Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 10.)

Not much done today. Changed a bit of the transition from the section ending at measure 138. Still needs some work, but at least it's something!


Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 9.)

Ok, if I haven't felt productive in the past week I most likely made up for it today after a four hour stretch of composing.




I think that would make the entire development. I hate to say it, but the stuff I wrote for Eleven just really seems tacked on at the end, even though I sort of set up just about everything you hear through out the entire piece and made sure the transition into it was fairly smooth. (That long pause is supposed to be a brief pause. And the oboe sounds like a cat being strangled in the last part, though I have no idea why.) I'll have to mess around with it some more and see if I can get it to fit.

PDF and mp3 are the complete thing, because I figured it would be best for you all to hear it in its entirety at this point. I feel like I just ran a marathon. Done for the day.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 6 through Day 8.)

Ok, a little behind on posting, but not on writing.

Day 6:


This here is a means of getting into the development from the end of the exposition. Slow notes, very much like the beginning. I felt, however, it was too much like the beginning. The PDF show from measure 57 to the end. The audio clip is from measure 63 to the end.

Day 7:


I decided that jumping into a slow section following the exposition would be a terrible idea, almost setting the ear up to hear slow-fast-slow-fast which can get tedious after awhile. Instead, I chose to play more on a fragment from the second theme. Audio clip is just the new bit after the exposition.

Day 8:


Ok, I passed the 7 day mark but I'm determined to finish this, as long as it takes. This is the daily composer, and I'm composing daily, so that still counts in my book.

Expanding more on the newer section, working in the minor 3rd sequencing. Obviously harmony needs to be added to the last bits, but I wanted to get them down. I went through and cleaned as much as possible, fixing any doubling, unintentional octaves, etc.

The recording for Day 8 is just the new bit. PDF is the entire thing, even the slow bit at the very end (that I'm hanging on to in case I decide to use it ...)

It's coming along, more or less. Don't mind the messy scores -- I'll be going through at the end to do a major cleaning. I might spend a couple days on two measures, but once I figure out what I'm doing I can move along pretty quick. Some of it sounds/looks ugly, but once I get it cleaned up I promise it won't be so bad. You have to put the wall up before you can paint it, you know.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 5.)

I'm a little disappointed in myself for not having made much progress since the last post, but I needed to spend a day listening and considering, and tonight I'm just too exhausted.


The development is a very important part, in my opinion. It's also one of the most terrifying, where anything can go horribly wrong. I feel I have two very strong themes and I'm afraid of using them poorly, so I'm approaching this with caution. I was ready to charge through this like a bull, but I think it best to tread carefully. My challenges are that one is a melodic theme and the other is a rhythmic theme: blending the two, or swapping their melodic/rhythmic content are two very possible means of developing, or perhaps even goals of the development, but it needs to be done right to be done well.

I made some minor changes to the transition between the first and second theme, and started a few measures on the development at the end. In short, not much changed, although I feel very comfortable with what I'm hearing and think I could make some real progress tomorrow. We'll see!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 4.)

I was a bit concerned about what to use as the second theme for the piece, and found that I had already written and posted something that I really dug: Three. I think it fits well -- the two themes are supposed to be of contrasting key and style. Well, nothing is more contrasting than these two themes. Also, the quick, percussive feel of Three will set up the development to eventually present Eleven. I love it when things work out well.



So here is Day 4 with a slight change in measure 18 from yesterday in the oboe to help push the line a little bit. I think I incorporated the new material well, as the added voices around the theme seem to help it along.

I didn't make it into the development like I was planning. However, reaching the development makes me happy enough. This might need to carry on a little past seven days, though I'm not concerned. I'll be happy to complete a piece!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 3.)

At this rate I might never finish in 7 days. Regardless, here is today's work. It's 3 pages, so I'm moving it to PDF format. Ignore some obvious layout issues -- I didn't feel like spending too much time fussing around with it. Let me know if there are problems with the PDF -- I'm using CutePDF, since it's free, so there might be some conversion issues.



This is, essentially, half of the exposition, ending at just about where the introduction of the second theme will be. I changed around some of the instrumentation, as I felt that the French horn's entrance in measure 9 of yesterday's post was extremely high for the dynamic marked (mp -- mezzo piano, or sort of soft). (Also, in that range the bassoon and French horn have comparable timbres, as the horn gets a tighter, more nasal sound the higher it gets. In that regard, swapping instruments was not an issue.)

The introduction ends on measure 20, and 21 starts "theme A," which you might recognize from Eleven, although slower and in a different key. The theme is passed around a bit: first on bassoon, then flute (measure 26), then French horn (measure 33). This part of the exposition ends on an A minor chord (minus the third) and an accelerando to a quicker tempo -- I'll probably change this to accommodate the introduction of "theme B," which will be new material from Eleven.

I'll hopefully finish up the exposition, transition, and begin work on the development tomorrow. This is going to be a fun piece -- I think its best in this form to use simple themes, as complex themes do not allow for a lot of variety when developing. Or at least that's my opinion.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Thirty-two. (Day 2.)

The intro.

click the image for a clearer view

This is an easy way to introduce all of the instruments and establish timbral guidelines for the exposition. Looking back at Eleven, that exact material will probably appear at the end of the development, so there is a bit of ways to go and a lot of time to develop all the ideas that it presented.

I hope to spend a little more time on this and try and knock out the exposition in its entirety tomorrow, but we'll see.

Thirty-two. (Day 1.)

I think I'll keep these all listed as "Thirty-two," while just keeping track of the days spent on it. After 7 days (or, I suppose, as long as it takes?) I'll start on Thirty-three.

I spent the time for this day mapping out the form for the piece. I'm going to go with a fairly straightforward sonata form (a scan of my "road map," as I like to do, will be attached on Monday, as I have no scanner at home). Obviously, as Eleven was for woodwind quintet, this will

Sonata form (sometimes referred to as sonata allegro) is an expanded A-B-A form. That looks sort of like this:

Exposition - Development - Recapitulation

Usually there is a type of introduction, and typically two themes are presented in the exposition, one in the tonic, then a transition to the second theme being presented in a key similar to the first (for example, if theme A is in D major, theme B might be in A major; likewise, B minor might transition to D major). The development allows some creative explorations of the two themes, and the recapitulation is usually both themes presented in the original tonic. A coda (think "outro") usually ends the piece. I used a modification of this form in my thesis, Mobius a couple years back.

I'll be sticking fairly closely to this.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thirty-one.

For solo alto flute. (Alto flute transposes a down a fourth from what is written.)

click the image for a clearer view


It's interesting to make purposeful uses of rests. For example, your mind is probably filling in the rests in measures 6-8 with a written D, which you don't hear until measure 9. Listen to the modified sample of the beginning below where I add the Ds. This is a pretty common thing to do and an interesting experiment in how the human ear can "fill in the gaps."



And thus begins Phase III.

I took a day off, because I needed it, so don't expect double. If I use my one skip per month, I won't skip the number. Starting on Sunday, June 15th I'll be working for seven days on developing a piece based on what was started in Eleven. I'm not sure yet how I'll post the progress or how the numbering scheme will work, but we'll make it happen.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Thirty.

For solo tuba.

click the image for a clearer view


Not many solos for tuba, but it's such a versatile instrument. Huge tonal range, amazing dynamic and articulation capabilities. And what is it usually confined to? Chord roots. So here's a small solo.

Twenty-nine.

For piano. Kinda bouncy. Not exactly sure what I was getting at, but it sorta works.

click the image for a clearer view

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Twenty-eight.

For oboe. A sort of reworking of Three to be used for a larger work.

click the image for a clearer view

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Twenty-seven.

For brass quintet.



click the image for a clearer view

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Twenty-six.

For bassoon.

click the image for a clearer view

Friday, June 6, 2008

Business stuff ...

Ok, not really business, but there's no music in this post. I'm coming close to finishing up Phase II, which consisted of 30 days of composing. While I had sort of gotten behind for a few days there all is caught up, more or less, and I plan on continuing as long as I can.

To break up the monotony, however, I was thinking of doing some little sub-projects within the overall Daily Composer, and I'd like some input on whether or not you would like to see them happen.
  1. One week per month designated to a single instrument. I already worked this into the guidelines and had planned on doing it during the first 30 days, but have not yet done it. It would be good practice for me to stick with one instrument.
  2. A 3- to 7-day span designated to a single piece. It's nice writing these phrases, but I feel like I need to do work towards something. The overall goal is "something," but it'd be nice to try and give myself some time to actually come up with an actual, completed work.
  3. Institute a rating system. I'm trying to find an AddOn for the blog that will allow you all to rate each post. I'd like to do this for a number of reasons, but high on that list of reasons is to help choose a piece with #2 above. I generally have an idea of what I write that you like to hear, and what I write that you probably don't like, but there are some that fall into a gray area. You rate the compositions as I post them, then once a month I'll either poll you (if it's not clear) or choose the highest rated one to use towards writing an entire piece. (This will also help contribute to some research for a very, very long-term project I've had in mind.)
  4. Once or twice each month have a history day. Rather than write a piece, I'll give you some history on a composer, a specific and well-known (or perhaps relatively unheard of) piece, an instrument or something else music-related. I'd like this to be educational, too. I try and share a bit about what I'm writing and the instruments I'm writing for, but if I could use a day's time to designate to some bit of history I think it would be very informative.
I'm always open to suggestions. Have an idea for something? Let me know.

Lastly, spread the word! Of course things like voting don't work if I only have a small handful of readers. Let your friends know. Families. Coworkers. Whoever. Musicians love an audience!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Twenty-five.

For English horn and vibraphone.

click the image for a clearer view


These vibraphones sound like crap. Real ones, as notated, would be played with softer mallets and with the motors on. Use of the pedal would really blur all the tones together, creating a very ethereal sound.

Real vibes are cool. Fake vibes? Not cool.

Twenty-four.

For Bb trumpet.

click the image for a clearer view


Kind of a sweetish melody, but reminds me too much of something already written. Rachmaninoff's Vocalise comes to mind, but it's not that. Regardless, I like it.

Twenty-three.

For flute.

click the image for a clearer view


I could write only for flute for the rest of my life and be a happy man. Normally I would use a short theme like this and, over time, explore all of the timbrel possibilities of the flute, but I'm keeping this short so for now you get only a taste.

Twenty-two.

A goofy little piece for xylophone and cello, played pizzicato.

click the image for a clearer view

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Argh.

More problems with the hosting service ...

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Twenty-one.

For flute.

click the image for a clearer view

Twenty.

This is for celesta. This is a transposing instrument, in that the celesta sounds a full octave higher than what is written.

click the image for a clearer view


I've always been a fan of this instrument, though it doesn't always get much use because of its somewhat quiet nature. In an orchestra it can be completely drowned out if the ochestration isn't carefully handled. Give a listen to Holst's The Planets in the movement titled Neptune, the Mystic for a good example of the celesta in a full orchestra, or Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta for its use in a smaller ensemble.

Host down ... argh.

Looks like my site where I store the images and mp3s is down.

Hopefully it's only temporary.

EDIT: Back up.

Nineteen.

For piano.

click the image for a clearer view


Basic little melody with some accompaniment. I've done a lot of melodic work so far, so I needed to do a little bit of brushing up on harmonies.