clear in 6/8.

Someone also mentioned changing the notation of the accordion. For now I'm going to leave it, but if it becomes a problem I'll change it.

Hopefully I can finish it in the next couple of days!

M.

So far

So we have a week left to finish our compositions.

Eeeek!

There is so much work to do outside of this class!

Anyways, so I presented my piece this week and received some good ideas.

I was told to make the transition into atonality longer because it seems a bit abrupt. 

I'm going to take a look at that, because I'm not totally sure.

I was also told to perhaps change the time signature because the pulse isn't exactly clear in 6/8.

Someone also mentioned changing the notation of the accordion. For now I'm going to leave it, but if it becomes a problem I'll change it.

Hopefully I can finish it in the next couple of days!

M.

Help. :(

Alright, so I presented my piece in class. Got some feedback that I already had intended to use, which is good. (Stuff like changing the time signature, varying the melody in different keys, starting off with one instrument and building, etc.)

None of this is my problem.

My problem is that editing my last 3 pieces is taking up more time than I had anticipated so trying to write a new piece while I'm still working on the old is killing me!

I'm probably not even writing coherently.

Anyways if anyone could help with the following I'd be very appreciative:

1) Cross staff beaming. I searched how to do it, but I don't really get it.

2) Beaming over rests.

3) Cluster chords. I know which note heads to use I just don't know how to get the right stems.

This is really stressing me out as I need to get the new copies to the performers ASAP style.

I also need to have something to present tomorrow.

Help.

:(

Valse (composition no.2)

So after debating what cliche I should use I came up with the following:

My main cliche is the waltz style. Although I argued about the whole sad song in a major key or a happy song in a minor key, I decided that I would use that in a smaller way. 

The instrumentation I am planning on using is Piano, Violin and Accordion. The violin is going to be the main melody line in A flat major while the piano and accordion are going to be in f minor. (Relative keys!) :)

I am writing this particular composition in the vein of Yann Tiersen. (Famous for the Amelie soundtrack).

Hopefully it will work out okay.

I really want it to.

Also, if anyone knows specifics on how to write for accordion could you help a sista out?

Right now I'm just writing very basic material because I'm unsure.

Goodnight!

Revisions

So I'm sitting here now fixing up some of my pieces and I'm wondering how much information is enough?

Do I want to put in every little detail or do I want to leave some decisions up to the composer?

Also, how will this affect my grading? The more detail the better?

I'm going to try to find a happy medium. I think it would be really interesting to see someone use their imagination and come up with their own personal interpretation of what I've written.

Fei

So today I presented what I had written of my third piece, Fei.

I really had hoped I would've had more time for criticism and feedback but I guess that's just the way it goes.

I did get some useful ideas from Dr. Ross and the others in the class.

I am definitely going to change the length between the times that the three themes come in and also I'm going to try to have the cello theme from The Coward play against the piano part of Id.

I'm excited to see what comes out of it.

Eventually I'm going to put all three pieces up so you'll be able to hear them and how they connect with each other.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I was debating whether or not I was going to play the piano part myself for the recital. I came to the decision that I'm going to get Ian Baird to play the piano part with Saird because I want to sit down and hear it interpreted by someone else. Plus, everyone knows that Ian can pound out a few chords on the piano and that's exactly what I want in Id.

Anyways, that's all for now. I might have another few words to say later when Fei is complete.

Thanks for listening/reading.

Sleep sweet.

The Coward

I played my second character piece (really it's the first) today in class.

Although I like Id better this piece seem generally well received.

I felt kind of lost while composing this one even though I had a particular character and idea in mind. I kept drifting towards a more tonal sound and this got quite frustrating.

I found that after I sat at the piano for a minute a new idea came and the rest was pretty easy going.

Some of the comments I received in class today were about the opening and closing phrase. It was said that I should try to vary it up a little bit so that it's not the exact same. Although I kinda liked it like that, I think I may tinker with that just to see what new possibilities there are.

Another thing that was commented upon was the use of pedal. I definitely agree that I need to keep the sound sustained in the measures where I had rests. I really like the sound that was produced so I plan on including that in the near future.

As for now, I'm going to take a little break from composing. 

Writing a composition for a few hours and then doing 3rd species counterpoint exercises was a little too much last night. 

'Night!

Id

So after all the stress and worrying I finally presented my piece today in class.

I really wish the CD player worked in the seminar room because I felt like you couldn't really hear much of my piece at all. 

I received positive feedback, which I was very pleased about and was encouraged to change some minor details such as the ending notes and changing chords to cluster symbols.

As I mentioned in class my character pieces are based on a RPG entitled Xenogears.

The main character, Fei, has three different personalities due to the conflicts and tragedies that have occurred in his life. These three personalities are: Fei, Id, and The Coward. This is based on the Freud analysis of the Ego, Id and Super-Ego. 

The piece which I presented today is going to be the second character piece in this trio. I plan on starting The Coward next which will be the first. Fei, the third piece, will be comprised of both Id and The Coward much like he is in the game.

The Coward is going to be a happier sounding piece. In the game it shows The Coward as a younger Fei who is watching a television with him kicking a ball as the picture. This contrasts very much with Id who holds all Fei's negative and horrible memories. Hopefully I can pull off this "happiness" while still remaining atonal.

The final piece, Fei, is going to be a mix of Id and The Coward, as I mentioned before, along with a few new elements. This relates back to the Super-Ego in that it is a balance between the Ego and Id. 

I just realized just how nerdy this is.

Sorry.

I just think this is a very cool way of looking at these character pieces instead of just picking random words like "mysterious" and "scary" and "peaceful" to use as a character. (Not saying there is anything wrong with pieces like that at all! - I just wanted something a little more meaningful.)

I think that is enough for now.

Thanks for listening.

Round 2.

I've been really stressing out about my compositions.

I got Sibelius a few days ago from a friend. (Thank God, he let me use his second copy.)

I was trying new things and seeing what I could come up with but I didn't like anything I wrote.

Finally after a few hours I came up with two systems that were completely different. At first I was going to go with opposing motives in the one piece, but then I decided to separate those two motives into two pieces. Now I'm stuck with two beginnings!

What next, indeed.

It's frustrating to see that this is so easy for some people whereas I feel like I'm completely lost.

I feel out of my league. 

I guess it'll come in time.

But the thing with that is, there isn't much time.

M.

Composition so far.

So as of right now all my chords are completed.

I had to change around a few because of some of the comments said in class.

In retrospect I wish I could've gotten someone else to play my chords for me so I could've heard what they sounded like. 

Comments from class:

Chord 10 was said to be really tense, but I didn't find that one to be harsh at all.

I did, however, change around the order and added a few notes to create a better line on the way down.

I was happy that my goal of having chord 8 be the most tense was realized.

Right now I'm working on the rhythmic aspect of it. I had sort of anticipated using a rhythmic pattern that Philip Glass would've used but I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to incorporate that into a "timeless" piece.

We'll see how it goes.

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.

I hope this works.