Sunny Day in Ireland

@jim-4

Link to Score

This is my attempt to convey some of the things I feel on a summers day. I have a conflict one one side there is a laziness, sit back and enjoy the day. While on the other I feel I should get out and enjoy the day. I mean here in Ireland we do not get many sunny days, you do not want to waste them especially if you are not at work, but how? Do you go mad put your life in your own hands and actually do something outside. The options range from gardening to actually going to the beech. We are lucky here in Ireland there are many unspoilt and beautiful beeches, not far from my home. Or do you stay at home, like a coward, just in case the weather changes?

When I first came up with the tune it felt as if something was stirring, it may have helped that while I was working on it the sun was shinning all day everyday. I remember sitting in my garden and humming the tune, it just felt so apt.

It has a funny instrumentation Piano, Cello, Oboe, flue and Bassoon and this version uses Garage-band Instruments. It has made me think again about using the BBC Symphonic plug in because the more I hear it the more mushy and heavy the overall effect is. It hides some of the things I am putting into the music. Don’t get me wrong it has a very rich sound but I suspect the problem may lay with me. Perhaps I need to work more at the mixing stage. I just prefer the lighter sound you have here, I think you can hear the subtleties far better. For my money it is these bits that bring the piece to life.

Personally I think this works and I like this.

Having said all this to myself perhaps I need to revisit Buterchurn Drive.

Lupin

  My latest idea to get the old creative juices going is to pick a person real or other wise and write a short piece about them. My method is to pick out two of their characteristics and try to put them over in music. It’s a bit like writing their theme music.

My first attempt at this is inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin Please don’t get me wrong I have not suddenly become interested in French Literature, rather this was inspired by a television series. In it the title character was a big fan of the books written by Maurice Leblanc and took the main character as his role model. He wanted to act as a gentleman thief and do his thing through guile and using his wits not by hurting anyone. A touch of the Robin Hoods but in French Society.

The two Characteristics I have chosen are Sophistication and action. It is like the magician, putting on an act, being a gentleman and so that the charm offensive hides your true intentions. I think that is a little naive as I can think of many characters in History who were Gentlemen but still committed horrendous crimes. Jack the ripper for just one example. For the second part I have decided to go for an Ostinato. There are many examples of using this in action sections in films and TV. It also makes sense to put the action part in the middle to reflect the fact that like the magical act it is the part you should not see.

So here it is in three parts although part one and part three are pretty well the same. Considering the whole piece is only 30 seconds long, I decided to use the same arrangement for both the clarinet bits. The clarinet was chosen to play the melody because I think it has a more sophisticated sound. While the piano can be very rhythmical as well as being a very capable backing instrument for the Melodic part.

I like the melody, and I think it has the degree of sophistication I was looking for. The sound of a piano and clarinet combine to give a Cocktail Jazz vibe, So there is success there. Through with the time constraint I am not so sure about the Ostinato. I think that maybe it should run through a few more times, so that it would work better.

The result is straight out of Muscore 3.

June

@jim-4

@jim-4

Link to Score

Well I am in a bit of a quandary, I have two versions of the same piece of music and I don't know which one I prefer. They are based on the same score, but I recorded them in different ways. Now I need to know which is the best.

June

This was recorded by using the MIDI files produced by Musecore 3 and importing them into Garage Band. I have a Plug by Spitfire Audio of the BBC Symphonic Orchestra which I used to make the WAV files you hear here.

The second version, used the WAV files exported from Musecore 4 and imported them into Garage Band.

The Jury is out but as I say I have the right to revisit this again at any time

Jim

This Weeks Work

@jim-4

pdf of score

This piece has come to a crossroads and I need to stand back and decide what to do

• Dump it
• Needs slow down or breakdown earlier
• Needs slow down break down now, and then go on

The harmony is Bartok Axis(hence the craziness) C F# C Ab Bb. For places where it needs a turnaround or bridge I have used Neapolitan Harmony

The intro was an attempt to make a texture using random numbers, and a pattern for the cords, hence its rhythmic craziness nature. To me it sang out a melody. I added two other melodies I had (I do not know where they came from). The idea is that it creates a little competition and out of that magic appears. I do not think I have quite concurred that yet. Give it time. The whole thing was put in a Sonata form

Jim