Special Delivery

@jim-4

Link to Score

Confession time I was playing around with a guitar tuned in DADGAD and blow me if I didn’t have a Pink Floyd moment (Shine on You Crazy Diamond). I started to experiment, playing a D major seven cord arpeggio over different strings. I liked the result. That and a bit more tagged on, and I was left with a melody I could work with. The next step was to find variations. It’s a shame I never used them, but that is beside the point.

So there I was with something I liked that to me sounded as if it was rising. That’s when it got interesting because all I could think of, is Father Christmas taking off on Christmas Eve. I even put a Ho Ho Ho in it. The variations got forgotten about, as I decided to change key through every iteration to enhance the feeling of lifting.

The middle bit is meant to be Santa coming down the chimney and sneaking through the house to leave his presents. Then job done, returning back up the chimney to his slay. I have him doing this twice, slightly different arrangements. I also tried to show the bad weather outside. There was an abandoned idea of him making a noise, then worrying that he has woken up the whole household.

The third part is returning home happy the job is done, tired but triumphant. I could have added a welcome home from Mother Claus and the Elves but I felt the whole thing was long enough. Besides thats enough sugar for one day.

I like the arrangement, the challenge has been finding the best way of playing it. In my opinion this one with Musecore 3 supplying the MIDI and Spitfire the Orchestra gave the best results.

he Number one lesson from this is I need an idea. What am I trying to say. Even though this is not very adventurous, It makes the whole thing work better as it has an aim, a direction to travel in. I can only hope that if you listen to this you can hear what I tried to put over.

Conversation

Link to Score

This has not been the easiest (see earlier post) of pieces to write. After the last try I went back to the drawing board, or to the plan as I call it. I re-Orchestrated it again. If that is a word. I much prefer the result. I decided to call it Conversation, I ditched the idea of an argument. There is an opportunity to write a piece called argument, but that is for another day. It is definitely better than previous, it shows what can happen, by just letting it happen. Although if I am honest I am still not entirely happy.

I experimented more with louder and softer bits, and it improved no end. This is definitely something I need to work on, as maybe I can be a little shy on volume. Sudden changes in volume can be very effective, building momentum. While building up to a final climax bit by bit in waves over time is an important skill to perfect.

It have decided to give up on Musecore 4 for the moment, the final result is through Garage-Band and Spitfire audio. This is a learning process and I think for the want of a better word I need a protocol for when I am ready to hear something like the finished product.

The Timpani was an after thought. If you listen to the plan other wise known as Sonata 1708 the start is very rhythmic. The Orchestral instruments I used, did not give the same effect. I was trying to start out with a babble of conversation out of which one rather bold voice rises. Then of course another speaks and we have a conversation. Well that’s what I am hoping to put over.

There is plenty to think about here

1. Not sure if I got the interaction right
2. Need to think more about the sound that suites the music
3. Need to work on a plan so that I can export things yet still go back.
4. Need a system so that I know when the score was extracted.
5. Volume

If Possible Again

@jim-4

So, if you are following the story so far (if not try this ). I was far from happy with the second version of this piece. Although it did stir a thought about what it would sound like, all by itself on a Classical Guitar.

So I returned to Musecore, moved the bass line onto another voice in the guitar. Then I run the Midi output through Garageband (I think it has the better Classical Guitar) and here is the result. I like it a lot more. The piece loves being on the guitar, I think it is a Prima Donna and likes the attention of being out there alone. As usual there are one or two places that I think needs more work.

1. The middle section needs a bit more depth and harmony
2. The repeat after the middle section needs a contrasting arrangement

All in all it is not bad, perhaps we are getting there at last. This opens up a new question, weather it is playable in this form, and for that reason there is no score to download at present. The only way forward for me at this point, is to learn the piece on a guitar and see what happens. I have a bad memory so that may take some time, but it will be worth the effort, as I may even get a definitive version that I like. You never know, it may even help me to overcome my reluctance to record things and do an actual recording of the piece.

On the other hand, I may find other things that I may want to return too. I suppose that is all part of the fun of it. Although I am beginning to wonder if the answer to the question of when is something finished, lies between never and when you get fed up with something and decide to move on. Even then you can still reserve the right to come back to it at a later date.

Sonata 1708

@jim-4

I had a go at this one. I started out thinking it should be a heated discussion between two people where one was the boss giving the orders and the other taking them. But the one giving the orders got a bit over powering and this lead to a fall out. I hoped by the end they would have made up, and gone about their business. I am sorry, I did not like it.

I do like the idea of a conversation, After all that is what a sonata is about, a conversation between two musical ideas. A good conversation should flow, there will be times when one will interrupt the other, either disagree or agree!! and the conversation should ebb and flow between the two parties, and a variety in intensity and excitement.

The plan as it stands has two ideas one is C Lydian and the other in Dm. The Lydian section is more in your face. While the Dm section has a laid back, we will get there eventually feeling. It is also in an odd time 7 8, which I like to think of as an awkward 3 4 or 6 8 time. There is also a section that starts as the intro, and maybe could be used in bridges and turnarounds that sounds like a mess, or how I prefere to think of it at the moment as background noise. It is from this that the conversation can rise.

For final thoughts I have a felling I shy away from using all the instruments at once and tend to steer away from Forte. This piece should be a chance to drop my toe into theose waters. I am beginning to think that I try too hard to have a story, can the piece not just be about the music and the interaction of the two ideas? Or to put it another way a conversation between two ideas, and that interaction will let the magic happen.

Sonata 2509

@jim-4

This started out using a couple of ideas I had. I like to spent a bit of time working with ideas, so that I have a few variations ready. One of the ideas is Bartok in nature and the other has fairly standard harmony. There is as a bridge come turnabout that is completely different. It is based on a Phrygian Dominant scale uses quartal harmony It sounds like a mixture of chaos and string puppets. Together they can make a Sonata Form.

I am trying to discipline myself so that when I get to this stage, I take the time to listen to the music, and think about what I am going to do. What dose it say to me? It is great having these ideas but I want them to mean something. Maybe this is a dance as the wind moves the branches of a tree.

I know that the Phrygian Dominant scale is a little out there, compared to what was before. Not only dose it add a little tension (not a bad thing) but it opens the door to changing the key to B flat Harmonic Minor. A Shade of darkness in music is never a bad idea. It also adds the opportunity of developing the texture of that . Transposing some of the ideas I was going to use in this section, may take us somewhere else. We shall see.

So here I am with the bare bones of something, but I need to take the time to note down a few thoughts. The melody is fine but the main decisions are what I want to do with it and how to manipulate the harmony to achieve my goals. It is good to write down those goals to see if you are successful. I kind of like the idea of a breeze through branches which kind of implies lightness. Remember the breeze will fluctuate in strength.

Thoughts

1. I like the tune
2. Not sure about clarinet, maybe use Viola for melodic contrast
3. Needs Piano
4. Can hear darkness in development section but it dose not sound eastern
5. Just before take up to Phrygian Bit needs work, needs not be like the wind working on the branches. Thicken the texture could be the wind strengthening.
6. Dynamics need to sway like the branches, especially the harmony
7. Recapitulation what is it about
8. Ending is abrupt